How Long Do Reddit Ads Take to Work? A 90-Day Plan
A new Reddit ad shows its first signal in about 4 to 5 days. Give a new ad about 4 days before you judge it, a test 7 to 14 days, and a brand-new account about 3 months before you decide whether Reddit works for your business. Below about $2,000 over 3 months, you rarely collect enough data to learn anything. Here's the 90-day plan we'd follow.
What's the 90-day plan?
When | What to do | What to check |
|---|---|---|
Days 1 to 4 | Launch 4 to 6 ads in one ad group. Start with 2 very different creatives and 2 very different headlines. | Don't judge yet. The 4-day rule applies to new ads only. |
Days 4 to 14 | Pause the weakest ads. Keep up to 3 core performers that get most of the budget. | A test needs 7 to 14 days. Aim for 14. |
Weeks 3 to 4 | Add a second audience in its own ad group. Set up remarketing with 10 to 20% of the budget. | Compare Reddit's numbers with your own data. |
Month 2 | Test one meaningful change at a time, in separate ad groups. | Make one or two significant changes a month, not small tweaks every 3 days. |
Month 3 | Review sales, branded search and before-and-after results. Then scale, fix or stop. | See whether Reddit has the capacity to work for your business. |
This is our suggested plan, built on the rules below.
Why do Reddit ads take longer than people expect?
A new platform takes at least 2 to 3 months to figure out, and Reddit has less public information than Google or Meta.
Every big change can trigger the learning phase. In one account, profit dropped about 4x for 3 to 4 days each time.
You can't have a remarketing audience until you've shown ads to a cold one.
People often buy days later, through Google or a direct visit. See the Reddit attribution gap.
What's the 4-day rule?
Reddit takes about 4 days to start generating results. If on day 4 a new ad isn't even remotely satisfactory, pause it. This rule only applies to new ads and creatives, not to whole accounts or targeting.
How much budget do you need for 90 days?
Reddit's minimum is $5 per day per ad group, but that's enough to launch, not to learn. As an example from our eBook, if you sell a $100 product, a $2,000 budget might bring about 20 extra sales a month, less than one a day. That's too few to learn from in a week. See How much do Reddit ads cost?.
When should you stop?
If after about 3 months you've had proper tracking, native creative, community targeting and enough budget, and the results still aren't there, Reddit may not have the capacity to work for your company right now. Check your own data first, because the dashboard under-reports. See the Reddit attribution gap and brand search lift.
How long do Reddit ads take to work: FAQ
How long do Reddit ads take to work?
A new ad shows a first signal in about 4 to 5 days, a test takes 7 to 14 days, and a brand-new account needs about 3 months before you can judge it.
What is the 4-day rule for Reddit ads?
If a new ad isn't even remotely satisfactory on day 4, pause it. It only applies to new ads.
How long should a Reddit ad test run?
7 to 14 days, and we aim for 14.
How much should you spend to test Reddit ads for 3 months?
In our experience, under about $2,000 over 3 months rarely teaches you much.
How often should you change Reddit campaigns?
One or two significant changes a month, because big changes can trigger the learning phase.
Get the full playbook
This post comes from my free eBook, How Reddit Ads Actually Works. It also covers targeting, creative, comments and measurement. Get it free, by email.
Want someone to run the 90 days for you? See our Done-For-You Reddit ads management.
About the author
Written by Dāvis Lejnieks, CEO of Undecided Agency and a Redditor for 15+ years. He plans and runs Reddit ad campaigns for DTC, gaming and app brands, and shares what the data shows here.
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Undecided Agency is a Reddit ads agency for DTC, gaming and app brands. Want a plan for your product? Get a Reddit Ads Game Plan.
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