The news: Reddit wants more marketers to view it as a place to reach gaming audiences as it shifts its value proposition from traffic to user engagement.

The platform commissioned a TransUnion gaming marketing mix modeling (MMM) study that showed the effectiveness of ad placements targeting gamers in its more than 1,300 player-related communities. It found that gaming marketers deploying ads on Reddit:

• Earned an average ROAS of $8.58, which reflects 12% higher returns compared with paid social ads in aggregate.
• Increased the share of their ad spend on Reddit by 46% between 2023 and 2025, while decreasing the share of other paid social channels by 8% during the same period.

Why it matters: Reddit offers compelling data for marketers advertising to gamers on its platform. At the same time, the retrospective argument loses some of its power given that Reddit is poised to implement radical changes to its platform. Reddit will begin testing a logged-in only experience this year outside of the US as it fights AI search platforms diverting its traffic, and it plans to introduce more ad placements to monetize its audience.

Gamers could leave Reddit in droves if the platform becomes oversaturated with paid content. And if logins become required to access Reddit, gamers may feel more reason to pivot to other popular gaming community destinations like Discord.

Recommendations for marketers: Activate Reddit ads for their ability to reach a wide range of gamers, but don’t neglect other gaming channels.

• Seek out incremental gaming audiences on Reddit. Many of these communities are niche, and marketers shouldn’t assume they’re already reaching their members on other platforms.
• Compare gaming ad performance on Reddit with that of YouTube, Twitch, and Discord, and prepare for fluctuations as Reddit implements its plans for more ads and login requirements.
• Diversify gaming ad spend by activating channels beyond social media, such as programmatic mobile app networks.

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