Social media is a goldmine for marketing campaigns—and Reddit is no exception. The platform makes it easy to connect with millions worldwide, but it can be brutal if you dive in without understanding the ropes. To reap the benefits of this app, you need to know what works and what doesn’t.
In this post, we’ll explore everything you need to know about Reddit—from creating your first post to engaging with the Reddit community effectively.
What is Reddit?
Reddit offers something for everyone. This network of communities allows people to dive into their hobbies, passions, and interests. Reddit combines news, web content, and social networks into one broad platform.
Reddit users—known as Redditors—can contribute to the platform with all types of content, including links, photos, text, and videos. All content posted on the site receives upvotes and downvotes from other users.
Reddit’s algorithm keeps interesting content (upvoted) at the top, while the uninteresting content (downvoted) falls into an abyss. As such, the platform is behind the most viral sensations and internet memes you see across other social media sites.
What are subreddits, and how do they work?
A subreddit functions as a forum within the overall Reddit community—it’s how the site organizes its content. You can post content to specific, relevant subreddits where other Redditors reply to provide their opinions.
Subreddits can be about any topic—from fitness to crafts to travel to business. If you can’t find your niche, you can create a subreddit for it.
However, conversations on subreddits should stay on-topic—otherwise, moderators may remove your comments.
How to post on Reddit
Posting on Reddit can feel overwhelming, especially for beginners. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to post on Reddit, both on your browser and the Reddit mobile app.
Create an account
While you can access a Reddit post in read-only mode even without signing up for an account, it’s essential to have one if you want to use Reddit for marketing. Setting up a Reddit account gives you access to full features, like upvoting, downvoting, commenting, and posting.
To create a Reddit account on a desktop:
- Navigate to the reddit.com homepage and tap the three-dotted menu in the top-right corner.
- Select Login/Sign up and choose Sign Up.
- Tap Continue with Apple or Google or enter your email address into the text box.
- Select Continue to input your preferred username and password. You can’t can’t change your username after creating your account, so make sure you pick carefully!
- Complete the CAPTCHA and tap Continue.
- Complete or skip the optional prompt about your gender.
- Choose three interests from the menu and select Continue.
- Select a few communities to follow and tap Continue.
- You can choose any avatar you like or skip this step.
To create your account on the Reddit mobile app:
- Download the official Reddit app from the Play Store (for Android) or App Store (for iOS).
- Once you install the app, open it and select Continue with phone number, Google, or email.
- If you’ve selected the email option, enter your email address and set a preferred password.
- Fill out your username and tap Continue. Again, your username is permanent—you can’t change it later.
- You can opt to fill in or skip the About you section.
- Choose your interests and tap Continue.
- Choose an avatar or tap Skip.
- Once your account is set up, you’ll go straight to the Reddit app’s homepage.
Create your post
Before creating your first post, you’ll need to choose which subreddit to post it in. Make sure that you choose a relevant subreddit, or the moderators will remove your content. You also need to decide on the type of post you want to make. Options include:
- Image or video post
- Link
- Text post
A basic text post should have a title and some text within the body. Reddit has a text editor feature that allows you to format your content effectively. You may also use the markdown option to format your text.
Media posts require a video or photo, which you can upload directly from your device, and a title. You can also include a link to external content in your Reddit post. In this case, you’ll just need the link and a title.
Follow these steps to create a Reddit post using your computer:
- Sign in to your account. This will direct you to the Reddit app homepage.
- Choose the community you want to post in. You can search for the subreddit or manually enter its URL.
- Select Create Post at the top left corner.
- Choose your preferred heading and compose your text, upload your video or image, or paste your link.
On the Android or the iOS app:
- Tap the plus (+) icon at the bottom of the app.
- Select the type of post you want to create.
- Add a preferred title and finish the rest of your post.
Check the community guidelines
It is essential to understand and adhere to Reddit community guidelines. These rules direct you on how to format your posts and what you should and should not include in your content.
Reddit moderators—volunteers who help to guide Reddit’s community—may reject your content if you don’t play by the rules. So make sure you don’t miss any guidelines when creating your post.
Tap See Community info on your phone and go to the About tab to view the guidelines. If you are using your desktop, you can access the community rules via the right sidebar on reddit.com.
Add flair or tags
You can also add flairs to your community username and tag your content to indicate what type of post it is. While these are typically optional for each subreddit, they can be helpful tools. Flairs distinguish trusted, active Redditors, whereas tags show people what type of content you’re posting.
Post your content
Once you craft the perfect post, just tap the Post button. Typically, you can see your content immediately on the chosen subreddit. However, with some subreddits, your post may require moderator approval before it goes public. Different subreddits will have varying policies and timelines for approval of new posts.
Best practices for posting on Reddit
Reddit has around 70 million daily active users, highlighting how popular the platform has become across the world. However, the Reddit community can be unforgiving. If you don’t understand how to engage with people on Reddit effectively, your Reddit campaign might be over before it even begins.
