How do promoted posts work, and how are they targeted?

Reddit's promoted posts are the primary advertising format on the platform, operating through an auction-based system managed via the Reddit Ads Manager self-serve dashboard. When an advertiser creates a promoted post, it looks superficially like an ordinary Reddit post — it has a title, optional body content or media, and appears in a feed — but it is labeled with a small "Promoted" tag that distinguishes it from organic content. Users can upvote or downvote promoted posts and comment on them, which creates an interactive layer that most other advertising formats lack and that makes Reddit ads distinct from display advertising on other platforms. The targeting options available to advertisers are one of Reddit's most powerful and specific features. Community targeting allows ads to appear within specific subreddits, making it possible to reach precisely the audience that self-selects into niche interest communities. Interest targeting uses Reddit's categorization of user behavior across subreddits to reach people with demonstrated affinities for categories like technology, fitness, gaming, finance, or parenting. Keyword targeting reaches users based on terms they have searched or engaged with in posts and comments, which closely parallels search advertising in its ability to capture active research behavior. Advertisers can also retarget users who have visited their website via a Reddit Pixel, and create lookalike audiences based on existing customer or website visitor lists. On the cost side, Reddit uses a bidding model with options for cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM), cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-view (CPV) for video content. Average CPMs tend to be lower than those on platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn, often falling between one and four dollars, though competitive categories push prices higher. The minimum daily budget is five dollars, making the platform accessible for small advertisers while scaling to enterprise campaigns. Placement options include the main feed, specific subreddit feeds, and conversation placement within comment threads, each suited to different campaign objectives and creative formats.