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Community threads鈥攏ot search bars鈥攁re where product discovery now begins, challenging marketers to join the conversation. CVS Media Exchange and Reddit are bridging data and dialogue to turn real-time discussions into measurable sales wins.

Reddit is capturing more interest. Marketers are spending more on Reddit thanks to its rising prominence in search, growing user base, and new ad formats. While it鈥檒l capture only about 1% of total US social network ad spending this year, it will be the fastest-growing platform in terms of ad revenue growth YoY, per our forecasts. X is seeing a resurgence of sorts.

In the interest of prioritizing human voices over genAI ones, Google has placed added value on user-generated content, which is why results from sites like Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn Pulse have been rising the SEO ranks. These user-generated responses are not necessarily accurate, which may degrade the search experience.

Gen Zers鈥� use of Reddit is accelerating. Slightly more than a quarter of Gen Zers in the US have a Reddit account, but we expect the figure to reach 40.1% by 2028. This is likely fueled by internet users increasingly adding 鈥凌别诲诲颈迟鈥� to their Google searches to find consumer reviews of a product or service. It鈥檚 also due to the popularity of subreddit content that gets cross-posted on other platforms.

Three in four consumers are concerned about fake reviews, according to January 2023 data from Bazaarvoice. Amazon and other retailer websites have a fake reviews problem, and it鈥檚 driving consumers鈥擥en Zers in particular鈥攖o seek information about products on social media sites like TikTok and Reddit.

This may be why so many Black users have yet to leave the platform, but it has also led to the exploration of other platforms that offer similar capabilities. Just over a quarter of Black social network users have a Reddit account in 2024, per our forecast.

I mean Reddit certainly still has its own issues as well. It's not perfect, certainly. I think one being that Reddit has long been known as a platform that users are very averse, so that's a different thing. But to get to your question, yeah, I do think brands infiltrating it too much could go badly or users won't be super receptive.

Friction is growing between E-E-A-T criteria (which look for content from trustworthy and established sources) and SGE (which emphasizes experience and user perspectives from sources such as TikTok, Reddit, and Quora). Marketers plan to invest in AI tools. Many marketers are fully integrating AI tools into their strategies to generate content, perform content audits, and create structured data.

Digital third spaces represent an ecosystem where Gen Z can communicate, influence, and engage with the current culture鈥攖hink the relationships people can build through comment sections in Reddit communities or virtual spaces like Roblox. Influencers are often the gatekeepers of these spaces, acting as leaders and trendsetters who are key to keeping users engaged.

LinkedIn is the top platform that has seen an increase in usage among B2B marketers globally, but others鈥攍ike YouTube, TikTok, and even Reddit鈥攁re also gaining. To reach B2B decision-makers, 64% plan to advertise on consumer channels. Video is appealing to today鈥檚 buyers. B2B buyers prefer quick, digestible content.

Reddit will lean into recommendations. Expect new integrations that help the platform monetize user-generated recommendations. Meta could bring back live shopping. Should TikTok shut down, a live commerce feature could make Instagram and Facebook more attractive replacements. But just because Meta builds it, it doesn't mean users will come.

Last week, Arc, a web browser from startup The Browser Company, released a new AI-powered feature called pinch-to-summarize, which provides an instant summary of full web pages. That follows Arc鈥檚 release of 鈥淎rc Search,鈥� a mobile app that will search the internet based on a user鈥檚 query and deliver an AI-generated page summarizing the breadth of information it searched. It鈥檚 not the only AI tool targeting search. Perplexity is seeing increased attention for its ability to summarize data sets, including searching in Reddit posts or YouTube videos. This month also saw the rebranding of Google鈥檚 Bard chatbot to Gemini as the company doubles down on AI search.

The share of TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram users who spent $200 to $399 per year while using those platforms is greater than the share of those who spent at least $400. The opposite is true for Snapchat and Reddit. What it means for brands. It has never been easier to drive sales directly from social platforms.