I spend an embarrassing period of time on Reddit. As a content material strategist for B2B SaaS corporations, Reddit advertising and marketing ought to be the very last thing on my thoughts — Redditors have a sixth sense for advertising and marketing and a hair-trigger for downvotes.
My Reddit homepage is a mishmash of the whole lot that pursuits me: Deep dives into challenge administration instruments. Heated debates in regards to the newest Severance episode. Spending hours on Reddit day-after-day, I began questioning — how do you attain folks like me?
So I dug in. Seems, the manufacturers that win on Reddit take part. Right here’s easy methods to use Reddit for advertising and marketing with out getting roasted within the feedback.
Desk of Contents
What’s Reddit advertising and marketing?
Reddit advertising and marketing means constructing real connections inside Reddit’s huge community of communities, known as subreddits.
Conventional social media techniques do not work right here. To succeed, it is advisable be an actual neighborhood member first — a model rep second. Not the opposite means round.
The platform runs on genuine discussions and shared pursuits throughout hundreds of specialised communities. A Reddit advertising and marketing technique takes consistency, experience, and precise worth. Most significantly, it calls for persistence — constructing belief and recognition inside Reddit communities takes time, however creates lasting relationships together with your viewers.
Why does Reddit advertising and marketing matter?
Reddit’s attain retains increasing. The platform now sees over 100 million every day energetic customers, a 39% leap from final yr.
That is lots of people coming to Reddit day-after-day to analysis merchandise, remedy issues, and interact in significant discussions.
What makes these numbers notably fascinating is the intent behind Reddit utilization. When folks come to Reddit, they‘re actively searching for info or options. They learn product critiques from actual customers, ask detailed questions on companies, and belief the neighborhood’s unfiltered opinions greater than polished advertising and marketing content material.
The platform’s construction of topic-specific communities creates pure viewers segments. Every subreddit represents a gaggle of individuals united by shared pursuits, making discovering and connecting together with your audience simpler. These communities typically develop into the primary cease for folks researching purchases or searching for suggestions.
This conduct creates distinctive alternatives for manufacturers who perceive easy methods to take part appropriately. Whereas Reddit customers could also be marketing-averse, they’re extremely receptive to real experience and genuine neighborhood participation.
Why Reddit is So Difficult for Entrepreneurs
Reddit focuses on neighborhood constructing and on-line dialogue relatively than highlighting particular person profiles or particular content material. Posts and remark threads, known as subreddits, transfer up and down on feeds based mostly on consumer upvotes and downvotes.
As you would possibly count on, upvotes are like Fb likes which sign Reddit algorithms to maneuver content material up. Downvotes do the alternative by transferring much less partaking content material down.
Posts that have interaction lots of of others will get moved up and seen by extra customers. In the meantime, content material that bores or annoys many customers will get moved down the place it may not even be seen. This causes customers to see a feed that may be extra partaking. However, this will additionally imply that non-promoted branded materials that appears like a generic commercial may get downvoted or marked as spam.
One other factor that makes Reddit difficult is that you would be able to’t simply seek for official firm profiles or official enterprise pages.
Sure. That is sort of scary.
There’s a search filter for “Customers and Communities,” however you may primarily see outcomes for essentially the most energetic subreddits — which could possibly be created by anybody.
That is very totally different from Fb, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the place you’ll be able to simply seek for folks and confirm enterprise pages.
If a buyer is searching for info on a product and searches for a model, they could see unofficial neighborhood pages that host extra particular subreddits in regards to the firm. Nevertheless, virtually all of this content material is often created by followers or clients.
Here is an instance of what occurs whenever you search McDonald’s on Reddit:
Though you see plenty of communities associated to McDonald’s, none of them say they’re official or run by the restaurant chain.
Whereas they aren’t brand-affiliated, these communities can nonetheless be useful to customers and even corporations. A prospect looking Reddit to be taught extra a few particular product would possibly discover nice customer-posted chatter in regards to the merchandise they’re contemplating.