The following best practices can help you achieve success for your marketing campaigns on Reddit:
Become familiar with the platform first
Before creating a post for your campaign, get to know Reddit first. Take time to understand your community. Check out the subreddits they frequent and read every set rule. See which communities allow marketing and which don’t. This ensures you don’t break set guidelines.
Check out subreddits your audience visit
No matter your niche, there’s a subreddit dedicated to your topic. Search the key terms in your industry to see related posts and communities. You can also search for your brand name or products on these subreddits—people might already be talking about you.
Listen to what users have to say
What are Redditors saying about your business? Since the site is anonymous, Redditors are quick to share their opinions—good or bad. Listen to feedback coming from your audience to determine if your campaigns are fulfilling the intended purpose.
Tips for engaging with the Reddit community effectively
Active participation is essential to your success on Reddit, and keeping communities engaged can improve brand awareness. The following are tips to engage effectively with your Reddit community:
- Keep your posts relevant: If you want to attract traffic from Reddit, be sure to keep your content relevant. Tailor your posts to fit the community you are addressing.
- Focus on great content: Redditors will downvote short and generic content. So, focus on helpful, in-depth, and unique content that entertains your readers.
- Don’t over-promote: While the whole point of your campaign is to promote brand awareness on Reddit, don’t overdo it. Reddit has automatic spam filters that may flag and block your content and domain, and moderators can ghost your account, limiting your content’s reach. In addition, Redditors are quick to point out and downvote obvious self-promotion.
- Comment and reply: Activity on your Reddit post defines the level of engagement you’ll have. So, if someone comments on your post, reply to increase the comment count. Posts with high comment counts get more people to tap on them and engage in the conversation.
- Be humble: Redditors don’t take kindly to blatant marketing, self-promotion, or egotistical content. So, keep your tone humble whenever you post or reply to comments.
- Share your content with friends: You can send your posts to your friends (on TikTok, Snapchat, X, etc.) who are also Reddit users. They’ll upvote your content, attracting more people and increasing your engagement.
Who should try marketing on Reddit?
Reddit’s broad user base makes it especially useful for B2C marketing. The platform has diverse interests and niche communities. As a result, B2C brands can tailor their marketing to specific subreddits, ensuring that their content reaches relevant customers.
Paid ads vs. organic marketing: Which route should you go?
When marketing your business on Reddit, you can use two strategies: paid ads and organic marketing. While both methods are helpful for a well-rounded, holistic marketing strategy, they serve different purposes.
Paid ads aim to promote your brand to a specific audience, whereas organic advertising fosters a long-term connection with your audience.
There are two different types of paid ads you can use on Reddit:
- Promoted posts: They appear alongside regular posts with a “promoted tag.” You may choose to turn the comments on or off. Turning comments on encourages discussion, but ensure you monitor them carefully.
- Takeover ads: They allow you to take over specific subreddits, categories, the entire site, and so on. Most of these ad packages include a top banner, a promoted post, and an ad in the platform’s trending category.
The organic side is more than just creating an account and posting content that organically displays on Redditors’ feeds. Instead, you should find subject-specific subreddits to post in and engage with your audience.
So ask yourself: Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or generate traffic? Having a clear objective can help you set key performance indicators (KPIs) like click-through rates (CTRs) or return on ad spend (RAOS).
In addition, setting a specific budget and defining your target audience can help you understand which marketing strategy to implement. Paid advertising can generate leads and bring immediate sales, while organic marketing can build solid relationships and boost brand awareness.
Our guide to using Reddit for your organic marketing campaign
Due to its popularity, Reddit offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to expand their marketing efforts. Marketers can leverage the many communities on the platform to increase brand awareness. Here is how you can use Reddit for your organic marketing campaigns.
Use different media in your post
Most Redditors are anonymous and engage in groups based on interests rather than friends or location. So it’s better to be creative with your content. You can post pictures, share screenshots, or use popular GIFs and memes.
Host an AMA
An AMA—ask me anything—allows you to share information about your brand or business without being sneaky. Hosting an AMA lets people ask questions and learn more about what they are signing up for and what to expect from you.
Closely track your posts’ performance
Tracking the performance of your posts is essential for understanding how well they are doing and where to make adjustments. You can use Bitly to create trackable, custom-branded social media links to improve your organic campaigns on Reddit.
Experiment with different tactics
Use different approaches when posting on Reddit to see how your audience reacts and engages. This will help you understand which tactics better support your marketing objectives.
Make a subreddit for your brand
Whether it’s r/BookoftheMonth or r/Apple, there’s a subreddit for everything. Creating a subreddit specifically for your brand gives Redditors a place to post user-generated content, ask questions, and share their experiences with your business.
Use Bitly’s tools to make your Reddit experience better
Reddit is a valuable tool for brands that want to take their marketing strategies to the next level. With its vast user base, the platform can help attract more traffic and increase your brand awareness. Just make sure you follow the community guidelines and best practices when you post and comment.
Bitly’s all-in-one tracking system for analytics, link management, and campaign insights can make marketing on Reddit seamless. With Bitly’s shortened links, you can stand out from the crowd, attract more interest, evoke more trust, and generate more clicks.
Sign up for Bitly today to create branded links that grab Redditors’ attention!