5 Steps to Successfully Market Your Brand on Reddit
Last month we looked at whether or not your brand should be on Reddit. If you believe your brand could benefit from having a presence on this platform that values authenticity, then let’s take a look at how you can actually use the platform to market your brand.
What is Reddit Marketing?
Reddit marketing is the practice of engaging with the network’s subreddits (niche communities) to build brand awareness, collect brand and consumer insights, and drive community through authentic participation.
Remember, unlike traditional social media, Reddit’s subreddit moderators (aka mods) will remove content they deem to be salesy pitches. So when you engage on the platform, prioritize value-driven contributions. Some examples include hosting AMAs (Ask Me Anythings), providing expert advice, or running community-specific ads rather than polished, promotional content.
How to Use Reddit for Marketing Your Brand
Marketing on Reddit requires a tailored strategy to make sure it meets the authentic vibe of the platform and doesn’t become overtly promotional. Here’s what we suggest doing to market your brand on this platform:
1 | Identify, Listen, and Learn
Before posting anything, spend time listening and observing. Identify and monitor relevant subreddits that are relevant to your brand and industry. We recommend a balance between high-traffic communities and smaller, more nice subreddits. Really get a feel for how your target subreddits operate. Make note of tone, rules, and what the community actually values.
This intelligence will become the foundation of your Reddit strategy as well as your broader marketing approach and product and customer care strategies. Listening helps you identify patterns and themes in your industry and around your brand. You can identify product gaps, complaints, questions, and even comparisons to competitors. You can then use these insights to inform your content, messaging, and more.
2 | Set Goals for Your Reddit Presence
Goals are always important when it comes to marketing. You need to set goals that are both relevant and can be tracked. But let’s back up for a moment.
Before setting your goals, start with your “where” and “why.” In other words, where is your brand showing up? What are the conversations taking place and the brand sentiment? Why does your brand want to show up on Reddit?
From there, you can create goals based on those answers. If you are just starting out, we recommend your main goal to be earning Karma and establishing a presence in key subreddits.
3 | Plan an Organic Engagement Strategy
Organic doesn’t mean just showing up and engaging however feels good in the moment. For brands, we encourage you to think carefully about how you’ll show up on the platform. This is because it demands a different presence than other social channels.
Start by deciding where you will engage. Most brands start by joining existing subreddits relevant to their industry or audience and participating in conversations that are already happening. Larger, established brands create and moderate their own subreddit, building a dedicated community space around their products or niche. Both approaches have merit, so let your goals and resources guide the choice, along with what your audiences expect of your brand.
From there, map out how you’ll be spending your time on the platform. Depending on your objectives, that could mean answering product or services questions, sharing expertise, or providing customer care. Remember, you don’t need to do it all at once. If you are just starting out, start small and build momentum to scale up. What matters most is consistency. So treat Reddit as part of your broader social calendar, not a siloed side project.
Also, don’t forget to invest in relationships with the Mods in your target subreddits. They enforce the tone, rules, and ultimately decide what stays up. Introducing yourself, being familiar with the guidelines, and demonstrating genuine value before you need anything goes a long way.
4 | Paid Options
Reddit does offer a variety of paid ad tools for brands, ranging from text-based posts, to photos, to video-based ads. The biggest benefit of paid campaigns on the platform is the ability to advertise to super-niche communities and audiences.
Keep in mind that the Redditor demographic famously dislikes traditional, flashy ads. In order to succeed, these paid placements must be designed to look like organic posts.
5 | Track It
Use a Reddit analytics tool to track organic and paid campaign performance. Some key conversions to track include:
- Growth benchmarking: are customers talking about your brand more in the past 30 days versus the previous 30 days?
- Sentiment shifts: how has the vibe of your community changed over the last 90 days?
- Language and trends: what specific trending topics and niche keyword phrases is your Reddit audience using to describe their pain points?
By diving into the data, you can adjust and further refine your Reddit marketing strategy!
Final Thoughts
Reddit prioritizes authentic engagement. This means marketing on Reddit is very different from more traditional social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. It’s always best to listen and observe first to get a feel for your target subreddits. Then set some goals and make a plan. While prioritizing organic and authentic engagement is important, that doesn’t mean you should go in without a plan!
Need help planning your brand’s Reddit strategy? Tintero Creative is here to help! We assist brands with strategic digital marketing that helps your brand break through the digital noise and get noticed! Connect with us today to learn how we can help you build and improve your online presence.