This edition of the Social Trends Quarterly covers a particularly turbulent time, as trade wars and tariffs impact advertiser confidence and spend on social media. This report takes a close look at how the major platforms are weathering the storm, with some surprising positive performance from ‘dark horse’ Pinterest, which may be succeeding due to a perception that it is more brand safe than other social platforms.
TikTok’s uncertainty has also continued with a second ban extension pushing the deadline date to the 19th June;[1] while its fate hangs in the air, Snapchat and Pinterest are setting out their stalls as the Gen Z-friendly social commerce platforms of choice.
Advertising reputation is a key theme of this quarter’s report as fraudulent advertising on Meta is impacting increasing numbers of users, something that could dent advertiser interest if left unchecked. X is also preparing to launch a brand campaign as some advertisers contemplate a return to spending with the platform, but overall, concerns about brand safety persist.
In influencer marketing news, we delve into LinkedIn’s rise as a content platform with a burgeoning influencer economy and consider what this means for B2B marketers. Plus, Unilever’s incoming CEO has announced a bold pivot towards a social-first, influencer driven strategy. Will the company succeed in maintaining brand consistency whilst working with a diverse set of localised influencers?
Read our analysis of all of these stories and more in Econsultancy’s Social Trends Quarterly.
The major economic story of the past quarter has been the wide-ranging tariffs that US President Donald Trump has signalled he will impose on many trading partners. While a pause on the tariffs has since been put in place until July,[2] and trading deals may yet be agreed that will alleviate the situation, the levies have caused uncertainty and shaken confidence among businesses and consumers alike.
Unsurprisingly, this has had serious knock-on effects for the advertising world – including social advertising.
Digiday reports, drawing on figures from eMarketer,[3] that social ad growth in the US will be particularly negatively impacted by the resultant squeezed budgets and spending cutbacks – with spending potentially cut by up to $10bn in a worst-case ‘Heavy tariffs’ scenario.
US social ad spending was originally predicted to hit $103bn in 2025 by eMarketer’s estimate. Depending on the extent of the tariffs that remain in place, this figure could still be reached; however, in a ‘Moderate tariffs’ scenario, with a slowing economy but partial tariff relief, spend may only rise to $96bn, up from $91bn in 2024.
In the worst-case scenario, with “a full implementation of universal and reciprocal tariffs [that trigger] a global recession”, spend could reach just $93bn, representing a loss of $10bn in potential ad spend from the predicted $103bn figure.
In their Q2 financial reports, social media companies have been keen to paint a picture of resilience: Meta CFO Susan Li said on the company’s earnings call that “we have seen some reduced spend in the U.S. from Asia-based ecommerce exporters, which we believe is in anticipation of the de minimis exemption going away on May 2nd … But our Q2 outlook reflects the trends we’re seeing so far in April, which have generally been healthy.”[4]
With that said, Li also acknowledged that it was “very early”, adding, “Hard to know how things will play out over the quarter and certainly harder to know that for the rest of the year.”
Similarly, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood struck an optimistic note when she reported that demand signals across Microsoft’s commercial businesses, as well as LinkedIn, had stayed consistent in the last quarter.[5] Reddit COO Jennifer Wong positioned Reddit as well-placed to succeed in difficult financial times, noting that,
“…in moments like this that are volatile or uncertain, Reddit is a really important resource for users, for people who are just trying to figure out “should I buy this now,” or are becoming more considerate about their purchases because of the uncertainty, so they come to Reddit to navigate that.”[6]
Reddit also reported growth in overall revenue and ads alike, but the company’s stock slumped due to acknowledgements that user growth patterns had been inconsistent.[7]
Advertisers who are re-evaluating their budgets are more likely to pull spend from smaller platforms – what Digiday’s Krystal Scanlon referred to as ‘Tier two’ platforms[8] – like Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat, as their ROI is seen as less of a safe bet. With that said, some businesses find themselves gaining strong returns from smaller-scale social platforms where they can reach the right audiences in the right way, and may thus not want to jeopardise that.
