For business owners and marketers, the frequent appearance of Reddit in search results might pique curiosity. Reddit, often dubbed the internet’s collective subconscious, provides a platform for individuals from all walks of life to connect, share their experiences, post content, and delve into topics that intrigue them.
However, the unstructured nature of Reddit, compared to other social media giants, makes it less appealing to businesses aiming to promote their products and services. This disregard presents a significant missed opportunity. When utilized strategically, Reddit can substantially boost your marketing endeavors and morph into a lucrative revenue stream.
This article aims to explore precisely that. We’ll delve into the mechanics of Reddit and then outline five strategies you can employ to attract traffic from this distinctive platform.
Contents
Boasting over 500 million users, Reddit stands as arguably the world’s largest discussion forum.
Number of past, current, and projected Reddit users by year.
Reddit’s value propositions can be categorized into three primary areas: social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion. All content on Reddit is user-generated, implying that users craft their own posts, many of which encompass links, images, and videos.
These posts are arranged into user-created boards called “subreddits,” categorized by their topic or theme. Subreddits often revolve around subjects like technology, news, movies, and gaming, but in reality, a subreddit can exist for practically any topic imaginable.
Here’s a breakdown of Reddit’s key features:
- Subreddits. As previously mentioned, these are distinct communities within Reddit, each devoted to a specific topic. They are identified by the prefix “r/” followed by the topic name, such as r/memes, r/dankmemes, and r/WatchPeopleDieInside (we weren’t kidding, there’s a subreddit for everything).
- Posts and comments. Posts within subreddits include text, links, images, and videos. Users can then comment on these posts, creating threads.
- Voting system. Reddit employs an upvote and downvote system that empowers users to “rate” content. Posts and comments with a higher number of upvotes gain prominence on the page, enhancing their visibility, while those with more downvotes become less visible.
- Karma. Users accumulate karma points when their posts or comments receive upvotes. Karma acts as a general indicator of a user’s contributions to the community.
- Moderation. Each subreddit is overseen by a group of volunteers who uphold community-specific rules and Reddit’s overarching content policies. They have the power to remove posts, ban users, and manage discussions within their subreddit.
- Reddit Gold/Premium. Reddit offers a premium subscription service called Reddit Premium, which provides an ad-free browsing experience, access to an exclusive private subreddit, and other benefits. The primary allure of Reddit lies in its open nature. As long as users adhere to the guidelines of a particular subreddit, they have the freedom to post candidly about any topic that sparks their interest. Consequently, people are drawn to Reddit not only for a sense of community but also to uncover unfiltered answers to questions they might not find readily available elsewhere on the internet.
Posing a question on Reddit is akin to posing it to a vast, virtual gathering of interested individuals. While the answer may not always align with your expectations, you’ll undoubtedly receive a plethora of opinions.
Seeking additional avenues to attract visitors to your website? Free guide » 25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website
With its diverse user base and extensive range of content, Reddit has become an immensely popular platform for discussing current affairs, sharing personal anecdotes, and seeking guidance. This implies that depending on your industry and business, it can also serve as an exceptionally valuable platform for driving traffic.
Furthermore, Google’s recent algorithm update has amplified Reddit’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). Numerous queries now feature a direct link to Reddit or a “Discussions and forums” section that typically incorporates links to relevant subreddits.
Free guide download » PPC 101: Complete Guide to Google Ads
Now that we’ve established what Reddit is and why it holds significant weight, let’s explore five ways you can leverage it to steer traffic towards your website.
Let’s assume you’re a roofing contractor operating in California. Your goal is to connect with potential customers actively seeking roof replacements or related services. It’s highly likely that you’ll encounter difficulty pinpointing a subreddit where homeowners solely discuss roofs. Why? Because roofs, in isolation, aren’t inherently captivating. However, a quick Google search for “roofing california reddit” reveals some intriguing subreddits where you, as a business owner, could lurk to scout for potential customers:
The first result is a post within a subreddit called r/Roofing. The forum’s description reads: Greetings! This sub is for questions, interesting pics or videos and stories about roofing. We welcome roofers, handy-people, homeowners and anyone else who is roof-curious.
For a roofing contractor, this presents a highly engaging subreddit to frequent. While the group may not consist solely of homeowners (i.e., potential customers), even posts from fellow contractors can provide valuable insights into the competitive landscape, pricing strategies, and other useful information that could give you a competitive edge.
