Why It’s Time To Take Reddit Advertising Seriously

It’s no secret that digital advertising is changing.

Social media giant Meta is actively reducing granular targeting as part of its move towards AI-driven strategies. Google Ads are becoming increasingly more expensive due to increased competition and sophisticated bidding strategies.

While both platforms remain vital to reaching potential customers, a 20-year-old discussion-based website is quietly positioning itself as an affordable, effective alternative to the traditional big-wigs.

Reddit is making its mark in the digital advertising space.

Built around conversation rather than feeds, users trust the platform as a place to find real answers from real people, making it one of the internet’s biggest places for product research.

Yet, despite Reddit being awash with high-intent users, advertisers still underuse Reddit Ads.

Here’s why it’s time for your business to take the platform seriously.

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What is Reddit?

Reddit is a social news aggregation and discussion platform which, to the casual browser, may seem chaotic. Land on the website unprepared, and you’ll be greeted by a mish-mash of content covering everything from personality quizzes to images of homemade sandwiches.

But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find thousands of hyper-engaged topic-based communities discussing their favourite niche topics.

These threads, called subreddits, are the beating heart of the platform.

Whether you want to share your opinion on David Fincher movies or get recommendations on the best tattoo machines, you’ll find a subreddit dedicated to the subject. 

The platform is essentially a collection of forums, allowing users (known as Redditors) to find communities for virtually any interest.

Reddit’s question-led, discussion-first approach attracts people looking for human-to-human answers rather than polished blogs or branded content. Favouring authentic contribution over direct promotion, Reddit’s users quickly reject overt selling.

The platform's perceived neutrality means ads must behave differently on Reddit than on Meta or Google, where interruption is expected. 

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How do Reddit Ads work?

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Reddit Ads are designed to blend into the feed, not get in the way of users. Clearly labelled as ‘Sponsored’ without being visually aggressive, the ads look like standard Reddit posts. This organic style helps reduce user resistance and improves the likelihood of engagement.

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Types of Reddit Ads

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Promoted Posts

Promoted posts are Reddit’s primary ad format, appearing in users’ feeds alongside organic content. These posts can include images, videos, or text and help drive engagement through comments and ‘upvotes’.

Promoted posts are ideal for driving discussions and getting feedback from your chosen Reddit community.

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Display Ads

Display or banner ads appear in the sidebar of Reddit pages and are effective for raising awareness and driving traffic to your landing pages.

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Video Ads

Video ads autoplay as users scroll their feeds. These visually engaging ads can include sound and captions, making them a versatile option for promoting different messages to a range of audiences.

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Carousel Ads

Carousel ads let advertisers showcase multiple images or videos in a single ad unit. Users can swipe through the carousel to view the content, making this format perfect for promoting several products, features, or key messages.

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The Power of Targeting with Reddit Ads

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What sets Reddit apart as an advertising platform is its ability to target users’ interests, demographics, and behaviours, ensuring ads are seen by those most likely to be interested in a product or service.

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Targeting options include:

Subreddit targeting

Subreddit targeting is the platform’s core strength. This option allows businesses to reach communities that already care about a specific topic or category.

Reddit advertisers can target users who have recently interacted with or are subscribed to a particular subreddit. Ads are shown to users who actively join, browse, or post in subreddits such as r/tattooing and r/personalfinance.

Subreddit targeting works best for niche products, community building, and reaching passionate users.

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Interest and behaviour targeting

A broader option is to target users who have recently interacted with certain content categories. Interest and behaviour-targeting ads are based on broad, platform-curated categories such as Technology, Travel, and Finance.

It’s important to note that interest targeting rarely captures active, in-the-moment intent as effectively as subreddit targeting does. This makes it less precise. 

As such, interest targeting works best for raising awareness, scaling reach beyond specific groups, and finding users interested in a general topic.

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Keyword targeting

Advertisers can also use keyword targeting to place ads directly within conversations, letting them reach those actively engaged with content related to their products or services. This kind of targeting increases the likelihood of delivering ads to users who are already discussing topics related to your industry.

Keyword targeting works best for capturing users who are actively discussing problems, comparisons, or recommendations related to your product or service.

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Targeting controls

Reddit advertising services also offer standard controls, including location-based targeting. Advertisers can narrow down the targeting to the country, region, and city levels.

The retargeting option shows ads to users who clicked your ad but didn’t convert, using pixels and on-platform signals to track behaviour and serve relevant ads.

You can also create lookalike audiences to generate a target customer base with profiles similar to your desired audience.

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Cost, efficiency, and intent

The key contrast to Meta and Google advertising is that a Reddit campaign is less about guessing user intent and more about showing up where intent already exists.

Plus, as the cost-per-click is typically lower than on Meta, Google, or LinkedIn, advertisers have room to test. However, the true value is in Reddit’s efficiency. By targeting users researching or interested in a topic, Reddit audiences are often more qualified than those on competitor sites. This means that ads align with active curiosity rather than passive scrolling.

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Will Reddit Ads Work for my Business?

Like any advertising medium, Reddit Ads won’t work for every industry. It’s currently most effective for brands and businesses that sell niche products and services, such as:

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• E-commerce & Retail
• Gaming & Tech
• Finance & Professional Services
• Automotive
• Travel & Hospitality

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On the flipside, ultra-broad consumer brands, luxury and aspirational lifestyle products, or anything relying on glossy, image-led campaigns are potentially weaker fits for Reddit Ads.

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The Creative Challenge

One of the key things to get right on Reddit is your tone of voice. Reddit users are keen for the platforms to remain organic, so if you go for the hard sell, you’ll likely face friction.

Imagery is another challenge. For most ads, you think of polished artwork that a graphic designer spent hours perfecting. Rough around the edges works better on Reddit.

This is where many brands struggle, and where a thoughtful approach can make all the difference.

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How Dock Can Help With Reddit Ads

You can’t force existing campaigns onto Reddit and expect results. Running an effective campaign means understanding how the platform works, culturally as much as technically.

Our approach is to get the brand voice and imagery right for Reddit, then run strategic targeting and creative testing.

Rather than pushing direct sales messages, Reddit rewards brands that deliver useful information and creative content that feels native to the community they appear in. That means tailoring messaging to specific subreddits, testing formats and tones, and knowing when to pivot.

Reddit Ads work best as part of a wider paid strategy. Your Reddit campaign should complement search and social activity rather than replace them. We approach client campaigns carefully, and with a clear understanding of who the audience is and why they’re engaging with the platform.

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Is now the right time to test Reddit Ads?

For many businesses, now is a great time to advertise on Reddit.

The platform is one of the world’s most visited websites, yet it remains underused by advertisers. There’s space to test campaigns cost-effectively, reach high-intent audiences, and see what works while your competitors are playing catch-up.

If you respect the platform, appreciate the audience, and focus on niche relevance over enormous reach, your customers are likely already there, researching, comparing, asking questions, and waiting for your solution. 

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