Reddit Marketing Strategy: How to Successfully Market on Reddit
With over 430 million monthly active users, Reddit is one of the most influential online platforms and communities in the world. Effectively using Reddit for marketing can drive tremendous value for businesses through increased brand awareness, website traffic, lead generation, and more.
However, marketing on Reddit requires an authentic approach that aligns with Reddit’s culture and norms. Blindly spamming products or services will backfire.
This guide will explain how to develop an effective Reddit marketing strategy that taps into the platform’s high value while respecting the Reddit community.
How Does Reddit Work?
For the uninitiated, Reddit may seem chaotic.
But behind the madness is a methodical system that empowers the Reddit community to surface the most interesting and relevant content.
As one of the top 20 most visited sites worldwide, Reddit focuses on interests, not social connections.
Users can discuss and share anything that captures attention, from news and politics to niche hobbies.
The platform allows users to make a post with a title, content, and optional link.
Other users can then upvote or downvote posts. If a post gets enough upvotes fast enough, it may get moved to Reddit’s front page for maximum visibility.
Beyond broad topics, Reddit also consists of “subreddits”, which are like subforums focused on specific themes from r/technology to r/books to r/business.
There are over 2 million subreddits, so Reddit contains a digital community for virtually every interest.
Any user can create a subreddit around any topic, no matter how big or small the audience.
For example, over 418,000 users subscribe to r/Marketing, while r/UnderwaterBasketWeaving caters to a more niche crowd.
Each subreddit has its own policies, culture, and moderators
But they all leverage Reddit’s core functionality of posting content and upvoting based on interest.
Why Do Marketing on Reddit?
Reddit presents tremendous marketing potential, despite its lack of flashy profiles and influencers. Key advantages include:
Targeted Audience
Reddit automatically segments users based on their interests using subreddits.
There’s a subreddit for practically any interest, no matter how big or small. This means your business can easily find its target demographic somewhere on Reddit.
For example, a shoe brand like Allbirds would want to engage r/Sneakers and its 1.3 million members. A web hosting company like Bluehost could connect with r/Blogging’s over 500,000 users.
You can laser focus on exactly the people who would care about your product or service.
Brand Awareness
By participating in discussions and providing value, you can increase brand visibility and recognition on Reddit.
Comment on posts, answer questions, post helpful content, and position employees as experts.
This helps humanize your brand so Redditors see real people behind your business who want to be useful, not just make a quick buck.
Consider hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) to engage customers.
You can also create branded subreddits to cultivate communities around your brand, field support queries, and manage issues.
Get Feedback
Reddit communities will quickly call out disingenuous marketing tactics, but also provide honest feedback when asked constructively.
You can post surveys or questions to get raw, unfiltered opinions on things like new products, branding concepts, pricing models, etc.
This makes Reddit a goldmine for market research and intelligence.
Just be sure to use tact and align with community rules. Also, Reddit’s search isn’t very good, so use Google searches (site:reddit.com <keyword>) to find relevant Reddit threads, but our Reddit marketing tool does this for you.
Reputation Management
Keep tabs on your brand by searching Reddit and setting up alerts for your company name.
This allows you to respond to complaints, provide support, fix issues, and manage crises early before they spiral out of control.
How to Promote Your Business on Reddit
When using Reddit for marketing, the key is providing value, not making sales pitches. Build relationships and trust before ever mentioning your product. Tactics include:
Paid Reddit Ads
Reddit ads follow users across devices and let you target both by interests and specific subreddits. Promoted posts appear in feeds like organic content. Costs are based on impressions or clicks.
Write a Post About Your Product
Create an honest, helpful post explaining what your product is and how it can add value. Focus on how it solves problems. Then post it in an appropriate subreddit.
Reply to Related Comments
Search for Reddit comments related to your industry using tools like SocialRanker. Provide thoughtful, non-promotional answers to questions and issues. Slowly establish expertise.
Host Contests or Giveaways
Offer free products or gift cards in exchange for upvotes, shares, etc. Increase brand visibility while rewarding loyal community members.
Host an AMA
Let Redditors directly Ask Me Anything to key figures from your business. Respond to questions transparently to build trust and rapport.
What Marketing Tactics to Avoid on Reddit
While the above tactics can work, other approaches will almost certainly backfire. Steer clear of:
Spamming Promotions
Never directly pitch products out of context or post affiliate links randomly. This is a surefire way to get banned and destroy your brand’s reputation.
Fake Accounts
Creating multiple accounts to manipulate votes or spam is strictly prohibited. Authenticity is paramount on Reddit.
Blatant Shilling
Redditors will revolt against shameless self-promotion attempts, like discussing how “great” your product is without context.
In other words, don’t pull a Woody Harrelson. The actor’s AMA to promote Rampart failed spectacularly when he ignored community questions and focused single-mindedly on the film.
How to Measure Reddit Marketing Success
Tracking key metrics will reveal how your Reddit efforts perform over time. Useful indicators include:
Post Upvotes
Upvotes indicate people found your content valuable. Consistently well-performing posts mean you’re providing value.
Comments
Replies suggest you’re driving engagement and relationships. Quality discussions are positive signs.
Follower Growth
If your brand’s subreddit gains followers, you’re establishing a community.
Traffic
Measure site traffic driven from Reddit using UTMs or link click tracking through tools like Dub.co. Rising visits over time signal improving exposure.
By monitoring these metrics, you can refine your Reddit approach to maximize results. Just remember — quality over quantity.
Ready to use Reddit’s Marketing Potential?
While chaotic on the surface, Reddit provides a thriving platform to connect with engaged communities when approached constructively.
The key is providing value through helpful content and discussions instead of aggressive self-promotion. By respecting Reddit’s culture, you can drive brand awareness, feedback, traffic, and other marketing wins.
So consider developing an authentic Reddit marketing strategy tailored to your brand’s audience and goals. The rewards of tapping into Reddit’s influential reach could be tremendous.
