To help brands earn meaningful attention, Tom Firkin, Senior Client Partner at Reddit wants advertisers to respect why people use different platforms, understand the distinct behaviours and expectations within each environment and create work that feels genuinely relevant rather than interruptive. Here he explains what a platform-independent approach could look like.

What is the one thing you wish everyone knew about paid social?

Paid social isn’t one homogeneous channel. Each platform is inherently different because people visit it to fulfil a different need – whether that’s entertainment, distraction, connection, inspiration, discovery or validation. Those motivations directly affect the quality of attention a platform commands. The best planning begins by understanding that mindset, then adapting the message accordingly. Reddit is particularly powerful when people are actively seeking information, exploring interests and learning from communities, which creates a naturally engaged environment for brands.

If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it be?

If I could change one thing in the industry, it would be how we measure the true impact of social campaigns. Too often, success is defined by the metrics that are easiest to count – clicks, views and engagement – rather than the outcomes that matter most, such as incremental sales, brand growth and long-term customer value.

I’d also like advertisers to rely less on last-click attribution. An old colleague explained its flaw brilliantly: imagine having six beers, three gin and tonics, four glasses of wine and a shot of tequila, then blaming the tequila for your hangover. That’s essentially what last-click does, it gives all the credit to the final interaction while ignoring everything that influenced the customer beforehand.

I’d like to see the industry adopt a more consistent, platform-independent approach that combines brand-lift studies, incrementality testing and commercial results. Social’s influence is rarely linear, so its measurement should reflect its role across the entire customer journey. Better measurement wouldn’t just prove social’s value; it would help brands invest more intelligently and reward work that creates genuine impact rather than simply generating activity.

How can media agencies get the most out of paid social for their clients?

Give every platform a deliberate role based on why people actually use it, not simply because it appeared on last year’s plan. Creative should be built for the environment, rather than declaring one asset “platform-agnostic” and resizing it nine different ways.

Agencies should also test off the beaten track and include emerging partners early enough to generate meaningful learning, not once the plan, creative and budget have already been set in stone. That includes involving platforms such as Reddit early, when they can help uncover audience insights and inform the wider strategy. Ultimately, the strongest paid social plans give each platform a clear purpose while leaving enough room to experiment, learn and adapt.