Reddit –Love it or hate it, you cannot ignore it.
Very truly, Reddit was there even before the social media explosion took the digital marketing space by storm. Still going strong with over 330 million users and 1.5 million active communities, Reddit prides itself in attracting 18 billion monthly views.
One of the strongest elements that drives Reddit’s success is the user-generated content that it hosts. Now, people who eat, drink and sleep digital marketing know that Reddit as a user-generated content-driven website is a gold mine for driving traffic, improving brand authority, and also widening your customer base by reaching out to niche audiences.
Why Your Business Needs to Be on Reddit
Reddit, founded in 2005, was one of the earliest social communities to hit the digital marketing space. It was built with the purpose of offering a common platform for like-minded individuals and businesses, to use to their advantage – expand reach, share thoughts, give suggestions and even ask questions. In addition, Reddit also empowers users to validate their ideas by seeking votes (upvote/downvote).
Trivia: There are more than 58 million votes cast on Reddit every single day!
It has indeed been a fantastic transformation of a ‘friendly’ hangout platform evolving into one of the web’s most influential properties, where every news headline is discussed, trends are set and memes are born. If your business is not on Reddit, you are definitely missing out on a lot of action.
5 Proven Tips to Create a Winning Digital Marketing Strategy with Reddit
Now that you are on Reddit, get ready to amp up your digital marketing game for beating the competition in 2019. Here are 5 proven tips to create a winning strategy on Reddit.
1. Know your Content Marketing Goal First
One of the foremost winning tactics in Reddit is to harness the power of the community to gain popularity for your post/ business and ensure it makes it to the front page. And in Reddit, this is possible only when you manage to garner maximum upvotes.
But at the same time, it is equally important to identify the right and the most apt topics for your business in categories known as ‘subreddits’. Subreddits can well be defined as the backbone of the Reddit community and if harnessed well, can reap big rewards for your brand.
For instance, if your business is a start-up and is looking to standout in the community of other start-up enthusiasts or investors discussing funding, you may consider joining subreddits like r/start-ups, or join discussions on various facets of entrepreneurship as in hugely popular subreddits like r/entrepreneur.
Pro tip: Consider joining a mix of subreddits from the immensely popular and active ones to smaller yet targeted subreddit communities that attract a high volume of users who would actually be interested in your content.
2. FOCUS on Engaging to Help – Not Promote
Marketing and advertising are something that is totally hated and shunned by the Reddit community. While you might be overwhelmed with the idea of engaging in multiple subreddits and reaching out to new audiences, keep to the platform etiquettes and guidelines. Any spammy misadventure can be costly, even leading to a ban of your business and domain. First and foremost, concentrate on helping people solve their problems with your expertise, knowledge and services.
Pro tip: Be sure not to be overly promotional to avoid being flagged for suspicious content. Never post the same comment on multiple subreddits, never ask for upvotes (strictly no-no) or share links that are not your own.
3. Help like an Expert, Talk like an Industry Leader
Like any other social media platform, Reddit too loves Influencers. One of your key digital marketing strategies for 2019 here could be to market yourself as an industry leader. Be responsive and active in the subreddits your business subscribes to, and use your industry experience and expertise to your advantage to address the queries posted in the community discussions. Remember, it is your intent rather than your business or service that is going to make an impact on people.
Pro tip: When posting content on Reddit, keep in mind what Reditters would expect from you as an industry expert. If you’re a mobile app development company that sells mobile applications for simplifying the ways people do business, be it banking, healthcare or real estate; write a post that will help your followers in making profitable business decisions.
4. Hang in There and Interact to Build Trust
Reddit is considered to be a very close-knit community, and your brand relevance and authority can only be built if you invest time in engaging with the community. Post questions, answer queries and respond to comments on your posts or the feedback/suggestions you have shared.
Pro tip: If your post has managed to generate some buzz, do not watch and enjoy in silence – Reciprocate the love. People love to know that there is a ‘human’ behind the post, even if it is a brand account.
5. Know Your Audience, and Create Content Accordingly
Knowing your audience is the key to digital marketing success and it is no different when formulating marketing strategies for Reddit. Understanding the demographics by location, age, gender and browsing behaviour, etc. can help you understand the target audience and create the perfect content strategy for your business. You will better know what content to post, if you know that:
- 71% of new Reddit users are male
- 59% of new users are aged between 18 to 29.
- 47% of Reddit users (including 21% from US) are always online
Pro tip: Creating content that is lapped up is critical, considering you have to compete with 11 million monthly post submissions, including 5 million minutes of videos viewed daily.
Over to you…
Make Reddit an indispensable part of your digital marketing strategy. If you make the right moves, you can hit your target users and build a lasting relationship with people on the platform. Are you game for it?
