Brands are increasingly seeing Reddit as a valuable platform for advertising and promotional investment these days. The platform’s unique community-driven nature allows for authentic engagement, so rather than just pushing ads, brands are joining relevant subreddits and engaging with users. Brands like Adobe and Samsung have recently hosted AMAs (Ask Me Anything) to build rapport. Some companies are even creating their own subreddits to build a community around their brand, offering a space for support, updates, and user-generated content.
Experts tell Storyboard18 that as brands invest in native advertising that blends into subreddit feeds, Reddit ad spends are now close to 10% of the digital ad spends.
Aziz Khan, co-founder and CRO of RVCJ Digital Media shares that Reddit has a younger, community-based audience that allows advertisers to target potential customers within specific niches. The key to successful advertising on Reddit lies in understanding how subreddits function.
“By utilising subreddits, advertisers can target active users within particular categories, ensuring that ads reach audiences already engaged with relevant content. This community-driven targeting enables precise ad delivery to niche groups.”
Reddit has witnessed significant growth in India, and brands are starting to realise its potential. Recently, the company also acquired New York-based Memorable AI, a startup that uses generative artificial intelligence to help marketers create better ads, in its first acquisition since going public in March, last year. Interestingly, Reddit’s ad revenue has also been growing quite significantly if compared with other social media platforms. While the platform’s total revenue increased 71% year-over-year to $427.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, its ad revenue increased 60% year-over-year to reach $394.5 million.
The most engaging niches for Indian brands on Reddit are Technology, Gaming, and Entertainment. However, if a brand can effectively tap into the right subreddits, niches like skincare and health can also drive revenue.
Reddit’s content is largely driven by user queries, and people in these categories are often confused and seeking clarity, says Khan. If advertisers can provide the right information and subtly position themselves as a solution, they can make a strong impact on Reddit.
Explaining how one can go about advertising on Reddit, Kumar Awanish, chief growth officer, Cheil India shares one can set up the campaign on their own through ads.reddit.com through a wide targeting topics/interest or an array of ad types like promoted posts, display ads, sponsored ads, and the coveted video ads.
Although apart from knowing well about the community, the marketer ought to avoid being intrusive and try to blend in with the topics and conversations around it and use the precise targeting feature of Reddit based on location, interest, or subreddits their audience visits.
To measure results on Reddit, engagement is key, say experts. However, other metrics like impressions can also help assess the success of a campaign. That said, optimising content based on the niche and audience should be the priority.
When it comes to programmatic, Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is the main metric that marketers focus on.
While organic recommendations within these communities can be particularly effective, inorganic content and ads typically do not resonate well, adds Ramya Ramachandran, founder and CEO, Whoppl.
D2C and smaller brands tend to use Reddit because they have no control on the platform as users are largely anonymous, unlike Facebook and Instagram, where user handles are visible. Although measuring ROI and efficiency can be challenging due to the asymmetrical nature of returns, as users may discover a product on one platform but purchase it elsewhere, she says.
Tackling Brand Safety
With recent controversies surrounding social media, brand safety has become more crucial than ever for Indian advertisers.
Reddit users are known for valuing their anonymity, which often leads to discussions that push boundaries. Therefore, Khan suggests it’s important for advertisers to choose targeting strategies that align with their brand reputation.
Awanish highlights that the platform requires a lot of attention to prevent spam and control ad fraud.
The kind of audience behaviors Reddit breeds are bound to attract ad frauds, which can gradually be managed through the help of technological advancements, if intended well.
Overall, Reddit ranks #1 for purchasing behaviors like discovering new products, reading honest reviews, receiving recommendations, and engaging in discussions. In fact, Khan adds, 27% of ad viewers are more likely to purchase a product they see advertised on Reddit compared to other social platforms. This highlights how impactful Reddit can be in terms of driving conversions.