Increased targeting functions have boosted ad spend on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, according to new research by Kinetic Social.

The US social ad services company, whose clients include EA Sports, H&M, American Express, and New Balance, produced a report based on its clients' activity in the third quarter of 2016.

Engagement from Pinterest campaigns increased 300%, with Kinetic crediting the social sharing company for improving its product.

"As they continue to roll out new tools for advertisers, we anticipate it will become an even more important channel for sharing visual assets and appealing to consumers, especially for retail advertisers," chief executive Matt Gilbert said.

Kinetic found that mobile produced better results than desktop, though the latter still drew 40% of their clients' overall spend.

Facebook and Instagram were favoured by Kinetic's retail clients, who directed 75% of their spend to mobile and video ads on the popular platforms.

While video is once again the big trend, the research suggests that brands are slowly transitioning to the platform that offers a combination of the best targeting and subsequent return on investment.