Is Reddit the future of Organic Social Media Marketing?
Reddit has become the most influential social forums as more businesses leverage it as an effective SMM channel. The biggest plus side of this forum is that it effectively directs organic traffic, and it is an affordable option for small businesses.
How much bigger is Reddit going to get?
- $919 Million Dollars of Funding Raised Over 8 Rounds of Investments
- In 2020, Reddit received over 30 billion views every month
- Reddit was valued at $6 billion in February 2021, doubling its 2019 valuation
- 52 Million Active Users on Reddit Every Day
- More than 150 million different pages on Reddit are viewed every day.
- There are 2 billion comments and counting on Reddit.
The platform has made strides to be a trusted resource for people interested in specific topics. In general, they bring together a community of strangers passionate about the same topics.
The platform is growing exponentially and becoming ever better for leads generation.
Furthermore, since this forum’s basic functionality is based on communities and not a single user, the platform can deliver a high volume of online traffic with very little effort. Join the subreddits that are related to your product category and start swaying the opinion of the masses in your favor.
Reddit’s Projected Growth in Social Media Marketing
Reddit is Becoming More Visual and Have Made Acquisitions to Improve
(Reddit has increased the usage of videos and pictures. They have utilized a system of up and downvotes to find the posts that are most interesting and relevant to the community.
- 88% of users spend more time on websites that have videos.
- Visual content has become increasingly important on their platform.
- The best posts get a lot of initial comments and upvotes.
The inclusion of visuals has increased engagement and the potential for viral content. It opened Reddit to more “fun” images and video clips. By creating content related to videos and images, you can get your posts higher ranked on their platform.
Reddit Wants to Get Advertising Dollars and More Engagement
Reddit has made moves to their platform to make it more visually appealing. They are targeting new groups of people and younger people to come on their platform. It is trying to compete with other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
- Reddit made $170 Million in Revenue in 2020
- It makes the majority of money from advertisements
- It also has a premium membership that lets users avoid advertisements
By creating organic content, it strengthens their position. Marketers will be able to generate leads by creating more visual content and by being helpful on their platform.
You may also want to read: Using Reddit To Unlock Some Of The Greatest Content Ideas
Reddit’s Acquisition of Dubsmash: An Alternative to TikTok
Why did it Acquire Dubsmash?
(Dubsmash is a platform similar to TikTok. It’s mainly a platform of short videos with audio that targets a younger audience. They’ve gained the most traction with Latino and African American communities. They have mainly focused on the underrepresented groups.
- In 2019, Dubsmash’s projected valuation was $50M to $100M
- Reddit paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Dubsmash, and it is considered likely that they spent more than the projected valuation.
Reddit acquired Dubsmash in 2020 as one of their biggest acquisitions. They have made it clear that they are invested in the social media market and plan on growing. By acquiring Dubsmash. The company is trying to diversify its social media network.
They will also be able to take advantage of Dubsmash’s video technical skills. In order to acquire Dubsmash, Reddit had to compete with other social media. It was a sign to the community that Reddit is serious about growing its influence and platform.
Reddit’s Interest in Bolstering Their Video Capabilities and New Communities
(Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have captured a large population of young social media users. Reddit could not previously compete. However, there are certain inescapable statistics that the platform had to respond to:
- 73% of videos are two minutes or less in length.
- 94% of video marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.
- 69 Percent Of Consumers Watch Videos With Their Sound Off
By building up the number of users, Reddit has boosted its advertising dollars. For marketers, it’s a great opportunity to engage in different communities and niche groups. If you have content related to videos and images, it will be a great way to generate leads on these platforms.
The Biggest Leverage Point for Marketers Using Reddit
Finding the Audience For Your Marketing Efforts in Niches
(Reddit has a lot of niches and subreddits that you can join. If you have a particular interest in a certain topic, you can put organic content on their platform and get some traffic.
There is a multitude of different niches within Reddit:
- At the time of writing, there were 2,139,093 subreddits.
- Each category has multiple subreddits to join
You can look at creating a branded subreddit. You can be a moderator and build it up as a platform that people can engage in. It’s a good way for people to find your brand and gain a following.
