Keyword Targeting

Keyword targeting serves your ad to people who recently engaged with posts or comments containing specific words or phrases you set.

You supply the keywords and phrases, and Reddit matches your ad to users active in conversations using them, which puts you in front of stated intent instead of guessed interest. You can also add negative keywords to keep your ad out of threads you do not want. It works like search intent, but inside Reddit's discussions.

Say you sell a project management tool. You target phrases like "Jira alternative" and "managing remote teams," so your ad reaches people already debating exactly that problem. The intent is fresh and specific, and those clicks tend to convert better than a broad interest audience because the person just told you what they need.

Keywords catch context, not always intent. Someone using "Jira alternative" might be defending it, not shopping for one, so pair keywords with negatives and relevant communities to filter out the noise. Read the room the words came from.

The words tell you what they are thinking. Listen closely.