What is Reddit? Should you be marketing on Reddit? Are you even cool enough to be on Reddit? Answers inside.

Reddit isn’t often mentioned alongside the “big” social networks, though it’s one of the most influential. It boasts 420 million users — 20% higher than the population of the United States — and receives more traffic than Amazon with over 1 billion monthly unique visitors.

Reddit continues to grow by double digits every year, adding 25% more users in 2020 and 14% more in 2021. That growth, combined with 40% of Gen Z searching social platforms for info instead of Google, makes Reddit a unique opportunity for brands.

But Reddit isn’t the best place for every company. It has a unique vibe, which this article will explain.

What is Reddit?

Reddit is a social network with a forum-style discussion structure. Users create posts in topic-based communities — called subreddits — and interact in comment threads. Every thread has an OP (original poster) who started it. Users can also vote content by others “up” or “down” the algorithm.

Reddit launched in 2005 and sold to Conde Nast less than a year later for $10 million USD. A great payday for the founders, recent college grads, although as of Q4 2022, Reddit now has an estimated value between $10-15 billion USD.

How does Reddit work?

Reddit is all about fostering community by encouraging users (a.k.a. redditors) to interact with each other.

Before today’s visually-focused platforms like TikTok and Instagram existed, we eldest Millennials only had web forums with text posts to connect with others around common interests. (R.I.P. Yahoo Groups.)

Reddit is a hybrid between a forum and a modern social network: Subreddits are like individual forum sites, but you can participate in everything with one account, like a social network.

The other big thing that sets Reddit apart is the way their algorithm works: Popular posts with lots of upvotes get more exposure in the Reddit homepage and subreddit feeds. And, downvoted content receives less exposure.

Instead of using complicated algorithmic tools to rank content, Reddit’s algorithm runs on votes. Simple and effective.

Redditors use the platform in many ways, but common ones are:

• To ask for help with a specific problem, such as tech tutorials (or big life crises)

• Subscribing to subreddits to stay informed about their favorite topics

• Connecting with others who share their interests

• To learn something new (check out r/IWantToLearn)

• For entertainment via memes, humor subreddits, or to discuss TV or movies

What is a subreddit?

Subreddits serve as mini-communities within the site — like Facebook Groups, but public — and foster user interaction around common interests. Subreddits have their own URL, for example, the Star Wars subreddit can be found at www.reddit.com/r/StarWars.

People often leave in the r/ when talking about subreddits. Seeing the leading r/ in front of a word is recognizable as being a Reddit community almost anywhere on the web these days. For example, instead of saying “the memes subreddit,” I’d say “r slash memes.”

Anyone can create a subreddit. Like any online group, most large subreddits have multiple moderators to keep the community on-topic and spam-free. To help with this, subreddits often have specific rules and posting requirements to follow, with consequences for not adhering to them.

Make sure you read the rules before posting or commenting, lest you risk shattering the conch shell of digital democracy.

Is Reddit worth it?

Only you can answer that. Ask yourself:

• Does Reddit fit into our marketing plan?

• Which of our marketing goals does Reddit tie into?

• Do we have the time and resources to add Reddit to our content mix?

If building genuine community is a social media goal of yours, starting your own subreddit is a great way to achieve that. Or if a subreddit isn’t right for you, consider using Reddit as an advertising channel.

Last but not least, you could stay incognito and simply use Reddit as a search engine for market research.