New Reddit ad format gives advertisers the tools to drive deep engagement in the most Reddit way possible

Today we’re excited to share that we have launched a brand new and unique-to-Reddit ad format: free-form ads.

Free-form ads empower advertisers to authentically connect with their audience by providing a way to create quality content for redditors who love to dive deep on all sorts of topics. This level of engagement can have lasting positive impact on brand metrics, including increased purchase consideration or message association.

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Advertisers can use free-form ads to tell their story or share their products in a way that aligns to their goals, audience, and strategy–such as diving into a new product, sharing expertise through a thought-leadership piece, or creating a shopping guide for key seasonal moments and target audiences.

We designed this ad format specifically with redditors in mind, giving advertisers a format that allows them to double down on what makes Reddit so special: our high-attention, leaned-in audience.

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Redditors spent more time seeking out content intentionally than simply browsing¹

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One of the primary reasons people come here is to be informed, and Reddit is the number one platform where people learn about the topics they love most². Redditors get informed by joining communities and reading content that is educational, authentic, and relevant to their interests. We also know redditors want to hear from advertisers who can share their expertise and first-hand knowledge on topics and products important to their audience. We found that people are more likely to be interested in seeing brands share information about their products on Reddit, more than other social platforms across categories.³ With free-form ads, advertisers can activate a format that taps into these attributes and helps them succeed in achieving their campaign goals. 

The evolution of free-form ads

Since day one, redditors have come to the platform with the intent to engage in conversations around their passions and interests; this has always been a core part of what makes Reddit unique. One of the ways they like to do this is via ‘megathreads’, a popular post type designed to maximize many-to-many discussions on popular topics. From election night progress, to recently released movie reviews, to the Eurovision grand finale…megathreads serve as a one-stop-shop for shoppers, fans, critics — you name it — to gather in one spot, get the information they need and contribute to conversation.

Inspired by this uniquely Reddit type of content, we wanted to find a way for advertisers to similarly engage with communities, in a way that felt both differentiated from anything else they were doing in their campaign and fit seamlessly into the Reddit experience. And so free-form ads were born.

With free-form ads advertisers now have the freedom to get creative by combining text, images, videos, and more in a single ad, igniting community engagement and boosting brand awareness.  To create a seamless experience for our advertisers, the free-form ad builder includes features to easily format text and add media within the Ads Manager. We also launched templates to spark creativity and make it easy for advertisers to get started.

‍Engaged users lead to real brand results

During beta testing Just Eat Takeaway used free-form ads to promote their ‘Veganuary’ campaign for their Lieferando brand in Germany. Their goal was to inspire their target audience to make healthy, plant-based choices to start off the year.

Using a combination of images, rich text formatting, and a poll in the comments, Lieferando created an in-depth ad that highlighted the benefits of plant-based food while using uniquely Reddit vernacular to ensure the tone and language resonated with the audience. As a result, Lieferando drove a  +10pp lift¹ in ad awareness and saw a 57% increase in time spent on the ad that included a poll compared to the ad that didn’t.