For companies seeking to connect with a varied, vibrant audience, Reddit is a great channel to do so. The site draws more than 50 million active daily users, with the outlook for even more growth to come. It’s structured as a collection of forums and the result is specialized, deep-dive conversations in the comments section—far removed from the surface engagement often found on other platforms. This makes Reddit a unique place for brands to eavesdrop on what their customers are thinking and for businesses to become part of the discussion, although with certain caveats. Here are five ways to use Reddit for your business, strategically.
1. Engage in Relevant Subreddits
Reddit contains countless communities—thousands, in fact—organized around particular interests, industries, and topics. Each of these is a subreddit. To do well on Reddit, you really need to find and participate in the subreddits that pertain to your business niche. If you do this and provide real, useful, valuable content to the people in those subreddits (and if you don’t over-promote), you can build your brand, establish Reddit as a “real estate” part of your marketing strategy, and even achieve the kind of organic growth that makes Reddit marketers drool.
As an example, if you work in the technology sector, joining the subreddit r/technology or r/gadgets offers a way to interact with people who are very interested in the tech world. It’s also a way to interact with people who might be potential customers someday.
2. Utilize Reddit Ads
Organic engagement is very important, but Reddit’s powerhouse of an ad platform, Reddit Ads, can be the secret weapon you need to supercharge your reach. With Reddit Ads, you can go a level deeper than using standard demographic targeting and hone in on specific subreddits and interests. That means you can deliver your message right to the doorsteps of the communities most aligned with your brand. And with a variety of ad formats available to you, you can make your content pop in whatever way you see fit.
Reddit users express a clear skepticism about overt advertising, which makes it essential to design ads for this platform that fit seamlessly with its highly community-driven nature. Reddit is a place for conversations, and the best Reddit ads are either informative, humorous, or just plain good at telling a story.
3. Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session
One of the most popular types of posts on Reddit is the AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. In these sessions both individuals and organizations answer questions from the Reddit community in real-time. Hosting an AMA is a great opportunity for your business to showcase expertise while also seeming transparent and approachable to your audience.
To make the most of an AMA, choose a topic that aligns with your business and resonates with your target audience. Promote the AMA in relevant subreddits and other social media channels like your X and linkedin accounts to create visibility and attract a larger audience. As the title suggests, you need to be prepared to answer a lot of different questions, maybe also one’s you haven’t heard or prepared for in the past.
4. Monitor Trends and Gather Insights
Reddit is the perfect place to find user-generated content. If you are looking for genuine and unfiltered discussions, Reddit is a prime place to start. It is therefore one of the best places to do market research for your business. If people are talking about the pain point you solve, or asking for solutions like yours – you can both learn from the discussions and promote your business (in a genuine way) in the comments. By monitoring trends, discussions, and feedback within relevant subreddits, you can gain insights into customer preferences, pain points, and emerging trends.
Social monitoring tools like Octolens can help automate this process by monitoring and analyzing mentions of your brand, products, or industry across Reddit. This data can inform your product development, marketing strategies, and customer service approach, helping you stay ahead of the competition. On top of that it can help your company grow as you can find a new interested audience with high buying intent.
5. Build a Community Around Your Brand
Lastly you can set up your own subreddit dedicated to your business or expertise. Your subreddit can be a place where your customers and potential customers can exchange and ask questions. This way they have a direct line to you and your team that feels much more genuine than a customer support page or chat – something that they would recommend to their peers. Therefore, starting a community around your brand can build stronger relationships with your customers and start your word-of-mouth marketing. People like to get recommendations from their peers, rather than learn about your business over paid ads.
You need to keep in mind though that building a subreddit requires ongoing moderation and engagement. Reddit has the tendency to get very direct and heated at times so you need to put in the effort to make sure it remains a positive and valuable space for your community. Regularly posting content, responding to user comments, and organizing events or promotions can help keep your subreddit active and thriving. Creating clear community guidelines and showcasing the kind of discussions you like is super important.
Reddit offers businesses a unique opportunity to engage with a passionate and active community. Many businesses have been created by ideas spread on Reddit or have gone viral by sharing their successes. By strategically participating in relevant subreddits, leveraging Reddit Ads, hosting AMAs, gathering insights, and building your own subreddit, you too can use Reddit to grow your business.