Reuters reported that Pinterest had “defie[d] tariff uncertainty” after the company’s shares jumped 11% thanks to a strong revenue forecast and growth in global MAUs that exceeded analyst expectations.[9]
Speaking to Yahoo! Finance, Rachel Tipograph, Founder and CEO of shoppable media platform MikMak, commented on Pinterest’s unexpectedly robust prospects. “The reason why Pinterest is a dark horse that no-one talks about is that Pinterest is really considered one of the safest places on the internet.
“Brands … are thinking about how to drive demand to drive sales; but they’re also thinking about long-term brand equity and brand safety. And Pinterest is [seen as] a place where you can invest your dollars, feel that it’s a brand-safe environment, and also drive conversion.”[10]
Snapchat, meanwhile, was more negatively impacted as despite growth in revenue and active users, its parent company declined to provide sales guidance for the current quarter, citing economic uncertainty.[11] This may not encourage advertisers to take a chance on the platform in the near future.
Ultimately, as most social media companies have acknowledged, it will only become clear what marketers should do as time goes on and tariffs are either confirmed or lifted. For now, and with a March IAB survey revealing that 94% of advertisers are concerned about tariff impacts to ad budgets – with the second-largest proportion, 41%, expecting budget cuts to social media[12] – few would blame marketers for acting cautiously. With that said, if a plurality of brands do cut back their social spending or pause it altogether, this could provide opportunities for those who remain in the game to capture a larger share of voice.
The 75-day extension for TikTok to be sold in the United States or face a ban elapsed this past quarter – but TikTok’s fate remains unresolved.
The looming 5th April deadline was accompanied by a flurry of offers from various parties – including AI-enhanced search platform Perplexity.ai, technology giant Oracle, and at the eleventh hour, Amazon.[13] Close to the deadline, reports emerged that President Donald Trump was on the verge of announcing a ‘TikTok America’ deal that would see Chinese parent company ByteDance retaining a minority stake in the new company.[14]
However, these plans swiftly fell apart when President Trump’s announcement of US-imposed tariffs on China prompted ByteDance to withdraw from the deal,[15] leading Trump to announce a further deadline extension to 19th June. On the one hand, President Trump has signalled that he is willing to continue extending TikTok’s deadline until a deal is agreed, telling NBC in an interview that “TikTok … will be protected”;[16] and the fact that a deal was previously close to being finalised will give some onlookers reassurance that it could still be.
On the other hand, US marketers and creators still have little idea how any prospective deal would impact TikTok, and the app’s fate is clearly tied to the volatile political situation between China and the United States.
TikTok is still viewed as a valuable partner for entities like struggling shopping network QVC, which has become the first business to launch a 24-hour live shopping stream on TikTok.[17] According to WARC data reported on by Marketing Dive, TikTok’s ad revenue could hit $32.4 billion in 2025, growing 24.5% year over year, if it can maintain the US market; this would represent an impressive 11% of social spend for 2025 as a whole.[18]
Meanwhile, research conducted by Digiday+ in the run-up to TikTok’s second ban deadline found that 58% of the surveyed brand, retailer and agency professionals planned to maintain their ad spending through the uncertainty.[19] However, 30% revealed that they would be redirecting spend, while 26% were undecided. Continued news about ban threats, sale prospects and aborted deals won’t give uncertain marketers much confidence.
Most recently, news of prospective job cuts at TikTok US’ ecommerce arm have cast fresh doubt on the platform’s prospects.[20] While TikTok’s Shop expansion throughout Europe has continued with launches in France, Germany, and Italy,[21] TikTok has placed Shop front and centre of its growth ambitions in the United States, and cutbacks to this area of the business will complicate those efforts at an already difficult time.
At Social Media Week 2025, a conference hosted by Adweek, executives from Discord and Substack made the case for community-based platforms as the future of online socialising and brand engagement. As Discord VP of sales Adam Bauer stated, “The biggest change we’re seeing is that community is the product. It’s not about follower counts any more.”[22]
The teams behind Discord and Substack would, naturally, favour tightly-knit communities given that both provide a venue for these types of groups – with Discord offering a popular solution for real-time group chats and Substack offering a newsletter and publishing platform with community features built in.
