Should Reddit Advertising be included in your Digital Marketing plan?

Reddit is a social news website and forum. It’s built around user-generated content. The idea is for users to submit posts that others upvote or downvote and comment on. The more upvotes and positive comments the post gets the better is the user’s reputation on Reddit.

In this blog post, we will answer a hotly debated topic in social media marketing: Should Reddit Advertising be part of your digital marketing strategy? Get the answer from our instructors at DMAC. We are experienced in offering social media marketing courses in Canada since 2013.

What is Reddit and how what is its reputation among marketers?

The social platform, which boasts over 400 million users and 52 million daily active users, is divided into subreddits. They can be created by any user around any subject, whether it’s something broad like pets or as specific as a funny meme. All subreddits feed into the full Reddit list of submissions meaning a post in any subreddit (unless it’s private) could easily be found on the front page of the website and major search engine pages.

source: Craigcampbellseo.com

Digital marketers have long hesitated to market and advertise on Reddit. In part, it has to do with some of the low-quality content on the website. Marketers are also quick to nix the platform because of its low stats in comparison to other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Fortunately, Reddit has made several positive changes to its online community and advertising programs. These changes have made it worthwhile for digital marketers to consider paid advertising through Reddit.

source: redditinc.com

Key Changes to the Reddit Community and Reddit Advertising Programs

We, as Redditors ourselves, are the first to admit that Reddit has a history of controversial content and discussions. Some of the content has even swerved off into offensive and criminal territory. Its advertising programs were also once not as effective as that of Snapchat, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering very limited options for reach.

In 2019, Reddit took steps to clean up its website and etch clearer parameters as to what’s acceptable content and what’s not. It began by updating its bullying and harassment policy to better protect users. It also removed over 2,000 subreddits and users that promoted bullying and hate speech.

In a released statement it said,

“Reddit is a place for conversation. Thus, behavior whose core effect is to shut people out of that conversation through intimidation or abuse has no place on our platform.”

Also in 2019, Reddit made updates to its video ad programs. It added a new mobile landing page flow for video ads to better guide users through the engagement process. It also added additional aspect ratios to enable advertisers to use cross-platform video assets.

In 2020, the social news platform partnered with Omnicom Media Group (OMG) to expand advertising opportunities. Under the terms of the agreement, OMG clients now have access to Reddit’s creative strategy team, education and training tools, innovation offering – including early ad product and feature testing – measurement and reporting, data, and Reddit’s unique insights capability.

These changes serve as a vote of confidence for Reddit and its online community and advertising programs.

Is Advertising on Reddit Worthwhile?

Let’s go back to the original question posed at the beginning of this article: Should Reddit Advertising be part of your digital marketing strategy? The short answer is yes. Here is why we feel this way:

Reddit is a unique social platform that offers amazing benefits that cannot be duplicated elsewhere. Advertising on the platform is inexpensive, with low-funnel traffic with a highly engaged audience and very specific targeting options.

While Reddit has a very large active user base, Reddit’s ad revenues are not the largest in comparison to the other social networking websites. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What this means is that ad competition is low, yet the engagement is high, which means better bang for your buck.

Where it becomes tricky is that Reddit is not an easy platform to figure out or get right. Advertisers and marketers need to have a clear and deep understanding of the platform and its users.

You see, each subreddit has its own set of rules. Without understanding those rules and the culture, you may accidentally place your ad in the wrong places. This may cause the community to react negatively, which, in turn, will affect the value of your ad.

One way to understand Reddit is to comprehend Reddit’s reputation system: Karma. Karma is internet points displayed on all users’ profiles. It outlines how a user interacts with Reddit and its communities.

Think of karma as a visual representation of a Redditor’s activity on the website. There are two types of Karma: Link Karma and Comment Karma. You earn Link Karma when your link submissions are upvoted. Comment Karma is earned when a comment is upvoted. However, your karma will be deducted with each downvote on your link or comment.

Remember that a user’s profile carries the number of karmas as a public display of their contribution to the site. This is why it’s so important to focus on authentic and useful engagement when posting on Reddit.

Lucky for advertisers, understanding and building karma just comes down to being active on the platform and being authentic when posting. Given enough time and effort, anyone can integrate their brand into the proper Reddit communities.

How to Set Up Reddit Ads

Reddit has made several improvements to its self-serve ad platform in recent years. The platform is very straightforward and user-friendly.

To set up your ads, start by visiting Reddit Advertising. Click on Create an Ad. You’ll be sent directly to the create new promotion screen. Follow all the instructions.

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We have a catalogue of multiple digital and social media marketing courses at differing prices. While we are Canadian-based, our courses are available to any student from anywhere across the world. The courses are self-paced and offered through our online learning management system. No in-person attendance is required.

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