Reddit Ads let you target by four things: Reddit audiences (interest, community, and keyword), custom audiences (retargeting and lookalikes), demographics (location, gender, and language), and device. Its standout feature is community targeting, which reaches people by the subreddits they actually use, something mainstream ad platforms do not offer in the same form.
Targeting is where Reddit Ads earn their value, because the platform knows what communities people genuinely care about. Here is the full set of options and how to use them.
The four targeting types
Per Reddit's audience and targeting documentation, Reddit groups targeting into four categories:
- Reddit audiences: interest, community, and keyword targeting based on what redditors engage with.
- Custom audiences: website retargeting via the Reddit Pixel, customer lists, lookalike audiences, and engagement retargeting.
- Demographics: location, gender, and language.
- Device and carriers: reach people on specific devices and carriers.
Community targeting is Reddit's differentiator
The option you cannot easily replicate elsewhere is community targeting. Reddit lets you target "communities ('subreddits') redditors subscribed to, viewed, or visited in the last 28 days." That means you can put an ad in front of exactly the subreddits where your buyers gather, reaching people by demonstrated interest in a topic rather than a loose demographic guess. For a niche product, that precision is the whole reason to advertise on Reddit.
Interest and keyword targeting
Interest targeting groups redditors by "topics redditors recently interacted with," built on the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard, so you can reach broad interest categories without naming individual communities. Keyword targeting is more literal: it serves ads against "content containing keywords that you define." One important limit to know is that keyword targeting "only supports terms in English," so plan accordingly for non-English campaigns.
How to layer your targeting
You can combine these to sharpen or widen your reach. Reddit combines the different Reddit-audience types together to broaden reach, while custom audiences and demographics narrow it. The practical approach is to start specific enough to reach a clearly relevant audience, then adjust based on what the data shows, rather than stacking every option at once. For the full picture on what campaigns cost, see our guide on how much Reddit Ads cost, and for the paid product overall, our Reddit Ads guide.
Frequently asked questions
What targeting options does Reddit Ads offer?
Four types: Reddit audiences (interest, community, and keyword), custom audiences (retargeting, customer lists, and lookalikes), demographics (location, gender, and language), and device and carrier targeting.
Can you target specific subreddits with Reddit Ads?
Yes. Community targeting reaches redditors who subscribed to, viewed, or visited specific subreddits in the last 28 days, which is Reddit's most distinctive targeting capability.
Does Reddit Ads have interest targeting?
Yes. Interest targeting is based on the IAB standard and reaches redditors by the topics they have recently interacted with, without you having to name individual communities.
Does Reddit keyword targeting work in other languages?
No. Reddit states that keyword targeting only supports terms in English, so keyword campaigns are limited to English terms regardless of your audience's language.