That\u2019s what we\u2019ll discuss in today\u2019s article. What are the possibilities for digital marketing on Reddit? What does it offer in terms of ads, and what can you achieve organically?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with the basics \u2014 what tools does Reddit offer to digital marketing teams?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we\u2019ll explore topics like audience, content strategies, guerrilla marketing, and alternative approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Marketing Tools does Reddit Offer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Like most social platforms, Reddit has its own advertising platform: Reddit Ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reddit Ads is quite interesting, but it offers fewer targeting features due to Reddit\u2019s very nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most targeting options are tied to Reddit users\u2019 profiles, not cookie-based or third-party data.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words: you\u2019ll mostly be targeting Reddit users. It\u2019s very difficult, if not impossible, to run advanced targeting like you can with Google Ads. But this limitation comes not from the tool, but from Reddit and its users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very few users add personal info like their location to their Reddit profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But those same users are usually active in subreddits related to their cities, hobbies, or favorite media. And that\u2019s where the targeting really happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves. First, let\u2019s look at how Reddit Ads actually works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, Reddit Ads doesn\u2019t have a Brazilian version. Payments must be made in U.S. dollars, and you need an international credit card.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it\u2019s totally possible to create ads in Portuguese and add Portuguese CTAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, let\u2019s go over the main features Reddit Ads provides for advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The platform is far from limited. As we saw, the constraints come from how Reddit is used by its users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Reddit\u2019s ad platform is one of the most naturally aligned with its native user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s quite common to mistake ads for regular posts, both because of their positioning and due to solid targeting work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the main ad formats Reddit offers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These formats are closely tied to Reddit\u2019s bidding strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s dive into that next:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit ad formats are partially based on campaign objectives, <\/strong>but there is some flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When creating a campaign, you first select your marketing goal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on your chosen goal, the platform recommends<\/strong> (or limits) specific ad formats that best optimize for that objective. Here\u2019s how it works in practice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit Ads offers a few targeting options, all providing acceptable levels of campaign customization:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can target based on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with Reddit\u2019s more limited user data (compared to other platforms), you can still segment your ads effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most interesting options is targeting by keywords and specific communities, the subreddits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t select any community but add keywords, your ad will appear to users who have interacted with that keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example: if you add \u201cApple\u201d as a keyword, your ads will be shown to people who have commented on or created threads about Apple.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t add keywords but choose specific subreddits, <\/strong>your ads will show to members of those subreddits, based on other targeting criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you choose both keywords and subreddits, <\/strong>your ad will be shown to users in those subs who have interacted with the keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subreddit targeting is one of Reddit Ads\u2019 most popular and exclusive features. Google Ads<\/a> doesn\u2019t work with communities, and Meta Ads only uses Facebook Groups \u2014 which are nowhere near as active as Reddit\u2019s subs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of your work on Reddit Ads will involve understanding your audience and their preferences. The best way to do that is through quality audience research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This topic is so important that it deserves its own section. Let\u2019s dive in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Audience research on Reddi<\/a>t is a unique case where you can actually research user intentions and interests directly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That may sound bold, but it\u2019s true. On Google Ads, for example, audiences are rarely built from actual searches made on Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram does allow some audience analysis by identifying relevant profiles, but truly understanding your audience is a long-term, cross-disciplinary task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you tried to build an audience on Instagram by analyzing profiles one by one, you’d waste a lot of time and miss a lot of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit works differently because of subreddits. Let\u2019s look at them now and see how you can conduct audience research directly through the famous r\/something communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And we\u2019ll also explore the importance of creating ads specifically tailored to those subreddits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A subreddit is a community within Reddit. It\u2019s also the only way to make public posts and receive replies on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a legacy of old internet forums and the community-based model from early social networks, like Orkut in Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are subreddits for an endless variety of topics and in many languages.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For example: there is r\/music and r\/musicaBR. The former is international; the latter is focused on Brazilian content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, there is r\/Brasil and r\/Brazil. The first is for Portuguese-language discussions, mostly with Brazilian residents. The second is for English-language discussions, usually aimed at foreigners curious about Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These subreddits have anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of registered users.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, there are very niche subreddits with only a small number of users but a highly active community. In these, it\u2019s common to find members who are friends, married couples, and even parents and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Audience research gets very intense with these subreddits. All have long histories, allowing marketing professionals to analyze key responses to common questions about the topics the \/r represent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s suppose you are creating an ad for an AI-powered simultaneous translation platform for foreigners visiting Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a few days of research on r\/Brazil, you will understand not only the main communication barriers these foreigners face but also their overall experience living in Brazil as foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This lets you know much more about your audience in a structured, simple, and highly effective way.