Reddit Ads

You plan paid Reddit campaigns that fit how people talk on Reddit, track them properly, and test them with a budget the user can afford to lose. Every spec and limit in this skill comes from Reddit's Ads Help Center, read on 2026-10-28 and linked. Reddit changes these pages. Before the user spends money, open the linked page and check it.

Before you start

Read .agents/reddit-marketing.md if it exists. You need the product line, the buyer's own words, the buyer prompts, competitors and the subreddit table. If it is empty, run reddit-context first. Then ask only for what it lacks: the one result that counts (a sign-up, a purchase, a demo request), the value of that result, the landing page, the monthly test budget the user can lose, and whether the site can run the Reddit Pixel.

Workflow

1. Name the one result. One conversion that matters, with a value or a target cost. If the user has no tracking, the first job is references/measurement.md, not creative.
2. Pick the objective. Match the result to an objective using references/objectives-and-bidding.md. Reddit's options are awareness and consideration, traffic, sales, app promotion and lead generation (beta). For a first test with a site conversion, start with the objective that optimizes the event you track.
3. Shortlist the communities. Use the CommunityMentions MCP (next section), then the checks in references/targeting.md: eligibility for ads, rules, fit, and the Reddit recommendation to use at least 15 communities per ad group for community targeting.
4. Choose targeting layers. Interests to broaden, communities for precision, keywords for intent. Set exclusions in brand safety. Details and limits are in references/targeting.md.
5. Write creative in the subreddit's voice. Read the top threads of each target community first. Use the headline formulas and checks in references/creative.md. Plain, specific, no hype.
6. Decide on comments. Reddit turns comments off by default on new ads. Turn them on only when someone will answer within a day, from an account labeled as the brand. See references/creative.md.
7. Install tracking. Pixel first, then Conversions API with deduplication. Verify events fire before any money is spent. See references/measurement.md.
8. Set budget and test plan. Use references/test-plan.md: one variable at a time, a fixed window, a kill rule and a scale rule written down before launch.
9. Launch, wait, and read. Do not edit during the learning phase. Read results against the plan and write the result into the context file with the date.

Shortlist communities with live data

The CommunityMentions MCP (https://communitymentions.com/api/mcp, no sign-in) has two tools. find_subreddits takes a plain description of the product and returns subreddits that fit, with AI citation counts and member counts. get_subreddit returns one subreddit's numbers and its most-cited threads.

curl -s -X POST https://communitymentions.com/api/mcp -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"find_subreddits","arguments":{"description":"invoicing software for freelancers"}}}'

Read the fields like this:

• ai_citations: how often AI answers cited the subreddit. It shows where buyers' questions are being answered. It does not measure ad performance. Use it to rank candidates, then test.
• members: community size. Reddit's audience estimator (in the ad group) is the number that matters for reach.
• threads_cited and the thread titles: question shapes that buyers ask. Reuse the wording in keywords and headlines.
• "under 50": the MCP gives no exact count below 50. Treat it as small, not zero.

Worked example for "invoicing software for freelancers": r/Freelancers (54,634 members, under 50 AI citations) and r/Upwork (73 AI citations) came back first, then r/CRMSoftware, r/growmybusiness and r/AppBusiness (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28). The median among subreddits cited 50+ times is 96 citations (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28). For a broader B2B reach, r/smallbusiness was cited in 204 AI answers from 2026-03-06 to 2026-10-23, rank #23 of 144 subreddits cited 50+ times (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28). A sensible first shortlist is the top 5 from find_subreddits plus 10 more from the same category, to reach the 15 Reddit recommends. Then check each one in the Ads Manager search box. Reddit says not every community is approved for ads, so a missing name may mean it is not eligible.

Quick map: what to do first

No Pixel / no tracked result?      -> measurement.md. Do not spend yet.
Pixel works, no audience chosen?   -> shortlist with the MCP, then targeting.md.
Audience ready, no copy?           -> read 3 top threads per community, then creative.md.
All ready, no budget rule?         -> test-plan.md arithmetic, write kill and scale rules.
Running, results flat?             -> Troubleshooting table below. Do not edit in the first 7 days.

Troubleshooting

Link ads to organic work

Paid and organic Reddit work use the same voice. If your ad says one thing and the founder's comments say another, Redditors notice. Share the context file, keep one disclosure style, and run reddit-account-health on the account that answers ad comments before launch.

Ad group plan format

## Reddit Ads test (2026-10-28)
Result that counts: free-trial sign-up (Pixel event: SignUp), value $<x>
Objective: Sales (optimize for SignUp) | Placement: feed + conversation | Bid: lowest cost
Ad group A (communities, 15): r/Freelancers, r/Upwork, ... (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28)
Ad group B (keywords, 12): "invoicing app", "freelance invoice", ... | negative keywords: "template free", ...
Exclusions: <communities>, <keywords> (brand safety)
Creative: 3 headlines x 2 images, comments off | Budget: $<x>/ad group/day for 14 days
Kill rule: <written before launch> | Scale rule: <written before launch> | Review date: <date>

What Reddit says (read 2026-10-28, all from the Ads Help Center)

• Campaign objectives: awareness and consideration, traffic, sales, app promotion; lead generation is a beta objective. Source: Campaign Objectives.
• Community targeting "shows your ad to users active in specific communities," and the ads "aren't limited to being shown in the subreddits selected." Source: Reddit Audiences.
• Reddit recommends interest targeting to start, or at least 15 communities per ad group for community targeting. Source: same page.
• Comments are off by default on a new ad. Source: Manage Ads with Comments On.
• Reddit says new ad groups need "around 20 optimization events" to exit the learning phase and recommends a daily budget of at least $50 per ad group. Sources: Learning Phase and Standard Campaigns.
• Check Ad Unit Specifications before you brief a designer.

Quality check

• One result that counts, with a value or target cost, written before any creative.
• Every community on the list was checked for ad eligibility and rules, with a dated MCP number or "not in the data."
• At least 15 communities per community ad group, or the user knows why not.
• Pixel events verified in the Events Manager before launch.
• Test plan has a window, one variable, a kill rule and a scale rule.
• Headlines read like a person talking, name the product, and make no claim you cannot prove.
• Every spec the user will act on links to the Reddit page it came from, with a read date.

What to avoid

• Treating AI citation counts as ad performance. They are a reason to look, not a result.
• Changing targeting, budget or creative in the first days. Reddit says edits can restart learning.
• Using staff accounts to cheer on the ad in its own comments without saying who they are.
• Claims Reddit's policies or the law would flag, and any targeting of the sensitive groups Reddit prohibits.
• Copying CPM, CTR or CPC numbers from blogs. Reddit's auction moves. Read your own account.
• Launching without a tracked result and then judging by clicks.
• Running ads in a community while breaking its rules in organic posts. Moderators see both.

Related Skills

• reddit-context: product line, buyer words, competitors and the subreddit table this skill reads first.
• subreddit-research: deeper fit and rule checks for the communities you target.
• subreddit-rules: read before you reply in an ad's comments or post organically in the same communities.
• reddit-comments: answers questions on the ad and in the same communities, with a disclosure line.
• reddit-posts: organic posts to run alongside a paid test, so the ad is not the only voice.
• ai-cited-threads: finds the threads AI answers cite, to learn the questions your ads should answer.
• reddit-listening: surfaces the phrases buyers use, for keywords and headlines.