Reddit launches Max campaigns beta for AI-powered ad performance

New Delhi: Reddit has rolled out a beta of “Max campaigns”, an automated campaign type aimed at improving ad performance while providing new creative and audience insights through AI and Reddit Community Intelligence.

The company said Max campaigns are enabled by AI that predicts the value of every ad impression and optimises campaign settings in real time. 

Reddit said the product is designed to reduce manual effort for advertisers by automating targeting, creative selection and rotation, placements and budget allocation, while still allowing advertisers to apply their own strategic inputs. 

Reddit said it has been alpha testing Max campaigns with over 600 testers across various verticals and business sizes. 

In one case study cited by the company, Brooks Running saw a 37% decrease in cost per click and 27% more clicks during a 21-day Max campaign promoting the launch of its Ghost 17 shoe, without making manual changes during the campaign.

Across split tests comparing Max campaigns to advertisers’ “business-as-usual” campaigns, early testers saw 17% lower CPA and 27% more conversions on average, Reddit said. 

Alongside performance optimisation, Reddit said Max campaigns can also generate “Reddit-ready” creative assets. The platform is introducing headline suggestions that use trending “Redditor lingo”, and thumbnail generation that converts existing images to fit Reddit’s conversation placement format. Reddit also said AI-based video cropping is planned “soon” to make it easier to import videos from other platforms.

A key new reporting feature under Max campaigns is “Top Audience Personas”. Reddit said the tool uses AI to cluster campaign audiences into personas and show which personas are viewing and interacting most with a campaign, along with what those personas are interested in at the moment.

“Max campaigns quickly became one of our most efficient levers for acquiring new customers efficiently on the platform,” said Alexandra Mota, Performance Marketing Manager at Cozey. “We saw stronger ROAS and lower CPA without needing to constantly rebuild audiences or tweak optimisations.”

Jyoti Vaidee, VP of Ads Product at Reddit, said, “Max campaigns empower advertisers to launch high-performing ads in the right places on Reddit, while giving them insight into the audiences.” they’re reaching. We’re not just making ad management faster – we’re making it smarter and tailored to our community.”

Reddit said the Max campaigns beta is being launched this week for traffic and conversion campaigns to select advertisers, with broader access planned over the coming months. It added that Top Audience Persona reporting for Max campaigns will roll out in the coming weeks.