I have a confession to make. I might be a social media marketer, but I don’t really love social media. The only place I post is LinkedIn, and only for business development purposes. But there is one corner of social media I frequent: Reddit.

For the uninitiated, Reddit is billed as the “front page of the internet” — but it’s a lot more than a newsfeed. The wide variety of content on Reddit is highly organized, largely user-generated, and ranked by majority vote. If this sounds complicated and intimidating, fear not. Reddit certainly has a steeper learning curve than Instagram or Twitter, but if you’re willing to spend the requisite time familiarizing yourself with the platform and its hyper-targeted audiences, you can unlock a whole new world for content marketing to shine.

To aid in your journey of discovery, I’ve compiled the following roadmap detailing all the functions and terminology you need to know to navigate Reddit — plus Dos and Don’ts for successful content marketing!

A brief Reddit primer

When you visit a foreign country, learning the language and studying a map isn’t mandatory, but it certainly helps get you around. Reddit is no different. Sure, you can figure it out as you go, but you’ll get a lot farther, a lot faster if you go in with at least a cursory understanding of how the platform works. 

Navigating the Reddit layout 

Like most social media platforms, Reddit is aggregated around a central feed system comprised of user-generated content. But unlike other platforms, where content is roughly classified by keywords or hashtags, Reddit content can only be posted into a specific channel, or “subreddit” (indicated by “r/” followed by a description of the specific topic). Content must be relevant to the subreddit — and adhere to the subreddit’s rules — or else it will be removed by the moderators. The specificity of these subreddits can vary greatly from broad topics like “r/mildlyinteresting” to extremely niche subjects like “r/B2BTechMarketing.”

Reddit users can then choose to subscribe to the subreddits they’re most interested in, curating their “Home” feed with the content posted to the communities they follow. Reddit also offers three additional platform-curated feeds: “News,” “Latest,” and “Popular.”

Content ranking on Reddit

The Popular feed brings us to the next unique thing about Reddit: content ranking. When you post content — or even comment on other users’ content — you are subject to Reddit’s “up-” and “down-voting” system. This may seem like an outdated remnant of the Myspace era but it is, in fact, a pretty radical form of social self-governance. Not only does Reddit’s voting system naturally sort the content wheat from the chaff, it also rewards thoughtful contributions — and, conversely, punishes bad behavior like trolling, circulating misinformation, hate speech, or shilling.

Reddit language and lingo

What is shilling, you may ask? It’s a popular Reddit term for sketchy brand promotion (more on that later). There’s a lot of lingo and acronyms specific to Reddit — but Millennial marketers with AOL Instant Messager experience should find this kind of shorthand familiar. Here’s a rundown of the most prevalent Reddit terminology to get you started:

The dos and don’ts of marketing content on Reddit

Now that we have a lay of the land, let’s talk about the rules of civility. Reddit is governed by a general Content Policy and subreddits are subject to even stricter, more specific rules determined by the moderator team. There is also a general etiquette to Reddit markedly absent from other social media platforms. The easiest way to communicate this is through what NOT to do on Reddit.

• Don’t dive in headfirst. After you first become a member of Reddit, it’s not a good idea to immediately start spamming threads with content. In fact, many subreddits do not allow new accounts to post until they’ve reached a certain maturity. Lurking is welcome, and I advise you to do a lot before you start contributing. Follow subreddits, understand their particular cadence, and examine the content that does well before adding your own.

• Don’t copy and paste comments. Reddit is all about meaningful engagement. Content customized to the conversation will perform much better than a random comment that only serves your purposes. 

• Don’t shill. Shilling – aka paid comments or using a fake account to promote your business – is not appreciated on Reddit! You will be discovered (there’s a reason the term “Reddit sleuth” exists) and you will be shamed! If you’re confused about shilling, this thread in the r/TheoryofReddit subreddit explains it in greater detail.

How to effectively market your business on Reddit

After you’ve spent the requisite amount of time curating your Reddit feed and familiarizing yourself with the various subreddits, it’s time to start contributing. As Theresa recently explained in her excellent post, “Content Marketing Defined and Demystified,” “...creating content your customers want to consume — and solves their problems — is a more rewarding and effective marketing tactic than spamming them with discount offers or creepy ads that follow them around the web.” And this is the way with Reddit!

Here are the best ways to engage with communities and promote your business in a natural, organic way that won’t get you downvoted. 

• Join the conversation. Say you own a small online bookstore and follow r/books. One day, you’re scrolling your newsfeed and see a poster asking for recommendations for new YA fiction. Drop your top recommendation in a comment and take some time to explain why you think OP would like it. If your comment does well, then you can go ahead and share the link to your online shop. Because you’ve taken the time to read and meaningfully engage, your act of self-promotion should be warmly received and not dismissed as a shill. 

• Ask questions. A faster way to get the word out about your business is to pose a relevant question to a subreddit and start a conversation. For example, you own a pizza parlor and are curious if people typically prefer a BOGO offer or a percent discount. Upload a great picture of your pizza to the r/pizza subreddit, briefly introduce yourself, and ask the sub what kind of pizza promotions they prefer. People love to answer questions, which will not only give you valuable market research but also spread the word about your business. Yes, Reddit is a global platform and only a small fraction of people will be able to visit your shop and place an order, but if your picture is appealing and your caption engaging, you might pick up some new social media followers hungry for more of your pizza content – and in this digital age, followers can be as important as customers.

• Go local. For even more targeted results, subscribe to the r/Connecticut subreddit. Oftentimes people will ask for local business recommendations, and if your business meets OP’s criteria, go ahead and share!

• Share OC (original content). With so much cross-posting going on, quality OC is always welcome on Reddit. Interesting GIFs and cute or funny photos always perform well, so the next time your cat starts messing with your shipping boxes, snap a picture and share to r/aww or r/animalsbeingjerks (extra marketing points if your picture includes your product or logo). For more text-driven subreddits, you can share relevant insights about your business that other community members might find useful, interesting, or thought-provoking. 

• Hold an AMA. If you’re in a unique line of work that you often get questions about, submit an AMA to r/IAmA or a relevant subreddit. The typical format for an AMA is, “Hi, I’m [NAME], [JOB TITLE] at [COMPANY]. Ask me anything!” Just make sure you’ve budgeted enough time to reply to as many questions as possible in a timely manner.

• Pay for ads. If you’ve exhausted all the aforementioned techniques and your ad budget allows, go ahead and try out a paid Reddit ad. Like most paid social media advertisements, ads posted to specific subreddits and niche communities perform better than broad ads shilled to the masses. For more on Reddit advertising, check out this analysis from Hubspot. 
  

Reddit can be overwhelming at first, but once you’ve spent some time in the platform and familiarized yourself with the community cadence, it can be a great place to talk to – and better understand – your target audience, network with like-minded users, and spread the word about your business. 

Still concerned your content will get downvoted? Let’s talk and create a custom Reddit marketing strategy that works for your small business!