Reddit Marketing Agency vs Reddit Ads Agency: What's the Difference?
Updated: Oct 13
A Reddit marketing agency usually focuses on organic activity: posting, commenting and managing communities. A Reddit ads agency focuses on paid campaigns: targeting, ad creative, tracking and scaling what converts. Some agencies do both. If you want predictable leads or sales you can measure, you need a Reddit ads agency. If you want a long-term community presence, you need organic Reddit marketing, done openly and within Reddit's rules.
What does a Reddit marketing agency do?
Posts and comments in relevant subreddits
Manages a brand's own subreddit or official account
Runs AMAs and community events
Monitors what people say about the brand
Done well and openly, this builds trust over time. Results are slow and hard to measure, and it depends heavily on the rules of each community.
What does a Reddit ads agency do?
Plans paid campaigns and picks the right objective
Finds the subreddits and audiences that actually convert
Writes ad creative that fits each community
Sets up tracking: Reddit Pixel, Conversions API, or a measurement partner for apps
Replies to comments on your ads
Reports on revenue, signups or installs from your own data, not just clicks
Paid ads give you control over who sees your message, how much you spend, and what you measure.
Reddit marketing agency vs Reddit ads agency: side by side
Reddit marketing agency (organic) | Reddit ads agency (paid) | |
|---|---|---|
Main goal | Community presence and reputation | Leads, sales and installs |
Speed | Slow, builds over months | Traffic from day one after approval |
Control | Low, depends on community rules | High: targeting, budget, placement |
Measurement | Hard to tie to sales | Tracked with pixel, Conversions API or partner |
Main risk | Posts removed or seen as spam | Wasted budget if set up badly |
Which one do you need?
Choose a Reddit ads agency if you need results you can measure, want to reach a specific community fast, or already know your product sells and want to scale it. Choose organic Reddit marketing if you're building a long-term reputation and have time to earn it.
Many brands start with ads, because ads show quickly which communities care, and that tells you where organic effort is worth it.
What red flags should you watch for?
Fake or hidden accounts, often sold as "reputation management". Posting as "regular users" without saying you're the brand breaks Reddit's rules and can get accounts banned. Redditors are also very good at spotting it.
Promises of upvotes or front-page posts. Nobody can guarantee that honestly.
Reporting only clicks and impressions. Ask what happened to sales or signups.
No tracking plan. If they don't mention the pixel or Conversions API, they can't optimize properly.
Why is "Reddit reputation management" a red flag?
Be very careful with agencies selling "Reddit reputation management". It's often a sign of unethical, and in many cases illegal, practices: posting and commenting from accounts that pretend to be regular users and hide that they work for the company.
Undisclosed promotion like this can break consumer protection and advertising laws in the EU and the USA, which require marketing to be clearly identified as marketing. It also breaks Reddit's own rules.
And it tends to backfire. Redditors are very good at spotting fake accounts, and when a brand gets caught, the story spreads fast. What was meant to protect your reputation turns into negative PR.
The safe alternative: paid Reddit ads, which are always labeled as promoted, and open replies from an official brand account.
Reddit marketing agency vs ads agency: FAQ
Is Undecided Agency a Reddit marketing agency or a Reddit ads agency?
A Reddit ads agency. We focus only on paid Reddit campaigns, including tracking and replying to comments on your ads.
Can one agency do both organic and paid Reddit?
Some do. Ask how much of their work is each, and see case studies with real numbers for the one you need most.
Is organic Reddit marketing allowed?
Yes, if it's transparent and follows each community's rules. Hidden promotion or fake accounts are not.
What should I ask before hiring a Reddit ads agency?
Start with our 12 questions to ask a Reddit ads agency.
Want a paid-only team to run it 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.
Keep reading
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.
Comments