Avid gamers, for instance, flock to the platform to debate new launches, professional ideas, and points they may be having whereas taking part in a well-liked online game like Sims 4.
Equally, customers would possibly create a subreddit or neighborhood a few restaurant, like Burger King, to speak in regards to the bizarre or fascinating issues they’ve seen on the chain.
Since threads present optimistic and destructive suggestions, customers would possibly even acknowledge that optimistic suggestions is extra official for the reason that product can be destroyed by consumer feedback if it had been dangerous high quality.
Widespread Reddit Advertising Methods
Reddit is usually a difficult place to navigate just because it’s so totally different from different social platforms. Listed here are 5 methods that’ll assist you to learn to use Reddit for advertising and marketing.
Construct a neighborhood by genuine participation.
This implies constantly partaking in subreddit discussions, answering questions, and sharing experience with out pushing your product. To do that, I like to recommend discovering related subreddits the place your audience spends time after which changing into a daily, useful presence in these communities.
I’ve watched manufacturers try this lots of of the way on Reddit. Those that succeed, like Notion, use neighborhood ambassadors who prioritize being useful over being promotional.
Their ambassador, Mr. Wildenfree, repeatedly participates in productiveness and software program subreddits.
He gives detailed recommendation, creates product suggestions threads, and acts as a bridge between customers and the Notion workforce.
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His Notion Licensed Ambassador standing provides credibility, but it surely’s his constant, useful presence that makes the model extra approachable.
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Right here‘s what makes this technique work, based mostly on profitable patterns I’ve noticed:
Lengthy-term dedication issues greater than fast wins. Construct no less than six months of constant participation to achieve actual traction. Neighborhood belief builds slowly.
Deal with fixing issues first, selling second. Essentially the most revered model representatives on Reddit reply with detailed, useful info — even when it means recommending a competitor‘s product when it’s a greater match.
Share insider information generously. Technical workforce members who repeatedly take part in related subreddits have a tendency to achieve extra traction once they provide deep experience about their trade relatively than simply their product.
Doc and analyze what works. Every subreddit has its personal tradition and unwritten guidelines. Profitable manufacturers clearly research and adapt to those community-specific norms.
Host professional AMAs.
Ask Me Something (AMA) threads are dwell occasions the place an influencer, govt, or firm workers member creates a submit introducing themselves and alluring Redditors to ask questions.
Profitable AMAs want three core parts: an professional who can share distinctive insights, real, unscripted responses, and devoted time for significant neighborhood engagement. With out all three, you threat becoming a member of Reddit’s graveyard of company AMAs that felt extra like press releases than conversations.
This sort of promotion is finest when you have got an influencer or fascinating individual affiliated together with your model who can reply questions rapidly and in a fascinating means. Nevertheless, it may be tough to attract consideration to these kinds of promotions if you do not have an fascinating host in thoughts.
While you do have an fascinating host, although, it really works extraordinarily properly. Movie studio Lionsgate, for instance, hosted actor Keanu Reeves on r/films.
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He spent hours responding thoughtfully to questions on the whole lot from enjoyable experiences along with his co-stars to his favourite kung-fu coaching.
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His genuine responses about each private {and professional} matters drew over 297K upvotes and 33k feedback.
You may as well coordinate AMAs with a number of consultants. I just like the one OpenAI hosted with 5 workforce members together with their CEO, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Scientist.
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Every professional targeted on totally different elements of AI improvement, making a complete dialogue with the neighborhood.
Deal with storytelling alternatives. A software program founder would possibly share sincere tales about failed options that formed their product imaginative and prescient. A chef may reveal kitchen disasters that led to signature dishes.
Redditors worth transparency over polish. They’re going to have interaction extra with imperfect however sincere responses than with company messaging.
Create and nurture branded subreddits.
Making a branded subreddit is about constructing a responsive neighborhood the place customers can discover assist and share experiences. I’ve seen this work properly with tech corporations who make their assist workforce accessible by Reddit.
Take OpenPhone’s subreddit, for instance.
