Reddit is well known for its interest groups, subreddits, and is one of the most popular social media sites. As a hybrid between a forum and a social network, users interact with each other, search for information, ask for help, and discuss niche interests.
Content is ranked by votes, leading to the most interesting content rising to the top. With 5 billion users and over 150,000 communities, Reddit has massive potential for marketers. Reddit advertising platform allows you to create and display many types of ads that can be targeted to specific communities.
Users are 22% more likely to intentionally search for content on Reddit, compared to passively scrolling. This leads to high engagement with content and ads! As well as this, it’s easy to target niche communities, such as various interest groups and subreddits.
Let’s look at reddit in numbers:
- 70 million daily active users
- The majority of users are aged 18-34
- ⅔ of users are male
- The majority of users are college educated
- Average time-per-session is 16 minutes
- Generated $810 million in 2023, primarily from advertising
Reddit has low tolerance for self-promotion and spam ads, where marketers can easily get banned for not following the rules. To maximise this unique culture, we have put together a complete guide with all you need to know to create a successful ad campaign!
reddit Ad Campaigns
There are two types of campaigns that Reddit offer: Managed ads and Self-Serve ads.
Managed Ads are designed for big brands and big budgets. They provide premium placements and get a large reach for your products. Managed Ads include Reddit takeover, Front page takeover, Trending takeover, and Category takeover. Self-Serve ads are perfect for smaller businesses with smaller budgets, but still provide great flexible options and target ads towards specific audiences. These include all the Standard Ad types, which we will explore in the next section.
Standard Ad Types:
- Text ads
- Image ads
- Video ads
- Carousel ads
- Conversation placements
- Product ads
Reddit ad objectives
- Brand awareness and reach
- Traffic
- Conversions
- Video views
- App instals
- Catalog sales
Audience targeting options
- Reddit’s audience
- Broader interest areas: multiple subreddits
- Individual communities: subreddits (more exact targeting)
- Specific locations
- Exclude custom audiences
- A retargeted audience
- A custom audience
- An audience of people who have previously engaged with your ads on Reddit but may not have visited your website.
Tip: Each subreddit has its own rules, culture, and moderators. Familiarize yourself with these rules before posting any ads.
REddit Ad Specs for 2024
There are 2 main Reddit Ad Campaign types:
- Standard Ads
- Takeovers
Reddit - Standard Ads
Text ads:
Text Ads are short ads that get your message across, and fit in seamlessly with organic content. You should aim to create an ad that fits in the community’s discussion.
Tip: Posts with titles of 60-80 characters generated more upvotes!
Specs:
- Headline: 300 characters max
- Post: 40,000 characters max
Image ads:
Image Ads are used to promote your products and brand identity, captivating your audience with eye-catching images.
Specs:
- Aspect ratio: 1:1, 4:5, 4:3, 16:9
- Resolutions: 1800×1800, 1080×1350, 1440×1080, 1920×1080
- File format: JPG, PNG, GIF
- Size: 3MB max
- Headline: 300 characters
- Thumbnail image: 400 x 300px, 4:3 aspect ratio. 500kb max file size.
- Optional: Call to Action
Video ads:
Video ads are one of the most popular with marketers on Reddit. Since 2018, Reddit have seen a 38% growth rate for video content. Reddit provides detailed metrics for videos, including views, impressions, conversations and engagement. Video ads autoplay, and can run for up to 15 minutes.
Specs:
- Aspect ratio: 1:1, 4:5, 4:3, 16:9.
- File type: MP4, MOV
- Frame rate: 30 FPS
- File size: 1BG max
- Legnth: 5-30 seconds recommended.
- Associated text: 300 characters max
Tip: Reddit does not allow ads with flash or strobe, and rule breaking is not tolerated.
Carousel ads:
Carousel ads allow you to connect with your target audience, combining text and image ads into one effective strategy. Carousel ads lead to interactive engagement, increasing brand awareness and increases in sales.
Specs:
- Images: 2-6 images
- Resolution: 1200x1200px
- Headline: 300 characters max
- Caption: 50 characters max
- Aspect ratio: 1:1, 16:9
- File format: JPG, PNG, GIF
- File size: 20MB max each, 3-10 seconds long
- Thumbnail: 400×300 px, 500KB max
Conversation placements:
Conversation placements appear at the top of the comment section on a Reddit thread. Since 42% of redditors spend time in conversation threads, this is the perfect way to grab your audience’s attention.
Specs:
- Headline: 100 characters for mobile, 250 for desktop
- Thumbnail: 400×300 px
Product ads:
Product ads allow you to display your product catalogue, and provide recommendations for your audience. Reddit is a great place for product promotion, as users are 27% more likely to buy products advertised on Reddit than any other social media platform. These follow the same spec guidelines as Image Ads.
AMA:
AMAs, or Ask Me Anything Ads, are Q&As where you can interact directly with your audience, answering their questions and sharing your knowledge. It’s an engaging way to get your customers interested in you, your business and your products.
Reddit ads - takeovers
Reddit takeover:
This is the biggest takeover Reddit offer. Your ads will be shown first on the home page, popular and search pages for 24hrs. This takeover includes a promoted post, top banner, sticky banner, trending unit on popular and search, and trending landing page.
Benefits: reach more people, gain maximum visibility, drive engagement.
Front page takeover:
Your brand will be first on the most visited page on Reddit, and this takeover also lasts for 24hrs. It includes a promoted post, top banner and sticky banner.
Benefits: reach a large audience, prominent placement with no competing ads.
Category takeover:
Category takeovers last for 24hrs, and include a promoted post first in the feed, conversation placement, top banner and sticky banner.
Benefits: Target audiences in your niche, increase exposure, boost audience engagement and establish brand authority.
Specs for Takeovers:
Banner:
Format: JPG, PNG
Size: 150KB max
Resolution: 300×250 px, 300×600 px
Trending tile:
Headline: 15 characters
Sub-headline: 50 characters (desktop only)
Mobile card image: 219×96 pixels
Desktop card image: 237×178 pixels
Supported formats: JPG or PNG
Thumbnail: 105×105 px
Thumbnail size: 1MB max
Promoted post
Headline: 300 characters
Supported formats: JPG, PNG, MP4, MOV
Image resolution: 1200×628 pixels
Image file size: 3MB max
Video frame rate: 30FPS
Aspect ratio: 1.9:1
Thumbnail: 400×300 px
Thumbnail size: 500KB max
Vertical Video
Headline: 150 characters
Supported formats: MP4, MOV
File size: 1GB max
aspect ratios: 9:16; 4:5; 1:1 4:3; 16:9
Recommended length: 0:05–0:30s
Frame rate: Up to 30FPS
Thumbnail file size: 500KB max
Why Reddit Ads?
Reddit is the perfect space for targeted advertising, helping your content reach the right audience. Ads are also relatively inexpensive compared to other social media platforms, with loads of flexibility in ad formats. Reddit users are known for their high level of engagement, meaning your ads are more likely to be seen and interacted with!
Reddit is also the perfect place to learn about your target audience, reading what they like and don’t like about companies and ads in your space.
Understanding your Reddit community is vital: immerse yourself in the community, engage with users and watch your ad campaign succeed!
