Ronn Torossian
Reddit is a unique social media platform that allows users to form committees in order to vote on the relevancy of content that has been posted on the site. The platform serves as an extremely powerful leverage mechanism that is being used by everyone from corporate CEOs to President Barack Obama for the purpose of engaging readers and promoting specific initiatives. If you are a business owner, it is imperative that you give consideration to how you will integrate this social media platform into your overall marketing strategy.
A Quick Synopsis
For the person who may not be familiar with Reddit, it is a distinct social media platform that is composed of sub-communities, also known as sub-reddits, which can be created by any user on the platform. These sub-communities are operated and managed by volunteer administrators. These groups submit links to stories and content, and then they vote on the relevancy and impact of these stories, providing a relevancy ranking.
Why This Matters to Your Business
The leverage that is created by this site is immensely powerful in assisting businesses in propagating their content and messages. In one month, Reddit reported more than 55 million unique visitors to their site, with these visitors originating from more than 175 countries. The platform is still in consistent growth mode, which means that you can expect for the leverage that it offers to continue to expand.
Ask Me Anything
One Reddit sub-community that has become remarkably popular is the IAmA community, where users are able to post what is known as AMAs — “ask me anything.” This option is available to all users and the questions and answers are posted in the comment fields. This particular sub-community is one of the most effective customer engagement mechanisms available on the internet. It is a completely non-invasive method of initiating customer interaction.
The customer will be able to ask a question that you will respond to. This creates direct interactivity, which is paramount to developing the type of trust that will ultimately lead to customer loyalty. Additionally, what should also be considered is the fact that there is nothing stopping you from asking the people in your target audience questions of your own. It is through this back and forth communication that a genuine relationship is developed.
Be Willing to Put in Work
Reddit is like any other social community, it requires a certain level of commitment and work. Consistency is extremely important; therefore, this it should be understood that this platform is not for everyone. If you are looking for some type of plug-in-and-go scenario, this is definitely not for you. It should be understood that failure to utilize this platform is tantamount to leaving conversions and sales on the table.
Understanding the Proper Protocol
There are certain recommendations that will make the process of connecting with customers run smoothly.
- Be authentic with the content you post and the approach you use in dealing with followers and customers. It is important that you appear to be a real person, not some automated system.
- Make sure to visit the platform frequently. Additionally, it is equally important that you participate in the community discussions and voting processes. The more you contribute to the process, the more you will get out of it.
- It is important that you are prepared to acknowledge and engage all questions that are presented to you. It is okay not to know the answer. One thing that you do not want to attempt is to try to change the focus of the topic to suit your purpose; this has been proven to go south real quick.
Whether you decide to use Reddit on a long-term basis or not, you should at least take the time to visit the site and take it for a test spin. You don’t want to leave an excess of money on the table.
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