Reddit just quietly leveled up in the ad world, and Jay Schwedelson is fired up about it. After years of sending people off-platform, Reddit now lets advertisers run lead gen ads directly inside the app, which means smoother conversions and cheaper cost per acquisition. Jay breaks down why that shift matters, plus wanders into the wild world of prediction markets (yes, people are betting on Taylor Swift’s engagement timeline) and a guilty-pleasure TV recommendation that you probably didn’t see coming.
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Best Moments:
(01:00) Why Reddit’s new lead gen ads are such a game changer for marketers
(02:33) The hidden cost of sending users off-platform with your ads
(03:15) How to keep cost per acquisition under $10 with smart ad placement
(04:00) A $12,000 bet on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce that turned into $50,000
(05:15) Peacock joining Amazon Prime and why Jay is irrationally excited about it
(05:30) The “Plastic Surgery Rewind” show Jay can’t stop watching, even though it’s awful
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Transcript
Jay Schwedelson: We are back for what's up this week from the do this not that podcast presented by Marigold. And we got rid of this format for a few weeks 'cause we were trying to see, hey, should we be releasing so many episodes or whatever. And so we got rid of what's up this week. But, uh, nice of many of you to reach out and say, that's like your favorite episode.
Jay Schwedelson: So we're bringing it back. I don't know how long we're gonna bring it. But here we are. We're doing it. This is where we share what's going on on the planet with marketing and business and and life. Weird pop culture stuff. So what is going on? First thing we gotta talk about is Reddit. Okay? Reddit's having a moment.
Jay Schwedelson: Everybody's talking about Reddit, but forget about having a moment. Reddit ads are having a moment. Okay, now why are Reddit ads having a moment? Because just in the last three weeks. Reddit released lead gen ads. What does that mean? So, in the past, 'cause my agency, we do a lot of demand gen, we've been running ads on Reddit for a long time.
Jay Schwedelson: Um, the issue on Reddit was that if you wanna run an ad there in a sub Reddit or target, whatever. You would run your ad and then you would, somebody would click on the ad and they would've to leave platform and check out whatever it is that was being promoted. Uh, unlike on Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn and the other platforms where you could run ads on those platforms.
Jay Schwedelson: And let's say you was a newsletter ad that you saw, you click on it, it says register. You could register right there and not leave. You know, the Instagram reels ad that you saw or whatever. Reddit didn't have that. There was nothing that kept you on the platform where you could actually do a data capture.
Jay Schwedelson: But three weeks ago, Reddit finally released and now it's really circulating. Lead gen ads. So now on Reddit you can do this amazing targeting. You can run ads on there pretty inexpensively, where uh, you can actually have the form right there on Reddit. Somebody could fill out the form and you can get the lead, the whatever.
Jay Schwedelson: Now, this is fantastic. I'm gonna tell you why. In general, when you run any kind of paid social media ad, I don't care if it's for a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand dollars, whether it's on Instagram, Facebook. Now, Reddit, uh, LinkedIn, you name it. What you always want to think about is that you do not wanna run an ad taking them off platform.
Jay Schwedelson: Meaning that if it's something we're trying to get somebody who register for a webinar, uh, get a a deal on a consumer product, uh, sign up for a newsletter, sign up for information about an event that you're doing, whatever it is. A content download. You don't wanna say, click here and have them go to a website.
Jay Schwedelson: You want them to do a data capture right there. A little form on the platform. Why? Because there's nothing more annoying on planet Earth that when you're on social media scrolling through it, you see an ad, you're like, oh, I'm into that. You click, yeah, I'm into that, and then it takes you off. Platform because it disrupts what you're doing.
Jay Schwedelson: You're like, screw that, I don't wanna do it. And by the way, that's when cost per acquisition goes into the stratosphere because it doesn't happen. Your cost per acquisition's incredibly low. I'm talking about under $10 usually. Uh, if it's a non something, you're not trying to actually sell. If it's some sort of free thing, a discount code, free guide, whatever, it's gonna be under $10 acquisition, cost per acquisition, uh, on all those platforms, if you keep them on platform.
Jay Schwedelson: And now that Reddit has this. I think everybody should really be looking at testing the lead gen ads on Reddit, so that's a really cool, new, big, exciting update. Uh, I mean the thing that took over planet, you know, earth last week was that obviously, uh, Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift got engaged, whatever.
Jay Schwedelson: But the thing that really showed me that humanity is, is really in trouble was that there's something called poly market. Poly market is this platform that's built on like blockchain or whatever, and it's this prediction market. It's really a betting market where you can go on there and you can bet on random.
hat they would get engaged in:Jay Schwedelson: First of all, that seemed like a very good bet. I mean, I feel like that was going to happen too, but I still would not have put my own $12,000 on this nonsense. I mean, total, I mean, you can go on there and bet who's gonna win the uh, best Oscar. They have a bet on there right now. About how many tweets or exes, whatever you call 'em, that Elon Musk will put out next week.
Jay Schwedelson: I mean, who's putting their money on this? What is actually going on on the planet? I don't understand. Um, and then the other useless news that I don't think it's useless peacock, you know, from NBC Peacock is coming to Amazon Prime. This is exciting to me. Why? Because I have No Life and on Peacock is some of the best reality shows, and now these reality shows are gonna be that much more available on Amazon Prime.
Jay Schwedelson: Um, one of the reality shows I'm watching right now, which is actually probably one of the worst shows of all time, but you should absolutely watch it, it's called Plastic Surgery Rewind. Yes, so they have Dr. Dubrow, so that's the guy from Botched. Okay. He's the plastic surgeon. He's on there with some other people.
Jay Schwedelson: And these famous people go on there that have had ridiculous plastic surgery, outrageous plastic surgery, and they go on there and they reverse their plastic surgery. This is a great and terrible show all at the same time. And now, and it's on Peacock, so that means it's gonna be on Amazon Prime, which is very, very, very exciting for me because I have no life.
Jay Schwedelson: Right? Yes. You agree. I'm so sorry. You agree. Anyway, I appreciate you being here. Leave this thing a review. I'm scared if you leave it a review. Now you're gonna leave a review. Be like, I thought this was a marketing podcast and I just learned about plastic surgery. Rewind. Well, I don't know what to tell you.
Jay Schwedelson: I also, I talked about Reddit. There's that. So whatever. Um, appreciate you. Check you later. Have a great week.