Is Reddit Advertising The Next Big Thing in Marketing?
- Andrew Kita
Reddit has become one of the web’s most popular platforms, offering worlds of content and discussion on a massive range of subjects. Site users (called Redditors) share with and learn from experts, fans, seekers of shared information on an always current platform — powered by public opinion and easily sorted by geography and interest. The idea of Reddit advertising holds promise — but is it right for you?
How Reddit Works
Reddit’s basic function is to collect and curate crowdsourced content. (Try saying that three times fast!) Its structure makes targeting specific demographics simple — at least on the surface, which is a major part of the appeal of Reddit advertising.
The site, which has 430 million monthly active users, 222 million of whom are in the US, is divided into sections called subreddits (or subs). Today there are over 130,000 active user-created sections of the site, each with its own specific subject or community, moderation team and standards of behavior. And subreddit numbers are continually growing.
Subscribe to the Right Subreddit
Subreddit names are often expressed as a snippet of their URL: ie. “r/”
Large subreddits like r/news, r/pics, and r/aww appeal to the broadest spectrum of users, with subs like r/science, r/todayilearned, and r/food narrowing the demographic field a bit. Others like r/fintech, r/gaming, and r/programmerhumor narrow things even further, while subs like r/askTO and r/vancouver target regionally specific audiences.
Who’s on Reddit?
Advertising on Reddit obviously only makes sense if your target audience actively uses the site. The site’s user statistics show the majority of users are young, educated and affluent, with a 60/40 split between male and female users and relatively even racial representation in the US.
Who’s using Reddit? The answers, according to 2021 Pew Research study on social media use in the US:
- 18% of adults
- 17% of white and Black people, 14% of Hispanics
- 36% of 18-29 year olds, 22% of 30-49 year olds
- 20% of those earning $50K-$74,999, 26% of those earning $75K+
- 20% of those with some college education, 26% of those with more than a college degree
Did You Know? Reddit is the 10th most-used social media platform in the US, and 15th worldwide. Only YouTube and Reddit have shown significant growth among social media sites in recent years. (Reddit has grown from 11% of Americans using the site in 2019 to 18% today.)
Does Reddit Advertising Deliver?
A powerful platform to reach a large audience sounds good. But if Reddit is all about crowdsourced, curated content, does advertising on Reddit really work? More and more brands say yes. Reddit took in $212.5 million ad revenue in 2020 and expects to see $289.9 million in the US alone in 2021.
The company has also published a series of case studies demonstrating how effective Reddit advertising can be, featuring partners like Audi, Pepsi, Zynga, Adobe, SimpleHealth and others. And Reddit has a few other key benefits like make it a good bet for marketers.
- Growing user base: The site’s active users climbed 44% in 2020 to hit 52 million. Unprecedented events like the GameStop investment craze, (which was driven by the subreddit r/wallstreetbets) continue to drive — and demonstrate — the site’s power.
- Cookie-proof targeting: Major tech companies have announced plans to eliminate cookies that let brands target users based on their online behaviors. Reddit advertising offers a broad audience that’s already self-sorted into groups based on interest, location and activity.
Reddit advertising has to be carefully executed though. Like most social media platform users, Redditors may resent having paid ads appear in their feeds, which can result in heavy downvoting or being attacked with negative comments. Keep friction to a minimum by ensuring the content you provide is relevant to the subreddit(s) you’re advertising in.
Fun Fact: The average site visit on Reddit lasts a whopping 9 minutes and 34 seconds!
Ready to Get Started?
Check out Everything You Need to Know About How to Advertise on Reddit for step-by-step instructions and tips to make Reddit advertising simple and effective. Not sure you’re ready to try it on your own? The experts at Total Product Marketing can help. Contact us today for answers to your specific questions or more information on what we can do for you.
