How to Advertise on Reddit

If you are looking to advertise your business on social media, then you may want to consider advertising on Reddit. Reddit is a social media site used by millions of users every day. What sets Reddit apart from other social media sites is that instead of following individual users, people follow subreddits. A Reddit ad campaign is an excellent way to advertise to niche communities.

A subreddit is a community of Reddit users formed around a different hobby or topic. This makes Reddit advertising different from the way you might advertise on other social media sites. For example, since users do not follow other Reddit users, there is no influencer marketing on Reddit.

If this is starting to sound overwhelming do not worry, there are several tips on how to advertise on Reddit. Additionally, there are several factors you should consider before advertising on Reddit to make sure the platform is a good fit for your company.

Should Your Business Be Advertising on Reddit?

Before you learn anything else about how to advertise on Reddit, you must first consider if advertising on Reddit is worth it. The first part of this is analyzing who your target audience is.

If your target demographic is males ages 18-29, then you may want to consider advertising on Reddit. Additionally, a majority of the Reddit audience is American. These demographics are important to keep in mind because you obviously do not want to spend a large amount of your marketing budget on a site that does not reach your target demographic.

Reddit is also a great site to share other links on. In fact, 62% of posts on Reddit include links to other websites. This is good for advertisers who want to share a link to their website because links are already shared often. It is important that you have a good understanding of how Reddit works before advertising on it. Reddit advertising has gone poorly in the past when brands have attempted to promote their products without doing their research first.

How to Advertise by Targeting Certain Subreddits

One of the many ways Reddit advertising differs from other social media sites is that you can target certain subreddits to advertise on. This is a great tool to advertise on Reddit because many subreddits are formed based on a common interest. Your ads target a specific group, which makes the cost per click worth it.

For example, if you are promoting a tutoring service, you may want to run ads on the r/college subreddit. This will ensure that everyone seeing your ad will be a college student. Another thing to consider when advertising on Reddit is that not all subreddits are worth advertising on. Subreddits vary in size. Additionally, there are often multiple subreddits on the same or similar topics. Make sure you run your ads on the subreddit with the most followers. Something else to consider when targeting a specific subreddit is that every subreddit has its own rules. It is important that you read the rules of the subreddit and make sure your advertisement does not violate any of the rules.

How to Make a Company Profile on Reddit

In order to begin advertising on Reddit, you must first create your company profile. You do not want to use a personal Reddit account because it may come across as unprofessional. Additionally, if you have a Reddit profile for your company, users can view your account for more information about your brand and the products you are promoting. Make sure that any content you upload to your company account is in line with the values of your brand. You do not want users to be able to view other content on your company Reddit account.

Make sure you are also only upvoting content that is in line with the values of your brand. Users on Reddit can see which posts you upvoted, so it is important to only upvote posts related to your company.

To create your company profile, simply go to the signup tab on Reddit and create your company account. This process is the same as creating a personal Reddit account, the only difference is that you should specify that this account is a business account.

How to Create a Campaign on Reddit

Now that you know how to create a company profile on Reddit, it is important to learn how to create a Reddit advertising campaign. Once you have logged onto your company Reddit profile, select the “Create Campaign” page. First, enter the name of the campaign you want to promote. If you do not already have a name for your campaign, think of something short and sweet which gets the main message of your campaign across.

Then select the objective of your campaign. Your campaign objective can be brand awareness, traffic, conversions, app installs, or video views. It is important to think about the main objective of your campaign because you can only pick a single objective.

After you have chosen your objective, select where you want your ad to run. You can choose from different subreddits, time of day, and devices you would prefer your ads to run on. One of the biggest advantages to running Reddit ads is that you have a lot of say in who gets to see your ad.

How Much Does Reddit Advertising Cost?

Now that you know how to create a Reddit advertising campaign, you might be wondering how much Reddit ads actually cost. Like other social media sites, Reddit uses a bidding system to charge for advertisements. This means that you will set a daily budget of how much you wish to spend on your campaign.

If setting a daily budget seems daunting to you, you can also set a lifetime budget. Additionally, you will need to select your preferred daily bid. This is how much you are willing to spend for CPM, CPC, and CPV. CPM is the amount you are willing to spend per 1,000 impressions or every time a Reddit user sees your ad. CPC is the amount you are willing to pay for every click on your Reddit ads. Finally, CPV is the amount you are willing to pay for every video view.

How to Analyze Your Reddit Advertising Campaign

Once you have published your first Reddit advertising campaign, it is important to analyze it. This will ensure that you can improve your advertisements for the next time you want to launch a campaign on Reddit. Luckily the Reddit advertising dashboard allows you to track your ad campaign’s performance. However, if you do not want to use the Reddit advertising dashboard for whatever reason, you can also use Google analytics.

Regardless of which tool you use to monitor your campaign’s performance, studying what worked and what did not work for your campaign is crucial. Try to adjust different aspects of your campaign. Maybe the objective of your campaign is off. It could also be that you are targeting a subreddit that does not represent your target audience. Additionally, looking at the comments left under your advertisement could give you some insight into how your campaign could improve. Responding to comments is also a great way to interact with prospects.

