What you need to know to start your campaign, why it’s important, and some helpful tips to improve your campaign results.
With over five years of experience with social media advertising for higher education, we’ve built a deep picture of what motivates students to respond to content when they are looking for higher education.
This allows us to target the right students on Reddit & Quora, helping match them with schools that best fit their goals.
Your creative choices are important — clients who follow our recommendations often reach the top end of our performance benchmarks, even if they are not so well known in target markets. That’s why we’ve shared some additional best practice below the creative requirements.
Here is what we need from you, why it’s important, and some helpful tips to improve your campaign results.
Creative Requirements
Visual Requirements:
The main go to content format for Reddit & Quora is image. Submit at least one image (maximum of three) in either of the below formats:
- 1.91:1 or 16:9
- File Size Limit: 2 MB
Video ads are rare on these platforms, but are supported. If provided, these should meet the following criteria:
- Length: 15-30 seconds
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (landscape only).
- Subtitles: Add subtitles if using a video asset as the audio is muted by default
Reddit & Quora’s ad policies share many similarities to those on Meta & TikTok, so please avoid using text on images that mention or imply:
- Promises Guaranteed Success / Unrealistic Outcomes
(Keywords around “Success”, overpromising), - Bad Practice of Business
(Keywords around “Future”, scammy feeling), - Personal Healthcare / Inappropriate / Exposing content
(implying negative self-perception, adult/nudity), - Discriminatory Practices or Not Diverse overall Content
(the creative communicates discrimination or showcase only one specific group of people) - Ads around Employment
(Keywords around: Career, work, guaranteed placement opportunities, Visas etc) - Housing (or Facilities)
- Financial Products (credit, loans, Crypto, Blockchain)
- Social Issues, elections or politics
(political opinions, minorities + overloaded communication, environmental topics, alternative ways of governance etc).
These types of text can trigger Reddit & Quora’s AI moderation, which may delay your ad launch or result in suspension, disrupting your campaign.
Copy Requirements:
Users on these platforms prefer authentic, conversational messaging that avoid marketing buzzwords and the ‘hard-sell’.
Our expert Ad Operations team will repurpose the ad copy provided for your Meta campaign, delivering your message in a tone and format that suits Reddit & Quora.
Landing Page:
We will use your Educations.com Listing Page. This way we ensure all policies and best practices are followed. Reddit & Quora don’t offer ‘Partner’ Ads like Meta or Spark Ads like TikTok due to the authentic community-driven nature of their platforms, where user trust and organic engagement are prioritized over influencer-style branded content.
Note on Competing Ads:
Make sure not to run identical creative and targeting simultaneously as Keystone's campaigns on your own Reddit and Quora accounts. Overlap could create audience fatigue and make the Keystone campaign seem like spam, reducing its effectiveness.
Best Practice for Reddit & Quora Ads
When it comes to running successful Reddit & Quora Ads, following best practices can make all the difference in achieving impactful results. Whether you’re promoting a university or specific programs, understanding how to create engaging content and effectively target the right audience is key. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the essential strategies and tips for designing compelling Reddit & Quora Ads that not only capture attention but also drive meaningful conversions. From optimizing visuals and copy to refining your targeting, these best practices will help you maximize your ad performance and reach the students who are searching for educational opportunities.
Visuals:
- Avoid low-resolution, dark, or heavily filtered images. Use clean, uncluttered visuals instead with no text overlays instead
- Avoid generic or commercial imagery: Make it personal. Images that reflect campus life, classroom moments, or a fun student lifestyle resonate best. Relevant illustrations or graphics can really help too.
- Branding matters: Include your school’s name or logo in all creatives. Where possible, add the program name or other key details to reinforce your message.
- Highlight program titles: Including the program title on images can improve performance, especially for program-specific ads.
- If providing video, ensure subtitles are added to videos. Many students prefer watching without sound and these aren’t auto generated like on other platforms, so these will need to be added manually.
- Make the first three seconds of the video count: Eye-catching and engaging starts give you the best chance to capture attention in this critical three second attention window. Avoid abrupt edits or loud intros.
- Keep the video short! We can publish videos that are up to 120 seconds or less, but the recommended sweet spot for these platforms is around 15-60 seconds.
Targeting That Fits
Targeting the right audience is essential, and we handle most of the targeting for you. However, there are some things you can do to make your campaign even more effective.
University vs. Program Promotion:
If you’re promoting your university overall, focus on what sets your university apart, such as: rankings, global reach, or unique student experiences. Pair with a clean campus image and a headline that sparks curiosity (e.g. “What makes [University] different from others?”).
For program-specific campaigns, speak directly to the student’s interest. Use imagery and copy tailored to a specific field to increase relevance.
Avoid mixing unrelated programs in one ad, focused messaging performs better. If you want to feature multiple programs, ensure they are within the same field of study.
Geographic Targeting:
If you’re looking for a balanced geographic distribution of students, try to target countries within the same economic tier / purchase power. Also, consider how your creatives might be perceived by students from different cultures.
Please note that Reddit & Quora prohibit from targeting certain countries.
- China
- Iran
- North Korea
- Syria
- Cuba
- Sudan
- Crimea Region
- Russia
By following these guidelines and best practices, you'll be well-equipped to create effective, high-performing campaigns that resonate with your target audience. Our team is here to support you throughout the process, ensuring your Reddit & Quora ads deliver the results you’re looking for. Let’s collaborate to connect students with the educational opportunities they’re seeking.