How to Use Reddit as a Marketer
Marketing strategies for today’s world include several online sources to spread brand recognition and boost traffic. While it is an obvious choice to turn to social media for a marketing campaign, there is a little-known online marketing source you can also implement in your next campaign to keep up with current marketing trends. What is this mysterious source? It’s reddit.com.
What is Reddit?
Reddit is an online community that proudly calls itself ‘The Front Page of the Internet’. Their mantra rings true for all of their niches amongst the large online community. Within the entire site, Reddit is made up of videos, interesting and fascinating news, trending topics in all genres – all with a touch of nerdiness to round out the whole feel. With such a large audience, who wouldn’t want to feature their next marketing campaign on Reddit?
As a matter of fact, statistically speaking, Reddit is one of the top websites on the world wide web today with over 1.1 billion viewers. These viewers have proven to search organically throughout the site and spend quite a lot of time during their visits. Reddit is internationally known yet most of its viewers are in North America and Europe. The large target audience from Western cultures is a prime choice for any marketer.
Reddit HATES Marketers
But wait, Reddit hates marketers? How am I supposed to create a functional marketing campaign on a site that despises what I do? We can help you move past this difficult view on marketers and show you how to market on Reddit.
It goes without saying that the members of the Reddit community truly do hate marketers. Redditors view shameless self-promoters as annoying and a waste of time and space within their forums.
The secret to marketing within Reddit is simple: just don’t. You might be feeling slightly confused – should I or shouldn’t I market on Reddit? There are a few tips and tricks you can use to your advantage as a marketer to get your product or service out there without becoming banned or seen as a laughingstock. Avoid the hate or backlash of potentially becoming banned by:
- Not posting memes. Save yourself and forget about it entirely.
- Seeming fake or unreal to the community members. Redditors want a real post with great content. This is the whole purpose of why they choose to visit the site in the first place.
- Not spending the time to get to know Reddit with what is known as ‘lurking’. Lurking allows you to get to know trends and audiences and what they truly want. Use the Reddit Enhancement Suite to your advantage so you can subscribe to threads that are relevant to your brand.
- Not giving Reddit Gold (Reddit Gold can be purchased for $5 and it helps keep the servers running).
Rules of Reddit
Reddit is a reputable community. It has strict rules in order to keep the integrity of the site intact. Three areas of importance in regards to the rules of Reddit are:
#1. Content Policy
The content policy of Reddit is regulated thoroughly. It is quite important to read and understand their content policy before beginning to post on Reddit. A few examples of what is allowed and what is not are listed below.
- Prohibited Content: spam, anything illegal, pornographic, or what encourages violence, and confidential information.
- Prohibited Behavior: asking for votes, breaking Reddit, or creating multiple accounts to avoid being banned.
- Content that is not safe for work must be labeled as such and in the appropriate niches.
If the moderators of Reddit find that you are posting against their content policy, they will take action against your account. Such actions could include:
- Removal of post
- Banning your account
- Temporary suspension of account
- Adding restrictions
#2. Reddiquette
The informal expression amongst the Reddit community that Redditors follow to maintain the peace within the site.
Reddiquette Do’s:
- Vote
- Look for original content sources
- Post to the most relevant and appropriate communities
- Use proper spelling and grammar
- Reporting spam
- Searching for duplicate posts before you create your post
- and more!
Reddiquette Don’ts:
- Engaging in illegal activity
- Post personal information
- Being intentionally rude or offensive
- Re-posting removed or deleted content
- Trolling
- Writing titles in all caps
- Asking for massive downvotes on a post
#3. Self-Promotion
Promoting your brand shamelessly and ignoring the rules and reddiquette within Reddit.
- Don’t ask for votes.
- Don’t spam.
- Get familiar with FAQ’s, reddiquette, and content policies.
- Join the appropriate subreddits.
- Never offer money or compensation for votes or otherwise.
- And much more.
At the end of the day, Reddit seriously frowns upon self-promotion on their site. If you are searching for organic traffic or want to boost traffic on your site, there are other sources available for you to use. One of the main things marketers use in this case would be Facebook ads.
How to Use Reddit for Marketing Purposes
There are some tips and tricks you can use in order to effectively market on Reddit. The list of things marketers can do to get the most out of this community are:
- Keep your post relevant. Trending topics and remaining relevant within the subreddit are highly important.
- Post high-quality content. People go to Reddit for the reputation of high-quality content and you should ensure your posts do the same.
- Enjoy and have fun. Use Reddit as a real Redditor.
- Don’t post too much within a short period of time. Before you get caught up with posting and voting, make sure you give yourself at least 10-14 days before posting again within the same subreddit.
- Know what the community needs and address those needs before they actually need them. If you post links to your site, make sure you cover all your bases so you do not get downvoted or reported.
- Don’t allow your first or second Reddit post to be a promotion post. Make a few normal and relevant posts before thinking about promoting.
- Absolutely do not over-promote yourself. This will be seen as spam and self-promotion.
- Share all new posts with your friends across your personal social media outlets. Getting help from your friends and family will promote organic traffic and positive activity.
- Reply to comments and make sure to comment on others. Make real connections by answering questions and replying to all comments on your posts.
- Remain humble. Take any negative comments or critics on your post as a learning experience and find out how you can improve. Maintain and improve your website regularly. It’s possible that your website content could be the reason behind becoming hated by the Reddit community.
To sum up, Reddit can be a tricky place to get started as a marketer. But this does not mean it is impossible to generate a successful marketing campaign. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules on how to become a proper Redditor. The more you know about Reddit, the easier it will be to launch a great marketing campaign on their site.
Continue reading here: 8 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid When You Are A Beginner
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