Okay, so you´ve probably heard about Reddit and how much viral online content comes from here. (
voiceoverherald.com) Reddit is a very popular platform, home to more than 430 million users. And yet, we can´t blame you if you still don´t know how to take advantage of it for your brand.
This platform is yet to be fully explored by brands, but there are some adventurous marketers that have been incorporating Reddit into their marketing strategy. And yes, it can be a very powerful tool for your brand.
What is Reddit?
First of all, we need to understand how Reddit works and what it is. Essentially, it is a large collection of forums where users are able and encouraged to share content or comment on other people´s posts.
People publish content to Reddit in the form of videos, photos or links, so that other users “upvote” or “downvote” it. Whenever a post is upvoted, it rises to the top, and when it´s downvoted it gets buried and is more difficult to find.
On the front page, you can generally see different kinds of posts. Discussions are separated into communities known as “subreddits”. You can find pretty much any subreddit topic, which is great if you are looking for a specific niche.
Everything sounds great so far, but it is important to note that users can´t easily search for legitimate company profiles or business pages, because profiles can´t get verified. If you look for a brand or company, you will most likely see subreddits about them that are not published by them.
We put together some tips and tricks on how you can use Reddit.
Tips and Tricks:
- Ask me Anything: One popular subreddit is the AMA (Ask me anything) threads, where people are encouraged to ask questions to a specific user, normally an influencer, celebrity, or business person.
This strategy is great when you have an influencer or interesting person affiliated with your brand, or if the owner or staff member is well known and people would like to hear from them.
- Start or participate in a subreddit: Creating or participating in a specific subreddit can be beneficial if you have interesting things to say. Discussing a theme helps to create a place to talk about your business and what it offers, and receive feedback from the people who are interested.
If you opt to create a branded subreddit (a discussion or forum created by a company), make sure to promote the subreddit on other social platforms. This will help to increase traffic and conversation, but could also reassure users that the subreddit is from a legitimate company.
- Promote content: Like many other platforms, brands can have their content promoted on Reddit, which is a great strategy if you want your content to be on top of a specific subreddit. Brands can pay to have their content promoted on subreddits, which is done through the platform itself.
Keep in mind that users appreciate content that gives something to the community, so make sure you communicate humanly and appropriately to the theme where you are promoting your brand. It is important to pick out a few subreddits that fit your brand or find a way to connect what you offer to what the subreddit is about. This is a great time to get creative!
- Don´t post salesy content: Reddit users do not appreciate pushy content, so be careful not to create advertisements that feel too pushy or salesy. On the contrary, you need to sound like just another member of the community.
- Offer valuable content: This tip can apply to any other social media platform, however, on Reddit, users are very passionate about certain topics and appreciative of content that speaks to them.
- Listen: By now you may be thinking that Reddit is not the best platform to push your content. And you´re right. That´s why listening is perhaps the best way of using Reddit. It is perfect to know about the industry you´re in, or a topic your brand should be interested in. All it takes is to look for subreddits that align with the products or services you offer, and you may come across interesting things about the market, including what people want from companies.
However, you can also find opinions and discussions about your competitors that may be advantageous to you if you know how to identify what they are doing wrong or right and reflect it in your own strategy.
Lastly, you can definitely listen to your customers and users through this platform, and not only that, you can use Reddit as a customer service tool. You can create a branded subreddit just for that.
- Discover user-generated content: Because Reddit is a community-based platform people often share their experiences with your products or services. People may share pictures or videos using your brand, which you can easily translate it as user-generated content. You can also be proactive about it and ask people to share pictures or content in general.
- Engage from a personal account: You may have noticed by now, that being human on this platform is very important, so interacting with the customers or prospective clients through a personal account could be a good strategy. Keep in mind that it needs to be clear that this person is a legitimate member of the company.
We can conclude that there is a lot of space to explore when it comes to Reddit. Little by little, marketers are incorporating this platform into their digital marketing strategy. If you want to get started on a branded Reddit account, consider all the tips listed above.
Managing all the social media accounts of your company can get a little difficult, especially if you are busy running your business. At Miss-Ink we have you covered! We can help you and your business build and grow your social media presence, through planning content, managing social media accounts, social media ads, and more. Give us a call at (305) 537-6465.