While you have to be careful to not be too self-promotional on Reddit, if you build up a decent branded subreddit, consider helping followers with free educational content that’ll help them. Offering things like downloadable PDFs, educational webinars, online courses, and eBooks in exchange for an email address will help you build your brand and build relationships with casual Reddit commenters.
Leveraging Content on Reddit’s Platform with External Links
(People generally go on Reddit to find helpful information that they can trust. It’s a good way for strangers to connect with one another on relevant topics.
When You create posts, use external links to generate leads and get more organic traffic:
- In the top 150 subreddits, posts with external links produced, on average, over 16,000 more upvotes than popular posts that are purely text.
- Helpful content can link Reddit users to other articles, videos, and landing pages for a business.
Whenever you have posts with links, make sure it’s in the context of other helpful information. People will downvote anything that looks like spam or is not helping the group.
You may also want to read: Your Guide To Finding Trending Topics for your Blog
Commenting on Posts To Build Authority Within a Niche
(Some posts will have questions asking for other people’s advice. If you can connect with them quickly in a post, you can get a lot of upvotes. And you can bring people to your website.
A couple of hints to help get your comments ranked quickly and gain traction:
- Give a Step-By-Step Mini Guide on Their Question
- Refer People to a More In-depth Video or Article
- Try to be one of the Best and Quickest Responses
Whenever you have a really good response, it will get a lot of votes. A lot of Redditers will acknowledge the truth in your statement. Whenever you have a solid resource, it can also be a great way to draw people to your other platforms and potentially convert some of them as leads.
Comparisons to Other Social Media Platforms
1. vs. Facebook
(As you know, Facebook is the most popular and biggest social media platform. Obviously, it is a much larger platform right now for social media marketing. Facebook has tried to push Facebook groups, and it competes directly with Subreddits. They essentially target the different niches that people are interested in. It’s been a good way to increase engagement on their platform.
- There are 84 Billion Daily Active Users on Facebook
- Reddit has 52 Million Daily Active Users
As a business principal or marketer, it’s important not to ignore either social media company. Both Facebook and Reddit are making efforts to make their platform more engaging for their users.
If you have the bandwidth, it would be best to utilize both platforms by creating your own Facebook Group and Subreddit. Work to funnel leads into one of these platforms and starts joining different Facebook Groups and Subreddits to become an authority in your niche.
You may also want to read: Get The Most Out Of Social Media Groups for Your Business
2. vs. Twitter
(Twitter has a way to send direct messages to people on Lists. These are Tribes to send messages to a specific group. There are public and private groups. It’s most common to use hashtags to reach a broader audience.
- 187 Million Active Users daily on Twitter
- 40% of Twitter users purchased something based on a tweet.
- 430 Active Reddit Users Worldwide
Reddit is closest to Twitter in terms of influence. They have a dedicated following of people. For marketers, they will be able to repurpose content to reach different social media platforms.
3. vs. Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat
(Influencers have thrived on Social Media. They are able to extend their brands and their reach. It’s been beneficial for the platforms because influencers will bring their followers and a steady stream of content. Reddit opens a door full of opportunities for companies specialized in micro-influencer marketing for brands. The first ones to tap into this platform will get massive leverage over the competition.
- Instagram had 1.074 Billion Users in 2021
- TikTok has 689 Million Monthly Users
- 238 Million People Use Snapchat every day
Reddit is trying to enter into this sector with the addition of Dubsmash. Increasingly, they will look at making videos and images a growing priority. It will lead to higher engagement on their platform and is a growing trend on all social media platforms.
Conclusion
Reddit is a powerful social media platform for people interested in engaging in specific interests.
Consider creating your own subreddit group and branding it to your name. It can be a good way to build an audience if you want to control your own group. Look at leveraging multiple social media platforms and using dedicated social media management software to centralize and more effectively manage communications.
Wesley Cherisien is a speaker, trainer, entrepreneur, and tech investor who has penned hundreds of articles, books, and training guides for organizations in the Fortune 500, consultants, and authors spanning multiple industries. Chief Editor of WesleyCherisien.com, Wesley is a creative and highly innovative thinker with 10+ years of experience writing for online publications. You can follow/tweet Wesley @wesleycherisien.
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