However, there is evidence to back up their assertions, with both platforms going from strength to strength and attracting burgeoning brand interest on the back of their popularity. The top ten most-subscribed newsletters on Substack, according to insights provider Subalytics, have upwards of 600,000 subscribers apiece, with the most popular publication, ‘Letters From An American’, boasting 1.7 million subscribers.[23] Comments and a chat feature offer a venue for building community among the newsletter’s followers; speaking to Vogue Business, Erika Veurink, author of a popular fashion newsletter, described the live chat as “basically … a dialled-in focus group”.[24]
Speaking to Econsultancy about the potential of Substack for brands, Becky Owen, CMO at Billion Dollar Boy, reflected that, “Unlike traditional email platforms, Substack encourages a two-way conversation and fosters a sense of community. It’s not a replacement for social or paid media but a powerful complement, especially for brands aiming to build owned media ecosystems and drive long-term engagement.”[25]
Substack has yet to release a formalised ad or sponsored offering, but brands such as SmartFlyer, a luxury travel agency, and workwear brand M.M.LaFleur have been experimenting with organic branded content while keeping things light-touch and emphasising community-building and value to customers.
Working with an established Substack creator in a relevant vertical is also an option for brands looking for an entry point. A growing number of creators are embarking on sponsorship deals via ad hoc arrangements due to Substack’s lack of formal ad tools – while this makes for a slightly chaotic ad landscape, brands are reaping the benefits, with one skincare brand telling Modern Retail that it realised a 204% ROAS on a partnership with business newsletter ‘Feed Me’.[26] In 2024, Substack was revealed to be working on an advertising pilot, although the platform has yet to formally announce an ad offering.[27]
Similarly, Discord has historically been an ad-free platform, only venturing into advertising in 2024 with the release of two ad formats: an in-game reward type called Quests, and a video ad format called Video Quests, also oriented towards gaming.[28] While Discord is easing gradually into advertising, targeting the gaming and entertainment communities with whom the platform is most popular, this is a telling indicator of where the company is headed, as is the company’s recent change of CEO and talk of working towards an IPO.[29]
Discord’s Adam Bauer told attendees at Social Media Week that, “[Marketers and brands] have to show up, contribute, and be ready to stick around. If you do, the loyalty and engagement you’ll find is unlike anything on traditional social platforms.”[30] While Discord and Substack’s products are not quite the same as traditional social media, these types of communities could soon start to factor into brands’ marketing and customer engagement strategies.
Meta is “battl[ing] an epidemic of scams” on Facebook and Instagram, according to coverage by the Wall Street Journal,[31] with the company reportedly being reluctant to take robust steps to combat the issue for fear of deterring advertisers.
The problem ads on Meta’s platforms promote products such as steeply-discounted power tools or ‘robot puppies’ that appear real, and upon purchase, may lead to a much lower-quality product being delivered than was advertised – or nothing being delivered at all. Some advertising impersonates real businesses: one home improvement company, Half-Off Wholesale, described receiving complaints from customers over fraudulent ads in its name – when the company doesn’t even sell online. These cons present a real reputational issue in the form of bad reviews left by buyers who were taken in, not realising that the business isn’t responsible for the scams.
A Meta spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that Meta is working to combat the problem, stating, “As this scam activity has become more persistent and sophisticated, so have our efforts.” He described facial recognition technology that is being tested to verify advertisers, as well as warnings that are being added and partnerships that Meta is entering into with banks and tech companies to cover additional angles. However, accounts from current and former employees suggest that a more hard-line stance could be taken. As reporters Jeff Horwitz and Angel Au-Yeung write, “Even after users demonstrate a history of scamming, Meta balks at removing them.”