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Their neighborhood web page is each a information base and assist channel, with clear group and energetic moderator participation.
What stands out is how they deal with difficult conditions, like when a consumer not too long ago posted about service discontinuation.
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OpenPhone’s assist workforce responded promptly and personally, acknowledging the inconvenience and providing options.
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Transparency transformed a doubtlessly destructive expertise right into a showcase of their customer support values.
Right here‘s what I’ve realized about sustaining engagement in a branded subreddit:
Pin crucial sources on the high. OpenPhone retains its assist heart, tutorials, and standing web page simply accessible in its sidebar.
Create themed dialogue threads. Weekly threads like “Characteristic Request Friday” or “Tech Help Tuesday” encourage common participation.
Allow submit flairs. Classes like “Announcement,” “Assist,” and “Dialogue” make the neighborhood extra navigable.
Spotlight neighborhood wins. When customers share success tales or useful ideas, acknowledge them with Reddit awards or particular consumer flairs.
Monitor mentions throughout Reddit. Customers typically focus on your model in different subreddits — have interaction there too, however at all times establish your self as an organization consultant.
Crucial rule? By no means delete destructive suggestions. As an alternative, handle considerations brazenly and professionally. Your neighborhood will respect honesty greater than perfection.
Create high-value content material.
Sharing insights that assist others succeed. I’ve discovered the best-performing posts provide real learnings relatively than thinly veiled promotion.
For instance, the founding father of the form-building instrument, Tally, Marie Martens, does this completely on r/SaaS. By detailing Tally’s journey to $150K MRR, she supplies actionable insights about product improvement and enterprise technique.
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SaaS founders need actual numbers, sincere insights about what labored (and what did not), and sensible ideas they will apply to their companies. Her submit delivers on all fronts: clear metrics, clear strategic choices like selecting simplicity over characteristic bloat, and particular values that drove their success.
What’s equally necessary is how she stayed energetic within the feedback, answering detailed questions on pricing choices and product improvement decisions.
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Ongoing engagement turned an important submit right into a wealthy useful resource of founder insights.
When creating content material for any subreddit, I give attention to these ideas:
Share actual experiences, not concept. Your precise journey, full with errors and corrections, is extra worthwhile than generic recommendation.
Embrace particular numbers and outcomes. Discover how Marie did not simply say they grew—she shared actual consumer counts and income figures.
Clarify your thought course of. Clarify why you made sure choices and what you realized from them.
Deal with transferable insights. Whereas your actual state of affairs may be distinctive, extract ideas others can apply to their very own challenges.
Doc your journey alongside the best way. Essentially the most worthwhile posts typically come from preserving notes about your challenges and options as they occur.
Perceive what your goal neighborhood struggles with and share experiences that handle these ache factors. At all times begin by asking: What distinctive insights can we share that may genuinely assist remedy issues this neighborhood faces?
Use paid adverts.
Think about selling your posts if you wish to get your content material entrance and heart rapidly. Promoted posts keep prioritized larger up in subreddits and goal particular consumer teams. Like different social platforms, these posts show a “promoted” icon, so customers know they did not organically rise to the highest.
Selling your posts permits you to preserve them prioritized larger up in subreddits in addition to goal them to particular teams of customers.
Like promoted posts on Fb and different platforms, there can be an icon on the submit that claims it‘s promoted. So, though the posts can be larger up, customers will nonetheless know that it didn’t get to the highest of the thread they’re studying by itself.
Here is an instance of what one among these posts seems like:
Reddit’s concentrating on choices are extra subtle than most entrepreneurs notice. Past fundamental demographics and areas, you’ll be able to goal by:
Communities: Choose particular subreddits the place your viewers hangs out
Pursuits: Attain customers based mostly on their engagement patterns
System sort: Goal cellular or desktop customers
Time of day: Schedule adverts when your viewers is most energetic
The platform additionally gives curiosity class mixtures. I’ve seen this work notably properly when concentrating on customers who comply with each know-how and productiveness subreddits, or combining gaming with leisure pursuits.
