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By Diana Tavares

Best Practices For Reddit Ads

Learn more about the front page of the internet in this post. Get to know some useful Reddit stats and how to run Reddit Ads.


Office desk with a computer displaying Reddit's logo

This post was last updated on April 30, 2021.



When It Comes To Digital Advertising, Are Reddit Ads Worth It?


Reddit is a community-based platform where users are more interested in information from other users than in branded content, which makes it a tricky marketing platform for brands.


However, with 52 million daily active users and more than 100K active communities, Reddit is definitely a platform worth considering.


In this article, we will cover:




What Is Reddit?


Reddit is a platform where millions of users post, vote, and comment every day in communities organised around their interests.


Each Reddit community, also known as a subreddit, has a unique name preceded by ‘r/’, which stands for Reddit. For example, ‘r/Sneakers’ is a community of people who love sneakers.


Reddit users can share content by posting stories, links, images, and videos. They can also comment on posts by other users.


Comments and posts can be upvoted or downvoted. This way, the most interesting content rises to the top, so the front page is constantly being updated.



Reddit Stats And Demographics

  • Over 52 million daily active users.

  • Over 100K communities.

  • 34 minutes is the average time spent on the app per day (US data).

  • Over 50 billion monthly views.

  • 58% of Reddit users are between 18 and 34 years old.

  • 56% of Reddit users are male.

  • In the UK, 16.5% of internet users aged 16 to 64 use Reddit.

  • 90% of people who used Reddit for research trust the product information on Reddit more than that found on other sites and apps.

Sources:



How To Run Reddit Ads?


Step 1. Set Up Your Reddit Username And Account


Before creating a campaign, you need to set up your Reddit username and account. Check out Reddit’s step-by-step guide on how to get started. Once you have an account, you’ll be able to advertise on Reddit.



Step 2. Create A Campaign


To get started, click on ‘create campaign’ in the top left corner. Next, give your campaign a name, set up your payment method, and choose your campaign objective.


arrow pointing at 'create a campaign' button on Reddit Ads platform

Step 3. Choose A Campaign Objective


Before selecting your campaign objective, think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase traffic to your website, drive sales, generate leads, or get users to see a video?


Currently, five campaign objectives are available:

  1. Brand Awareness & Reach. Select this objective if you want to increase awareness of your brand, products, or services. The payment model is CPM (cost per thousand impressions).

  2. Traffic. Select this objective if you want to drive traffic to your website. The payment model is CPC (cost per click).

  3. Conversions. If you’re looking to drive sales or generate leads to your website, this option is for you. The payment model is also CPC.

  4. Video Views. Select this objective if you want to increase the number of views for your video. The payment model for this objective is CPV (cost per view).

  5. App Installs. Select this objective if you are promoting your app and want to drive app installs. With this objective, the payment model is CPC.

arrow pointing at campaign objective on Reddit Ads platform

Step 4. Set Up An Ad Group


Give your ad group a name that will help you identify it. Then, you’ll have the option to define:

  • Your target audience (who you want to see your ad).

  • Your ad’s placement (where you want your ad to appear).

  • Your ad’s delivery (how much you want to spend and when you want your ad to appear).



Step 5. Define Your Audience


There are two targeting options: Reddit audience and pixel retargeting. Here, we will show you the difference between the two.


1. Reddit Audience

arrow pointing at Reddit audience on Reddit Ads platform

If you want to reach users based on their interests and communities, select Reddit audience.


Targeting Options Available


Locations: targets specific countries or regions within the US. If you don’t select any locations, your ad will run worldwide.


Interests: targets users who have recently interacted with content around a particular interest. Currently, there are 15 interest categories available:

  • Animals & Pets

  • Art & Design

  • Automotive

  • Business & Finance

  • News & Education

  • Entertainment

  • Gaming

  • Style & Fashion

  • Food & Drink

  • Family & Relationships

  • Healthy Living

  • Sports

  • Technology & Computing

  • Television

  • Travel


Communities: targets users who have recently interacted with or are subscribed to a particular subreddit. Please note that not all subreddits can be targeted. Factors such as the size of the subreddit, brand safety, and expected advertising demand will determine whether a subreddit is available for targeting.


