Influencer marketing is one of the most rapidly growing industries in the world. There has been an increase in the number of social media influencers in the past decade or so. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit define the new era of digital marketing.

Reddit is a hugely popular social networking site with a huge collection of forums, or threads, where users may debate and exchange news and other material. The site’s success stems from the abundance of subreddits dedicated to practically every topic imaginable. According to Alexa, Reddit is the 19th most visited website in the United States and the globe as of 2020. 

It is a social sharing website similar to Twitter or Instagram that allows users to find online groups based on their interests. Reddit is a terrific tool for marketers to leverage in influencer marketing campaigns and media strategy for these reasons.

Today, promoting your brand by social media influencers is one of the best ways to build your brand. Reddit recognized this opportunity and created a subreddit under the name r/Influencer Marketing in 2015. 

Since then it has been an active community and it is one of the best ways for digital marketers to interact with influencers and promote their brands. The subreddit is full of ideas, resources, and tips for all those interested in social media marketing.

Marketer’s Guide to Reddit

The Internet is a big place and there are many platforms where you can market your business. One such platform is Reddit. If you want to do marketing, it is the place to be. 

With an active daily user time higher than Facebook, Reddit is one of the most popular social media platforms. It is also very underutilized in terms of marketing.

Here’s the thing: Reddit hates marketing. It believes in sharing, not selling. This is the main reason why many marketers fail to do marketing. 

Once you know how to do marketing discreetly within the rules, your demand generation will skyrocket.

Here is a breakdown of a Marketer’s Guide to Reddit: –

• Ask Questions

Reddit has healthy communities and subreddits with interactive people who willingly answer all your questions. 

Find a marketing subreddit and ask all your queries related to marketing and you will get the answers you need almost instantly. Do not fear to ask relevant questions like where can I find influencers? Where can I post Ads? Can I use hashtags?

You can join a subreddit called r/marketing and ask your questions.

• Prepare to market yourselves

Once you understand how it works and what to do and not to do as a marketer, it is time to prepare yourselves for marketing. Gather a list of subreddits that are relevant to your business.

Look at the type of content that is posted in those subreddits and what content your target audience likes. Know the rules of these subreddits and accordingly prepare a marketing strategy for Reddit.

• Engage in your community

Once you have found a relevant subreddit for marketing, the next step is to figure out what to post. You have to keep in mind that Reddit sees itself as a community and not an advertising site. 

Making just self-promotion posts will invite negative feedback from Redditors. You have to make them believe your product is helping people and you genuinely care about your customers. 

After joining a subreddit, do not start posting right away. Start upvoting other great submissions and share interesting content made by others.

• Gain Traffic

Once you have engaged with your community for a few weeks and people understand you are not just here to promote yourself, start slipping in your content.

Note that Reddit hates marketing. Many forums and subreddits are present for calling out marketers that try to self-promote by spamming links.

You should be transparent and upfront about your marketing strategy and discreetly market your business and gain traffic.

Ask Me Anything (AMA) is one of Reddit’s formats that is Ad-friendly. You can use this format to discreetly market your business and start engaging your target audience in the subreddit.

How to use Reddit for Influencer Marketing

• Understand Reddit

The first step for marketers before spamming links and promotional posts is to understand how Reddit works. Reddit is different from other social media platforms and has different terminology.

The users of Reddit, also known as Redditors, are also different from normal internet users. When they see someone posting Ads they mercilessly trash these Ads and report them for spam.

New marketers should have a long-term mindset when it comes to marketing on Reddit. Spend a month, or even two and know everything about Reddit. Know what are subreddits, know how the voting system works, where you can find your target audience, where you can post Ads and promotional posts

• Find Influencers

Through the Reddit influencer marketing page, brands, influencers, marketers cross-communicate with themselves and promote each other by sharing popular threads and discussion topics.

If you are new to Influencer marketing, look for micro-level influencers who want to promote themselves. Do not go for megastar influencers because they are not readily available.

Put a face on your brand and post different threads promoting your brand. With a smaller community, influencers are readily accessible, making them easier to find, contact, and communicate with.

Information about the audience’s wants, needs, and expectations will help you choose an influencer that is the perfect fit for your brand.

• Get inspiration from past campaigns

Reddit has thousands of threads that are active. These threads have an average of 11 users per hour. 

 On the Reddit influencer marketing page, there are hundreds of threads of past influencer marketing campaigns. You can get inspiration and ideas from these campaigns and formulate your campaign on the discussed successes and failures. 

Marketers can also ask questions of their own that will allow other marketers to guide them in a quick, efficient way.

• Finding Partner Agencies

Influencer marketing can be very tough for beginners and

marketers turn to partner agencies for help. Partner agencies can promote your business and come up with various campaign strategies and ideas.

There are many competing influencer marketing agencies on Reddit. Agencies in Reddit also promote their own business by including their stats, credibility, success rate, etc. in-thread posts.  In the comments, marketers and agencies can discuss the next steps and help make for a seamless transition into direct contact.

This allows the marketers to choose from a variety of options in a single influencer marketing page on Reddit.

Challenges of Marketing on Reddit

Reddit is one of the most popular platforms for digital marketing. Many marketers have promoted their brands and have been successful in doing so. But, it is not that easy.

Reddit is still a scarier place for marketers than it should be. Reddit has been established as a community and not a marketing website. Most marketers fail to understand that Reddit’s users or Redditors are different from normal internet users.

You cannot just spam links of your business and make continuous promotional posts and be successful. Redditors trash these ads mercilessly and report them for spam.

Here are some challenges of Marketing on Reddit: –

• Advertisement on Reddit

As discussed above, Redditors trash Ads if you spam them. There is an option for downvoting and upvoting in Reddit. They downvote these Ads which makes them harder for your targeted audience to find. Some members which have premium membership can simply turn off these Ads.

The site promotes discreet Ads and does not allow user targeting. Even one of Reddit’s formats like Ask Me Anything (AMA) that is considered Ad-friendly can sometimes have dire consequences. AMAs are considered short and underwhelming and Redditors see it as “just another tactic” for advertisement. 

• Self-Promotion

In Reddit, self-promotion is not easy. Yes, many marketers have built their brand through promotion in Reddit but first, they had to contribute to the community.

Reddit thrives on a sense of community. Some many forums and subreddits have strict rules against self-promotion. If you join a forum, say marketing club, and start posting information about your business and various links to your website, you will instantly be kicked out and reported.

Redditors expect your business to not only promote your business but also give back to the community. If you upvote your content and ask others to upvote your posts, Redditors will become hostile towards you.

• Learn how to Operate Reddit

Before formulating a proper Reddit marketing strategy, you should first learn how to operate Reddit. Spend a month, or even two to know about what type of content Redditors like and identify the targeted audience among the Redditors.

Most marketers struggle to understand the terminology of Reddit which is different from other social media platforms. They have to understand the acronyms used by Redditors.

You have to be a Redditor to be successful in marketing on Reddit. Understand the basic rules and find which subreddits or forums are good for marketing campaigns.

Conclusion

The Reddit influencer marketing page is a healthy community, marketers are willing to help other marketers, but it is still underutilized for marketing. It is time to change that.

Reddit has evolved into a hotspot for influencer marketing tools, with chances, suggestions, and ideas for every aspect of social media influencing. Brands, marketers, and influencers may all connect and collaborate on the Reddit Influencer Marketing page, creating an atmosphere conducive to success in the field.