The Internet is huge, that much is a given. And the opportunities to reap it for marketing purposes are painfully obvious. Given that it’s teeming with millions of people that just a few years ago had an annual spending capacity of $61,224 on average, it’s practically shooting fish in a barrel at this point.

However, most social marketers take a look at and make use of only a few online hotspots, those being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the big names. But there is a lot of untapped potential in other places — including the point of discussion here: Reddit.

Reddit is a huge platform in its own right. With 1.3 billion visits in February alone, it’s actually a bit of an oddity that it isn’t one of the first picks for social media marketers. And the website is brimming with all sorts of niches that could resonate well with your brand.

With these facts in mind, you’re probably wondering how you can fine-tune your marketing efforts to suit Reddit. Luckily, there are a few tips that can help you do just that.

Know the Rules of the Website

Obviously, you’ll want to know the rules for using Reddit before getting your marketing campaign rolling. We won’t get into a lot of detail about the rules themselves here, but here’s a quick rundown of the kind of behavior that will quickly see you banned from the site.

• Don’t post content that’s illegal.

• Don’t submit the same comment a lot of times to different subreddits, be it quickly or slowly.

• Never share someone’s private information.

• Don’t put links to your website and your website alone.

• Never ask for upvotes.

• Don’t push the promotional vibe.

Getting familiar with the rules of Reddit will be your first step to making it your grounds for marketing. And once you know about the place, you should know about those who inhabit it.

Know the User Base

Seeing that it has a ton of different niches that attract all sorts of people, Reddit is wildly diverse. However, you can zero in on a few key traits that most Redditors share. Knowing the general demographic can help you mold your approach, so make sure to keep it a relevant factor.

The first thing you should know is that most of the user base is male, making up around 71% of the whole website. Furthermore, Redditors are pretty young: people aged between 18 and 29 make up 59% of the overall community.

In terms of political leaning, Reddit is predominantly liberal, with only 13% of them identifying as conservative and 39% as moderate. On top of that, they’re also very active on the website: about 47% of them are practically always online.

Understand the Culture of the Community

One vital thing to know about Reddit is that it has a somewhat particular culture. Not only that, but each segment of it has its own quirks. All the same, there is a certain code of conduct that you should respect which extends beyond the rules themselves.

Perhaps the most important point in this regard is to always, no matter what you post, provide some sort of value. There’s a magic ratio of 80% value and 20% self-promotion that most boards on Reddit adhere to, though it could vary from one subreddit to another.

Redditors are usually pretty skilled at noticing someone trying to cram an agenda into a conversation. That’s why the idea of contributing to a community matters so much. Not only that, but you should also be quick to adopt the unique style of each community you’re interested in. Seeing that users can downvote anything they dislike and send it to the bottom of a page, any pushy or transparently fake behavior won’t get you anywhere.

Finally, you will want to be original and genuine if you want to see any real results. Redditors have seen plenty of sales pitches, some disguised well, and others not so well. Try to think of an original angle for your marketing efforts to get people’s attention. And steer clear of fake accounts or employee upvoting requirements — that kind of scheming won’t fly on Reddit.

A Few Practical Tips

Now that you have an understanding of what kind of mentality works on Reddit, you could use a few practical tips to get your marketing started on this website. To that end, consider the handy pieces of advice below.

Use TrackReddit — TrackReddit helps you keep tabs on all subreddits of interest. It notifies you of any mentions of relevant keywords in real-time, in addition to tons of other useful stats. It’s a tremendously useful tool, so make sure to include it.

Monitor AskReddit — this is a segment of Reddit where people ask questions about basically whatever. It’s a great place to keep track of since it offers you plenty of opportunities to weigh in on relevant topics. Of course, always make insightful replies (useful links are also a good idea), and avoid being too self-promotional.

Take advantage of multiple media — Reddit allows you to post or link anything from text and GIFs to video and blog posts. Make sure to use every medium to keep your presence fresh. You can also consider doing an AMA (ask me anything), which lets you connect with your audience in a more meaningful way.

Follow different subreddits — keeping your fingers in as many pots as possible is a good idea. You can start by checking out the default start page first and find anything relevant to your niche. From there, look into the recommended communities for more exposure.

Author: Josh Wardini:

Josh Wardini, Editorial Contributor and Community Manager at https://websitebuilder.org.uk. With the preliminary background in communication and expertise in community development, Josh works day-to-day to reshape the human resource management of digitally based companies. When his focus trails outside of community engagement, Josh enjoys the indulgences of writing amidst the nature conservations of Portland, Oregon.

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