With over two billion pageviews a month and the self-titled “front page of the internet”, the social website, Reddit is known for its user-generated and crowd-voted content. The website boasts hundreds of thousands of subtopic pages called “subreddits,” ranging from topics like gaming to politics to animal pictures, all of which are created and moderated by users who share similar interests. While this sounds like the jackpot of online marketing to me, this begs the question: what makes marketing on Reddit so different from Facebook and twitter and why haven’t more brands done it yet?
Turns out it’s not that simple. In his blog post, “Marketers Take Notice: Reddit is Very Much Here,” Jon Thomas of Post Advertising writes that it’s because of the power of an audience of digital influencers that makes the site so unique and significant for marketers. Thomas points to the success of Bill Gates and Barack Obama’s online engagement on the site, and discusses the powerful implications this site has for brands. Thomas believes that one of the reasons why it is challenging for brands to engage Reddit is because there simply isn’t a place for brands to hold AMA-type interactions, whereas it makes much more sense for an individual to interact and answer questions. Like individual interactions, Thomas also believes that the most successful brands are transparent and have no hidden agenda.
From personal observation, I find that redditors are incredibly skeptical of marketers and will call out any company that they see targeting the site, which with a large digitally literate audience, can pose a threat to the image of the company In order to effectively control brand perceptions on Reddit requires first of all, understanding its unique community. To quote Thomas, “If there is a conversation going on about your brand, you have to be present to dispel rumors and at least make your best effort to turn negative opinions into positive ones.” Indeed, the hum of online conversation is only going to grow louder and louder as the world becomes more and more digitally connected, and brands must adapt and understand the trend or get lost in a sea of noise.
Sources:
http://www.postadvertising.com/2013/02/reddit-marketing-gates-obama/