How video ads work on Reddit

The spec, exactly#

Video Views, Awareness and Reach, Traffic, Conversions, App Installs, Catalog Sales and Lead Generation are all supported, but the Video Views objective cannot run in conversation placement. Reddit Help documents length as 2 seconds to 15 minutes with 5 to 30 seconds recommended. Check video ad specifications before building, and keep a 300-character headline ready.

Sound off is the whole game#

Videos autoplay with sound off by default, so the opening second must hook visually: motion, on-screen text, a face reacting. Reddit 2026 analysis found overlay text lifted average conversion rates 8.2 per cent, and the logo should appear in the first or final 3 seconds rather than a slow reveal. Captions are performance equipment, not accessibility garnish. More in video creative data.

Ratios and rendering#

Favour 4:5 for conversion placements; Reddit analysis found it drove significantly higher average conversion rates for video as well as image. Preview every placement, especially the compact conversation render where thumbnails shrink beside live threads. Natural environments and people outperform flat studio colour, and the product should appear in realistic use within the first seconds.

Bidding and budgets#

Buy views (CPV), reach (CPM) or response (CPC) depending on objective, with practitioner view costs typically $0.02 to $0.08. Cheap views are easy; held attention is the metric that matters, so optimise toward conversions or deliberate view definitions rather than raw impressions. New video ad groups need the standard two-to-three-week learning window described in the learning phase.

When video wins#

Demonstrations, trailers, testimonials, app and game previews: anything where motion proves what a still only claims. Brand storytelling with a genuine hook earns the format highest-recall reputation. Skip polished 30-second brand films in favour of native 6-second demos, and test video against the promoted post control before scaling. See Reddit ad type index for the objective matrix.

Putting video into practice#

Shoot three six-second hooks on one phone this week: product in motion, transformation, founder promise. Caption all three, brand first or last frame, traffic them into the same community cluster against the image control. Kill the two losers on day seven and cut the winner into 4:5 and 16:9 for placement coverage.

Log hook, length, captions and logo position per variant so winners teach: video learning compounds across quarters when notes survive. Hook science: video creative data and variants framework.

Frequently asked questions#