Have you ever thought about Reddit as a social media video marketing platform?
Most brands haven’t—but it’s actually a hidden goldmine for brands looking for new marketing opportunities.
Reddit is the go-to place where people chat about products, shape opinions, and make purchasing decisions.
It’s where honest reviews are shared, new products are discovered, and recommendations fly.
In fact, Reddit outshines other platforms, including Amazon and independent review sites, when it comes to driving purchasing behavior.
With the right Reddit video ads, you can turn more viewers into customers here than anywhere else.
But here’s the thing—Reddit’s video marketing rules are a bit different from what you’re used to on other platforms, so getting a solid overview before jumping in is key.
That’s why we’ve put together this blog. It covers everything—what Reddit video ads are, their benefits, different types, and the right specs.
Dive in and learn how to crush video marketing on Reddit!
Image Credits: WIRED
Reddit is a whole different ball game compared to other social media platforms.
It's a high-intent, high-trust space ruled by user-generated content.
Traditional promotional videos don’t really fit in here, and that’s where Reddit video ads come into play.
These ads are designed to blend seamlessly with Reddit’s user-generated content and promote your product in a way that feels natural and engaging, not pushy.
With these ads you can showcase a full trailer or a quick highlight, Reddit supports both long and short-format video content.
You can also combine these videos with other Reddit ad formats like carousels or high-impact options such as Reddit Takeover and Front Page Takeover to really boost your brand’s presence.
These ads bring your campaigns to life and grab Redditors' attention with eye-catching visuals.
But that’s just the beginning—there are plenty of other strong reasons why you should use video marketing on Reddit. Let’s take a look at some key reasons–
Source: Freepik
Reddit is one of the most visited sites on the internet, with about 342 million weekly active users. In December 2023 alone, the platform registered nearly 2.1 billion visits.
What makes Reddit special is its unique user base—a large percentage of Redditors aren't on other popular social media platforms.
Around 30% of Redditors aren't on Facebook, 45% aren’t on Instagram, 58% aren’t on TikTok, 59% aren’t on Twitter/X, 63% aren’t on Pinterest, and 68% aren’t on LinkedIn.
That means Reddit offers access to a huge, untapped audience that you won’t find elsewhere. And with effective Reddit video marketing, you have the opportunity to convert these users into your clients.
Some subreddits focus on very specific topics, from cryptocurrency and TV shows to paper crafts and life advice.
These niche communities are a great way for your brand to connect with people who are more likely to be interested in your services or products.
If you are interested to learn about crypto social media marketing, give this linked blog a try.
Source: Freepik
Reddit is usually filled with text posts, but videos help break this monotony and make your brand stand out.
Using a video ad with the right creative approach, you can easily capture attention, showcase your products, and drive more traffic to your website.
Campaigns that combine both images and videos together have seen a 10x boost in memorability, 14x better message recall, and 3x higher brand favorability.
Source: Freepik
Using videos is a fantastic way to blend brand promotion with immersive storytelling. This way, you won’t come off as just another pesky ad popping up on a user's Reddit feed but as a visual piece that creates an emotional connection through its narrative and encourages users to stay and watch.
But it’s not just about storytelling; the type of video you choose also plays a big role in engaging your audience. So, let’s learn about the different types of Reddit video ads and their respective specs in the next section.
Many brands are still figuring out the ABCs of Reddit video marketing and often feel unsure about which type of video ad to choose. Common questions like, “What are the right specs for each ad type?” and “Where can my ad be placed?” come up a lot.
Let’s break it down and start with the different video placement options on Reddit.
So, Reddit offers two main ad placements–
All Reddit video ads support these placement types. Now, let’s dive into the different video ad formats available and learn about their specs–
Source: Reddit Business
These are paid video ads that autoplay in a Redditor's feed. Since they appear just like native posts, they don’t disrupt any user’s scrolling experience.
Source: Reddit Business
With free-form ads, brands have the flexibility to mix text, images, GIFs, and videos in whatever way best aligns with their campaign goals. Since we're focusing on free-form video ads here, let's dive into their specific specs below.