SEO Reddit

An alternative to advertising on Reddit is using SEO as a Reddit marketing strategy. One way to obtain traffic for your website is to obtain follow links on Reddit. All links on Reddit begin as nofollow, but if your content starts to gain positive engagement and earns a score of two or more, it becomes a follow link.

Try Promoting Your Brand Through a Sponsored AMA

If an advertising campaign on Reddit does not feel like it is the best fit for your brand, do not worry, you can sponsor an AMA. An AMA, or ask me anything post, is a feature on Reddit where a user goes live and answers questions from Redditors.

Often, the person answering the AMA questions has a unique perspective and Reddit users will ask their opinions on different topics. Reddit AMA’s can range from a Subway employee to a celebrity. In fact, both Madonna and Barack Obama have done Reddit AMAs.

Unless you are an A-list celebrity or former president, you will need to explain what different perspective you offer for Redditors to ask you questions about. You could promote the AMA from the perspective of a small business owner. Many people aspire to be small business owners, so the AMA could provide them with a lot of insight. While you are answering Reddit users’ questions, talk about your brand and product. The more consumers learn about your product or service and all the work that you put into it, the more likely they will be to actually make a purchase. This is more expensive than most Reddit campaigns because the subreddit r/IAMA has 19 million followers. However, if you have the extra funds it is worth considering since this subreddit has such a large reach.

Reddit can be a great advertising platform as long as you stay informed and engage with the Reddit community. It may take time and effort to find out which ads work on Reddit, but once you do it will be worth it. Advertising on a new social media platform can be intimidating, especially a platform as unique as Reddit. However, because Reddit is so unique it also offers several unique advertising opportunities. After all, companies like Spotify and Ikea were able to have really successful marketing campaigns on Reddit, why can’t your company?

FAQ about Advertising on Reddit

1. How much does it cost to advertise on Reddit?

Reddit uses a bidding system similar to other social media platforms. You can set either a daily budget or lifetime budget for your campaign. The actual cost depends on your bidding strategy for CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), CPC (cost per click), or CPV (cost per video view). Reddit advertising is generally more affordable than platforms like Facebook or Google Ads, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes. Start with a small daily budget of $5-20 to test your campaigns and scale up based on performance.

2. Is Reddit good for advertising?

Reddit can be excellent for advertising, but it depends on your target audience and approach. It’s particularly effective if your target demographic includes males aged 18-29 and American users. Reddit’s strength lies in its ability to target highly specific, engaged communities (subreddits) around particular interests or hobbies. However, success requires understanding Reddit’s culture and community guidelines. Businesses that do their research and engage authentically tend to see good results, while those that simply repurpose ads from other platforms often struggle.

3. How do I run an ad on Reddit?

To run an ad on Reddit, first create a company profile (don’t use personal accounts). Then access the “Create Campaign” section from your business account. Choose your campaign name and select an objective (brand awareness, traffic, conversions, app installs, or video views). Next, select your targeting options including specific subreddits, time of day, and device preferences. Set your budget (daily or lifetime) and bid amounts for CPM, CPC, or CPV. Finally, create your ad content and launch the campaign. Monitor performance using Reddit’s dashboard or Google Analytics.

4. How do I make a business profile on Reddit?

Creating a business profile on Reddit is straightforward – go to Reddit’s signup page and create an account, but specify that it’s a business account during registration. Use your company name as the username and ensure all content you post or upvote aligns with your brand values, since users can see your activity history. Complete your profile with relevant business information and maintain professionalism in all interactions. This separate business account helps establish credibility and allows users to learn more about your brand.

5. What is a Reddit AMA?

AMA stands for “Ask Me Anything” – it’s a popular Reddit feature where someone goes live to answer questions from the community. AMAs can range from celebrities and politicians (like Madonna and Barack Obama) to everyday people with unique perspectives or expertise. For businesses, sponsored AMAs offer an opportunity to showcase expertise and build brand awareness by answering questions about your industry, business journey, or products. The r/IAMA subreddit has 19 million followers, making it a potentially high-reach but more expensive advertising option.

6. What are the biggest mistakes to avoid when advertising on Reddit?

The biggest mistakes include not researching Reddit’s culture and community guidelines before advertising, using the same ad content from other social media platforms without adapting it for Reddit’s audience, ignoring subreddit-specific rules (each subreddit has its own guidelines), targeting the wrong subreddits or ones with low engagement, failing to engage authentically with the community, and not responding to comments on your ads. Reddit users value authenticity and can quickly spot and reject overly promotional content that doesn’t add value to the community.

7. How can I measure the success of my Reddit advertising campaigns?

Track multiple metrics using Reddit’s advertising dashboard or Google Analytics: monitor click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, and overall ROI for your campaigns. Pay attention to engagement metrics like comments and upvotes on your ads, as these indicate community reception. Analyze which subreddits perform best for your brand and adjust targeting accordingly. Look at the comments on your ads for qualitative feedback about your messaging and products. Compare performance across different campaign objectives, ad formats, and targeting options to optimize future campaigns.