Known as the “front page of the internet”, Reddit is a social news aggregation website that allows users to submit and vote on content. While Reddit is a social media platform that is often overlooked by businesses, it is a promising channel to reach audiences, especially niche communities. With over 330 million monthly active users, Reddit digital marketing opens numerous opportunities for marketers and professionals looking to engage customers.
In this article, we will discuss how to get more traffic and engagement from Reddit. We will cover topics such as what makes Reddit different, the different types of marketing on Reddit, how to post content that resonates with customers and using the appropriate tools to measure your success.
What Makes Reddit Different
Similar to other social media platforms in that it has its own community and culture, there are some key differences that make Reddit marketing a unique challenge.
One of the most significant differences between Reddit and other social media platforms is that submissions are ranked by votes. On Reddit, there are two types of votes: upvotes and downvotes, which indicate real-time responses from actual users.
While this means that the most popular submissions will be at the top of the page, less popular submissions will be further down. This can make marketing on Reddit a challenge because ideally, having your submission up to the front page or subreddit is the goal.
In combination, the voting system helps calculate user karma, which indicates how other users perceive the overall value added by your posts and comments. A high karma often indicates a profile’s trustworthiness.
Unlike other social media platforms, Reddit also does not require real names, photos, and so on. With this, Reddit doesn’t always have the same immediate access to information such as the appearance, education level, or other information which can be relevant to targeting customers.
3 Types of Marketing You Can Do on Reddit
Although there are many unique challenges to Reddit digital marketing, it’s not impossible. Here are some types of marketing you can do on Reddit today.
Content Marketing
Because Redditors are resistant to self-promotion, some of the most effective ways to reach its users is through content marketing. With this, you can create more casual approaches to mentioning your brand name and services.
For example, you can respond to posts which are seeking more information about your business in a way that is based from personal experiences of your users. Then, you can link out to your business website or social media pages to drive traffic back to your owned channels.
Public Relations
While blatant self-promotion can be off-putting for many Redditors, there are plenty of subreddits dedicated to these practices. For example, freelancers and small business owners can promote their services on various job subreddits.
Aside from this, brand representatives and professionals can also host AMA’s or Ask Me Anything posts, wherein users can ask burning questions about their work, company, or services anonymously. With this, you can have a dedicated person from your team answer posts on behalf of the brand in a controlled manner.
Sponsored Content
If you’re keen on selling the usual away, using native ads on the platform is a great way for brands to build an audience on Reddit. Unlike normal posting, sponsored content rules don’t apply here, and it’s alright to be promotional or sales-y when using ads.
On Reddit, digital marketers have the option to pay based on CPM or impressions. While you can bid at $0.20, the minimum amount needed to advertise on Reddit is $5 a day. Aside from this, marketers should also expect to wait up to 24 hours before an ad is released.
How to Post Content Which Resonates With Reddit Users
There is no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy for Reddit. The platform caters to a wide variety of interests, and each subreddit has its own unique culture. However, here are some tips you can follow to create content that resonates with Reddit users.
Community-Based Strategies
To create an effective marketing strategy, you need to first understand the communities that you want to target. What are their interests? What kind of content do they engage with? Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can start creating content that resonates with them.
Depending on the moderation standards, there are variations in terms of what admins or “mods” tolerate from their community. If you attempt to promote your content too aggressively, you will likely get downvoted and banned from subreddits.
Quality Over Quantity
When posting on Reddit, it is important to remember that quality trumps quantity. It is better to post a few high-quality pieces of content than to spam the platform with low-quality content. In addition to creating quality content, you also need to make sure that you are promoting your content in the right way.
To many Redditors, authenticity matters. In some cases, they can even go so far as to search your posting history to see if you’re a legitimate poster, a bot, or a troll. Building credibility on Reddit requires time to create a legitimate profile, achieve high karma, and making sure that you stay clear of sounding like a paid advertisement (unless it’s a sponsored ad).
Sustain the Conversation
Reddit marketing can be extremely effective, but only if you do it right. One of the most essential aspects of successful Reddit marketing is engagement. This means that you need to not only post quality content, but also participate in the comments section and continue the conversation.
When engagement for a particular post has gone down, you may also want to consider cross-posting to other related subreddits as well. However, don’t forget to check them first to avoid posting things which are against their community rules.
The Best Tools for Measuring Reddit Marketing Success
As with any marketing channel, it is important to measure your success. Aside from the obvious reactions using the voting buttons, there are a number of different tools that you can use to measure Reddit marketing success, including:
- Google Analytics
- Social Media Analytics Tools (e.g. Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Cyfe)
- Reddit Insights
Each of these tools provides different insights into how your content is performing on Reddit. By using a combination of these tools, you can get a good understanding of how your Reddit digital marketing strategy is working.
Why Reddit Digital Marketing Is a Big Opportunity for Businesses
Reddit is a great platform for marketing because it allows you to reach a wide audience of people who are interested in your products or services. It also gives you the opportunity to build authentic relationships with potential customers.
If you want your content to resonate with users, you need to understand the platform’s culture and Reddit guidelines for self-promotion. Reddit is a community of people who love to learn and share new information. They are also very skeptical of marketing tactics. As a marketer, it is important that you don’t come across as pushy or sales-y.
The best way to avoid this is to create helpful and informative content. Write about topics that you are passionate about and that you know your target audience will find interesting. If you can provide value to Reddit users, they will be more likely to engage with your content and become paying customers.