3 Overlooked Channels to Shift Your Q4 Marketing Budgets Into for Better ROI in 2025

Playbook Media

Dereka Smith

August 28, 2025

This quarter isn’t just about holiday spikes—it’s where smart budget shifts can deliver outsized returns amid rising costs and fragmented audiences. In 2025, marketing budgets are projected to rise to about 9.4% of company revenue, with digital spending up 7.3% year-over-year, but inflation is eating into those gains.

At our agency, we’re reallocating client budgets away from saturated platforms like Meta and TikTok toward three under-the-radar channels: Reddit, Google’s AI Max, and layered CTV with linear TV. These aren’t theoretical—we are implementing them directly with marketing teams to boost conversions in past Q4s. Here’s a breakdown into each channel and why you should be bringing your dollars to them.

Reddit: Leverage Niche Communities for Intent-Driven Leads and Sales

Reddit has evolved into a powerhouse with 1.21 billion monthly active users and 110 million daily active users as of Q2 2025, with ad revenue hitting $465 million in that quarter alone—up 84% year-over-year. It’s ideal for Q4 because its 100,000+ subreddits enable hyper-targeted ads to high-intent audiences at CPMs often 30-50% below Meta’s rates.

How to get started:

Audience Targeting: Pinpoint subreddits by user intent. For a B2C wellness brand, you would target r/fitness and r/Supplements with holiday promo threads to help boost site traffic. For a B2B SaaS, hit r/sales or r/marketing with lead-gen ads on tools—use Reddit Pixel for retargeting and lookalikes from Q2-Q3 data.
Free Form Ad Units: This offers redditors access to dive deeper into your content using videos, images, and GIFs.
Budget Shift: Redirect 10-15% of social spend. Track in Ads Manager for 2-3% CTR and 4:1 ROAS before scaling.
Q4 Rollout: Go live mid-October for Black Friday/Cyber Monday buildup. For B2B, create a content strategy centered around educational awareness.

This channel works best for B2C in retail or gaming, and B2B in tech or services, where authentic community engagement turns lurkers into buyers or qualified leads.

Google: Transition from Performance Max to AI Max for Smarter Search Optimization

Performance Max automates across channels, but upgrading to AI Max—launched in May 2025—infuses advanced AI into Search campaigns for better intent prediction, often delivering 15-20% higher conversions via features like real-time bidding and creative auto-optimization. It’s a game-changer for Q4’s search surges, expanding beyond keywords to match user behavior more precisely.

Step-by-step shift:

Setup: In Google Ads, go to Campaigns > Search > Settings and enable AI Max. Import P-Max assets, then activate AI creative generation with 5-10 headlines per group.
Budget Reallocation: Shift 20% from standard P-Max. Test $10-20K on queries like “Q4 B2B software discounts” or “holiday consumer deals.” Employ value-based bidding for ROAS focus.
Optimization: Use the recommendations tab for AI-suggested keyword expansions.
Tracking: Integrate Google Analytics 4 with enhanced conversions. Monitor impression share and quality score weekly for bid tweaks.

Perfect for B2C e-commerce chasing sales or B2B firms driving leads during end-of-year budget cycles.

CTV: Combine Connected TV with Linear TV for Broad Yet Targeted Exposure

CTV reaches 88-90% of U.S. households in 2025, and layering linear TV amplifies it to near-total coverage while blending precision targeting with mass awareness. This duo shines in Q4 as video ad spends peak, offering up to 35% better brand recall through unified buys.

Execution details:

Strategy: Platforms like our partner, tvScientific, handle programmatic CTV (e.g., Hulu, Roku) synced with linear on NBC or CBS. For B2C retail
Budget Breakdown: Allocate 15-20% of video budget—60% CTV for data-driven hits, 40% linear for scale. Pilot with $50K on 15-30 second ads in prime time.
Targeting/Creative: CTV uses first-party data for households; linear leverages Nielsen demos. Align creatives: run what you plan to run on CTV ( ideally 30 sec explainers, to start) on linear as well.
Measurement: Use tools to track cross-channel lift. Cap frequency at 3-5x per week to prevent ad fatigue, focusing on view-through conversions.

Great for B2C CPG building awareness or B2B services nurturing high-value prospects in a premium environment.

In Q4 2025, agility wins—don’t waste budgets on saturated channels. These tactics have yielded doubled leads for B2B clients and efficiency gains for B2C. Marketing leaders, if you’re ready to hit Q4 out of the ballpark, contact Playbook Media for a tailored Q4 review. Let’s crush this quarter.

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About the Author

Playbook Media

Dereka Smith

Marketing Ops/Business Development

Marketing writer Dereka Smith turns emails into money-makers at Playbook Media, where she shares her conversion-boosting secrets with fellow marketers. When she’s not crushing B2B campaigns, she’s the secret weapon behind early-stage startups that need standout storytelling backed by serious data. Follow her for copywriting that actually gets results—not just theories.