Reporting from Press Gazette has also revealed that fraudulent advertisers on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are impersonating high-profile journalists such as the Financial Times’ Martin Wolf, whose likeness is being used to promote WhatsApp-based investment groups; and CNN anchor Richard Quest, who was likewise used to promote a scam investment site.[32][33] According to the Gazette, “The FT has raised the issue with the UK Government but was merely directed towards Meta advertising policies which purport to prohibit such misleading activity.”
Philippines-based digital advocacy group Scam Watch Pilipinas has criticised Meta’s lack of action to combat the scammers, calling Facebook a “breeding ground” of digital fraud.[34] The Philippines is one of Facebook’s most active markets globally. The advocacy group has called Facebook’s ad review process “largely automated and easy to circumvent”, with scammers able to tweak ads just enough to avoid takedown.
It can be argued that scam activity is part and parcel of online advertising, dating back to the days of dubious chain emails (not that email scams are a thing of the past, either, as they’re very much alive and well) and that Meta would naturally play host to more of it due to being one of the largest advertisers. However, it is becoming increasingly rife and sophisticated with the rise of generative AI, and critics seem convinced that Meta is not doing everything it can do address the problem.
What might give the company more pause is if advertisers become reluctant to invest in ad space on Meta’s platforms, either due to fears of being tarred with the same brush as scammers, or because users are averse to engaging with any Facebook or Instagram ads at all. At present, it seems as though we’re a long way away from that scenario – but advertisers on Meta’s social networks may want to keep a close eye on consumer perceptions and make sure that they are including clear trust signals in their ad copy and creative.
Angela Zepeda, global head of marketing for X, has revealed that the company is planning a brand campaign that will debut after Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and position X as a nexus of news and culture.[35]
She told Adweek editor-in-chief Ryan Joe that the campaign aims to send the message: “if it breaks in culture, you will come to X.”
Zepeda admitted that the social network had lost some brand equity in the rebrand from ‘Twitter’ to ‘X’, stating that “As a brand marketer, I had a lot of respect for Twitter … It’s a really great case study.” In September 2024, Brand Finance revealed that the rebranded X had dropped out of its Media 50 brand value rankings,[36] having previously been ranked 26th among global media brands prior to its takeover by Elon Musk.[37] YouGov analysis in November 2024 also showed that the platform’s brand health had plummeted from 2.7 to -12.4 since Musk’s takeover, with customer satisfaction metrics dropping from 10.7 to -1.4.[38]
Headlines concerning X and advertising have largely focused on an advertiser exodus from the platform amid brand safety concerns and alienation and attacks from new owner Elon Musk. However, figures from eMarketer in March revealed that the platform was on track to post its first year of ad sales growth since its acquisition by Musk in 2022, with global sales climbing 16.5% to $2.26 billion.[39]
Reports in January indicated that Amazon was making a return to spending on X ads, while Apple was also rumoured to be testing out the platform again.[40] Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg assessed that X had also succeeded in attracting small and medium businesses as advertising clients – something that has been a recent focus of the platform’s advertising efforts.[41]
But analysis from Business Insider in February identified that although some advertisers were “cautiously plotting a comeback to X” and new customers were coming on board, the revenue was far from matching that which had been lost since 2022.[42] In particular, the publication highlighted Sensor Tower data that showed Temu was X’s top advertising spender in January, with Shein ranking sixth – both companies that have been adversely impacted by tariffs and the closure of the de minimis loophole. Sensor Tower also estimated that X’s top advertisers had spent less in January 2025 compared with the top 10 advertisers in January 2024.
Ultimately, the brand safety concerns that have led advertisers to depart X since its acquisition by Elon Musk are still present: Kantar’s Media Reactions report 2024 found that only 4% of marketers think X ads still offer brand safety.[43] A net 21% of marketers were unfavourable towards X in 2024, up from 15% in 2022. Twenty-six percent were also found to be planning a decrease in spend on X in 2025.
It remains to be seen if X’s planned brand campaign will turn things around significantly for the platform but for now, advertisers are still justifiably cautious.
Snapchat has published a new report, ‘Fashion Forward: Emerging Trends in Apparel Purchases’ that highlights how clothing buyers, specifically those who use Snapchat, interact with technology and how it affects their relationship with shopping.
