Social Media Marketing for Writers through Reddit

Reddit, a forum based website, is becoming one of the fastest growing social media communities on the Internet. Offering users a place to share online content, such as blogs, videos and photos, the Reddit community has started to become a digital platform in which digital content creators can utilize to drive significant traffic. What’s important to keep in mind, though, is the fact that the Reddit audience isn’t an easy group to sway. Becoming a member of the community as well as contributing like-minded content is the key toward making Reddit a legitimate traffic driving tool. Success in this realm will not only attract more of the Internet audience to your online content, but will also encourage return users who are interested in what you have to say.

The Reddit Community

The Reddit community is incredibly skeptical. One can’t just create a new account and start immediately posting stories/blogs they want to promote. To get the Reddit community interested in reading your material, you have to invest some actual time in joining the community itself. From what I’ve seen, Reddit is more than fine with self promotion as long as that isn’t the only thing you contribute.

First and foremost, if you don’t know Reddit, the main point of the community is to gain more “upvotes.” Upvotes are gained literally when a user clicks an upwards facing arrow next to a link. It’s pretty much a voting system where users can say they do or do not like a submitted link. On the other hand, users are also able to “downvote” a link. The more your link is upvoted, the better chances it has at being viewed. Even further, an account with a high amount of “karma,” the number associated with how many upvotes you receive on comments and submissions, will be seen as a more credible source. Coming up with witty titles for your link will generally create a more popular/viral submission. As a member of the Reddit community, and not just a promoter, you should get to know the style and humor Reddit likes, as well as upvoting/downvoting how you please. After joining, it will quickly become clear that posting and commenting on posts is a fairly intricate process, with witty comments and even pun-y comments coming out on top.

Additionally, becoming a member of a subreddit, a sub category of Reddit, will generally create a better atmosphere for your posts. Knowing how a group reacts to certain types of posts and their specific brand of humour will allow you to become better at posting and getting more views. Reddit hosts an enormous amount of subreddits, 67,000 to be exact, with subjects ranging from incredibly vague to fairly narrow. On Reddit you can find subreddits for a multitude of categories such as Canada, entertainment and even oysters.

Time Investment

Posting to Reddit immediately after creating an account is usually frowned upon and could potentially attract unwanted downvotes on your link. Investing time is an incredibly important factor when it comes to submitting to Reddit.  Waiting a few days, weeks or even months before posting your first submission isn’t unheard of. Even more, waiting will make the Reddit community  view your submission more as a contribution than potentially “blogspam.”  Creating an account that has a good comment karma count before you begin to submit and self promote can further your credibility.

Submissions

Submitting links that are only self promotion is another thing that won’t work with the Reddit community. Switching submissions up by posting funny photos, videos, and commenting informatively combined with some self promotion will make the Reddit audience much more attentive to your posts. Creating an account that, in the end, you start to perceive as a part of your Internet self and not just a tool for traffic will make self promotion submissions more likely to succeed.

Although Reddit can be fairly skeptical, getting your blogs/stories past the skepticism can also promote conversation. Seeing what readers really think and even participating in the conversation can be a real benefit to a professional writer.