Get Reddit right

Want to advertise on ‘the front page of the internet’? Well Reddit is making it more appealing to marketers with new tools.

An improved pixel with more conversion tracking options and an app install campaign objective have been added, as part of Reddit’s continued efforts to bring in more advertising dollars.

The attractiveness of Reddit for marketers is their engaged and hard-to-reach audience of 330 million monthly active users.

*2018 Comscore data

Along with a vast variety of niche subreddits, each with their own highly engaged community, Reddit presents a great opportunity for a targeted advertising campaign at scale.

But before you jump in head first, it’s important to remember r/whatcouldgowrong. Reddit is a complicated beast. It is largely self-moderated and has had it’s fair share of controversies.

In light of this, I’ve compiled my top 5 tips for getting Reddit right:

1. Less is more
   Reddit has slowly built an interesting mix of advertising placements but that doesn’t mean you should use them all. Unlike other social media channels, you won’t be bombarded by ads when scrolling through Reddit so a refined but impactful approach is best.
2. Know your audience
   Ah, the Redditor. Forget any stereotype you might have – with 330 million active monthly users their audience has grown significantly. So it’s important to do your research to understand how best to target them and the right communications to land.
3. Be authentic
   This should apply to all advertising, but particularly on Reddit. If the Reddit hive-mind pick up on unauthentic sentiment or messaging that conflicts with your brand’s real-world activities they will be quick to point it out and shout about it.
4. Add value
   Reddit is a wonderful source of content because it has an engaged user base who contribute to their communities. Your marketing should do the same. Give personal insights and be open to two-way dialogue with an r/IAMA, invite users to create something like this example from KFC on Valentine’s Day, or ignite discussion by providing useful information on a topic or product.
5. Prepare for trolls
   Even if you nail the first 4 tips it’s no guarantee your campaign will be well received. In fact, if you don’t get any trolling you likely didn’t get any engagement at all. So work with Reddit’s account team to ensure you have a good plan in place for when they come out from under the bridge.

To read more about Reddit’s new advertising updates, click here.