How DPA *prospecting and retargeting* differ

Prospecting: discovery#

Machine learning matches catalogue products to shoppers showing category intent across Reddit. Budgets run larger, CPAs run higher, audiences run colder; success reads in new-customer volume and modelled ROAS. Reddit product framing: Reddit DPA page.

Retargeting: recovery#

Site visitors, viewers and cart abandoners see the exact products they left behind. Budgets run smaller, ROAS runs hotter, frequency needs capping to avoid stalking. Judge on recovery rate and incremental revenue, never raw ROAS alone. Audience mechanics: custom audiences.

Credit honestly#

Retargeting always flatters itself by harvesting demand prospecting created. Hold out retargeting periodically to measure true increment, and report blended ROAS beside marginal ROAS per mission. Proof method: conversion lift.

Creative per mission#

Prospecting creative sells the category and the brand; retargeting creative sells the specific product with urgency (stock, price, social proof). Same catalogue, different argument. Consideration layer: consideration carousels.

The 2x claim, carefully#

Reddit Q1 2025 internal analysis found advertisers running DPA beside standard conversions seeing double ROAS. Read it as catalogue-plus-signal beating signal alone, then verify per catalogue with holdouts. Launch source: DPA launch.

Putting mission honesty into practice#

Split any blended DPA group this week into prospecting and retargeting with separate budgets, then run one holdout cycle on retargeting to price true increment. Honest credit reframes every ROAS conversation from triumph to truth. Blends flatter; splits inform. Calendar the holdout quarterly because incrementality decays as spend saturates audiences and last quarter proof expires.

Report marginal ROAS per mission beside blended ROAS permanently; the two numbers together prevent both complacency and panic. Reporting: conversion lift and view versus click.

Frequently asked questions#