Reddit lead gen ads: in-market audience and HubSpot integration

Reddit just linked its ads directly to HubSpot and started testing in-market audiences—and it's doing this on a platform that gained 4.5 million users in Italy in just one year. If you run B2B campaigns, this changes everything.

Is it really worth testing Reddit for your company's B2B lead generation?

It depends on your industry and audience: Reddit works well where buyers actively look for solutions and compare opinions, which is exactly the typical behavior of a B2B decision-maker.

Reddit is not about short videos or product photos. It is the place where professionals go to ask “what is the best warehouse management software?” or "Does anyone have experience with this provider?" . This makes it appealing for those selling to informed buyers.

The newly announced features—in-market audiences and HubSpot integration—lower two concrete barriers: finding the right people and not losing the leads you collect.

What did Reddit announce exactly and what does it mean in practice?

Reddit has launched two new features for lead generation: in-market audiences (groups of users already actively searching for a category) and direct integration with HubSpot to transfer collected leads to the CRM without manual steps.

The in-market audience These are user segments that Reddit identifies as actively interested in a category — for example, B2B software, financial services, industrial machinery. These aren't generic interests: Reddit builds them by analyzing search and community participation behaviors. For an ads manager, this means being able to reach people who are already considering a purchase, not those who might buy in the future.

The HubSpot integration It works like a direct bridge: when a user fills out a lead gen ad form on Reddit, their data automatically lands in HubSpot — in the contact list, sales pipeline, or nurturing workflow you've already set up. No CSV exports, no copy-pasting, no delays.

Reddit has also expanded partnerships with B2B data providers like Bombora, Demandbase, Clay, G2, and Octane 11 , which allow you to overlay external purchase intent data with the platform's native targeting.

How much has Reddit grown in Italy and why does this matter for campaigns?

Reddit reached 11.8 million users in Italy in December 2025, growing by 54.1% year-over-year: no other social network did better in our country over the same period.

Until two years ago, Reddit was seen as a niche social network, mostly used by tech geeks. Data AGCOM published in January 2026 they tell a different story: in September 2025 Reddit already had 11.2 million monthly unique visitors in Italy, up 54.1% compared to the previous year. In the same period, LinkedIn lost 7.3% of its users, and X lost 23.3%.

For an ads manager, this means that the pool of users reachable with campaigns has almost doubled in twelve months. And that the audience is no longer just tech: it includes professionals, managers, and business decision-makers who have moved to Reddit seeking more in-depth discussions than they find on other social platforms.

Globally, Reddit reported 126.8 million daily active users in Q1 2026 , with ad revenue growing 69% year-over-year. The platform is no longer an experiment: it is a mature advertising channel.

Who are the Reddit users you can reach with B2B campaigns?

Reddit users active in professional communities are often decision-makers or purchasing influencers looking for real opinions, not marketing content: reaching them at the right time is worth more than intercepting them on a general feed.

Reddit is organized into subreddit — thematic communities where users discuss specific topics. There are subreddits dedicated to management software, supply chain, corporate finance, digital marketing, and industrial sectors. Those who participate in these discussions do so to solve a real problem, not just to pass the time.

Reddit's in-market audiences identify these users and group them by category of active interest. For a company selling document management software, for example, this means being able to reach those who are discussing alternatives to current systems — not those who simply liked a post on the topic six months ago.

How the HubSpot integration works in practice: what changes for your team?

With the HubSpot integration active, every lead gathered on Reddit goes straight into the CRM and can automatically trigger follow-up emails, sales alerts, and segmentation: the time from click to first contact drops from hours to minutes.

Before this integration, the typical flow was: user fills out the form on Reddit → data ends up in a downloadable file from the platform → someone from the team exports it → imports it into HubSpot → assigns the lead to a salesperson. In the best-case scenario, a few hours passed. Often, days passed.

With the native integration, the transfer is automatic and immediate. The lead enters HubSpot the moment it's collected, with all fields already mapped. If you've already set up a nurturing workflow — for example, a welcome email sequence or a Slack notification to the sales rep — it starts automatically.

It is not an isolated novelty: Snapchat has also launched a similar integration with HubSpot in July 2026 . The direct social-to-CRM connection is becoming an industry standard, not a temporary competitive edge.

