Reddit Pro: A Power Play for Engaged Brands

Reddit Pro:

A Power Play for Engaged Brands

Social Factor Point of View

Reddit is beta-testing new organic business tools to help brands grow their presence on the platform.

Understanding the Landscape: Background and Benchmarks

Reddit, a social news website and forum, has 73 million daily active users and approximately 430 million monthly active users. (source) The platform has over a million communities, known as “subreddits,” including industry-specific ones, such as r/marketing, r/gaming, and r/music.

Brands can leverage Reddit ads to reach a diverse and engaged audience and promote content to specific subreddits. Now, Reddit is introducing a new business toolkit that allows brands to use it organically, similar to how brands build communities on other social media platforms. As with any platform, brand success on Reddit hinges on understanding its culture.

Here are the key demographic breakdowns:

Reddit is the ninth most used social media platform in the U.S.
63.6% of Reddit’s global users are male
44% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 use Reddit
22% of U.S. adults age 30-49 use Reddit

Organic Content: Building Relationships, Not Showrooms

Reddit Pro will allow brands to organically contribute to established communities and conversations.

Brands now have official username accounts (u/BrandName) and will be able to engage with Reddit users in two ways:

On the user-facing brand profile (u/BrandName)
In a specific community (e.g., r/cars, r/gaming, and r/music)

Brands can post to their profile and/or a community and use Reddit Ads to promote posts from either.

Across Reddit, an “official” badge next to the brand’s username makes it clear that the content is from the brand and not from a fan of the brand or another user.

Reddit Pro provides a suite of business tools, including:

Conversations: See mentions about brand and category, and find the top 20 relevant communities to engage with.
Trends: Track mentions and sentiment of the brand over time.
Performance: Monitor key metrics on the brand’s posted content, such as views, upvotes, shares, and more.

A few callouts on Reddit’s unique platform experience:

You make the rules on your profile, but in a community, you must abide by their rules.
Reddit runs on votes to elevate content, not algorithms. Comments and upvotes raise brand exposure.
Self-promotion is prohibited unless you’re in a community you own.
The type of content you post may require outreach to the community leaders who moderate the space. If you want to post in a specific community, please contact the KarmaLab team.

Why Contribute Organically on Reddit?

Contributing organic content through official brand profiles fosters trust and authenticity, which is crucial for resonating with Reddit’s user base. To drive engagement, you should focus on educating and entertaining customers and potential customers. Redditors want to laugh, learn, connect, share, educate, grow, and improve. On the brand profile, share announcements/news/utility-based updates (e.g., customer service, education, etc.) and drive people to relevant communities. Within communities, focus on adding value by upvoting, commenting, or posting with the intent of informing and entertaining.

Examples of Opportunities to Engage on Reddit

Customer Support
1. Find posts or comments to reply to across relevant communities where you can add value.
2. In spaces dedicated to the brand, create posts to serve as hubs for support (e.g., frequently asked questions).
Drive Favor/Fandom
1. Surprise, delight, educate, and entertain Redditors by offering them immersive, engaging, or exclusive access/content.
Customer Acquisition
1. Be the expert and add value for Redditors seeking information within a consideration phase.
Community Building (Through Entertainment)
1. Drive interest and growth for the brand’s community by humanizing your brand and engaging with Redditors.
Community Building (Through Education)
1. Inform and inspire members of the brand community with expertise only you can provide
2. Offer unique perspectives, behind-the-scenes looks, and must-know news related to the brand or industry.
Leverage Conversation for R&D and Feedback
1. Tap into the crowd’s wisdom to learn how the brand can improve.

Paid Advertising: Reaching Targeted Audiences

While organic content builds trust, Reddit Ads offer powerful tools for reaching specific audiences across subreddits. Existing functionalities include:

Advanced Targeting: Pinpoint ideal customers based on interests and demographics.
Campaign Optimization: Track performance metrics and refine strategies for maximum impact.

Current Status

Reddit is currently beta-testing the organic functionalities. Companies participating in the testing are given access to how-to guides for using the new features and playbooks for organic engagement on Reddit. If you want your company to be considered for the beta, you must contact your Reddit representative to learn when more companies will have access to these organic functionalities. Please review the Considerations & Risk section below for additional details to decide if Reddit Pro is the right social media option for your time and resource investment.

Considerations & Risk: Navigating The Upvote Ocean

While in beta testing, several concerns have surfaced, including:

Tracking by Division or Subgroup: The current tools only allow the tracking of a brand or company (e.g., Google) but not specific divisions or products unless users mention the division or product with the brand or company name (i.e., they must write “Google Pixel” and not just “Pixel”).
Managing Access: For beta, moderators receive “read-only” access to the business tools, so teammates, agency partners, and other stakeholders aren’t able to manage engagement.
No API Integration: There is no access yet to schedule posts, monitor, or track anything through Sprinklr, so all management must be done natively.
No Listening and/or Community Management Tracking: Right now there is no ability to capture conversations about entities on the platform and users cannot track and record customer issues that arise through the platform.
Limited Engagement With Reddit Moderators: At this time, Reddit only wants brands to reach out to the moderators of their brand communities to introduce themselves and ask permission to post.

The Future Of Reddit Pro

As Reddit Pro evolves, anticipated updates include:

Enhanced tools that offer better community management, tracking, and engagement.
Advanced targeting capabilities that refine your audience based on behavior and real-time community trends.
Customizable analytics dashboards for deeper insight into user engagement and campaign performance.
Direct advertising integration that seamlessly combines organic content with targeted advertising for a holistic Reddit marketing strategy.

A Calculated Leap For Brand Success

Reddit Pro presents a powerful opportunity for brands to forge authentic connections and build lasting loyalty within Reddit’s vibrant communities. By leveraging advanced tools, prioritizing community engagement, and fostering genuine brand advocacy, Reddit Pro can become a cornerstone of any successful social marketing strategy. However, success hinges on understanding the unique Reddit culture, tailoring your approach to foster trust and engagement, and remaining committed to playing the long game.

Need help navigating Reddit’s new landscape or building your brand’s community anywhere else online? Let’s connect: socialfactor.com/contact or sales@socialfactor.com.