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely, and very easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit ads are fascinating because of this. You can select multiple subreddits simultaneously to run your ad without major issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as we discussed earlier, you can also run ads using keywords, deciding for whom within these subreddits your ad will appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our example above, we could use keywords to run an ad in the r\/Brazil subreddit and set the keyword \u201cPortuguese,\u201d for instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, the ad will primarily show to users using that word in the sub, indicating a need to learn Portuguese or limitations in their current knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we say there are subreddits for everything, we\u2019re not exaggerating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Brazil alone, there is a subreddit for every state. And there are many subreddits for specific cities, far beyond just the big metros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, r\/Ipatinga, a city in the interior of Minas Gerais with 200,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there are highly niche subs like r\/a7arte (cinema), r\/arte, r\/viol\u00e3o (guitar), r\/investimentos (investments), and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But besides these very niche subs, there are also subs that concentrate specific demographics, even if they\u2019re not necessarily niche topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In politics, for example, r\/brasilivre gathers main right-wing opinions in the Brazilian Reddit sphere, while r\/BrasildoB brings together left-wing views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are meme subreddits that gather distinct audiences, ranging from Gen Z memes to millennial memes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s all a matter of research \u2014 but strong research \u2014 to understand exactly how to position your brand on Reddit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But before we talk about how to create your first ad, we also need to talk about the organic possibilities Reddit offers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides ads, Reddit also offers great organic opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this work is much more participative and far less technical than SEO for Google, for example, or content production for other social networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit is a social network for discussions. People go there to talk among themselves, within topics confined to a specific community.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words: if you start organic work, you have to go all the way. If you post an image and encourage discussion, you need to be part of that discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below are three suggestions on how to work the organic side of Reddit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit is one of the most interesting places for community marketing, but with one caveat: bigger brands, with consolidated and generally tech products, do better here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, look at subreddits focused on specific products like r\/Salesforce, r\/Hubspot, r\/Zoho, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These communities are created by the brands themselves or, in the case of more niche and independent products, created by the users themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In these communities, conversations revolve around everything you can imagine your product can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll find people willing to create guides and tutorials about your product, users with questions, suggestions, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We dive much deeper into this topic, including how to do Community Marketing on Reddit, in our dedicated article on the subject:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u27a1\ufe0f Community Marketing: Why You Should Be Doing It<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if you don\u2019t post on Reddit, you can use it as a research source to acquire media literacy on subjects you\u2019re unfamiliar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Media literacy relates to how well you understand a specific media style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, we don\u2019t try to save someone who dies in a play because we understand the medium and know what\u2019s happening on stage isn\u2019t real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In digital marketing, this term usually refers to how well you master a given topic. And some topics are extremely complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Reddit, both in Brazilian and global communities, you\u2019ll find true experts on practically any subject.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every subreddit has its stars \u2014 users recognized for deep knowledge about the sub\u2019s topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look for these people and follow them. This way, you\u2019ll always get new insights on complex subjects to apply in any marketing strategy, even outside Reddit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also enter subreddits about your product and be part of the conversation, whether you identify yourself as part of the product team or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not identifying yourself, however, is a bit risky. Reddit users are sharp, and the post history is just two clicks away. If someone suspects suspicious behavior on your account, you lose credibility as a brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, you don\u2019t even have to seek communities about your product. You can participate normally, even making it clear you provide the same product, in competitor subreddits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But be very careful what you say. Remember, this is true organic \u2014 not what makes users come to your brand, but what makes you a user too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we understand that Reddit offers many possibilities both organically and through paid ads.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just one point about organic: on Reddit, the idea is not to generate lots of visitors to your site, as SEO does for organic traffic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actually, the idea is to generate brand awareness by actively participating on Reddit as a user or as a brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, it\u2019s a long-term effort requiring people who understand Reddit to make sense. The entry barrier here is very high.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCan you Advertise on Reddit Ads and pay in Brazilian Reais?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reddit Ads features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nReddit Ads Bidding Strategies vs. Ad Formats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udd0e Learn more: Cost Per Click \u2014 5 Optimizations to Apply Today<\/a><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
What Targeting Options does Reddit Ads Offer?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Audience Research for Reddit Ads: How to Do It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What are Reddit Subreddits?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Is it Possible to Advertise to Multiple Subreddits at the Same Time?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Level of Personalization of Reddit ads is Astonishing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getleadster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/arte-blog-1024x353.webp\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOrganic Possibilities on Reddit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Community Marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Acquire Media Literacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Join the Conversation About Your Product and Competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Create Your First Reddit Ad \u2014 Advanced Step by Step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getleadster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/en-lt-2.webp\")
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