Source: Reddit Business
Reddit Takeover is a special ad package that merges the Front Page Takeover and Trending Takeover, giving brands a chance to snag the top spot on Reddit’s Home, Popular, or Search pages for a whole 24 hours. Premium Takeovers are only available for managed advertisers on a CPM basis.
Now, within the Premium Takeover, you'll find different types of video ads. Let’s dive into their specs!
Here are some practices you should keep in mind while making video ads-
Source: Freepik
As of 2024, mobile visits to Reddit are significantly outpacing desktop visits, with over 5.9 billion mobile visits each month compared to 1.67 billion on desktop. That's more than 3.5 times the traffic on mobile!
So, it's essential to make your video ads mobile-friendly. A 4:5 aspect ratio for videos is best for this purpose. The videos with this ratio also have an additional benefit—-they have a lower cost per acquisition over a 28-day period.
Many viewers might not catch every word of the video, so adding closed captions can be helpful. They can improve your video’s accessibility and engagement, increasing your brand favorability by 2.1 times.
Add your brand logo to the video and make it visible enough. The best advice is to show it within the first 3 seconds.
If you don’t want to add the brand logo to the video, mentioning the brand name in the headline will work too.
Source: Freepik
Show people your products in action. You can make an animated explainer video about it showing people what makes your offering exciting or valuable. When products are highlighted, brands often experience 1.5x higher awareness.
Promoting limited-time offers or exclusive deals in your videos is a great way to boost clicks! In fact, it’s seen that the Ads highlighting special deals tend to see a 24% increase in engagement, especially when they’re designed specifically for Reddit.
So, get creative and make those offers pop!
But remember to not make your video ads overly salesly while trying to create FOMO. The approach will push your prospects away rather than drawing them in.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do!
Use Reddit-specific language and references in your video ads to resonate with Redditors. Go with headlines that have up to 150 characters, they work best. In terms of video length, go with longer videos (around 60 seconds) as they work best here.
There may be specific subreddits or communities that align with your brand, you can create tailored videos for these spaces.
Tell your audience clearly what you want them to do after watching your video. Do you want them to learn more, check out products, or buy now?
A clear video CTA can boost brand awareness by 1.3 times! Need inspiration? Check out this blog with the best video CTA examples.
Finally, follow these tips, and you’ll craft video ads that truly connect with Reddit’s audience.
There’s no one-size-fits-all estimate because the cost depends entirely on your strategy and budget. You can set either a daily or lifetime budget, and the price is determined by the campaign objective you choose.
Yes, Reddit does have some video limits. Headlines can’t go over 300 characters, and videos should be no longer than 15 minutes. The supported formats are MP4 and MOV (ProRes isn’t supported). Your video file size should be under 1 GB, with a maximum frame rate of 30 FPS.
After learning all the above contents the final step will be to publish your video ads and here’s a breakdown of how to do it–
Head over to your Reddit Ads Manager and sign in using your Reddit account (or create one if you haven’t). Once you're logged in, click the “+ Create Campaign” button to get started.
Select ‘Simple Create’ to make setting up your ad easier. You can always switch to ‘Advanced Create’ later if you need more options.
Craft your ad by writing a catchy headline, adding your ad copy, and uploading an engaging video. Make sure that your content aligns with Reddit's advertising guidelines and has the right kind of appeal to hook your target audience.
Choose whether you want to target a broad audience across Reddit or focus on specific interests and communities. Add location targeting and set your daily budget and max bid per click.
Before launching, double-check your campaign settings, targeting, and ad content to ensure everything is aligned with your goals. Once you're happy with it, add your payment method, click "Publish," and you're good to go!
And that wraps up our blog about Reddit video ads!
We've discovered the humongous potential video marketing has on Reddit. Unlike other social media platforms, Reddit attracts a unique crowd—mostly younger folks with higher incomes. This is the kind of audience that’s likely to make purchases if your ads hit the mark.
Your job here is to optimize your content by using the right video formats and specs.
I know navigating this untapped marketing terrain can be tough if you’re just starting out. But consider this blog your guide and start anyway, as that will solve half your confusion.
Go ahead and make the best use of Reddit video marketing!