Reddit Marketing | Boost Your Brand on Reddit
Marketing Your Brand on Reddit
Reddit may not be top of mind for marketers. In social media marketing, it often slips under the radar as most turn to the top channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, which offer a broader reach. It makes sense, as Reddit operates on a different format and doesn’t quite fit the typical social media mold.
Reddit is designed for people to connect over shared interests in a somewhat anonymous setting through communities called subreddits. Here, users can share, learn, and debate matters as important, personal, trivial, or silly as they like. Although the reach is smaller than other social network platforms, the engagement on Reddit is higher and feels far more authentic.
When people want unfiltered recommendations or genuine experiences, they turn to Reddit, where AI and sponsored content don’t get in the way of the experience. This trend is clear in their searching habits, too—people often add ‘Reddit’ to their Google searches, showing they trust the platform for raw, real-person insights. It’s no wonder Reddit now boasts more than 70 million daily active users.
Google’s recent algorithm changes have only added momentum to Reddit’s growth. These recent updates prioritizing real human content have significantly boosted traffic to the platform, with a noticeable spike starting in July 2023. While the platform is mainly for sharing opinions and asking advice, Reddit marketing also presents a great opportunity for marketers to connect with their target audience.
Benefits of Reddit Marketing
There are numerous advantages to Reddit marketing, like reaching your niche communities, boosting brand engagement, and making the most of your ad budget.
Get authentic user engagement
Anonymity is a big reason why engagement is so high on Reddit. It gives Redditors—what they call their users—the freedom to express their thoughts and join open conversations without the fear of being judged. For marketers, this opens the door to genuine, unfiltered discussions with their audience, allowing them to build rapport, address concerns, and share helpful feedback that feels personal. Reddit marketing helps shape brand perception and raise brand awareness rather than pushing a hard sell.
Reach a more focused group
Redditors join different subreddits because they’re genuinely interested in those niche communities, like r/AnalogCommunity, r/30PlusSkinCare, r/PopCultureChat, r/CallOfDuty, r/FoodNYC, r/YouBelongWithMemes, and many others. If marketers know which subreddits to engage with or even create their own, they can connect with a specific, highly targeted audience. Rather than casting a wide net, with Reddit marketing, you can focus on a particular group, making it easier to build connections and influence those who truly care about the topic, leading to higher engagement and responsiveness.
Advertising is cheaper
Aside from reaching a more targeted audience, you’ll be happy to know that Reddit paid advertising is a lot more cost-effective than other social media channels. The cost-per-click (CPC) rates usually fall between $0.20 and $3.00, while other channels often start at $1 or above. Reddit’s cost-per-mille (CPM) rates range from $3.00 to $10.00, which again, is way lower than other platforms that start at $6.00 and shoot past $30. Reddit can serve as your main marketing channel when you have a limited budget and a specific audience to target.
How to Market on Reddit
Like other social platforms, Reddit offers two routes for marketers: paid and organic. Paid advertising uses a bit of your budget to get your message out faster to the Reddit community and has two types, Reddit Takeover and Promoted Posts.
Paid Advertising on Reddit
Reddit Takeover
Takeover ads do exactly what they sound like—take over the top spot on Reddit’s Home, Popular, or Search pages, making them the first thing Redditors see. Takeover ads are ad bundles of placements, including Promoted Posts, Top Banners, Sticky Banners, and Trending Units, giving brands maximum brand visibility—which is what every marketer wants. Users can click through these Reddit ads to explore more on landing pages with related conversations, posts, and communities.
Promoted Posts
Promoted Posts work just like your standard social media ads, labeled ‘Promoted.’ They can show up in different formats—image, video, or carousel—and brands can toggle comments on or off. Reddit also offers unique options that can amp up your digital marketing strategy like Conversation Ads that show up under related posts and AMA (Ask Me Anything) campaigns, where users can directly ask questions, adding a layer of interactivity.
Organic Marketing
There’s also an organic approach to connecting with your Reddit audience. Explore subreddits that align with your niche or industry and jump into the conversation—whether it’s through posting, replying, or upvoting and downvoting comments under the Reddit thread. You can also start your own subreddit, giving your audience a space to post and engage with relevant, engaging content you can moderate to achieve greater marketing success. These discussions could cover everything from your products to crowdsourcing their opinions or even hosting an AMA, where they can ask you anything they like. This creates a more relatable and approachable image for your brand.
Just a word of caution: when you’re marketing on Reddit, avoid the trap of sounding like you’re solely promoting your brand. Redditors can easily spot insincerity and won’t hesitate to call you out (you really don’t want to face their wrath). So aim for real engagement, and make sure to speak their language without coming off as too polished, robotic, or salesy. No matter the platform, blending in and adapting to user behavior is key to successful marketing.
If you're a marketer, it’s great to have a strong stance on your social media marketing approach, but don’t let that blind you to other channels that might become more influential down the line. You never know where the next big opportunity could come from.