Tip: to find the most relevant subreddits for your products or services, use the Reddit search bar on the homepage. Check out this example:
Reddit Search Bar

Here at Strategy Pixel, we also use Later for Reddit to discover subreddits. Following up on our example above, to find out if there are additional subreddits related to r/Sneakers, go to ‘Discover Subreddits’, type ‘Sneakers’, and click ‘Show Suggestions’. As you can see below, we got three additional subreddits related to r/Sneakers.

Later For Reddit - Discover Subreddits

2. Pixel Retargeting


If you want your ad to appear to users who have already interacted with your brand, either by visiting your website or purchasing a product or service, then you should select pixel retargeting.


Before you can set up a pixel retargeting campaign, you need to install the Reddit pixel. To do this, click on the ‘Reddit Pixel’ button located on the left side of the page.

arrow pointing at Reddit Pixel button on Reddit Ads platform

Currently, there are 8 retargeting options available:

  1. Page visit

  2. View content

  3. Lead

  4. Purchase

  5. Search

  6. Add to cart

  7. Add to wishlist

  8. Sign up


On Reddit, the maximum period of time a user can be included in an audience is 90 days.



Step 6. Define Your Ad Placement


Ad placement refers to where you want your ad to show up. Reddit offers two placement options:


Feed. As the name suggests, this option will show your ad to users when they are browsing the Home, Popular, or Community feeds.


Conversations (Beta). This option will display your ad between the post and the first user comment. If you want your ad to reach users who are engaging with other users about specific topics, this option might be ideal for you.

arrow pointing at ads placements on Reddit Ads platform

Step 7. Define Your Budget, Bid And Schedule


You can specify a daily budget or a lifetime budget. The minimum daily budget to advertise on Reddit is $5.


If you want to have an ongoing campaign, we recommend setting up a daily budget. If you’re looking to run your campaign for a short period of time, with a start and end date, choose the lifetime budget option.


The bid is the maximum price you’re willing to pay per click and can vary between $0.10 and $100.

arrow pointing at budget and bid on Reddit Ads platform


Step 8. Create Your Ad


The last step is to create your ad. Start by naming your ad, then either create a new post or select an existing one to promote. There are 3 types of ads: text, link, and video.


Text ads are only available for ‘brand awareness and reach’ campaigns.

arrow pointing at types of Reddit Ads on the platform

Reddit Ads Specs:

  • Post title: up to 300 characters.

  • Destination URL: your ad’s landing page. It can include a URL with UTM parameters.

  • Display URL: the website URL shown in the ad.

  • Card image: 1200x628px (3MB). Shows in the feed on platforms that support card view.

  • Thumbnail image: 400x300px (500KB). Appears in the desktop version and in compact view in the mobile version.

  • Call to action: there are 14 available options, including Download, Install, Shop Now, View More, Sign Up, Learn More, Contact Us, Get Showtimes, Get a Quote, See Menu, Apply Now, Watch Now, and Play Now.


Examples Of Reddit Ads

Reddit Ad Card Image
Reddit Ads thumbnail image.

Best Practices For Reddit Ads


  • Break down your targeted locations into different campaigns. This will help you understand which countries your ad performs best in and will simplify comparing costs and adjusting bids.

  • This applies to interests and communities as well. Break down your targeted interests and subreddits into different ad groups, putting them into categories that will facilitate analysis and campaign optimisation.

  • Adapt your creative and copy to Reddit. Remember, this is a user-driven platform where Reddit users want to hear from each other, not from brands. Take the time to navigate your targeted subreddits and read their content. Getting to know these communities will give you a better understanding of how you can adapt your message to be relevant to your target audience. Follow the Reddiquette and speak Reddit’s language by using the right acronyms.


TL;DR

  • With 52 million daily active users and more than 100K active communities, Reddit is definitely a platform worth considering.

  • 90% of people who used Reddit for research trust the product information on Reddit more than that found on other sites and apps.

  • Think carefully about what you want to achieve and the kinds of users you want to target before setting up your campaign.

  • Follow best practices for Reddit Ads to ensure you get the most out of the platform and that your ad is relevant to the target audience.

Now, it’s your turn. Have you ever run a campaign on Reddit? Share your experience in the comments below—we’d love to hear your thoughts.


Looking for a Reddit marketing agency? Feel free to get in touch. We will be glad to help you!


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