I spend an embarrassing period of time on Reddit. As a content material strategist for B2B SaaS firms, Reddit advertising needs to be the very last thing on my thoughts — Redditors have a sixth sense for advertising and a hair-trigger for downvotes.
My Reddit homepage is a mishmash of all the things that pursuits me: Deep dives into undertaking administration instruments. Heated debates concerning the newest Severance episode. Spending hours on Reddit every single 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 how you can use Reddit for advertising with out getting roasted within the feedback.
Desk of Contents
What’s Reddit advertising?
Reddit advertising means constructing real connections inside Reddit’s huge community of communities, known as subreddits.
Conventional social media ways do not work right here. To succeed, you have to 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 technique takes consistency, experience, and precise worth. Most significantly, it calls for endurance — constructing belief and recognition inside Reddit communities takes time, however creates lasting relationships together with your viewers.
Why does Reddit advertising matter?
Reddit’s attain retains increasing. The platform now sees over 100 million every day lively customers, a 39% bounce from final 12 months.
That is lots of people coming to Reddit every single day to analysis merchandise, resolve issues, and interact in significant discussions.
What makes these numbers significantly attention-grabbing is the intent behind Reddit utilization. When folks come to Reddit, they‘re actively searching for data or options. They learn product opinions from actual customers, ask detailed questions on companies, and belief the neighborhood’s unfiltered opinions greater than polished advertising 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 change into the primary cease for folks researching purchases or searching for suggestions.
This conduct creates distinctive alternatives for manufacturers who perceive how you can 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 reasonably 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 may anticipate, upvotes are like Fb likes which sign Reddit algorithms to maneuver content material up. Downvotes do the alternative by shifting much less participating content material down.
Posts that interact a whole lot 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 won’t even be seen. This causes customers to see a feed that is perhaps extra participating. However, this could additionally imply that non-promoted branded materials that seems 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 reputable firm profiles or official enterprise pages.
Sure. That is type of scary.
There’s a search filter for “Customers and Communities,” however you may primarily see outcomes for probably the most lively subreddits — which may very well be created by anybody.
That is very completely different from Fb, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the place you may simply seek for folks and confirm enterprise pages.
If a buyer is on the lookout for data on a product and searches for a model, they may see unofficial neighborhood pages that host extra particular subreddits concerning the firm. Nevertheless, virtually all of this content material is often created by followers or prospects.
Here is an instance of what occurs whenever you search McDonald’s on Reddit:
Though you see quite a lot 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 firms. A prospect looking out Reddit to be taught extra a few particular product may discover nice customer-posted chatter concerning the merchandise they’re contemplating.
Avid gamers, for instance, flock to the platform to debate new launches, professional ideas, and points they is perhaps having whereas taking part in a preferred online game like Sims 4.
Equally, customers may create a subreddit or neighborhood a few restaurant, like Burger King, to speak concerning the bizarre or attention-grabbing issues they’ve seen on the chain.
Since threads present optimistic and detrimental suggestions, customers may even acknowledge that optimistic suggestions is extra reputable because the product could be destroyed by consumer feedback if it have been unhealthy high quality.
Frequent Reddit Advertising and marketing Methods
Reddit could be a difficult place to navigate just because it’s so completely different from different social platforms. Listed here are 5 methods that’ll assist you learn to use Reddit for advertising.
Construct a neighborhood by means of genuine participation.
This implies constantly participating 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 turning into an everyday, useful presence in these communities.
I’ve watched manufacturers try this a whole lot 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 group.
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His Notion Licensed Ambassador standing provides credibility, however it’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.
Give attention to fixing issues first, selling second. Essentially the most revered model representatives on Reddit reply with detailed, useful data — even when it means recommending a competitor‘s product when it’s a greater match.
Share insider information generously. Technical group members who repeatedly take part in related subreddits have a tendency to achieve extra traction after they provide deep experience about their business reasonably 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 skilled AMAs.
Ask Me Something (AMA) threads are stay occasions the place an influencer, govt, or firm workers member creates a submit introducing themselves and welcoming Redditors to ask questions.
Profitable AMAs want three core parts: an skilled who can share distinctive insights, real, unscripted responses, and devoted time for significant neighborhood engagement. With out all three, you danger becoming a member of Reddit’s graveyard of company AMAs that felt extra like press releases than conversations.
The sort of promotion is finest when you might have an influencer or attention-grabbing individual affiliated together with your model who can reply questions shortly and in an interesting means. Nevertheless, it may be troublesome to attract consideration to a majority of these promotions if you do not have an attention-grabbing host in thoughts.
If you do have an attention-grabbing host, although, it really works extraordinarily nicely. Movie studio Lionsgate, for instance, hosted actor Keanu Reeves on r/motion pictures.
