Creating a blog post goes beyond writing copy and hitting publish. You need to promote your work and share it with a larger audience, but how? Sure there are social media and newsletters, but have you ever considered using Reddit? Long-time TBS member Kara Ferguson, from the beauty blog The Beauty Minimalist (formerly Politics of Pretty), breaks down exactly what it is and how to leverage Reddit to promote your blog and grow your audience.
What is Reddit?
Reddit is an online forum and content sharing site with communities (called Subreddits) that discuss niche topics. It’s been around since 2005 but is underrated as it has more than 430 million monthly active users across 130K+ very active, engaged communities.
How Can You Make the Most of Reddit as a Blogger?
First, you can use it as a social listening tool to seek out memorable anecdotes and learn more about what people care about. What questions do they have? What do they want to learn? How can you help them?
Second, it’s an opportunity to promote your blog and expertise as well as grow your audience reach.
An Unofficial Case Study
Here’s how you use Reddit to promote your blog. As a beauty blogger, I seek out niche beauty Subreddits. I pay attention to what users are sharing and the questions they are asking.
For reference, I joined Reddit in December 2019 and I’ve accumulated over 2,000 Karma points. I am in numerous Subreddits but I am the most active in the beauty Subreddits. Since I first joined, I check Reddit almost every day, upvote various content, and comment on select posts that pique my interest. Occasionally, I’ll leave a comment with a relevant blog post topic that may be relevant to the original poster’s content or respond to a beauty question.
In the last 30 days alone, Reddit is my #2 referral source to my blog (#1 has always been Pinterest). My referral traffic from Reddit is solid and continues to grow each month; additionally, the affiliate sales are through the roof. My affiliate sales increased 928% month over month. By dedicating a set amount of time to Reddit each week, I’ve seen a large amount of growth in a relatively short amount of time.
Here’s a Step-By-Step Guide to Promoting Your Content & Attracting New Blog Readers on Reddit:
1. Create an account.
Pick a username that is NOT your blog name or your actual name.
2. Search for Subreddits that spark your interest and are relevant to your niche topics.
For me, I’m a product junkie so I joined numerous beauty Subreddits like Beauty Blogs, MakeupAddicition, SkincareAddition, Makeup Organization, Makeup Flat Lays, etc. I also love watching TV so I joined some Subreddits for my favorite TV shows as well as brand fan pages.
3. Start building a rap sheet with Reddit.
Your profile and Reddit engagement history is public for anyone to see. What this means is, a user can see the date of when you joined Reddit, every post you’ve submitted, comment you’ve left, content you have upvoted or downvoted, etc. This is why building a rapport is so crucial. This will take time, but it’s a key step in this whole process.
Reddit has a unique feature and its called Karma. A user’s “Karma” reflects how much they have contributed to the Reddit community. Basically, every time you post or comment, you’ll get “Karma” points.
4. Engage, Engage, Engage.
Try to spend at least 30 minutes per week catching up on your favorite Subreddits and engaging with the content you enjoy.
Upvote the content you love. You can also downvote content and comments if you wish. Leave meaningful comments on other user’s posts.
5. Share Your Own Content.
When you feel comfortable, start sharing your own content—but be cautious. If you immediately start posting your blog content in various Subreddits, people will notice and call you out. Every Subreddit has its own community rules and it’s important you check to make sure you’re not violating those rules before posting. The great thing about Reddit is you can post images, links, videos, and more directly to Reddit.
As long the content you share is relevant to the thread and serves as educational and helpful a user can takeaway from, then most often it will be upvoted and generate the extra referral traffic you’re looking for.
6. Use Rewards.
Lastly, let’s talk about Reddit awards. Giving an award is a way to show appreciation and recognize high-quality content. You can award someone by clicking on “give award” below the user’s post or comment.
Typically, a post that’s been given an award is found towards the top of the Subreddit thread and your content will be exposed to more people. In order to give an award, you need coins. Coins can cost anywhere from $1.99 to $100 (for 40K coins).
Now, you might be wondering, how can you use awards to your content strategy? This is a bit more of a stealth approach but this is how a lot of content marketers utilize this feature on Reddit: Let’s say another user (or friend, or fellow blogger) on Reddit wants to give your content an award. It would cost them approximately $2 to essentially “boost” your post so that your content floats to the top of the Subreddit. That means more eyes on your posts and more referral traffic!
Final Thoughts on Reddit
I know Reddit may seem daunting—it’s a lot of moving pieces! However, as we’ve learned with the ever-evolving social media landscape, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instagram is oversaturated and competitive when it comes to showing up on the reader’s feeds. Growing across other platforms takes time. Reddit is less about gaining followers and more about community engagement. On Reddit, you are actually rewarded for your contributions (through Karma points) while also being able to have conversations with people that share the same interests/hobbies.
There is no such thing as an overnight success, especially on Reddit. It is a slow and steady process. Invest your time into a variety of social networks to help promote your blog. Invest in communities that are relevant to your niche area of expertise. The amount of time you invest will be worth it in the long run.
