Reddit might get grouped in as a social media platform, but the reality is it does things a little differently.
This is perhaps best seen through its user base, many of whom cannot be found on mainstream social media platforms.
In Australia, 40 per cent of Reddit users are not on Twitter, 20 per cent not on Facebook, 23 per cent avoid Instagram, 51 per cent can’t be found on Snapchat and 70 per cent are not TikToking.
There’s also the community. While social media platforms are commonly dominated by a select few ‘influencers’, on Reddit, the community gives prominence to content through upvoting, explained Reddit’s VP and President of Global Advertising Harold Klaje, who spoke to B&T this week after the company announced the launch of its new Australian office.
“There’s not one influencer. The community is the influencer,” he said.
So who are the people that make up this community? In Australia, 62 per cent of users are aged between 18 and 35, according to Klaje.
But more so than demographics, Reddit users are best defined through their passions.
Popular Australian subreddits (subsections on Reddit which organise content into various topics) include r/australia, r/ausfinance, r/asx_bets, r/afl, and r/nfl.
“Redditors are these passionate people that take actions for brands,” said Klaje.
“They have passions, they group around these passions and they’re really engaged with each other, and educate each other in the process. They’re sharing a lot of information, tips and tricks ideas with each other.”
Brands get involved
For advertisers, Reddit represents an opportunity to reach a different audience, particularly the users that cannot be found on other social media platforms.
Additionally, as the advertising industry turns to contextual targeting as a way to reach relevant audiences in a privacy-compliant manner, Reddit’s ability to group users by interest provides a readymade solution.
Klaje explained that geotargeting, Australian market targeting, retargeting, posted ads (listings) and video are all available to brands looking to advertise on Reddit.
“There’s all different areas, depending on if companies want to create awareness, if they want to do a consideration play, or if they’re actually more bottom funnel and they want a true direct response,” he said.
“We do have products and targeting across that full suite for these companies.”
And while Reddit does offer solutions to help advertisers mobilise users, Klaje suggested that the user base is primed for conversion.
“Because they [users] are so passionate about their community and their interests and they want to drive action, they’re researching more than other platforms, they purchase quicker compared to many other platforms, and – because they’re so educated about the topic already – they often purchase more with a higher NPS score for that brand or for that service,” he said.
Keeping brands safe
Much of Reddit’s popularity over the years has been built on the back of the communities and user-generated content that exist on the platform.
Although this has been what users love about the platform, for brands looking to advertise on Reddit, it presents the risk of ads appearing next to something that could be deemed undesirable.
Klaje explained that brand safety controls on Reddit exist in various forms.
Upvoting and downvoting from the community serves as somewhat of a self-moderation system, as users control what is given prominence on the site, he said.
Additionally, Reddit has turned to classifying content to give advertisers a better understanding of what they can expect.
“We have allow lists. So we will look at communities and say ‘hey, these are brand safe, these might be less brand safe’.
“We have different inventory categories. So as a brand, you can choose how strict or non-strict you want to be.
“Every company, depending on how they approach it because they’re all different, can play around in that menu and decide to find the right content policy.”
