Reddit is an expansive online forum and a hub of online activity. It draws in 6 percent of adult Internet users and seventy million active users and garners roughly five billion page views in a single month. With numbers like these, it's no surprise that businesses are jumping at the chance to market their services and products on Reddit. Before you take the plunge, you should keep these five things in mind to create a successful communication strategy that serves the unique needs of the Reddit community.
As with any marketing effort, knowing your audience is critical to success, but with Reddit, it is imperative. Its users skew predominantly male, are college educated, and possess an annual income between $25,000 and $50,000. If you're targeting your media campaign to a younger audience, Reddit shouldn't be overlooked: 55 percent of its users are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four.
The site's purpose is as important a detail as its audience. Reddit is driven by user-generated content and third-party links. Because the focus is on discovering new, interesting content, visitors don't hesitate to click on outbound links. Reddit users also have the power to bump content to the top of the page by voting up or down. If your posting catches their eye, your company stands to gain an exponential increase in web traffic to any links you mention, a phenomenon dubbed as the “Reddit effect.” While Reddit's user database may not be as substantial as Twitter or Facebook, it matches and supersedes their influence by driving huge numbers in referral traffic.
Reddit encourages high levels of social interaction via its online forums. The site is home to more than 100,000 niche forums, known as subreddits. Some of the most popular ones revolve around perennially hot topics, such as video games, politics, and movies, and may feature one million or more members who represent a huge target audience for companies operating in these fields. Smaller forums may attract just a couple of thousand users, but they're often home to a highly active community invested in the niche topic at hand. Both ends of the spectrum afford communication and media professionals with the unique opportunity to interact and share content with a receptive audience.
Collectively, Reddit users have a reputation for being outspoken and tend to be politically and socially active. They're adept at navigating the Internet, utilizing multiple social networks, and generating unique content that skyrockets to online fame or infamy. Most importantly, they don't waste time in voicing their opinions on the latest topics of interest. Members have propagated negative viral PR campaigns against businesses, resulting in significant damage to their reputation.
If you're going to expand communication efforts to Reddit, there are specific rules that must be followed to avoid a permanent ban or negative feedback. The website discourages manipulating votes, spamming forums with unrelated content, and misrepresenting your company. Appealing to the audience is key to grabbing the attention of Reddit users and making your company known, but engaging in deceptive practices is a surefire way to incur the wrath of Reddit users and undermine your media campaign.
(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)
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