I Wasted $3,200 on Reddit Ads. Here's What Actually Works.
Source: Dev.to
Three months and $3,200 later, I had exactly 4 paying customers from Reddit ads—$800 per customer for a $49 product. Not great.
On paper, Reddit ads look amazing: CPC as low as $0.20 (50‑70 % cheaper than Facebook), CPM around $3.50 (way lower than LinkedIn or YouTube), and users supposedly 27 % more likely to purchase. I went all‑in, targeting specific subreddits, A/B‑testing creatives, and using the Reddit Pixel for retargeting. My CTR was 1.2 % (better than the 0.5 % average), but clicks weren’t converting. After installing session‑recording software I discovered that half the “clicks” weren’t real visitors—they bounced after 2 seconds.
A Reddit thread I found reported that 99 % of their ad clicks were fraudulent (bot clicks, misclicks, accidental taps). The core problem? Redditors hate ads, use ad blockers religiously, and instinctively scroll past or down‑vote sponsored content.
Reddit Ads Experiment
Results
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Spend | $3,200 |
| Customers acquired | 4 |
| Cost per acquisition (CPA) | $800 |
| Customer LTV | ~$150 |
| ROI | -86 % |
Organic Reddit Strategy
I switched to zero ad spend, focusing on genuinely helpful participation in relevant subreddits. The first month was brutal—hours of thoughtful comments, ~200 profile visits, and only a handful of sign‑ups. By week 6, people started recognizing my username, and by month 3 I was getting more sign‑ups (and higher‑quality leads) than from ads.
Results
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Spend (ad budget) | $0 (≈ 45 h time investment) |
| Customers acquired | 12 |
| Cost per acquisition (CPA) | ~$0 |
| Customer LTV | ~$200 (higher retention) |
| ROI | Positive |
Organic customers stick around longer because they already trusted me from my helpful contributions.
Finding the Right Threads
Visibility matters more than volume. A response on a 3‑comment thread beats 100 responses buried in popular posts.
| Thread Type | Comments | Your Visibility |
|---|---|---|
| Hot/Trending | 500+ | Buried at bottom, nobody sees you |
| Rising | 50‑100 | Might be seen, low probability |
| New/Fresh | 0‑10 | High visibility, OP actually reads |
Key insight: Target low‑comment threads where the original poster is likely to read your reply.
Tool: Wappkit Reddit
I built a tool that filters posts by comment count across multiple subreddits simultaneously.
Daily Workflow
- Set filters:
< 10 comments+ relevant keywords - Scan: 5 subreddits at once
- Export: List of threads worth engaging
- Engage: 10‑15 threads
- Time required: ~15‑20 minutes
The UI is rough, but it saves 2+ hours of manual scrolling each day.
Best Practices
- Pick 3‑5 subreddits maximum. Go deep instead of wide.
- Learn the culture: inside jokes, what gets upvoted vs. buried.
- Never mention your product in the first month. Build reputation first.
- Let users discover you: Best conversions happen when people click your profile out of curiosity and reach out themselves.
- Be patient: Successful Reddit presences often start 6+ months before results appear.
Comparison Summary
| Approach | Spend | Time Investment | Customers (3 mo) | CPA | LTV | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reddit Ads | $3,200 | Minimal | 4 | $800 | $150 | -86 % |
| Organic Reddit | $0 | ~45 h | 12 | $0 | $200 | Positive |
Conclusion
Reddit ads can work for retargeting warm audiences, brand awareness at scale, or quick messaging tests. However, for cold customer acquisition, organic engagement consistently outperforms paid ads on this platform.
What’s your experience with Reddit marketing? I’m curious what’s working for others—drop a comment below.