Are you using Reddit in your marketing strategy ? Well, the answer to this question may or may not be the answer.
Since you are a digital marketer, it’s safe to assume that you have something of an internet search engine about you – and as such, you would say, “Yes, I use Reddit”, but not necessarily “as part of my online marketing strategy.”
Nevertheless, even if you don’t use Reddit at all – neither for private nor for professional purposes – it is very likely that you will visit this site at some point. It is an extremely popular source of information on the Internet. You can find indecent amounts of information flowing in, and the users involved are just… very involved . Not to say – devoted and often even fanatical.
The following statistics prove it:
What is Reddit?
Ok, so you can see that the site is popular. And everything that is popular should be of interest to us – after all, we are marketing specialists and we are always looking for new ways to promote our brands. I’m right? Exactly.
But what is Reddit?
In fact, it’s a good question, because despite its popularity, the site has a reputation (and not entirely unfounded) complex and / or difficult. For this reason – understandably – it can be a bit off-putting, especially to newbies.
It doesn’t look like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest (okay, maybe a bit like Pinterest), Instagram or any of the other social networking sites that dominate our everyday life. Yes, it is a social network (of a kind), but its social aspect is strictly limited to comments on links pasted by users. This means that Reddit is certainly not the second Facebook page we upload photos from last night, or another Twitter site where we share our flashy remarks on current topics. Nor is it a work-related network like LinkedIn, or a marketing page (like, say, Pinterest) where users browse your links to decide what to buy.
Not. Reddit is none of those things.
Reddit is a feed reader site. This means that users paste links to other sites here. For this reason, Reddit is often considered a news site – most of the links posted are for the latest news.
The social aspect appears in the comment section. Each link can be commented on by other users and receive a yes vote. The hottest stories are pushed all the way to the top of the page, and the ones that don’t get a lot of attention go down.
You could say Reddit is an online classifieds newsletter. Or to be more pictorial – like an office cooler with drinks or the back room of a school cafeteria – that is, a place where “cool” kids gather to decide what is trendy and what is not in the world of online interactions.
In his last year’s post, Neil Patel , the world-famous social media blogger, put it this way:
“The most interesting thing about Reddit is that it is completely different from most big websites. Most other sites are under the strict control of a team of moderators or editors. Reddit, on the other hand, is controlled by its users.
In my opinion, Reddit is the best example of consent marketing operating on a large scale. In case you don’t know, consent marketing is a term coined a few years ago by Seth Godin:
“Permission marketing doesn’t have to be a one-way broadcast medium. On the Internet, you can treat different people differently and you have to come up with a method so that your audience can choose what and in what form they want to hear. ” ”
Since that is the explanation, you can see for yourself why some people describe Reddit as being too complicated by design.
But let’s not give up …
This is a tip for Reddit users: Reddit to mp4
Reddit: The Basics
So let’s break it down into pieces that are easier to digest. Thanks to this, we will see how Reddit can be used for marketing.
Subreddity
In Reddit terminology, a subreddit is a topic-based Reddit community . Each subreddit is nothing more than a place where users (called editors) can add and discuss content related to a given topic – such as social media marketing. Redditors can subscribe to subreddits related to issues that interest them, which allows them to stay up to date with all the news.
If you want to market on Reddit, you absolutely need to understand the idea behind subreddits. All subreddits are closed communities with their own bylaws, reddish, culture and demographic characteristics. In other words, a wide Reddit “audience” is unlikely to be very interested in your brand – and it can really make it out if you start advertising your offering here and there and everywhere. Instead, it’s very likely that you will find a specific subreddit where you will be greeted by fans eager to hear exactly what you want to tell them.
Posting links
Redditors can add links within subreddits.
Postowanie tekst / Self Posts
They can also add text posts – which look exactly like blog entries. Text posts are often called “self posts” because they link to themselves and not to external sites.
Vote
This is where Seth Godin’s “consent marketing” comes into play. Redditors can vote for each post and comment on the site.
Each post published on Reddit receives a score, and editors can vote both yes and no. The score displayed is the difference between the total number of pass and fail. This means that if ten new posts appear at the same time, they will be arranged according to the results – the better the result, the higher the post will be on the page.
Users therefore have literal control over the content that appears on the Reddit homepage at any given moment. But it also means that content authors can check in real time what type of content is well or badly received.
Moderators
Subreddits are real communities and each community has a leader, or leaders. These are called moderators and are in charge of controlling the content posted to the subreddits. The assumption is that they are trying to uphold the spirit and principles of a given subreddit – which almost always means one thing: no advertising.
Moderators have the right to remove content and even users who do not follow the rules. So don’t tempt fate – users know what they want and what they like. However, you can “post to the moderator” if you are in doubt as to what type of content is acceptable.
Redquarter for marketers
Yes, reddit applies to all Reddit users, but for this blog we can only focus on what its existence means to marketers. This is basically the most important point you need to keep in mind if you want to successfully conduct your marketing activities on Reddit.
First, read the main reddit rules on Reddit – they will help you understand the general rules of behavior on the site. Each subreddit also has its own reddishlist, which you also need to read before posting anything (it also doesn’t hurt to refresh your reddette once in a while).
In addition to reading and applying the rules of each subreddit, you should immediately understand what the Reddit community expects from editors. That something is value .
That’s right – subreddit users want every active member of the community to contribute some value. And that really means no bullshit. If you only try to sell something to the rest of the editors, you won’t be making any valuable contributions to the community or discussion – so you can expect to get banned in a matter of days.
So this basically means that as a marketer you have to treat Reddit like your blog – the only difference is that you are not blogging about this blog alone, but are literally fighting for a chance to read your content and gain recognition in the eyes of the many people who are trying to about the same in the same place .
So think about your blog – what kind of content do you create? If you are sensible, you are not just selling your products to others. Instead, you build brand value by giving users lots of additional reasons to visit your website. It involves posting the best tips, breaking industry news, as well as tutorials, guides, opinion articles, and more. In fact, a small part of it is directly related to your business. This is the tactic you need to adopt when creating and maintaining content on Reddit.
Reddivers don’t like being sold or even advertised to them – but they love discussion and feedback. So, today’s lesson for marketers can be summarized in three main points:
1. Be human
Yes, you represent your brand, but you are not. You are a real person with real opinions, emotions, funny smells and the like. To gain the respect of the other editors in the subbreddit, you have to make yourself known as a human. Be sure to follow the rules and redlines, because moderators generally don’t know mercy.
2. Be available
If you choose to follow the reddit path, be wholeheartedly involved. The vote system means you can quickly strain your Reddit algorithms if you get a lot of negative votes for not engaging in a subreddit you are about to be a part of. Respond to comments and messages quickly – especially those that have been positively assessed by other editors.
3. Don’t be selfish
It is extremely important. If you want to be an active member of a subreddit community, you need to engage with other people’s posts all the time. And don’t limit yourself to posting links to your own blog. Focus more on caring for content than creating it – remember that the idea is to stand out on the subreddit by adding value, not constantly focusing your attention on what you do.
