Reddit.com: Using the "Front Page of the Internet" to Bolster Your Brand

Launched in 2005, reddit.com is a massive aggregation of social news that promotes discussion amongst its 330 million users. Success on Reddit is based on the users’ decision to “upvote” and “downvote” posts. Known as the “Front Page of the Internet,” Reddit is an incredible resource for all of your social marketing needs, IF you do it correctly. According to spinweb.com, “the close-knit community can turn on you like a pack of rapid wolverines if they get even a whiff of insincere marketing jargon from you or your post.” This means that your marketing strategies need to be a part of the discussion and not leading the discussion. Entering the world of Reddit may be a daunting task, but the following information will help your brand succeed.

First, your brand needs to be represented as a part of the community. Learning the lingo and posting dynamic content that Reddit users will find entertaining and engaging is no easy task, but with research, your brand can find it’s niche in the Reddit community. siegemedia.com asserts that to avoid direct marketing gone wrong, your marketing strategies should include breaking down your target audience by subreddits. Subreddits are individually managed discussion boards that are based on particular interests. There are currently over 1.1 million subreddits. Some of the most successful subreddits include /r/funny, /r/food, and /r/gadgets. There is literally a subreddit for any interest a person may have. Finding the perfect subreddit to post in requires knowledge of its individual climate and what power your brand can harness within it.

While you are finding the right subreddits to post in, it is important to know what to post and when to post it. contentfac.com lays out a set of important guidelines for promoting your brand through Reddit. By posting your content and links to Reddit between 1-7 a.m. (EST), your content will be readily available for Redditors checking in before their work shift begins. The contentfac.com article also makes it clear that not all of your traffic needs to be generated from unique posts. Making sure that your account is a part of ongoing conversations is an important way to build your authenticity and relevant. 

While Reddit users are predominantly U.S. males under the age of 35, this site is growing exponentially in international markets, as well as for individuals of all ages and gender. There are subreddits growing all over the place for all people. By introducing yourself to your target audience organically, you can harness the power of Reddit quickly. With an average of 11 million monthly Reddit post submissions, you can certainly find your niche. Like I mentioned before, it is important to understand the Reddit lingo if you want to fit in. Check out the infographic below from hoply.info to start learning this lingo and applying it to your posts today.

Just as important as knowing what to do on Reddit, it is important to know explicitly what not to do. digitalsummit.com makes it clear that your brand shouldn’t act like a marketer, ask for upvotes, and try to disguise your information as education. It is important that the content you are posting is useful to your audience. Focusing on advancing your brand will end up with a slew of downvotes and will ostracize your brand from Reddit users. Making sure that you are one of them and posting content for them and not at them will help you succeed on Reddit. 

One particularly helpful and unique hint for Reddit marketing that I found during my research for this blog comes from smartinsights.com. They state that Reddit marketers should add a link a few days after posting. Once you have posted your content and generated some upvotes, you should then return and add valuable links that further promote your brand. This will help you avoid being perceived as too self-promotional. Understanding these do's and dont's of Reddit will help propel your brand and help you take over the social media machine.