How to market your small biz on Reddit

Since its UK market launch over two years ago, Reddit has carved out a distinct place in this marketing mix for UK brands of all sizes across the funnel. With more than 100,000 communities covering every topic imaginable, it’s no surprise some of the most iconic UK brands – including The Economist, Clearscore, Huel, and Paddypower – are driving business success from reaching audiences on the platform, but this success is not limited to enterprise brands. So, what exactly is the opportunity for those small and medium sized businesses on Reddit, and where do you start?

What’s On Offer for SMBs?

Whether your business is looking to drive performance, clicks or conversions, is seeking to reach maximum customers via new audiences or optimise ROAS, Reddit offers full-funnel opportunities for managed and self-serve advertisers that can’t be found anywhere else online. Here’s what you need to know.

Firstly, getting started is easy. We recently invested in key updates to the Reddit Ads Manager, including many specifically geared at lower-funnel optimization, all in an effort to increase efficiency and improve campaign onboarding and management, such as our new Live Chat support and the Reddit Pixel Helper.

When it comes to ad formats, small businesses can easily take advantage of all the typical ad formats you’d expect – from Promoted Posts and videos to Category Takeovers – as well as unique-to-Reddit offerings like Conversation Placement, which allow advertisers to easily enter the richness of Reddit directly via our discussion threads.

Secondly, the depth and breadth of the Reddit platform ensures something for every business. We call ourselves a community of communities because there truly is something for every passion and interest, and a place for every type of brand. When you think about Reddit you may immediately think of the opportunity for gaming or crypto advertisers, and you wouldn’t be wrong, but did you know that some of our top spenders among small and medium businesses span business services, retail, FMCG and industries? Brands within these categories are finding success because their audiences are already so engaged in the topics and interests relevant to them, and there’s a natural way in.

Which brings me to my last point, we can’t talk about Reddit’s advertising business without acknowledging what makes it unique. The number one reason people come to Reddit is to be informed by passionate communities they trust. While some platforms may encourage more passive scrolling, our audience is actively seeking out information which means they bring a leaned-in mindset. They want to learn, to form opinions and to engage with other people who share in their passions. For time-poor small businesses looking to maximise efficiency and ROAS, this means half of the work is already done for you, and a huge opportunity to meet your audience where they are already leaned in and engaged, and where they want to learn more.

And, with the freedom to share as much or as little personal information as you’d like, Reddit’s audience is connected via interests, and not demographics. Interest-based, contextual, and keyword-targeted solutions allow marketers to identify and market to consumer cohorts in a privacy-safe way, which has never been more important in the face of a cookie-less future. Interest-based targeting allows companies to reach those relevant to their industry, or even their specific product or service, meaning small businesses make their spend work harder and better target their audience across multiple areas of interest. Furthermore, when paired with Reddit’s community targeting, you can cast an even wider net and reach more users in specific hyper-relevant communities.

But don’t take my word for it. Operating in a fast-paced, growth stage of their company, meal replacement business Jimmy Joy targeted Reddit’s relevant food and humour communities, such as r/cooking and r/oddlysatisfying, to reach new audiences who were actively engaging in discussions around healthy living and easy meals. Because their interest in this subject was already baked in, Jimmy Joy was able to target consumers with relevant information that added value to their existing conversations, resulting in campaign success.

Brands on Reddit have the flexibility to start small, test, learn and eventually grow their presence, and business, on Reddit. With access to best practice content in targeting, creative, campaign structure and measurement, brands are supported every step of the way to ensure their campaigns reach their full potential. It’s truly never been a better time for SMB’s to explore what’s on offer on the platform and see how it could make a lasting impact for their business, with Reddit well placed to help brands through the current market challenges and beyond.