Reddit Advertising Basics Explained by a Reddit Marketing Agency (Who, Where, What & When)

If you’re running Reddit ads - or thinking about hiring a Reddit marketing agency - you need to understand one thing:

Reddit advertising isn’t like Meta. It isn’t like Google.And it definitely isn’t like TikTok.

As a Reddit advertising agency, we structure campaigns around four fundamental pillars: Who your ads target; Where your ads appear; What your ads say; When your ads are shown.

This guide breaks down Reddit advertising basics in a practical, strategic way - based on real campaign management experience.

1. Who are Reddit Ads targeting?

This is the most misunderstood part of Reddit advertising.

Targeting is influenced by two main factors:

1. Campaign objective (optimization goal)

   • Awareness

   • Traffic

   • Conversions

   • Leads

   • Purchases

2. Audience selection

   • Community targeting (subreddits)

   • Keyword targeting

   • Interest targeting

   • Website visitor retargeting

   • Lookalike audiences

   • Audience exclusions

Here’s the key insight:

About 80% of targeting is controlled by the advertiser.About 20% is optimized by Reddit’s algorithm.

A strong Reddit advertising agency understands that Reddit’s algorithm enhances good targeting - it does not fix bad targeting.

Biggest targeting mistakes in Reddit advertising

From auditing multiple ad accounts, these are the most common issues:

1. Optimizing for clicks when the goal is sales.If your objective is revenue, don’t run traffic campaigns. Reddit will optimize for cheap clicks - not conversions.

2. Targeting entire countries unnecessarily.We’ve seen campaigns targeting all of Europe when the product only ships to one country. Even large brands like McDonald’s and government recruitment campaigns have misaligned geography targeting.

   
   

Reddit best practice: Be as precise as possible with communities and locations.

2. Where are Reddit ads shown? (Placements)

Reddit advertising has two primary placements:

2.1 Feed Placement

These ads appear between posts in:

• Home feed

• Popular feed

• Community feeds

Best for:

• Detailed creatives

• Longer messages

• Storytelling

• Engagement-driven ads

• Opening comments and discussion

Feed ads allow brands to behave more like Redditors.

A professional Reddit marketing agency will often prioritize feed placement for performance campaigns because it allows more context and creative depth.

2.2 Conversation Placement

These ads appear:

• Between comments

• Under posts after clicking

Best for:

• Quick messaging

• Awareness campaigns

• Top-of-mind exposure

• Simple value propositions

Conversation ads are shorter, more direct, and less content-heavy.

Reddit best practice:Adapt creative format based on placement - don’t reuse the same structure for both.

3. What Ads are shown? (Creative strategy)

This is where Reddit advertising either works brilliantly - or completely fails.

Unlike other platforms, Reddit users are extremely sensitive to:

• Tone

• Authenticity

• Relevance

• Community culture

A strong Reddit advertising agency adjusts messaging based on subreddit psychology.

Community-Level creative customization

One advanced Reddit best practice is customizing creatives and headlines per community.

Example scenarios:

Example 1: Dog Winter Clothing Brand

Instead of generic dog targeting:

• Target Labrador subreddit

• Show a Labrador wearing your winter jacket

• Headline: “Look how this Labrador looks in our winter jacket, you can get one for your dog as well.”

Then repeat the same structure for:

• German Shepherd subreddit

• Husky subreddit

• French Bulldog subreddit

Same product. Different execution.

That’s professional Reddit advertising.

Example 2: Travel Charger Brand

Target:

• iOS-focused subreddits

• Android-focused subreddits

Custom message:

“For iPhone users tired of 1-port chargers…”“For Android power users who need fast multi-device charging…”

Relevance drives CTR. CTR drives efficiency. Efficiency drives sales.

Example 3: Fitness Community Targeting

If McDonald’s wanted to target bodybuilding communities:

Headline example:“Cutting or bulking? 20g protein McChicken with 400kcal or 25g protein grilled chicken salad with 140kcal.”

This aligns product messaging with community identity.

That’s Reddit advertising done correctly.

4. When Are Reddit Ads Shown?

This is where advertisers have the least control.

Reddit’s system decides:

• Time of day

• Device (mobile vs desktop)

• Day of week

• Frequency

• Auction timing

You cannot manually schedule like on some platforms.

However, Reddit has significantly improved algorithmic delivery - especially with Reddit Max campaigns.

For a Reddit marketing agency managing scale accounts, this automation can enhance performance - as long as conversion volume is sufficient.

Reddit Advertising Limitations You Must Understand

Even the best Reddit advertising agency can’t override platform restrictions.

4.1 Restricted Communities

Certain subreddits cannot be targeted directly, including those related to:

• Politics

• Religion

• Substances (e.g., r/trees)

• Weapons and military topics

• Some hobby weapon-related communities (airsoft, model weapons, etc.)

However, experienced agencies often identify adjacent communities that achieve similar targeting goals while remaining compliant.

4.2 Audience Size vs Budget (Frequency Risk)

This is one of the biggest overlooked Reddit advertising basics.

Example:

• Audience size: 1,000 users

• CPM: $2

• Daily budget: $5

At that rate:

Each user might see your ad 2.5 times per day.

Over 30 days?That’s approximately 70 impressions per person.

This leads to:

• Creative fatigue

• Decreased CTR

• Negative brand perception

Reddit best practice:

Match budget to audience size to prevent frequency overload.

Final Thoughts from a Reddit Advertising Agency Perspective

Reddit advertising is powerful but only when structured correctly.

To recap Reddit best practices:

1. Align campaign objective with real business goals

2. Target communities, not just broad interests

3. Customize creatives per subreddit

4. Adapt messaging based on placement

5. Monitor audience size vs budget

6. Respect Reddit culture

Reddit rewards relevance. It punishes laziness.

Whether you manage ads internally or hire a Reddit marketing agency, understanding the fundamentals of who, where, what, and when will determine your success.

If you have specific Reddit advertising questions, feel free to ask - I’m happy to break down strategy further.