Our infographic gives you everything from the basics to the specifics of using Reddit for B2B marketing.

Highlights:

Reddit is a social platform made up of thousands of individual forums where users can post content and vote on its relevance and value.
The first rule of Reddit: avoid overt brand promotion and sales pitches.
Creating your own subreddit is the best way to make Reddit a high-value marketing channel.

Reddit calls itself the “frontpage of the internet.” And for good reason. The social networking site boasts over 300 million active users, as well as 140,000 active communities and a whopping 14 million pageviews per month. However, when it comes to using Reddit for B2B marketing, it’s still a relatively untapped channel.

Our infographic is your ultimate guide to using Reddit for B2B marketing. Read on to find out more about this platform and how you can put it to work for your business.

What is Reddit?

Since the site was founded in 2005, Reddit’s user base has skewed young. However, as millennials come of age and rise to positions of influence within the B2B purchasing landscape, Reddit is becoming an increasingly effective way to reach your target audience.

At its most fundamental level, Reddit is a social sharing website built around users submitting links, pictures, and text, which the community can then vote on. Similarly to Quora, the content that’s voted as best rises to top visibility, while downvoted content becomes less visible.

The structure of the site resembles an intricate message board, divided up into hundreds of thousands of subfolders, called “subreddits,” which function as specific forums. Imagine just about any topic you can think of, and there’s probably a subreddit for it. In fact, for thinking about Reddit for B2B marketing, the following subreddits could be of interest:

If you’re looking for industry discussion on a specific marketing topic, it’s likely you can find a relevant subreddit. While each subreddit has different moderators and regulations, there’s one common thread that runs through the entire site: there is a premium placed on authentic content and interactions – and a disdain for overt self-promotion.

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Using Reddit for B2B marketing in 5 steps

Now that we’ve covered the basics about what Reddit is and how it works, let’s talk about how to make it part of your marketing strategy.

Step 1: Determine your target subreddit(s).

In the same way that a good digital marketing strategy begins with identifying your target audience, determining your target subreddits is the starting point for successfully using Reddit for B2B marketing. While the massive quantity of subreddits can be overwhelming, consider the following three questions to zero in on the right subreddits for your business:

Does the subreddit relate to your business’ brand or products, as well as any specific keywords that shape your digital marketing strategy?
How large is each subreddit’s audience? (Note: bigger isn’t necessarily better. A larger audience has the potential to generate more traffic, but it’s easier to establish your brand’s presence in a smaller subreddit.)
How much engagement does the subreddit generate?

Once you’ve determined a few relevant subreddits with various audience sizes and high engagement, you’re ready to begin posting.

Step 2: Post links… to websites other than your own.

Before you start wondering why we’re encouraging you to promote other pages, there’s another facet of Reddit to consider. The platform takes the idea of Karma to a literal level. On Reddit, your reputation is referred to as your “Karma score,” and it’s determined by your level of positive participation on Reddit, measured by the number of upvotes you receive. As your Karma score rises, your posts become more visible.

One of the most effective ways to boost your Karma score, particularly when you’re starting out, is to post links to content that the subreddit community finds relevant and generate conversation. It’s important to make sure you don’t repost content that another member of your subreddit has already posted, as duplicates can hurt your Karma score.

Step 3: Share valuable content… that’s not a sales pitch.

When posting content to your target subreddits, the path to success is quite simple. Post content that offers value to the community. This means engaging in discussions, asking and answering questions, and, at all costs, avoiding blatant sales pitches.

Sam Holzman of ZoomInfo explains it this way: “Sharing a link to a product page will signal that you’re a marketer who wants to promote products, not an engaged community member. On the other hand, a blog post about the benefits of a particular product will be more useful to your fellow community members and, as a result, is more likely to be upvoted and commented on.”

Step 4: Advertise on Reddit.

While blatant sales pitches on Reddit are a sure way to a low Karma score, the platform does offer its own native advertising. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, Reddit Advertising is a relatively inexpensive way to boost the visibility of your content on the platform. However, it’s important to note that Reddit doesn’t offer the type of analytics as Facebook and Twitter.

Sponsored posts on Reddit appear at the top of targeted subreddits for a specified duration. You pay for duration as well as the number of impressions you receive. Sponsored posts look like any other Reddit posts. Advertising on the platform isn’t necessary for success, but it can help establish a visible presence, particularly at first.

Step 5: Create a subreddit.

Creating a subreddit isn’t easy – it requires a significant time investment to start and maintain. However, doing so is the best way to turn Reddit into an extremely valuable marketing channel. Once you’ve established your presence, creating a branded subreddit gives your customers and prospects a forum to interact, with you and with each other.

Particularly at the outset, you’ll likely need to promote your subreddit on other platforms. Post links to it on your other digital assets, and you could even offer an incentive for engaging on your subreddit.

Your branded subreddit is also an ideal place to offer customer service. Holding exclusive Q&As, referred to on Reddit as AMAs (“Ask Me Anything”), is another effective strategy to drive traffic and engagement on your subreddit.

The bottom line on Reddit for B2B marketing

Reddit is a rich resource for marketers and a fertile ground for marketing your brand and products. The platform is best thought of as a place to share and engage with high-quality, valuable content, rather than as a place for overt promotion. Effectively using Reddit for B2B marketing requires an investment of time and energy, but the results can be well worth the effort.

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Infographic: The Ultimate Guide to Reddit for B2B Marketing