Most subreddit moderators are understandably wary of users whose sole intent is to promote their products and services. Therefore, if you immediately inject yourself into a discussion with a link to your website, and if you repeat this behavior multiple times, you risk not only alienating yourself from the conversation but also facing a potential ban.
Violating the established rules is a guaranteed way to get yourself banned from a subreddit, and the majority of subreddits have rules in place that explicitly prohibit “excessive self-promotion.” But here’s the catch: your objective isn’t to overtly promote your products or services anyway. Your primary goal is to be helpful and provide value.
Just like a door-to-door salesperson, your initial priority upon entering a subreddit should be to assist people. Returning to our roofing example, this means that if a homeowner seeks assistance in understanding roofing quotes, you shouldn’t immediately jump in with your own quote and a request for an appointment.
Instead, consider offering insights into why the quotes they’ve received are structured the way they are, how you would approach estimating their roof if you were handling the job, and why your pricing would be set at a particular level. If the homeowner appreciates the value you’ve provided, they’re more likely to follow up with additional questions, creating an opportunity for you to suggest a call or an in-person appointment.
Looking for effective ways to promote your business? Download now » 30+ Ways to Promote Your Business (On Any Budget!)
The key to effectively driving traffic from Reddit lies in being an active and engaged user. This doesn’t mean sporadically dropping in every few weeks to share a link or even occasionally answering questions with a helpful tip. It entails consistently participating in and contributing to the subreddits where your target customers are engaging in discussions.
Your aim should be to establish yourself as a valuable member of the community. Someone with experience and credibility in your field, whom people naturally turn to for answers. The most direct path to achieving this is by generating your own content, rather than solely commenting on the posts of others.
Posts like “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions demonstrate to users that you prioritize being a dedicated member of the community over being solely a business owner. It shows that you’re comfortable leading discussions within your field, not just passively observing or adding occasional comments.
Consistently sharing valuable and original content eliminates the need to explicitly promote your services; customers will naturally gravitate towards you and inquire about them.
As we touched upon earlier, Reddit embodies the internet’s collective subconscious. Its superego, if you will. And one thing the ego finds undeniably appealing is the allure of free offerings. The inherent satisfaction of receiving something of value in exchange for nothing. If you choose to promote your products or services within a subreddit, hosting a giveaway, sweepstakes, or contest is arguably the most effective approach. This strategy allows marketers to mitigate the potential negativity often directed at users perceived as overly self-promotional while simultaneously sparking competitive interest among prospective customers.
For service-based businesses, this could involve offering a complimentary inspection or a discount on one of your services. If you own an ice cream parlor, you could engage with your local subreddit and announce a two-for-one special. For ecommerce brands, it might involve directing traffic to an external landing page where users can provide their names and email addresses for a chance to win a gift package from your brand.
Regardless of how you decide to give away your products or services, you can be confident that this approach will contribute to generating invaluable traffic and exposure for your business.
Identifying the right subreddit means you’ve already located your target audience. However, unless you’ve cultivated a presence and gained recognition within the community, you haven’t truly captured their attention. And if you haven’t captured their attention, they can’t truly be considered your audience. Building a loyal following on Reddit requires you to position yourself as a thought leader. Influential figures like Jason Calacanis and Elon Musk have leveraged Reddit to expand their brands by embracing thought leadership. While they run companies and have business interests, they utilize Reddit as a tool to rapidly grow their engaged audiences.
A visit to Jason’s Reddit profile reveals that he doesn’t just limit himself to promoting his podcast. He actively engages in numerous discussions across a range of topics that pique his interest.
Why would someone of Jason’s stature, worth an estimated $100 million, dedicate time to browsing subreddits? Firstly, because he genuinely enjoys participating in the discourse and has a diverse array of interests.
Secondly, it’s because he understands the power Reddit offers thought leaders when it comes to cultivating an audience. The ability to seamlessly enter a thread and contribute a relevant fact, opinion, critique, or piece of advice is what makes Reddit such a unique and valuable platform for content creators and brands alike.
Traffic on Reddit belongs to the most engaged and creative
There you have it, the essence of driving traffic from Reddit. It demands thoughtfulness, engagement, and creativity. Remember to consistently share original content, prioritize being helpful above all else, and generously offer your products or services through giveaways or contests. By diligently adhering to these strategies, you’ll reap substantial rewards, many times over.