A lot of small businesses I talk to aren’t marketing on Reddit. It’s not because they don’t really need to be but because many people think of Reddit as a platform of memes, crowdfunding, and political ads. While all of that is true, Reddit is also a source of a lot of spending power. The infographic below will show you the demographics and statistics of Reddit so you can better decide if it’s a good platform for you. Below that will be basic content on how you can use Reddit for your social media marketing.
Marketing on Reddit
Okay, so Reddit is right for you. Now what?
Find the Right Subreddits
A subreddit, or sub, is Reddit’s version of Facebook groups. It’s where a group of users ‘subscribe’ to the information by joining the group. Each subreddit will have its own rules so make sure you aren’t advertising against their rules. Being in a sub with other members can help you become a subject matter expert, provide opportunities for learning, create referral partners, or give you a chance to gain clients. Reddit is a staple for people looking for information. There’s a TON of discussion on Reddit like random thoughts, story plots, videogame strategies, sports talk, etc.
Much like SEO or your content strategy on your website, focus on good titles that aren’t misleading. Make sure the content is relevant to the subreddit you placed the post in.
Get Active
Marketing on Reddit will require you to take advantage of Reddit’s algorithm which does incorporate karma. Karma is the cumulative number of votes. Upvotes or downvotes make your numbers go up or down. While Reddit can be a very toxic and overly sensitive place, getting in the right subreddit should prevent a lot of that from affecting you negatively. Improving your karma over time will help put more of your posts in front of people. Get big enough and people will get push notifications of your posts.
Be helpful, answer questions, and be kind to other members. Your karma will thank you.
Reddit’s Spam Rules
Reddit only allows 10% of your content to be your own posts. For every 1 unique post to a subreddit, you need 9 comments on other content within that subreddit. You can post as much as you want on your own profile. If you manage a subreddit, you are exempt from that ratio within that subreddit.
Be cautious about how many places you share the same content, as well as Reddit, could penalize your account with a suspension for abusing trending content. If you continue to post content that gets a lot of downvotes, you’ll be at risk of suspension as well.
Other Notes
Another note for marketing on Reddit is not to try too hard. Give it time to happen organically. This is why a lot of people don’t use Reddit for marketing because this method makes it take time. A LOT of time. But you won’t win if you try and play Reddit for a fool. They ban a lot of accounts. They will ban numerous innocuous accounts just to ban the right bad account. So play it safe, use it organically, and take your time.
What has your experience been on Reddit? Anything you’d like to add? To get content like this and more, let’s connect on LinkedIn. If you have more questions or you need more help using Reddit or any other social media platform, send me an SOS with Morse Code and let’s chat!