Three concrete scenarios: how does the situation change for an Italian company?

The impact depends on the industry and sales setup: here are three illustrative cases to understand where the benefit is greatest.

The numbers that follow are illustrative examples : they're just here to show how the math works, not real customer data.

Why are people talking about this now and not a year from now?

Reddit has reached a critical mass of users and ad revenue that makes it a serious channel: waiting means leaving the field to competitors who are already testing.

Reddit's global advertising revenue reached 2.1 billion dollars in 2025 , with 74% growth compared to the previous year. It's no longer an experimental platform: it's a mature advertising market, with advanced targeting tools and CRM integrations that until recently were the prerogative of Meta and LinkedIn.

In Italy, the advantage window is still open: most companies don't have active campaigns on Reddit yet. Those who start now can build benchmark data and optimize campaigns before competition drives up costs.

To understand how this fits into the broader picture of paid campaigns, it is also worth reading analysis of the Marketing and performance ADV cluster , where we gather the most important updates for Italian ads managers.

What tools and channels can you compare with Reddit for B2B lead gen?

Reddit doesn't replace LinkedIn or Google: it acts as a complementary channel, often with lower cost-per-lead on niche technical segments.

Choosing the right channel depends on your audience and budget. Here is a quick comparison to help you find your way, without made-up numbers: actual costs vary a lot by industry and setup.

How to actually get started: the steps to launch your first campaign?

It takes just five steps to set up a Reddit lead gen campaign connected to HubSpot: the technical part is easier than it seems, while the strategic part requires care when choosing your segment.

What are the most common mistakes to avoid on Reddit?

The main mistake is treating Reddit like a generalist social media platform: the platform has a specific culture and users recognize (and penalize) advertising content that doesn't respect the tone of the communities.

Reddit has a demanding community. Users are used to direct discussions, without marketing filters. An ad that sounds too promotional or doesn't bring real value is ignored — or worse, negatively commented on.

For lead gen campaigns, the most effective format is one that offers something concrete: a guide, a comparison, a useful fact. Not a generic product claim.

How to tell if the campaign is actually working?

Cost per lead is just the first metric: what really matters is lead quality and how fast it turns into a real sales opportunity.

A cheap lead that never qualifies is worse than an expensive lead that becomes a customer. With the HubSpot integration, you can track the entire journey—from ad click to closed deal—and see which Reddit segments actually bring value.

To learn more about how to automatically track leads on other channels too, check out the article on Google Site Kit and automatic lead tracking on WordPress offers a useful complement.

So, is it worth trying Reddit for your company's lead gen?

It is worth it if you have a B2B product or service with a buyer who actively searches for solutions online, you already use HubSpot as your CRM, and you want a complementary channel to LinkedIn with potentially lower costs.

A middle ground you have a mixed B2B/B2C audience or a product that doesn't have active communities on Reddit yet: it's worth testing with a limited budget before deciding.

Not yet if you sell impulse products, you don't have a structured CRM or you don't have resources to monitor ad comments: wait until you have the minimum operational setup.

How we see it at SHM

For us, the Reddit-HubSpot integration is an example of how technology should work: it doesn't add complexity, but it removes manual work and gives time back to the sales team. The value isn't in the tool itself, but in the fact that a lead collected at 10 PM can receive an automatic follow-up within minutes, without anyone having to stay awake exporting CSV files.

What we often see in Italian companies is a disconnection between the acquisition channel and the CRM: leads arrive, but they get lost in the transition. Before adding a new channel like Reddit, it makes sense to verify that the flow from click to commercial follow-up is already automated and measurable.

If you are figuring out how to set up lead gen campaigns on Reddit or how to connect your paid channels to your CRM, our service strategic AI integration and that of LinkedIn campaigns — which often works in synergy with Reddit for B2B — can be a starting point. For those who want to figure out how to optimize their presence on AI search engines alongside paid campaigns, the service SEO for AI completes the picture.

It is also worth keeping an eye on how other channels are evolving: the article on Conversational AI on Snapchat for lead generation shows a parallel trend, and the one on TikTok Ads and AI for campaigns completes the picture of emerging paid media channels.

Frequently Asked Questions

The channel matters less than the flow: a lead lost between the platform and the CRM is worth zero, no matter how much it cost to acquire.