Understanding how to market on Reddit is key to capturing some of the most active online participants available. That means they likely know their way around online and (assuming they have a solid ‘karma’ count on Reddit), corresponding credibility on the highly trafficked platform.
What is this ‘karma’ and is this really a place for brands? We’ll get to that (karma), and – yes, if you’re ready to invest some time and follow the rules!
How Reddit is Different
Reddit is not like other social sites. It’s not a place where people go to share updates with friends about their lives, nor is it where one posts pretty pictures of their feet in the sand during vacation.
It’s a place for users to post, comment and vote on a variety of interests – and those interests can span everything imaginable. To quote the site itself: “Reddit is home to thousands of communities, endless conversation, and authentic human connection. Whether you’re into breaking news, sports, TV fan theories, or a never-ending stream of the internet’s cutest animals, there’s a community on Reddit for you.”
“Redditors accrue ‘karma’ when they participate on Reddit. Karma is a score that increases as a redditor performs certain actions, such as posting and commenting. When a redditor‘s posts or comments get upvoted, they also accrue karma.”
And – very important – everyone is anonymous. And be sure to not confuse that with private – as everything you do there – every comment, post and vote is public on your profile, it’s just that no one knows who you are.
Your profile page is probably unlike anything you’re used to. And it can be both disconcerting and confusing to navigate initially, particularly if you’re a brand!
Understanding Subreddits – The Key to Everything
Subreddits are collections of conversations around a particular focus or topic, and you’ll be hard-pressed to NOT find many that apply to your category.
“All subreddits have their own personalities and rules (right-hand side of the page). You’ll be successful if you engage within these rules and spend some time familiarizing yourself with the community.”
Or, more accurately, for our purposes – you use social analytics to find conversations happening around your brand and then locate applicable subreddits to explore (a list that is far too long to screenshot here).
But, for example – pretend you’re a makeup brand, and while sifting through the hashtags coming up related to your category, you realize there’s an untapped skincare market to consider.
So, you search on Reddit (scrolling through the link above) and find the “Skincare Addiction” subreddit with 928k members.
Time to start reading and interacting!
How does this help you? If you’re super helpful with comments, thoughts and insight around topics, people will click on your profile to see who you are. Brand awareness achieved! Do this often, and in relevant, informational ways, and you’ll be creating valuable touchpoints that lead to conversions.
“Start conversations and see the wisdom of your crowd using Reddit’s one-of-a-kind commenting system push the best, most interesting commentary to the top.”
And be sure your profile is filled out with your company avatar and header image before you start interacting. And remember – can’t stress this enough: It’s very important to be transparent.
Marketing Bonus: While interacting as your transparent self, you’ll come in contact with Reddit influencers, folks with whom you’ll want to establish a rapport with and win over to advocate for your brand, when possible. We have a Reddit Marketing Report coming out soon that will detail the many ways to do this – be sure to check back for it!
But back to your brand and it’s place in the Reddit ecosphere . . .
Brands on Reddit
Reddit offers detailed guidelines for brands to create business profiles. As hinted at in the previous section, the way you interact as a brand – and with influencers – is very different from anywhere else.
Reddiquette is taken very seriously there. And if you try to be slick and pose as a person while promoting something, you’ll be sniffed out – you can count on that.
Reddit has been known to even ban news sites that run afoul and try to use the platform to their benefit.
But wait – isn’t that what you’ll be doing?
Not if you want to be successful on Reddit, it isn’t! You need to go on there with the mindset of wanting to contribute to niche communities and gather lots of exceptional intel along the way. If you can walk that fine line and be more informational than promotional, you’ll do well.
Why Bother?
Reddit is touted as “the front page of the internet” and for good reason:
It offers brands willing to follow its rules access to millions of monthly users – highly engaged users.
Ultimately, each brand needs to decide for itself whether or not Reddit is worth the effort, but with solid social intelligence informing that decision, you’ll be in good hands online either way – even if you don’t adopt a Snoo of your own!
Contact us for a demo and we’ll help you decide whether or not a Snoo is a good fit for you!
