6 Things You Must Know When Marketing on Reddit

Trying to market a product or spread brand awareness on a site like Reddit can be difficult. However, it can also be extremely rewarding – as long as you’re willing to put in the time and effort.

Marketing on Reddit is tough simply because most of the community ignores blatant marketing attempts.  In fact, overt advertising tends to get serious backlash from the community, regardless of whether or not it’s warranted. 

So is marketing on Reddit worth it? Of course, but keep these 6 things in mind when launching a Reddit campaign.

1.    Add value to the community. What redditors dislike more than reposts, are spam posts that add little to no value. At least when someone reposts something, it was popular and those who didn’t get to catch it the first time get to catch it now. Don’t just hawk your product or promotion – engage in discussions and share finds or knowledge with fellow members. They’ll appreciate it.

2.    Plug your business/product only when it makes sense. After you’ve built a bit of a reputation, feel free to plug your business if you feel it can benefit the community. Don’t be afraid to even admit to everyone that it is a “shameless plug” as long as you feel the community can benefit from your product or services. They will even thank you for the help, but only if you have built up a positive presence.

3.    Answer early or answer uniquely.  As you already know, the Reddit community appreciates quality posts.  This applies to comment responses as well. Keep an eye out for threads where you can share your knowledge and help others with their problems. If you answer early, you’re bound to get a few upvotes, which will increase the visibility of your response as well as improve your reputation. However, there are times when you are beat to the punch, but this doesn’t mean you still can’t help – see if you can contribute by touching upon a different aspect of the problem. Unique responses tend to get a lot of upvotes as well.

4.    Stay relevant to your niche/field. When using Reddit for marketing or business purposes, try to stay within your niche/field. Remember, you’re trying to build a reputation with others in your community so posting a funny cat meme won’t really do that for you. Try to aim for credibility over upvotes because people can look at your entire comment history. If they see non-relevant submissions and comments, they won’t take your advice seriously.

5.    Submit unique content. Reddit loves quality, unique content. Sharing quality finds is great, but if that’s all you’re submitting, you won’t be seen as an authority in the field. Nothing will increase your reputation quicker than producing your own unique, quality content. Some ideas are infographics, mini-case studies from your own personal experience, experiments conducted on your own, or blog posts that give insight to something new or unknown (for example, creating a list of things to keep in mind when trying to market on a lesser-known, extremely popular social platform!)

6.    Don’t be afraid to debate, but be polite. There will be times when people won’t agree with you or what you’re saying. In fact, sometimes people will be downright rude for no apparent reason. If you strongly believe in what you’re posting, don’t be afraid to push back, but remember to remain cordial. Although everyone else might be anonymous, you are acting as a public face for your business/brand. Debate your point intelligently and others will upvote your responses – debate your point childishly, and be prepared to kiss your campaign goodbye.

Keeping these 6 things in mind will help your Reddit campaign be as successful as can possibly be. If you’re willing to put forth the effort, Reddit can offer huge gains in traffic and word-of-mouth exposure!

What do you think? Do you use Reddit often? Or do you think it’s a waste of time?