Should your brand be on Reddit?
Early adopters, young people, business people, entrepreneurs and professional writers are just a few of the types of people who use and post to Reddit each and every day. You may groan at the thought of learning another social media site, but Reddit may be exactly what you need to further your brand and business.
In our latest blog series, we take an in depth look at so-called “fringe” social platforms, with Reddit the focus for this article. We explain what Reddit is, who’s using it, and give you an idea whether it’s worth your while building a presence for your brand.
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a social news website driven by user-generated content in the form of links, visuals or stories. It’s like a bulletin board for the web, with content listed on the home page and under categories (aka subreddits).
Where Reddit is different is in the ability for users to rank content by voting up or down, ultimately determining which content is most relevant/important right now. Redditors can comment and respond back and forth in a conversation tree, with each comment able to be voted up or down too.
The holy grail of Reddit is to achieve a front-page ranking – for both the general front page and for individual subreddits – which is calculated by the age of submission, ratio of up votes to down votes, and the total vote count.
Reddit is a great source of content ideas and THE place to get the jump on pre-viral info.
Are my customers using Reddit?
Reddit has more than 172 million monthly active users (May 2015), with the predominant demographic being 18-29 year old males. It is one of the most passionate, well-informed places on the web. Users tend to be socially liberal, interested in politics and are early adopters of technology.
Is it an effective use of my time?
A big red flag for marketers is that Reddit users are sensitive to sales pitches and highly critical of overt marketing. This is reinforced by the fact that you have to join as yourself and not as a brand.
Given the user demographic and platform features, you’re best bet is to use Reddit to garner feedback and opinion on your brand, services and customer experience rather than as promotion. If you’re new to Reddit, you should spend a big chunk of your time first becoming familiar with the Reddit culture before jumping in to post.
That said, if you are trying to engage with a niche community, it can be a great place to build expertise and connections. Subreddits make it possible to target very specific audiences and engage them for feedback and opinion. Reddit’s high level of anonymity adds to the raw and unfiltered nature of the commentary, so beware what you wish for.
What other “fringe” social channels should I be using?
If Reddit doesn’t suit your market or purpose, it’s worth being aware of other social media platforms that may be. As part of our latest blog series, we are examining several so-called “fringe” social channels. Like us on Facebook or follow iFactory on Twitter to find out more on:
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