Reddit might not be the ideal place you'd think to market your brand. Especially given its community-driven nature and unpopular changes to its API (application programming interface) last year.
But recently, Reddit's CMO, Roxy Young, came forward to push back on myths that may be scaring advertisers away.
Speaking with Adweek, she gave tips on traversing Reddit's unique social landscape. She also gave more sweeping advice on modernised marketing. What she had to say could help you market your brand across other community-based spaces, too.
Young laid out 3 key points for advertising on Reddit (and other online communities).
Use contextual ads. Contextual ads are an early form of internet marketing. The term means advertising your product or service on relevant sites and pages. Young says marketers can find relevant subreddits and sell themselves directly to their target market.
Read the room. You can't just get on Reddit and push your project. Well, you can, but the response won't be very good. You need to become part of the community. So reply to questions and show genuine interest in different conversations.
Create conversation. Using Reddit's Free Form ad unit, you can share long-form stories to launch discussions. A great example of this was Volvo prompting thousands to share when car safety features saved their lives.
The key is to engage in genuine conversations with the online community you're part of. When you do this, your message can spread organically without you having to overtly sell to people.
That's really up to you. Reddit has 70 million daily users and over 100,000 communities who often have niche interests. It's a smaller crowd than other platforms. But if you play your cards right, you could find a loyal audience that's aligned with your brand. And that's something that can become extremely valuable!
