Social media is an excellent way to build your personal or business brand. Many businesses turn to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn as part of their outreach to attract and retain customers.
If you are using, or thinking about using, social media for brand growth, you should consider adding Reddit to your portfolio. Reddit is a popular site with extensive boards, called subreddits, devoted to thousands of topics, from industries to movies to news.
People use Reddit for many reasons. They often are seeking information or looking to be entertained. One of Reddit’s strengths is that it’s a community where users (Redditors) share information, feedback, support or answers.
By choosing the subreddits to frequent, users can self-select the topics that are most of interest to them. That’s a powerful advantage for brand-building.
Here are 5 ways to use Reddit to start or grow your brand.
1. Create an Account and Understand How Reddit Works
Creating an account is the best way to see all of Reddit’s features and navigate the platform.
To create an account, go to www.reddit.com and click on the BECOME A REDDITOR button.
You’ll be asked to enter an email address. Be sure to create a username that’s relevant to your business, perhaps even the business name itself. If your desired username is taken, Reddit will suggest some alternate names.
By default, Reddit will subscribe you to subreddits it thinks you might be interested in. You can unsubscribe from any subreddits at any time.
It’s a great time to start exploring the site and how it works. On Reddit, you can read other people’s posts and comments that people leave. You can also upvote or downvote by clicking on the small thumbs up or thumbs down icons under each post.
One feature to understand is Karma, which is based on those upvotes. You start with 1 Karma when you sign up. You receive additional Karma for every upvote you receive on a post or a comment. You can also lose Karma for downvotes.
Karma is one way to establish credibility and begin to establish or build your brand. By adding insightful comments that add value to a conversation, you can grow your Karma.
When you have more Karma, Reddit will give your posts more visibility and you will be perceived as more credible. In some ways, Karma is Reddit’s version of search engine optimization (SEO).
2. Start Your Business Using Reddit for Research and Exposure
Reddit is an excellent resource for researching your brand, company, products and services, competitors and target audience. You can start by identifying potential subreddits related to you or your work.
You can subscribe to those subreddits and review the kind of content available. In addition, you can see what content receives “upvotes” from other users, indicating they approve of the material provided.
Assessing the entries and comments Redditors leave can help inform the kind of content you can provide that will resonate with others.
If you’re looking to start a business, the information and insights that Reddit provides are powerful and free.
Some entrepreneurs choose to create their own subreddit, either for their business or related content. Creating a subreddit allows you to invite customers and prospective customers to a space where they can connect with others to share insights, solve problems and talk about your company.
If you create a subreddit, you’ll want to facilitate conversations occasionally to spur dialogue about your products and services.
One note: If you choose to create a subreddit, you are opening your brand up to constructive criticism, both positive and negative. Be careful about how you respond, especially to negative comments, and encourage a healthy rapport.
3. Create Engaging, Relevant Content
Content is what drives Reddit. It’s why you should focus on content that’s relevant to your brand and will advance your business. Users can see through content that’s overtly promotional or salesy.
Your content should add value to readers, solve problems or engage them in lively conversations about relevant topics. You can also get creative, using humor and tying in to current events, holidays or recent news.
Visuals are also a great way to enhance your Reddit posts, with photos, graphs, charts and video that add to your content.
You can also promote your content in other, relevant subreddits. Be careful, however, to understand the guidelines for other subreddits. Some do not allow promotions or cross-promotions.
4. Be a Part of the Conversation
Being an active, engaging part of Reddit is a great way to gain exposure, expand your presence, gain followers and build your brand.
Don’t be afraid to leave comments and participate in conversations. Just remember that the purpose of using Reddit is to build your brand so be sure that your comments and contributions are appropriate and relevant.
One great way to build engaging conversations is to ask smart questions. The answers are a great way to gain insights and knowledge from your customers and being a part of the Reddit community.
If you do leave questions, be sure to remain active in the conversation. Don’t just drop the question and disappear. Also be sure to leave Karma for those who respond. They’ll appreciate it and may end up reciprocating.
5. Use Tools
There are many helpful tools available to improve your use of Reddit. Here are a few:
- Reddit Enhancement Suite. This Chrome extension lets you easily format Reddit posts and check on individual Reddit users
- RedditMetis. This tool lets you analyze your Reddit account stats and see top posts
- Redditlist. This site shows you the best subreddits, based on 24-hour growth, subscriber count and recent activity
- Notifier. This app tracks mentions of your brand name on Reddit, allowing you to quickly respond if necessary
Reddit is a wonderful community of curious, engaged and active participants. It allows you to develop and enhance your brand quickly and inexpensively.
Using Reddit is simple and gives you thousands of potential subreddits to use for brand expansion. By knowing how Reddit works and creating compelling content, you can quickly grow your personal or corporate brand.
Featured image provided by Brett Jordan; Pexels; Thanks!
