If you’re looking for quality leads, you certainly should use social media. Social media has proven to be a great channel for businesses that want to increase their brand value. Social media presence is important for many people, and people like to participate in the discussion.
Although most marketers and business owners are used to generating leads on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, many of them overlook another platform — Reddit. Reddit is different from many other social media platforms but it has a lot to offer. With over 430 million monthly active users, Reddit can be a great source of leads. However, this platform is all about the sense of community. So when you see it for the first time, you may decide not to risk being rejected and focus on other social media instead.
This community remains unexplored by many marketers, but Reddit enables you to promote your brand to a growing user base. Moreover, unlike many other platforms, Reddit enables you to target your audience precisely. To generate leads here, you may need to reconsider some of your practices and to make some changes to your advertising campaign. Here is some information that might help you.
What Reddit Is
Simply put, Reddit is a platform with thousands of forums, or subreddits, on virtually any subject. Compared to other social media, Reddit may look a bit unusual. All subreddits look different. The amount of information people share with each other is overwhelming. The visibility of posts and comments depends on users’ upvotes and downvotes.
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Reddit gets over 30 billion monthly views, and in 2020 it’s ranked #7 in the U.S. on Alexa Global Rank. Most Redditors are 25 to 29 years old, with 23% of American adults from this age group using this platform. It’s also used by 21% of people who are 18-24 years old, and this group is followed by 14% of the U.S. adults between 30 and 49. Most Reddit users are technologically savvy and interested in politics. However, you can find all kinds of people here if you know where to look.
Why Reddit Is Beneficial for Your Business
As you can see, Reddit offers some great numbers that can be appreciated by any digital marketer. Besides, this platform has tremendous viral potential. It’s called “the front page of the internet” for a good reason. Viral news and memes often appear here before being picked up by other websites and going mainstream. Reddit marketing is also relatively cheap.
Apart from Reddit ads, a lot of companies use guerilla marketing tactics to promote their products and services on a low budget. According to LegitWritingServices, the essay writing services review site, some essay writing companies create hundreds of accounts on Reddit to be able to manipulate votes and create a fake sense of popularity around their brand.
It usually works as follows: an essay writing service representative finds an active student subreddit and starts a thread where they ask to recommend a trustworthy essay writing company. Then they use fake accounts to reply to the thread. They recommend a company that is being promoted and upvote the answers to make them stick at the top of the conversation.
Needless to say, having multiple accounts on Reddit and engaging in upvote manipulation can get you banned. Still, a lot of companies continue to do that because it is a cost-effective method for them. To get started, you can invest as little as $5 on a VPN, so it’s certainly cheaper than Google or Facebook.
Apart from guerilla marketing, Reddit offers great targeting opportunities if you decide to use paid ads. As we’ve already mentioned above, there are subreddits dedicated to virtually anything. You can find anything here: from your favorite movie to lawnmowers, economics, and art. No matter how specific your niche is, the chances are that you will quickly find relevant subreddits with active users who are interested in it. Reddit enables you to discover audiences that represent your target market. When dealing with other social media platforms, this is something that is hard or even impossible to do.
If you’re wondering where the pitfall is, the answer is that this platform can also be more difficult for marketers than others. Redditors know that this site is very attractive for marketers, and they don’t like it when somebody tries to sell them something. You cannot rely on straightforward advertising strategies that would work elsewhere. Instead, you must invest your time and effort into communication and be an active member of the community.
For example, developers of a voice chat app for gamers used Reddit for a product announcement. They wanted useful feedback from their target audience so they posted in a League Of Legends subreddit and asked its 400,000 users whether or not they would be interested in the app. The post received over a thousand comments, and even though the product isn’t built yet, the team managed to increase brand awareness, get tons of actionable data from their target audience, and generate a few thousand subscribers to their email list.
You can use Reddit not only to learn more about your potential customers but also to engage with them. The audience is active, and this platform can be very rewarding for those who invest their time into genuine interaction. The main thing is to follow Reddit’s content policy. Any irrelevant content will quickly be downvoted, and the account that posted it will be banned. You cannot ask for upvotes or submit the same content to multiple subreddits. However, if you do everything properly, you will get high-quality leads worthy of your effort.
How to Advertise on Reddit
1)Set up your campaign
First, you should create a username for your campaign. We recommend that you don’t use your personal account for marketing because everyone can click on your username and check your online activity. The best approach is to have an account intended specifically for advertising. It will also help you avoid getting things too personal because you will need to interact with comments.
Your ad will also need a thumbnail. It might be your picture or a picture of your product. Create a compelling title and make sure that it looks natural — it shouldn’t be too intrusive. After this, you should click “Post type.”
If you select “Link,” your post will be highlighted as an ad, and when somebody clicks on it, they will visit your page. This post type is similar to traditional PPC advertising. You can also choose the “Text” post type. In this case, you will be able to provide specific details about your product or service so your potential customers will know what you offer and how they can get it.
2) Find your target audience
Once the type of post is selected, you can set up targeting. You can target users by interests or subreddits. If you choose subreddits, you will be able to choose relevant subreddits where you can display your ad.
Your audience determines the reach of your posts. We recommend that you don’t advertise your products on the front page unless your brand is extremely popular. Redditors visit the front page for fun, viral content, and fresh memes. When they are interested in something specific, they visit relevant subreddits.
3) The basics
Reddit Ads is based on the auction system, which means that you should place a bid. Every ad campaign gives you one promotion on one subreddit for a certain period of time. Ads are usually measured in Cost Per Mille. For example, if your bid is $0.75, you will get a thousand views for $0.75. To evaluate how many views you will get, consider that ad campaigns on Reddit cost at least $5. For more details, check out The Complete Reddit Marketing and Advertising Guide.
4) Be accurate and honest
The main advantage of advertising on Reddit is that you can advertise to a perfectly targeted audience who are not only interested in your niche but also actively participating in the conversation. On this platform, you can get highly engaged and promising leads.
The only drawback of Reddit is that its audience is notorious for being very opinionated. If you offer poor products or services, Redditors won’t hesitate to explain in detail why your brand is bad and why everyone should choose your competitors. Make sure to back your claims with actions and facts, and keep your promises. Otherwise, your reputation can be damaged.
Final Thoughts
Although Reddit is often overlooked by marketers, this platform offers great opportunities to engage with your target audience and acquire quality leads. Advertising on Reddit is not an easy task, but we hope that our simple guide will help you avoid some common pitfalls and launch a successful campaign.
Author Bio
Rhonda Martinez is a passionate social media marketer, educator and blogger. Rhonda specializes in Reddit marketing and manages a r/College subreddit. She also writes for SocialMediaToday, SocialMediaExaminer and some other sites related to popular social networks.
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If you are interested in improving your social media campaigns you should aim to take full advantage of your links in bio. We recommend reading this article on our blog!
