Hey Reader,

Last week was my 13th Cake Day on Reddit. 🎂

If you aren't a Reddit user, "cake day" basically means anniversary. In other words, I've somehow been using Reddit for 13 years now.

One of the reasons I like Reddit so much is because you can get human insights on virtually any topic. I follow Subreddits on everything from relationships to politics, RuPaul's Drag Race to crock-pot recipes.

For most of its history, Reddit was an outlier on social media. It wasn't as quickly overrun by ads, and because most of the subreddits are moderated by volunteers, the platform doesn't have that whole evil-villain-overlord vibe that others do.

But Reddit is changing.

As AI gobbles up click-throughs, brands are looking for platforms where they can get their message directly in front of audiences. Reddit is one place to do that.

I have resisted recommending Reddit to my clients as a viable strategy, for a few reasons.

First, I like Reddit as it is: Organic, human, relatively untouched by the influence of in-your-face marketing.

And on a less personal note, Reddit is a different beast than other social platforms --- especially when it comes to building an organic presence. I would wager that most people who have tried Reddit marketing have failed, because they don't understand the nuances of the platform.

But now that businesses can't rely on Google as much for organic traffic, I see lots of opportunity on Reddit.

But only when it is done well.

The businesses that sign up for my Search Evolution Strategy will get a full Reddit-based approach as part of the overall strategy. But for those who don't snag one of my new strategies, here are a few do's and don'ts to keep in mind if you plan on using Reddit for brand awareness:

❌ Don't hide behind a fake account

Many brands make up fake usernames and try to pose as "real customers" on Reddit. This is a bad approach, because most Redditors can smell a fake account from a mile away. Anyone on the platform can check your posting history in a single click, and if they see you are only posting about one brand over and over, they'll report you and get you banned. And besides, it's just unethical and dishonest, which is always bad for marketing.

✅ Make a branded Reddit account

Instead, make an account that is fully branded. Grab your brand username, upload your logo and banner, write an about description with all of the details you want people to have. This will be the account you use to post genuine and thoughtful comments. Name recognition counts on Reddit.

❌ Don't hang out in spaces where you aren't wanted

It is VERY easy to get banned from a subreddit for being too promotional. (Speaking from experience.) Don't ever shoehorn your product into genuine discussions that have nothing to do with you, and help keep Reddit one of the best places to get human insights (free of marketing influence).

✅ Consider making your own subreddit

If you want to make your customers/clients feel like they are part of a community, make a space for them. Create a subreddit, fill it with posts and information about your product, and make it a place where people can ask questions and speak directly to your brand. It can become an entirely new channel to directly promote your business --- one that's crawled by search engines including ChatGPT and Google.

And the golden rule...

🪙 Focus on making your customers genuine evangelists

Nothing is more compelling than a happy customer genuinely talking about your service/product in a relevant subreddit. Focus on turning your customers into evangelists. (If you follow steps 1 and 2, you've already made it easy for evangelists to tag your account/subreddit when they mention you).

How do you do that? I'll save that for a future email.

For now, if you want to learn what other tactics I'm using to help businesses in this new age of Search, check out the Search Evolution Strategy.

Until next time,

Liam