Reddit custom audiences: lists, visitors, lookalikes

Four kinds of audience

The main kinds are customer lists, website visitors collected by the Reddit Pixel, people who engaged with your Reddit content or ads, and lookalikes built from an existing audience. A customer list is uploaded from your own records and matched to Reddit users. A website audience is built from pixel events and so requires the pixel to be installed first. An engagement audience is built from interactions with your ads or posts. A lookalike looks for people who resemble a source audience.

Size matters. Reddit does not deliver to an audience that is too small, and an audience that is still being processed cannot be used yet. In the data AdAce Ads reads, an audience is marked as unusable when it is not ready or has fewer than a thousand matched users. Plan list sizes accordingly, and do not expect a list of a few dozen customers to power a campaign.

Use audiences for two jobs. Inclusion targets them with a message that reflects their relationship to you, such as a reminder for visitors who did not convert or a new product for customers. Exclusion keeps ads away from people who should not see them, such as existing customers in an acquisition campaign or people who already submitted an application. Exclusion is the cheapest improvement many accounts can make.

Handle personal data with care. A customer list contains personal identifiers, so you need a lawful basis, up-to-date consent and a privacy policy that covers advertising use. Upload the minimum needed and delete what you no longer need. Website and engagement audiences avoid uploading personal data, which makes them the simpler place to begin.

What audiences are good for

Warmer messages for people who know you, colder ones for people who do not.
Less wasted spend when existing customers and converters are excluded.
A growth path: a lookalike widens reach from those who already converted.

Create and use one

List which kinds of data you hold and have the right to use: pixel visitors, customer records, engagement.
Install the pixel first if you plan to build website audiences, and let it collect for a period before judging size.
Create the audience in Reddit Ads Manager and wait until its status shows it is ready.
Check the size estimate and whether Reddit marks the audience as usable.
Add it to an ad group for inclusion or exclusion, and write a message for that relationship.
Review results per audience and retire audiences that stay small or do not pay back.

Size and privacy

An audience under the minimum size will not serve, so a good-looking plan can deliver nothing.
Customer lists involve personal data. Follow the privacy laws that apply to you and Reddit’s data rules.
AdAce Ads lists the custom audiences of a Reddit account with their size and usable status and can add or remove them in an ad group’s targeting through an approved proposal. Creating audiences is not yet supported there; do it in Reddit Ads Manager.

Sources and further reading

Try it on your own accounts

Create a workspace, connect Google or Meta in a couple of clicks and see your accounts clearly. Changes follow your approvals or the policy you configure.

Create your workspace