Are Reddit ads worth it?

When I think of Reddit, I think of my beloved niche communities like r/TVTooHigh and r/Whatcouldgowrong. Which is to say that when it comes to planning marketing strategies, Reddit isn't at the top of my list of advertising platforms. But maybe it should be.

We talked to marketers and entrepreneurs who've run advertising campaigns on Reddit to help us decide if Reddit ads are worth it. Some gave a resounding "not a chance," while others were ready to die on the cash-laden hill of Reddit ads.

Here's what worked, what didn't, and how you can make the most of Reddit ads. 

Table of contents: 

• Pros of using Reddit ads 

• Cons of using Reddit ads

• Automate Reddit  

Pros of using Reddit ads

Reddit ads aren't only about targeting folks who like to argue about fonts at 3 a.m. Here are some key advantages of using Reddit ads. 

It lets you target niche communities

Instead of relying on an algorithm to guess who might be interested in your product, you can post Reddit ads in subreddits where your target audiences are already hanging out. 

"On other platforms (like Meta), you're almost entirely reliant on the algorithm to find your audience," says Dylan Schwartz, senior marketing manager at Animoto. "But Reddit's subreddit targeting allows for a more intentional approach. For example, when we wanted to reach small business owners exploring video marketing, we were able to target subreddits like r/smallbusiness and r/growmybusiness." 

For Dylan, that intentionality paid off. "One of our brand awareness traffic campaigns has driven nearly 5,000 visits and 1.2M impressions, which translates to a cost-per-click (CPC) of $1.58 and a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) of $6.23. The low CPM, in particular, makes Reddit ads an extremely viable awareness tool, coming in at roughly one-third the cost of Meta ads." 

Qi Cao, CEO of chargeback management software Chargeblast, had a similar experience: "When we focused on niche subreddits, our results improved dramatically. Our best click-through rates (CTR) came from running campaigns in targeted subreddits."  

You get access to a highly-engaged community 

Unlike other social channels where users skim and scroll past most things, Reddit users tend to actually read, comment, participate, and occasionally lose their minds. If you can meet them where they are—and speak their language—you'll often get a deeper level of engagement than you'd find elsewhere.

Patric Edwards, founder of Cirrus Bridge, has experienced this firsthand. "I've run Reddit ads for a few niche SaaS products, and honestly, it's one of the most underrated channels." 

In one campaign, Patric targeted subreddits with promoted posts that focused on the product's backstory: "We framed it as a post: 'Built this tool to solve an annoying problem for my team—curious if anyone else struggles with this?'"

With a $1,500 ad spend spread across two weeks, his team saw roughly 200,000 impressions, 2,300 clicks, and 150 signups. But the real ROI came from the feedback. "The comment threads themselves became a goldmine of product feedback," says Patric. "We got insights that shaped our onboarding flow and even uncovered bugs we hadn't caught internally. Reddit users are brutally honest. But if you invite them into the process instead of selling to them, they reward you with attention and insights." 

It's a cost-effective alternative to other ad platforms

If you're working with a lean budget, Reddit might offer more value per dollar than the usual suspects.

Josiah Roche, a fractional CMO at JRR Marketing, ran a Reddit ad campaign for a B2B SaaS brand in the productivity space. "Reddit ads provided us with the lowest customer acquisition cost (CAC) across paid channels in Q2 last year—approximately $18," he says. 

"Compared to Meta or Google, Reddit was significantly more cost-efficient," Josiah explains. And he has the numbers to back it up: over 210 qualified signups on a $4,000 budget, with a .45% CTR and 12.4% post-click conversion rate. Then, when Josiah focused the budget on the two best-performing subreddits, the return on ad spend (ROAS) nearly doubled. 

Qi from Chargeblast adds, "We love Reddit because the CPM is so low since it's a relatively untouched ad platform." 

Cons of using Reddit ads

Before you go all in on Reddit ads, here are some of the potential drawbacks—other than the very real risk of becoming a meme.

It requires a deep understanding of the Reddit culture 

Reddit isn't a plug-and-play ad platform. It demands a level of cultural fluency that most marketers aren't used to navigating—that means understanding subreddit norms, respecting the community, and creating ads that feel native, not promotional.

"The Reddit audience is highly discerning and can be very critical of blatant marketing," says Shantanu Pandey, founder and CEO of Tenet. "Authenticity and understanding the specific culture of each subreddit are crucial. If you get it wrong, you'll likely face downvotes and negative comments, which can actually harm your brand perception." 

Harry Bashir, paid media lead at Rev, echoes a similar sentiment: "We found that Reddit users are particularly sensitive to overtargeting and tend to hold anti-advertising views." 

So Harry doesn't think Reddit ads are worth the spend, but if you're going for it anyway, he has a tip: "Reddit users want to get straight to the meat of the product. Ads that clearly defined our services performed better than curiosity or clickbait-style ads." Here's an example: 

It's difficult to scale 

Reddit's value lies in its specificity, but that's also what makes it tricky to scale. While niche subreddits offer access to highly engaged audiences, converting that attention into results at scale takes finesse, budget, and a well-optimized funnel.

Jason Moss, owner of Moss Technologies, puts it plainly: "Reddit ads can be worth it, but only with razor-sharp targeting and authentic creative that resonates with the platform's community-driven culture. In my experience, modest budgets ($50-200) can yield solid awareness, though conversions often lag compared to Google or X ads unless you nail the funnel."

Take one of Jason's recent Reddit ad campaigns, for example: "I ran a Reddit ad campaign to promote my website's CRM tool for real estate investors. I spent $100 over two weeks, using a $0.20 CPC bid and CPM targeting." The campaign drove only one conversion, which covered costs. "It wasn't a home run for direct sales," says Jason, "but the awareness and low CPC made it a win for top-of-funnel goals." 

Jason's takeaway: "Reddit ads shine for niche targeting and building awareness. But scaling conversions needs a bigger budget and tighter funnel optimization." 

Broad targeting leads to wasted spend 

Reddit's massive user base can be tempting—it boasts over a billion monthly visitors and thousands of active subreddits. But casting too wide a net can drain your budget fast, especially if your messaging isn't laser-focused.

Qi Cao learned this firsthand. "Reddit drove strong click engagement and discussion but required very specific targeting and message clarity to convert. Broad targeting underperformed and quickly ate up the budget. But when we focused on niche subreddits—for example, r/shopify and r/ecommerce—our results improved dramatically." 

Automate Reddit

If you decide to give Reddit ads a shot, you can use Zapier's Reddit integrations to connect with the rest of your tech stack and offload tedious work. For example, you can automatically do things like send notifications from Reddit, create Reddit posts from an RSS feed, and cross-post between social accounts. 

Learn more about how to automate Reddit, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

 Related reading: 

• Key SaaS metrics your company should track (plus a cheat sheet)

• How to get karma on Reddit

• How to find business ideas and validate them quickly with Reddit (and other tools)