My rule of thumb: Use paid promotion to amplify content material that‘s already confirmed to work organically. If a submit performs properly naturally in a single subreddit, it’s value testing as a promoted submit in associated communities.
3 Reddit Advertising Technique Tricks to Keep away from Getting Roasted
Perceive the tradition.
Every subreddit operates like its personal micro-community with distinctive unwritten guidelines, inside jokes, and most popular posting types. Understanding these nuances is essential earlier than attempting to take part or market inside them.
Failing to know these nuances can result in downvoted posts, destructive engagement, and even bans.
Reddit has its personal language that newcomers must be taught. Widespread acronyms embrace:
OP (unique poster)
AFAIK (so far as I do know)
TIL (right this moment I realized)
CMV (change my view)
TLDR (too lengthy, did not learn)
AITA (Am I the Asshole)
Past these platform-wide phrases, particular person subreddits typically develop their very own particular terminology. For instance, r/wallstreetbets makes use of solely totally different language than r/advertising and marketing.
Utilizing the flawed terminology could make your submit really feel misplaced, decreasing credibility and engagement.
Examine the highest posts from the previous month in your goal subreddit. Word what will get upvoted, how folks format their posts, and which matters generate engagement. In the end, adapting to every subreddit’s tradition is the important thing to constructing credibility and engagement on Reddit.
Examine subreddit guidelines.
Subreddit guidelines are non-negotiable pointers that decide whether or not your content material stays up or will get eliminated. Each subreddit has its personal particular algorithm listed within the sidebar, and breaking them can result in deleted posts, short-term suspensions, and even everlasting bans.
Some guidelines are simple: r/purses bans dialogue of shopping for replicas.
Different guidelines might be extra nuanced, like r/science requiring all posts to reference peer-reviewed analysis, or r/gaming’s strict coverage on self-promotion.
Many subreddits comply with a casual “10:1 rule” — that means it’s best to contribute ten non-promotional posts for each one promotional submit. Breaking these guidelines not solely will get your content material eliminated however may end up in everlasting bans from the neighborhood.
Studying and following every subreddit‘s guidelines protects your model’s popularity and exhibits respect for the neighborhood you are attempting to achieve.
Handle controversial matters head-on.
Reddit customers have distinctive reminiscence on the subject of public figures’ previous statements and actions.
Skilled wrestler Ronda Rousey realized this the exhausting means throughout her AMA, which rapidly grew to become a case research in how to not deal with controversial matters on Reddit.
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When Rousey launched her AMA to advertise a Kickstarter marketing campaign for her comedian e-book, customers instantly questioned why somebody of her wealth wanted crowdfunding.
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In addition they introduced up her extraordinarily controversial tweets.
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Slightly than addressing these considerations, she averted responding to any difficult questions, selecting to reply solely secure, promotional matters.
The AMA went horribly flawed for her.
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The highest-voted questions — many addressing her controversial previous statements — remained conspicuously unanswered, drowning out any optimistic promotional affect.
For AMAs to succeed, transparency is important. The neighborhood responds higher to sincere acknowledgment of previous controversies than makes an attempt to sidestep tough questions. When planning an AMA, be ready to handle difficult matters straight—or rethink whether or not Reddit is the fitting platform in your marketing campaign.
Navigating Reddit
The fantastic thing about Reddit advertising and marketing is that it rewards what nice advertising and marketing ought to prioritize: belief, authenticity, and actual connections together with your viewers. Whereas paid promoting choices like sponsoring a submit are increasing, natural neighborhood engagement stays essentially the most highly effective strategy to construct a long-lasting presence on Reddit.
My recommendation? Begin small. Choose one or two subreddits the place your experience can actually add worth. Learn the foundations, research the tradition, and take part genuinely.
The platform could appear daunting at first, however that exclusivity is strictly what makes it a goldmine for genuine engagement and natural attain.
Editor’s be aware: This submit was initially revealed in August 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