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He spent hours responding thoughtfully to questions on all the things 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 can even coordinate AMAs with a number of consultants. I just like the one OpenAI hosted with 5 group members together with their CEO, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Scientist.
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Every skilled targeted on completely different points of AI growth, making a complete dialogue with the neighborhood.
Give attention to storytelling alternatives. A software program founder may 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 will interact 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 nicely with tech firms who make their help group accessible by means of Reddit.
Take OpenPhone’s subreddit, for instance.
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Their neighborhood web page is each a information base and help channel, with clear group and lively 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 help group responded promptly and personally, acknowledging the inconvenience and providing alternate options.
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Transparency transformed a doubtlessly detrimental expertise right into a showcase of their customer support values.
Right here‘s what I’ve discovered about sustaining engagement in a branded subreddit:
Pin essential assets on the high. OpenPhone retains its assist middle, tutorials, and standing web page simply accessible in its sidebar.
Create themed dialogue threads. Weekly threads like “Characteristic Request Friday” or “Tech Assist 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 — interact there too, however at all times establish your self as an organization consultant.
Crucial rule? By no means delete detrimental suggestions. As an alternative, handle issues overtly 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 reasonably 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 offers actionable insights about product growth and enterprise technique.
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SaaS founders need actual numbers, sincere insights about what labored (and what did not), and sensible rules they’ll apply to their companies. Her submit delivers on all fronts: clear metrics, clear strategic choices like selecting simplicity over function bloat, and particular values that drove their success.
What’s equally necessary is how she stayed lively within the feedback, answering detailed questions on pricing choices and product growth selections.
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Ongoing engagement turned a fantastic submit right into a wealthy useful resource of founder insights.
When creating content material for any subreddit, I concentrate on these rules:
Share actual experiences, not concept. Your precise journey, full with errors and corrections, is extra priceless 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 discovered from them.
Give attention to transferable insights. Whereas your actual state of affairs is perhaps distinctive, extract rules others can apply to their very own challenges.
Doc your journey alongside the way in which. Essentially the most priceless posts typically come from retaining 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 will genuinely assist resolve issues this neighborhood faces?
Use paid advertisements.
Think about selling your posts if you wish to get your content material entrance and middle shortly. Promoted posts keep prioritized greater 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 hold them prioritized greater up in subreddits in addition to goal them to particular teams of customers.
Like promoted posts on Fb and different platforms, there will probably be an icon on the submit that claims it‘s promoted. So, though the posts will probably be greater 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 appears to be like like:
Reddit’s concentrating on choices are extra refined than most entrepreneurs notice. Past fundamental demographics and areas, you may goal by:
Communities: Choose particular subreddits the place your viewers hangs out
Pursuits: Attain customers based mostly on their engagement patterns
Machine kind: Goal cellular or desktop customers
Time of day: Schedule advertisements when your viewers is most lively
The platform additionally gives curiosity class combos. I’ve seen this work significantly nicely when concentrating on customers who observe 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 nicely naturally in a single subreddit, it’s value testing as a promoted submit in associated communities.
3 Reddit Advertising and marketing 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 making an attempt to take part or market inside them.
Failing to understand these nuances can result in downvoted posts, detrimental engagement, and even bans.
Reddit has its personal language that newcomers have to be taught. Frequent acronyms embrace:
OP (authentic poster)
AFAIK (so far as I do know)
TIL (as we speak I discovered)
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 totally completely different language than r/advertising.
Utilizing the flawed terminology could make your submit really feel misplaced, lowering credibility and engagement.
Research the highest posts from the previous month in your goal subreddit. Notice what will get upvoted, how folks format their posts, and which matters generate engagement. Finally, adapting to every subreddit’s tradition is the important thing to constructing credibility and engagement on Reddit.
Research subreddit guidelines.
Subreddit guidelines are non-negotiable tips 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 easy: r/purses bans dialogue of shopping for replicas.
Different guidelines may 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 observe 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 making an attempt to succeed in.
Handle controversial matters head-on.
Reddit customers have distinctive reminiscence relating to public figures’ previous statements and actions.
Skilled wrestler Ronda Rousey discovered this the laborious means throughout her AMA, which shortly 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 ebook, customers instantly questioned why somebody of her wealth wanted crowdfunding.
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Additionally they introduced up her extraordinarily controversial tweets.
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Reasonably than addressing these issues, she prevented 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 impression.
For AMAs to succeed, transparency is important. The neighborhood responds higher to sincere acknowledgment of previous controversies than makes an attempt to sidestep troublesome questions. When planning an AMA, be ready to deal with difficult matters straight—or rethink whether or not Reddit is the correct platform on your marketing campaign.
Navigating Reddit
The great thing about Reddit advertising is that it rewards what nice advertising 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 probably 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 really add worth. Learn the principles, 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 word: This submit was initially revealed in August 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.