Advertising on Reddit: the complete guide for businesses
Reddit is where people go to ask real questions and get unfiltered answers. More than 100 million people use it every day, spread across more than 100,000 active communities, and a large share of them arrive with a purchase already on their mind. That is why advertising on Reddit can work so well, and also why it punishes lazy campaigns harder than any other platform.
This guide walks through the whole thing in plain language. Each section links to a deeper article if you want the detail.
Why Reddit is different from every other ad platform
On most platforms people scroll past ads without a second thought. On Reddit, people are organised into communities built around a shared interest, and they are protective of those communities. An ad that respects the room gets read, clicked and sometimes even thanked. An ad that sounds like a brochure gets ignored, or mocked in public.
There is a second difference that matters for results. Reddit users are researchers. They read long threads, compare options and ask strangers for honest opinions before buying. When your ad shows up at that moment, in the right community, you are reaching somebody who is already deciding.
How the Reddit ad platform works
Campaigns are built in Reddit Ads Manager, and the structure will feel familiar if you have used any other ad platform:
- Campaign: you pick an objective, such as awareness, traffic, conversions, video views or app installs.
- Ad group: you set the audience, placements, bid and schedule.
- Ad: the creative itself, which looks like a normal Reddit post with a small "Promoted" label.
The ad formats include image, video, carousel and text-led promoted posts, plus placements inside conversation pages. The targeting options are where Reddit stands apart: you can aim at specific communities, at interests, at keywords people are reading about, or at your own customer and visitor lists.
What it costs
Reddit runs an auction, so there is no fixed price list. You choose a daily or lifetime budget and bid for impressions, clicks or views. For most advertisers the cost per click is lower than on LinkedIn and often lower than search, which is one reason interest in the platform keeps growing. We break the numbers down in our article on the cost of Reddit ads, including how to set a sensible test budget.
What good performance looks like
Two numbers tell you most of what you need to know. The first is click-through rate, which shows whether the ad earned attention in the feed. The second is conversion rate, which shows whether the click turned into a lead, a signup or a sale. Both depend on installing the Reddit Pixel properly before the first dollar is spent, because you cannot improve what you cannot measure.
Campaigns run by Team of Monkeys consistently deliver click-through and conversion rates that lead the industry, and we have done it across many different industries. That is not luck. It comes from three habits described below.
The three habits behind campaigns that win
- Match the community. Every subreddit has its own vocabulary, humour and pet hates. Ad copy written for one community rarely works in another.
- Be specific and honest. Redditors reward plain claims they can verify. Say what the product does, who it is for and what it costs.
- Test in small steps. Launch several angles, watch the data for a couple of weeks, then move budget toward what works.
Is Reddit right for your business?
It works across far more industries than most people expect: B2B software, cybersecurity, AI tools, ecommerce, finance, gaming, education and more. But it is not right for everyone, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Some products simply have no audience there, and some offers cannot survive honest scrutiny.
Our promise is simple. If we do not think your product will succeed on Reddit, we will tell you before you spend any money. Our business depends on clients who come back, and clients only come back when the results keep making them happy.
Common questions
How long does it take to see results from Reddit ads?
Most campaigns produce useful data within the first two weeks and settle into reliable performance within four to eight weeks. The first weeks are for learning which communities and messages work, so judge the campaign on the trend rather than on day three.
Do I need a Reddit account with history to advertise?
No. You need a Reddit Ads account and a payment method. A profile with some history does look more credible when people click through to it, which is one more reason companies choose to work with a team of longtime redditors.
Want to know if Reddit will work for your product?
Team of Monkeys is a Reddit advertising agency that plans, writes, launches and manages campaigns with click-through and conversion rates that lead the industry, across many industries. If we do not think your product will succeed on Reddit, we will tell you before you spend any money. Our goal is repeat business, and we only earn that when you are consistently happy with the results. See our simple pricing or book a 30 minute call.