A Guide to Marketing with Reddit

These days, every marketer is singing praises to Pinterest, the newest darling in social media. The site is exceptionally visual and has the potential to bring a ton of traffic to your website through the use of pictures and sharing. But what if your content marketing strategy relies more on words rather than images? No worries, there is a social network for sharing unique stories, blogs, and websites: Reddit.

The site doesn’t call itself “The Front Page of the Internet” for nothing. If you visit the site daily, you’ll find an engaging mix of news, links, social commentary, and general geekdom. You can find a “subreddit” or secondary community on almost every topic imaginable.

However, this is not your average social network as users are in complete control of the content. There is a system of karma with every user and the material they post. Users can up or downvote content to bring it up to the front page or bury it forever into oblivion. Content that reaches the front page has the potential to be viewed by Reddit’s 330 million monthly active users.

330 million users? Sounds like a gold mine, right? Unfortunately, mastering the karma system can be quite tough. There is a “reddiquette” to follow to gain targeted traffic and not be marked as spam. Marketers should tread carefully into Reddit, as any wrong steps can cause explosively bad results.

I’ve only been using Reddit regularly for a few months, but I’ve learned some tricks. Here are some quick tips for marketing on Reddit:

1) Don’t try to deceive users. 

Choose a legitimate account handle and be sure to label content from your blog or website as such. Credibility goes a long way in building karma.

2) Explore the subreddits and try to find a few that match your desired audience. 

Each subreddit has its unique focus and rules, and to be successful, you have to make sure your content falls within the boundaries. If not, you could be downvoted or banned from the subreddit all together.

3) Don’t submit too many posts to a single subreddit at once. 

Often if you do this, moderators won’t allow you to submit for a few hours to prevent spam.

4) Do submit funny, catchy, entertaining, and sharable content. 

Also, be sure to participate in the communities by commenting on other posts to prevent being banned as a spammer.

5) Ask questions. 

One of the most popular subreddits is IAmA, where users interview famous people, those of particular professions, and much more. You’d be surprised how curious people are about what you do! Asking questions will get conversations flowing, and in no time at all, you’ll be able to introduce your blog, website, or product as a solution.

Reddit can be an incredibly powerful tool for gaining traffic if your content appeals to its niche community.