Reddit Ads are one of those things where the brands that get them, really get them and the brands that don’t tend to blow their budget in about two weeks and walk away convinced Reddit doesn’t work.

It works. You just have to be the right brand, running the right kind of ad, to the right community.

Let’s get into it. 🫡

61% of marketers say this is the biggest marketing shift in decades.

Get the data and trends shaping growth in 2026 with this groundbreaking state of marketing report.

Inside you’ll discover:

Results from over 1,500 marketers centered around results, goals and priorities in the age of AI

Stand out content and growth trends in a world full of noise

How to scale with AI without losing humanity

Where to invest for the best return in 2026

Download your 2026 state of marketing report today.

Get Your Report

Not every brand belongs on Reddit. I know that’s not what ad platforms want you to hear, but it’s true, and knowing which side you’re on will save you a lot of money.

Brands with a passionate, niche audience.

Reddit is built around communities organized by specific interest, not demographics. If your product has a natural home (r/SkincareAddiction, r/PersonalFinance, r/MachineLearning, r/HomeImprovement) your targeting almost does the work for you.

You’re not reaching “people aged 25–44 who like skincare.” You’re reaching people who just spent 45 minutes debating whether niacinamide belongs in their routine.

B2B companies targeting technical buyers.

This surprises people, but Reddit hosts the #2 largest audience of B2B decision-makers of any social platform, and 75% of that audience says they plan to use it to inform future purchases. Communities like r/SaaS, r/DevOps, r/Cybersecurity, and r/CloudComputing are full of people actively comparing tools and asking for recommendations. CPCs routinely run $0.50–$2.00 compared to LinkedIn’s $7–$12, aka it’s a legitimately underrated channel for B2B.

DTC and e-commerce brands with strong creative.

Reddit’s product ads and carousel formats work well for brands that can show off their product in context (lifestyle photography, before/after, step-by-step). Categories that perform consistently: skincare, fitness gear, specialty food, personal finance tools, and anything with a cult following.

Brands that can take a joke.

Reddit culture rewards self-awareness and punishes corporate stiffness. If your brand can be direct, a little human, and not take itself too seriously? You’ll fit in. If your creative looks like it was written by a compliance team? You will not.

A note on the brands that struggle:

If your product has no natural subreddit home (or if your entire audience lives on Instagram or TikTok) Reddit Ads probably aren’t your priority. Broad CPG brands, highly visual lifestyle brands with zero niche angle, and industries where the Reddit culture clash is too steep tend to underperform.

There are more Reddit ad formats than most people realize. Here’s what you actually need to know:

Free-Form Ads: Reddit’s most flexible and native-feeling format. You get a full-length post with text, images, GIFs, and video all mixed together. It’s essentially an organic post with a “Promoted” label. Only the first few lines show in-feed, so lead with your hook. Up to 40,000 characters if you need them (you probably don’t).

Image Ads: A single static image with a headline. Simple, fast to produce, good for testing messaging. Appears in both the feed and within conversation threads.

Video Ads: Autoplay in-feed with sound off, so caption your content. Recommended length is 5–30 seconds, though you can go longer. Works well for product demos and social proof.

Carousel Ads: Up to six images or cards, each with its own caption and destination URL. Good for sequential storytelling or showcasing multiple product features.

Conversation Ads: These appear within comment threads, right between the original post and the first comment. It’s where Redditors are most engaged. Your creative needs to match the conversational energy of what’s around it, or it’s going to stick out badly.

Product Ads: Pull directly from your product catalog with dynamic images, pricing, and descriptions. Solid for e-commerce. Reddit claims these can drive 2x higher ROAS when layered with conversion campaigns.

AMA Ads: A promoted Ask Me Anything. Best for launches, expert positioning, or moments where two-way conversation adds real value. Not for the faint of heart.

Here’s what separates the campaigns that work from the ones that get roasted in r/advertising.

Reddit users have an allergic reaction to corporate copy. Your headline should sound like something a human being would actually say — ideally something that would fit in the community organically. If you wouldn’t post it yourself, don’t promote it.

Subreddit targeting is your most powerful lever on Reddit. Start there. Then layer in interest targeting or keyword targeting to tighten it up. Going broad too fast is how you burn budget on people who have zero relevance to your product.

A skincare brand running in r/SkincareAddiction needs to look and sound different than the same brand running in r/BudgetBeauty. The communities have different norms, vocabularies, and levels of product sophistication. Treat them that way.

Free-form ads let you turn comments on. This is either your best move or your worst one, depending on your brand and your bandwidth. If you’re prepared to engage, the signal you get from real comments is invaluable. If you’re going to ignore them, probably leave comments off.

Reddit ads tend to have a longer feedback loop than paid search. Two weeks minimum before drawing conclusions. A month is better.

Reddit Ads work best when you’ve done some organic groundwork first. A few questions worth asking:

If yes to most of these: you’re ready to test. Start with a modest daily budget ($20–$50/day is reasonable), run 3–5 creative variations, and give it at least two weeks before drawing conclusions.

If you can’t answer those first two questions, spend a week doing organic research before you open Reddit Ads Manager. The targeting only works if you know where your people actually are. ✨

Next week, we’re gonna revisit Reddit for SEO/AEO for a bit.

Hope to see you there 🤙

- KD