What is Reddit and why should we use it?
According to Reddit themselves
Reddit is a network of communities where people can dive into their interests, hobbies and passions. There's a community for whatever you're interested in ...
These communities are called subreddits and Reddit is right, there is a subreddit for literally anything. Not only that, but there are more than 50 million people visiting these subreddits every single day. This includes communities for people who would be your customer... if they knew your product existed that is. These people are all asking questions and giving advice about things that are relevant to you. So how do we find these subreddits?
How to find relevant subreddits
There are two ways to easily find relevant subreddits. The first one is by searching for mentions of your competitors on Reddit. You can do this on Google like so:
site:reddit.com "competitor"
You can expand on this with variations such as
- competitor alternative
- competitor A vs. competitor B
- competitor too expensive
The other way is similar, except we replace the competitor with keywords relevant to you and your business:
site:reddit.com "relevant keyword(s)"
Some examples of this are
- How to do X (where X is a feature of your product)
- Best product for Y
- Guide for Z
Both will give you a list of submissions made to subreddits that are more than likely relevant to you. Simply click on each post and check whether or not the subreddit is relevant to you and write it down. Most subreddits also have a description and rules. Check these as well, as the description might include links to other relevant subreddits and the rules will tell you if they allow self-promotion or not, which you should definitely keep in mind.
When to post
So now we have a list of subreddits, but what do we post here and when do we post? In this section, we'll focus on submitting posts.
Of course, you can just start posting in your list of subreddits, but I'd recommend something else. Check out Postpone which is an amazing tool for scheduling posts on Reddit. It recommends the optimal time to post in each subreddit, warns you when certain types of posts aren't allowed and more. They have a free tier which allows you to schedule up to 10 posts per month, which is very generous.
What to post
This completely depends on the subreddit. I'd recommend going to each subreddit and sorting the posts by "top" so you can see good examples of what works well for each subreddit.
In general, I would recommend that you submit "link" posts with an image or video, with an additional comment in the comment section over just posting a "text" post.
For example, when I was building MentionFunnel I submitted link posts including a screenshot of the product and left a comment below it explaining what it does. With one post on /r/SideProject I managed to get 30 people sign up for the waiting list.
Another strategy is posting in subreddits meant for feedback, which I utilised as well. People who use Reddit are definitely not scared to share their opinion, so you'll receive feedback whether you want to or not.
Using social listening
Besides submitting posts yourself, an amazing way to find new leads is by replying to other people's posts and comments. For example, if someone submits a post asking what "the best way to do X" is and your product does "X", then it's a perfect opportunity to promote your product. Of course, your focus should not just be promoting your product, but leaving helpful advice, so try to answer the question properly and insightfully instead of just pasting a link to your site.
Also, the earlier you leave a comment the better. Other people will see your comment first, and if it's useful, they will also upvote it. This will give it even more visibility and thus a wider reach. This is also very important in the long-term, as there is a chance that other people searching "the best way to do X" will stumble on this post and see your comment as well.
MentionFunnel will make this process extremely easy for you. MentionFunnel allows you to monitor subreddits for any relevant keywords and get notified immediately. You can then reply via the app (and use any message templates you have created), which means you'll always be on top of things. If anyone replies, then you'll also get notified. You can also add these users to your contact list, which can then be used to send messages in bulk.
