Reddit Advertising Strategies for Moving the Needle

If you aren’t yet familiar, Reddit is a forum-based social medium where users post within subscribed communities, or “subreddits.” Currently with over 430M active users, and 130K subreddits, it has rapidly become an attractive platform for advertisers.

While not the go-to platform for many, it does pose some advantages over other paid social channels when thinking about advertising. Read on to find out how to get the best out of Reddit in your advertising strategy.

Why are advertisers turning to Reddit?

Reddit’s ability to bring millions of users together based on shared interests makes it a perfect place to advertise. Not only does it allow for people interested in the same topics to start a conversation, but its popularity has also revolved around the fact that users are quite opinionated—strong brand advocates with the highest NPS (net promoter score) across all social platforms.

Many people think of it as a place where they can go when they need to form an opinion about something. In fact, 86% of the users have stated that they trust Reddit when they want to learn about products or brands. This insight leads us to understand why it is the third most reliable source chosen by users, only after Google and Amazon.

The (often niche) subreddit structure paired with native trust of user opinions mean your brand’s target audience could be in community together now, discussing opinions related to your product/service, and prime for receiving your message with a high propensity to advocate for it.

Finding your target audience on Reddit

The majority of Reddit users are young adults; 64% are 18 to 34 years old. Active users usually find others who share their same interests and join communities, spending an average of 36 minutes on the platform per day.

In this sense, targeting should be aimed at understanding and finding the right community and subreddits for your purpose. It’s essential that you browse the subreddit as an organic user before jumping into the conversation as your brand. Look for if your brand and/or competitors have already been mentioned in the community, and what the general tone of opinion is. Use your findings to respond with ad creative.

Making your brand part of the Reddit community

Community plays an important role. The main idea is to genuinely connect with users; rather than having a traditional ad that’s unrelated to a specific topic or community that will be immediately discarded by Redditors, a good option is to promote posts that appear native to the platform and relevant to the neighboring organic content.

Creative best practices to keep in mind

• Be authentic: It’s always better to stay true to your brand; be direct and honest about what it is that you’re selling. You should also clearly state what your value proposition is—a recent study of Reddit DR ads showed this can cut CPA in half.
• Redditors know best: Reddit is a large community of people who appreciate being understood and take pride in being different. Redditors will know when a brand has taken the time to get familiar with the culture, its communities, posts, the lingo and user behavior. Make sure you get to know the platform and show it in your approach.

• Make it interesting: A well-planned strategy goes a long way, and when it comes to Reddit, it is imperative that your content is relevant. One way to do so is by aligning to current topics and conversations happening within communities. You’ll want to refresh your copy regularly and make sure you get creative to engage Redditors; this way you’ll also prevent ad fatigue.

Compelling Business Results from Reddit Advertising

It’s widely known that Reddit attracts people interested in learning and getting informed. Before making a purchase, consumers tend to compare twice as many brands and spend 15% more time researching on Reddit than on any other social media platform, resulting in more valuable buyers who buy 9 times faster.

A major consumer products client of Rise recently leveraged Reddit Advertising with the goal of driving brand awareness. With intelligent audience targeting and creative, the campaign outperformed Kantar CPG Norms for Purchase Intent by 4.9x. Overall Brand Lift improved by 8%, blowing past the client’s goal for awareness.

“Reddit has been working with Rise Interactive for the past two years to help put community insights and culture at the heart of their strategic recommendations. The team at Rise understands the value of community and how to leverage its power on behalf of their brands - they were among the first to recognize the shift from individual-centric social to passion and interest group-focussed behavior, and have harnessed these realities through a deep understanding Reddit’s role in the social space. We love working with Rise - they’re thoughtful, collaborative and always seek to get the best from their partnerships, which ultimately delivers the best, most meaningful results for their clients.” - Danielle Beattie, Senior Brand Partner, Reddit

We encourage you to consider whether Reddit is a platform that will help you meet your goals. Our experts at Rise are ready to develop a successful Paid Social strategy for your brand—reach out to get started.