Reddit is turning into an advertising juggernaut. Here’s how advertisers can capitalize

Historically, giants like Google and Meta have hoovered up the largest share of online advertising dollars. They have made a solid case to advertisers that they are, effectively, the internet—no need to look elsewhere for ad spend. And this case has been highly effective: per recent research from Moloco, the vast majority of mobile advertising budgets—88%—are still concentrated on Google and Meta.

And yet recently—with user behavior rapidly changing, and the cost of advertising on the old giants continuing to rise—an old yet neglected option has grown more appealing: Reddit.

It's been a long journey. Ten years ago, many brands viewed Reddit as too chaotic to bother with—with people unfurling their own opinions daily, back and forth - unedited and unchecked - was it too risky for brands? In the years since, Reddit has made a concerted effort to clean up its act. They have updated their content policies, banned some of the more controversial subreddits, and—in the process—made a persuasive case to advertisers that their audiences are very much worth spending money on.

These efforts have paid off. Reddit's stock has recently soared, and in Q1 of this year the company reported $392 million in revenue. Advertisers en masse are discovering the value of Reddit's engaged user-base. Still, Reddit is its own world, distinct in many ways from its competitors for ad dollars. Activating the platform’s value takes a little bit of work—and a little bit of creativity.

Work to understand the Reddit community

Reddit's unique value lies in its passionate user base, which often discusses products. This makes it an ideal advertising platform, as approximately 40% of Reddit posts mention a product or a brand, according to Reddit's own internal data. 

Users are far more likely to view the reviews of Reddit users as authentic, which explains why so many Google users add "reddit" to the ends of their search queries. In an online environment increasingly overrun with untrustworthy AI slop, the comments of Reddit users remain a beacon of realness. More and more, potential customers seek them out when mulling a potential purchase.

Authenticity is a key focus on Reddit, making advertising here a delicate balance. Brands can't simply post their usual content and expect a positive response. To succeed on Reddit, you need a deep understanding of your audience and a genuine, non-intrusive approach to advertising.

Part of understanding Reddit's audience involves traditional research methods, such as exploring relevant subreddits to see how your products are being discussed. Another crucial tactic is to learn and use the unique language and customs native to Reddit. This cultural understanding is key to successful advertising on the platform. 

Succeeding on the platform, in other words, requires thinking like a Redditor. If anyone on your marketing team doesn’t use Reddit already, have them experiment with using the platform for fifteen minutes or so each day. If you want to seem like an insider on the platform, you have to actually put in the work to become one.

Partner with a digital ad platform

Of course, no brand is going to rely on a Reddit-only strategy: Facebook and Google will always be a substantial part of the picture. What that means, of course, is that advertisers will inevitably have to spend much of their time triaging ad spend across platforms. To this end, a digital ad platform is not just a helpful tool, but an indispensable partner in the advertising process.

This has something to do with the old advertising truism that you can never know how a campaign will go until you're actually running it. Let's say, for instance, that your Reddit campaign—about which you had modest hopes—winds up doing spectacularly, while a simultaneous Facebook campaign flags. An ad platform can right the balance—ensuring ad spend maximizes conversions and ROI.

Then of course, there is the matter of visibility. Reddit's native reporting is great for in-platform metrics—but fairly limited when it comes to multi-touch attribution. It can help you grasp top- or mid-funnel performance, but it can't show you the precise process by which a Reddit ad led to a sale. Without that information, brands will inevitably struggle to optimize future campaigns.

Part of the problem here is that—while Reddit has made tremendous strides in the ad space in recent years—its capabilities are not quite as mature as some of its competitors'. For advertisers used to the ad-tech suite of a Google, Reddit can feel a bit cumbersomely manual. Here, too, a digital ad platform can have tremendous benefits—allowing advertisers to make fast, AI-driven bid adjustments in real-time.

Reddit's transformation from toxicity factory to consumer-advertising juggernaut may be tech’s feel-good story of the decade. It's odd even to remember now that advertisers were once leery of spending money on the site. Today, literally hundreds of millions of people across the world make sure to consult Reddit before buying everything from shaving razors to luxury cars. Crucially, these are users that advertisers cannot reach anywhere else: per Reddit's own research, 30% of Redditors are not on Facebook, 45% are not on Instagram, and 81% are not on Twitch. In other words: this is a massive—and largely untapped—audience, offering a unique and exclusive opportunity for advertisers.

Success in this space requires a real willingness to understand the distinct language not just of Reddit writ large, but of the particular audience you hope to target. Armed with that knowledge—plus the right ad platform—advertisers can gain access to some of the most engaged audiences on the planet.

Story shared by Mitsunaga Kikuchi 

Mitsunaga Kikuchi is the founder and CEO of Shirofune, the digital advertising management tool that automates ad campaigns through an easy-to-use interface for management, budgeting, monitoring and analytics.

Mitsunaga recently won the 2025 ANA MarTech Gold Award for individual marketing solutions provider.

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