The report, produced in partnership with Publicis Media and NRG, highlights some interesting findings – such as the fact that 63% of Snapchat users “agree that using AR Lenses reduces their need to visit a physical store”, while 67% find that using AR try-on makes purchase decisions easier.[44]
More than three fifths – 61% – of Snapchat users reportedly make apparel-related purchases on social media from brand posts or ads, while 82% say they use social media to find inspiration for a purchase, a proportion 1.5x greater than non-Snapchatters.
This is far from the first time that Snapchat has published this kind of research: in July 2024, a study produced in partnership with the National Research Group stated that “Snapchat stands out as a leading social shopping platform in the US.”[45]
Snapchat wants to position its userbase (the majority of whom skew young, with 42% of male users and 38% of female users aged 34 and under according to the Digital 2025 Global Overview Report[46]) as a desirable demographic of social shoppers, and its platform as uniquely positioned to cater to them with influential creators, augmented reality tools, and AI integration. This may be key for the platform at a time when confidence in its prospects is flagging.
Pinterest is making a similar bid, with CEO Bill Ready stating on the platform’s Q1 earnings call that “Pinterest is where Gen Z goes to shop”, highlighting successful returns delivered for brands like PacSun, a lifestyle clothing brand popular with Gen Z.[47] The platform has recently enhanced its visual search offering, and Ready emphasised the appeal of visual searching for Gen Z in particular, who “have been raised on an Internet of visual content across images and video.”
Over the past several years, TikTok has dominated as the go-to platform for reaching younger consumers, with Generation Z often dubbed ‘the TikTok generation’. The launch and growth of TikTok Shop has also seen TikTok develop into a powerful social commerce player in regions like the United States, the UK, and Southeast Asia. Despite lacking TikTok’s scale, both Snapchat and Pinterest are clearly putting themselves forward as social networks that can also reach young consumers effectively – particularly when they are in a shopping mindset.
With TikTok still on uncertain ground in the United States, advertisers may be tempted to diversify and test additional social platforms – and if those platforms can deliver, they may continue to spend with them in the long term, which would be to Snapchat and Pinterest’s lasting benefit.
B2B social media platform LinkedIn might not seem like an obvious candidate for influencer marketing, revolving as it does around professional connections, job listings and work updates.
However, as LinkedIn’s users increasingly mix the personal in with the professional – and as the platform has grown and built out its features – we are increasingly seeing the rise of an influencer economy on LinkedIn, a trend with interesting implications for B2B marketing.
The Wall Street Journal profiled a range of professionals who have gained tens or hundreds of thousands of followers on LinkedIn and begun earning a significant income through their posts on the platform.[48] In 2021, LinkedIn began to encourage people to use the platform in this way with ‘Creator Mode’, a setting that gave access to creation tools and deeper analytics, although this was discontinued as a separate view in 2024, with the tools and insights made available to all members by default instead.[49] LinkedIn’s recent additions of audio and video hosting have also opened up additional possibilities for content creation through the platform.
In a way, the rise of LinkedIn as a creator platform makes sense not just because of the social media-dominated age we live in but because of the way that LinkedIn has come to dominate B2B publishing, taking the place of company blogs in many cases. As it has grown as a publishing space, it’s only natural that influence and brand partnerships would follow.
Businesses that are reaping the rewards from LinkedIn influencer marketing include resume builder tool Teal and digital workspace tool Notion, which ran a major campaign on LinkedIn in January called ‘Notion Faces’ to show off the tool’s custom portrait feature. The campaign reportedly reached more than 2.5 million LinkedIn users, and Danielle Ito, head of influencer marketing at Notion, told the Wall Street Journal that, “If we had done this on Instagram, it would have been a drop in the bucket and not a universal splash.”
