Reddit Ads

How do Reddit Ads work?

Here are four steps to creating your own Reddit Ad:

1. Build a brand profile

The first step is to create your Reddit brand profile. This should be treated as a standard homepage as on any other social media site, and serves as a place users can visit to learn more about your company, browse through your posts, and engage with your content.

Keep in mind this profile will also be linked to all your future ad campaigns, providing credibility and context to your ads.

2. Determine targeting

Next, is deciding where you want your ads to go. You have multiple targeting options to ensure you’re reaching the right audience:

• Interest Targeting: This method allows you to target users based on their engagement with specific content, aligning your ads with the topics that matter most to your ideal customer profile (ICP). The more niche your product, the more value this feature provides.

• Community Targeting: Reddit's community targeting lets you advertise within specific subreddits. This is ideal for B2B marketers who know where their ICP spends time. For example, if your product is a SaaS solution for IT professionals, you can target subreddits like r/sysadmin or r/techsupport.

• Keyword Targeting: This option allows you to target users based on specific keywords they mention or engage within posts. Reddit will insert your ads into contextually relevant discussions.

3. Choose your ad format

Depending on your marketing goals, you can choose between several ad formats: image, video, carousel, GIF, or text. 

4. Select your ad placement

Finally, select where you want your ad to show up in your previously selected targeted areas. For instance, in-feed ads are shown directly within the Reddit feed, where as conversation ads appear within the comment sections of relevant threads.

Reddit Ads: the pros and cons

Reddit ads come with their own set of advantages and challenges that differentiate them from other platforms. Let's take a look at the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Highly targeted audiences: As mentioned before, one of Reddit’s standout features is its ability to target users through its niche subreddits.

  With over 100,000 active communities, Reddit allows you to reach incredibly specific groups of people who are already engaging in conversations relevant to your product or industry. 

• Cost-effective ad spend: Compared to other advertising platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook, Reddit ads tend to have lower CPMs. This and Reddit’s flexible bidding system can make Reddit a more affordable option for brands with limited budgets.

• Authentic engagement: Unlike many platforms where ads can feel disruptive, Reddit users are already in a discussion mindset. If your ads are well-crafted and relevant to the subreddit they appear in, they can spark authentic engagement.

  Users may upvote, comment, or share your ad, making it feel more like a contribution to the conversation rather than a blatant sales pitch.

• Strong community loyalty: If you are able to successfully integrate your brand into a subreddit’s ecosystem, you can benefit from strong community loyalty and repeated exposure to the same group of users. 

Cons:

• Steep learning curve: Reddit is not a traditional social media platform, and its user base can be highly discerning. Ads that feel overly promotional or out of touch with the community’s ethos can be quickly downvoted or ridiculed.

  Successfully advertising on Reddit requires an understanding of the platform’s unique culture and a commitment to authenticity. 

• Inflated impressions from bots: A downside that is often overlooked on Reddit is the potential for inflated impression counts due to bot activity. While this is a concern on many digital platforms, Reddit’s user-generated nature makes it especially susceptible to bot accounts that can artificially inflate views and engagement.

  This can distort the actual reach and performance of your ads, making it appear as though your campaign is doing better than it really is. 

• Challenging ad placement: Although Reddit offers flexible placement options, the right placement is crucial for success. Poor placement can lead to low engagement or even negative feedback, which can harm your brand’s reputation within the subreddit. Striking the right balance between visibility and relevance is essential but can be difficult to master.