Reddit Retargeting Without a Pixel: Seen vs Clicked Audiences
You can retarget people on Reddit even when you can't install the Reddit Pixel. Use Reddit Engagement Retargeting in Audience Manager: create one audience for people who saw your ad and one for people who clicked it, exclude them from your cold ad group, and build a separate remarketing ad group from them. It's how you keep reaching the right people when your players land on Steam or another page you don't own.
What is Reddit Engagement Retargeting?
It's one of four audience types in Audience Manager:
Customer lists: create or upload a list of customers to target.
Website Retargeting: uses conversion events from the Reddit Pixel or the Conversions API to find Redditors who interacted with your website.
Lookalike: targets Redditors who are similar to your existing customers.
Reddit Engagement Retargeting: targets Redditors who previously interacted with your ads on Reddit.
The last one works without a pixel, because it's built from what happened on Reddit, not on your site.
Why use engagement retargeting?
When your destination is a page you don't own, like a Steam page, you can't see who clicked or who saw your ads. And you don't want to keep showing your ad to someone who has seen it 10 times and never clicked once. Remarketing campaigns are the ones that usually get people to buy, but you can't have a remarketing audience without first showing ads to a cold one. See how to track Reddit ads without the pixel.
How do you create the audiences?
Open Audience Manager (left side menu, the three lines, then Audience Manager).
Click the black "New audience" button and choose Reddit Engagement Retargeting.
Create the first audience: people who have seen your ad. Name it clearly, and set the lookback window.
Choose the seed campaign: the campaign whose data you want to use, which is the one you just ran.
Repeat for the second audience: people who have clicked your ad.
How do you use the audiences?
Cold ad group: community targeting, with your engagement audience added as an exclusion.
Remarketing ad group: no other targeting, only the custom audience. Build one for people who saw but didn't click, or for people who clicked.
UTMs: give each audience its own UTM so you can see whether remarketing works.
This also gives you control over how many times your community audience sees the ad, and how your remarketing campaign performs.
How much should you spend on remarketing?
Usually 10 to 20% of your total budget is enough. With a small budget, even $5 per day can be a start. The goal is to stay visible, not to spam people. Aim for a frequency of around 8 to 10 over 30 days, and if you're selling a one-time product, exclude people who already bought. More in Reddit ads campaign structure.
When is website retargeting better?
If your destination is your own site, use Website Retargeting, built from the Reddit Pixel and Conversions API events, and keep it to website visitors only. Don't mix it with community, interest or keyword targeting, or it turns back into a cold campaign. See our Reddit Pixel and Conversions API guide.
Reddit retargeting without a pixel: FAQ
Can you retarget on Reddit without the pixel?
Yes. Reddit Engagement Retargeting builds audiences from people who saw or clicked your ads on Reddit, so it doesn't need a pixel on your site.
What is a seed campaign?
The campaign whose engagement data you use to create the audience.
Why exclude people who saw your ad?
So you don't keep paying to show your ad to people who have seen it many times and never clicked.
What should a remarketing ad group target?
Only the custom audience, with no other targeting.
How much budget should remarketing get?
Usually 10 to 20% of your total budget, and even $5 per day can be a start.
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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.
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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