8 min read  | Product Marketing

Reddit: Where to Start as a B2B Marketer

 

Reddit is on our mind again this month; is it on yours? The community-based social platform may surprise you, as it offers significant opportunity for B2B marketers, to reach audiences where they are gathering information. If you're interested in diversifying a classic B2B channel mix, Reddit could be the place for your business to drive purchase intent through authentic engagement.  

Is Reddit right for your business?

Before diving into any social platform, it's best to do some thinking and ask yourself if the platform fits into your wider social strategy. Focus on a strong foundation of objectives, audience behaviours and measures of success to kick off. 

Connecting with your target audience is the key to influencing a community and driving intent. However, defining whether that's through Facebook, Instagram, X or Reddit is key to ensuring valuable impact and results. Start by considering a few things... 

What’s your goal? Are you aiming to build brand awareness or drive leads and conversions? Clarify your primary objective before signing up.

Is your audience there? Assess whether your customers actually use Reddit and would find value in your presence. If not, your efforts may be better spent elsewhere.

Where do your communities live? Use organic search and Reddit’s own search tools to uncover relevant subreddits aligned with your audience’s interests.

Is your industry already being discussed? Gauge the size of the opportunity by researching keywords, topics, and sentiment. This helps set realistic expectations and success metrics.

Do you have the resources? Reddit requires thoughtful, ongoing engagement. Make sure you have the bandwidth to participate consistently and authentically.

Can you commit to listening before speaking? Redditors value authenticity and transparency. Lurking and learning first helps you avoid missteps and build trust.

Are you ready to experiment? Success on Reddit comes from testing: different subreddits, content types, tones, and even paid strategies. Flexibility is key.

Social media marketing can be a whirlwind, so, setting a strategy to clarify your direction is the best place to start. Do your research and be confident in your decision. 

Ready to give it a go? Start with these steps.

Start small, stay curious, follow the rules, and engage like a real Redditor. 

Consistency is key, if at first you don’t succeed, keep refining your approach until you do. Start with three simple steps to begin:

  • Create a personal (not brand) account. Log in. Watch. Listen. Learn.
  • Follow and explore relevant subreddits. Whether it's r/marketing, r/AskMarketing, r/digital_marketing or a niche product community, you may find a goldmine of opportunity to engage. 
  • Read the sidebar. Each subreddit has its own rules and tone. Violating them, even accidentally, can quickly get you removed or banned. Redditors respect those who understand the unspoken rules.

Many Subreddits have strict rules about promotional material, and even if your brand does find a loophole, tread lightly (Redditors can be ruthless). That said, posting transparently as a brand to the right Subreddits and providing helpful, entertaining and genuine responses or questions can be a valuable gateway to reaching your target audience.


Find your (relevant) communities

Subreddits are the backbone of Reddit. They're moderated by real users, not Reddit staff, who deeply care about the quality and integrity of their community. It’s about finding what’s right for you and what’s right for the community, think audience-centric marketing. 

The challenge isn't just finding a new channel, it's finding the right one. Find where real people are having real conversations about their interests, needs, and decisions that you can authentically be a part of. You will build trust, confidence and ultimately influence when you Reddit like a Redditor rather than an advertiser. 

  • Search for keywords that align with your industry or product.
  • Identify where your audience is most active and not just the biggest subreddits.
  • Tap into communities with a captive audience and utilise established forums to increase engagement. 

Reddit Community Strategy

Source: TalkShoppe, Find Your People US, n=2000, 13-54 year old, social media users, February 2022

Organic search is a great tool, but if you want to take community research a little deeper, Reddit Pro is a free to sign up to. By joining, you unlock Reddit Pro Trends which could help you to deepen your community research and find those pockets of authentic engagement for your business. 

Participate before you promote

You don’t need to pay to get started. Some of the best marketing on Reddit comes from showing up with insights, humour, or help, organically.

  • Answer questions in the community.
  • Share thought leadership content.
  • Post in “Weekly Help” threads or industry AMA (ask me anything) opportunities.
  • Avoid spamming links. Redditors are quick to sniff out self-promotion.

We've said it before, because it really is the #1 piece of advice: be a part of the conversation first and foremost.

People come to Reddit to be informed. Seeking opinions from networks or communities is the #1 reason people use Reddit for product research. Reddit creates a high intent environment where people are ready to make decisions, often about a purchase. 

Connected organically and want to try paid Reddit advertising? 

If you've built some traction organically and are curious about paid campaigns, Reddit Ads can offer a more direct way to reach your audience with creative variations that are bold, intentional, and targeted.

But success still comes down to playing by the platform's rules. Start small, stay informed, use the right tone and always Reddit like a Redditor.

  • Take it back to basics and establish your paid strategy, align it with your business goals and platform best practice.
  • See what others are doing in the Reddit advertising space, do a little competitor analysis for inspiration. 
  • Consider what has worked for you organically, can this be repurposed into paid content? 
  • If you are utilising existing content, have you remastered it into a Reddit-first piece? Understand creative best practice.
  • Consider conversation ads or free-form ads to maintain that authentic, text focused Reddit style. 
  • Run short, low-budget, audience-targeted campaigns to start and establish a timeline for performance reporting. 

Do your research, and lean on the experts at Reddit with their wealth of knowledge - they have figured out how Reddit can work for B2B marketers. 

So, is Reddit right for you?

If you’ve got a curious Redditor on your team, a clear strategy, and the resilience to experiment, Reddit could be a powerful channel for your B2B business.

With the right approach, launching organically into the right subreddits or communities can be a low-cost, high-impact way to build awareness and drive intent with niche audiences. It might not be the perfect fit, but you won’t know until you try.

Join us on LinkedIn to continue the conversation on all things B2B; we’ll see you there.