Reddit is a treasure trove of conversations relevant to businesses. It also offers paid advertising options.
Redditors generally hate marketing and there’s an entire subreddit dedicated to mocking tone-deaf companies. But if approached properly, it can be an effective way to connect with your audience.
Many brands, like beard care company Beardbrand, use Reddit as an extension of their customer support. They browse relevant subreddits to answer questions and post product recommendations.
1. Post original content
Reddit is made up of a variety of smaller communities called subreddits. Each one is dedicated to a specific subject and is moderated by moderators. Posting original content on these communities can help you build brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
However, it’s important to note that Reddit users don’t take well to overly-promotional content. In fact, doing so can get your account banned from the site altogether.
To avoid this, be sure to post questions that are relevant to the community and don’t sound like a sales pitch. For example, a fashion company can ask about the latest trends in clothing and fashion without mentioning their products directly. Then, they can use the answers to inform their product development and marketing strategy.
2. Engage with other users
Reddit users are a skeptical bunch and will be quick to spot marketing tactics. It’s important to follow etiquette and be transparent with your intentions.
Create content that adds value to your audience. This can include how-to articles, AMAs, viral trends and memes, inspirational stories, or contests.
It’s also important to check in on your Reddit account daily and participate in discussions. This includes upvoting and commenting on relevant posts.
To maximize visibility, use tools like Semrush to find which keywords certain subreddits rank for. Posting in these communities can help you reach more of your target audience organically.
3. Promote your content
Reddit users don’t tolerate aggressive marketing, and they’ll quickly block you from the platform if you post spammy content. Instead, focus on creating relevant content that will bring value to the community and encourage them to engage with it.
Identify the most popular subreddits in your industry and create content that aligns with them. For example, if your audience is interested in design, post helpful tips or host an AMA in the r/design subreddit.
Reddit offers several takeover advertising packages that allow you to promote posts on specific subreddits, categories, and other sections of the site. Promoted posts are marked as such with an icon and appear above non-promoted posts. This approach helps you build brand awareness and reach without overwhelming your audience with ads.
4. Create ads
To create a paid advertising campaign on Reddit, start by identifying your objective. This may be traffic or brand awareness, for example. Then set your budget and schedule. You can select a daily or lifetime budget, as well as your bid. Reddit ads work on a second-price auction model, so your actual number of impressions will depend on your targeting and Reddit traffic. You can also add third-party trackers to measure the performance of your campaign.
Once you’ve selected your target audience and budget, choose an ad type. You can use a link ad to direct viewers to your site or product landing page, or a text ad that opens in the conversation on a post. You can also decide whether to enable comments on your ad. This is an effective method to get users to your reddit accounts shop.
5. Set up a calendar
Like any social media platform, you should have a content calendar to keep things organized. This will help you manage your efforts and ensure that you are posting enough content. It will also help you stay on top of your campaign goals and metrics.
Reddit is a community-driven website that requires patience and consistency when it comes to marketing. This is particularly true if you want to be successful on the site and attract customers.
It is important to remember that Reddit users are not averse to marketing, but they can be suspicious of marketers that are pushy or deceitful. For this reason, it is essential to engage in a thoughtful dialogue with other Reddit users and make sure your advertising efforts are transparent.