LinkedIn recently rebranded and expanded its ad programme, formerly known as Wire and now known as BrandLink, which enabled brands to purchase 3- to 15-second pre-roll ads on editorial video. This has been expanded to include pre-roll ad slots on exclusive shows hosted by B2B creators, such as entrepreneur Steven Bartlett and designer Rebecca Minkoff.[50] The new ad format opens up further options for brands to position themselves alongside influential figures in B2B, and LinkedIn claims that video is increasingly key to B2B buying, stating in a recent report that 63% of buyers say video influences their decisions.[51]
Influencers offer a means to put a human face to a business – something that can be vital in B2B marketing, which is often faced with the challenge of bringing a dry product or service to life. They also don’t necessarily need to be figures who are external to a business.
Partnering with a creator who has an established, and engaged, following is beneficial – but several businesses have also found employee advocacy to be a fruitful marketing channel. Law firm Higgs LLP has been encouraging employees to create a personal brand on LinkedIn, and head of digital marketing Michelle Hughes told Marketing Week that Higgs has seen an uptick in searches for its brand name since this initiative began, as well as an increase in candidates for job applications.[52]
Employee-driven LinkedIn content can offer a cost-effective way for businesses to trial LinkedIn as a marketing platform before committing to ad spend or influencer partnerships – which can also co-exist alongside internally-produced content. For those who do opt to engage influencers, a growing cohort of B2B influencer agencies and creator management platforms is springing up to cater to them.
The space seems liable to get a lot more crowded in the near future, but compared with more established influencer platforms like Instagram or TikTok, LinkedIn is relatively quiet – a benefit, for those who are investing early. As Piper Phillips, a 24-year-old TikTok and LinkedIn creator, told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s easier to get people’s attention right now because there’s less supply.”[53]
Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez caused a stir among marketers shortly after his appointment in March with the announcement that the corporation would focus heavily on social media and influencer marketing, increasing social to 50% of its marketing mix and working with ‘20x’ more influencers.[54]
Fernandez argued that marketing messaging coming from a major brand is “by default suspicious” and that consumers are cynical about the messaging presented to them by big corporations. In response to this shift, Fernandez plans to “Creat[e] marketing activity systems in which others can speak for your brand at scale”.
This is not a total departure from the approach previously outlined by former CEO Hein Schumacher, who spoke to investors about pursuing “a significant boost in social-first demand creation” in November 2024.[55] However, it appears that Fernandez is ready to take this vision even further.
In a fireside chat with Barclays’ Warren Ackerman, he outlined what would seem to be an ambitious strategy centred around hyper-local influencers, particularly in markets like India and Brazil. Fernandez said, “There are 19,000 Zip codes in India. There are 5,764 municipalities in Brazil. I want one influencer in each of them.”[56]
Unilever’s 2024 financial results, released in February, revealed that Unilever’s brand and marketing investment last year reached the “highest level in over a decade”, rising by 120 basis points to reach 15.5%.[57] Unilever also announced that its power brands, responsible for more than 75% of turnover, led growth with 5.3% USG (underlying sales growth).
If a lack of trust is indeed what Unilever is grappling with, influencer marketing could help with this, as trust and authenticity are some of its key strengths; the right influencers could enable Unilever to connect with cynical, brand-weary consumers, particularly younger consumers. Fernandez’s apparent focus on having external voices speak for Unilever, however, as well as his insistence that brand messaging is a flawed approach have sparked concerns that the corporation is needlessly abandoning decades of work building strong, memorable brands such as those currently driving Unilever’s growth.
Writing for Marketing Week, Helen Edwards emphasised that marketers should not forget that trust is the “defining role” of brands. “[T]he point of good branding is to rise above the doubt through consistency,” she noted – but because influencers are strongest when they can frame brand content on their own terms, this will inevitably result in “the erosion of brand consistency … across many thousands of influencers, all interpreting the brand as they see fit”.[58]
Perhaps Fernandez has enough confidence in the strength of Unilever’s brands that he believes they can withstand a level of influencer dilution – or that this risk is worth the potential pay-off. Unilever’s pivot may not be as abrupt as the CEO’s headline-grabbing words make it sound; however, it will be worth watching how the brand executes this renewed push into social media, as it may offer some tips for fellow FMCG marketers’ playbooks.