We’re all looking for great deals these days, and our marketing budgets are no different. So when digital analytics company, Tracer, dropped this report that revealed the rates and effectiveness of ads on the biggest social channels, we dug into it like a coupon clipper with the Sunday newspaper.

TLDR; there has been a stunning amount of change over the past year.

Under-Hyped

Instagram

All eyes are on IG right now, and that demand has driven their average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) up by 19%, but at the same time the results that advertisers are getting, as measured by click-through rate (CTR) increased by 219%. So while prices have increased by about 20%, the value we can expect in return has more than doubled.

YouTube

Rates on the world’s largest streaming service are flat year-over-year, and the effectiveness of its ads are up 208%. Advertisers on YouTube are getting twice as much for the same investment this year.

Pinterest

After adding a bunch of new ad options that feel more native to the platform, Pinterest saw a 426% increase in clicks, while its ad costs remained roughly unchanged. That’s a whole lot more results for the same budget.

Over-Hyped

TikTok

Every trend has to peak at some point. For the past year we’ve been shouting about the opportunity for advertisers to embrace the under-appreciated audience on TikTok, but it appears that the gold rush has levelled off. In the past year, the cost to buy ads on TikTok has increased 19%, while the CTR has gone up only 13%. Does that mean the TikTok party is over? Absolutely not, but it seems likely to become at least somewhat comparable to the rest of the options.

Google Performance Max

This is another opportunity that people like us have been shouting about, and apparently people like you have listened because demand has outpaced supply. Performance Max is Google’s AI-powered ad product, and today it’s 261% more expensive than it was a year ago.

X (Twitter)

Coming in last, and certainly least, is the platform formerly known as Twitter. Since Elon’s takeover, it has become dramatically cheaper, and somehow it’s performance has declined even faster. Today, advertisers are paying 38% less for ads than they were a year ago, and they’re receiving 54% less. It had occurred to me that the exodus of so many advertisers from X could create a buying opportunity for its ads, but it’s truly remarkable how badly they’ve messed up what was already a very flawed platform.