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Why We Love B2B Advertising on Reddit (And You Should Too) - Firebrand

When B2B startup marketers typically think of advertising, they think of LinkedIn and Google Search and Display. With good reason of course, as these giant platforms can drive some giant returns. But there’s an additional strategy we’re seeing more and more success with: advertising on Reddit. Read on to see how it works, why we love it, and why you should love it too.

What Is Reddit?

Reddit is like the internet’s massive, chaotic town square where everyone’s shouting their opinions, sharing weird memes, and occasionally dropping some actual wisdom. Picture a mashup of a never-ending group chat, a nerdy convention, and a black hole for your free time. With millions of users (mostly millennials and Gen Z), it’s the place where you can find a community for anything — whether it’s learning to bake sourdough bread, debating alien conspiracies, or obsessing over obscure hobbies. If you’re into lurking, learning, or laughing at cute cat gifs, Reddit’s got content for you.

How Does Reddit Work?

Reddit is organized around communities called subreddits (often denoted with a preceding “r/”) that range from the incredibly broad, like r/Pics or r/Technology, to the hyper-niche, like r/BirdsWithArms. These subreddits are populated with posts that can range from news articles, to memes, to users posting their own thoughts or asking questions. Beyond general interests and memes, many subreddits cater to professionals, with CPAs flocking to r/Accounting, developers frequenting r/Programming, and so on.

Advertisers can reach these users by serving interstitial video or image ads between posts, with three main targeting options:

1\. Community – Target ads to specific subreddits
2\. Interest – Target users based on selected interests
3\. Keyword – Target specific posts based on the keywords used

Why Is Advertising on Reddit Good for B2B?

Reddit Ads can be surprisingly effective for B2B advertisers, despite its reputation as a consumer-focused platform, providing a unique mix of awareness and lead generation opportunities. Here’s why:

Niche Targeting: Reddit’s subreddit structure allows B2B advertisers to zero in on highly specific communities. Whether you’re targeting IT pros, startup founders, or digital marketers, there’s likely a dedicated subreddit where your exact audience hangs out.

Engaged Users: Reddit users are deeply involved in their communities. This means B2B advertisers can engage decision-makers and professionals who are not just passively scrolling, but actively participating in discussions and seeking out industry insights.

Content-Driven Ads: Unlike flashy ads that might annoy users elsewhere, Reddit’s native ads blend into discussions, giving businesses the chance to engage users with value-driven content, case studies, or thought leadership pieces. This builds credibility and trust, especially in B2B contexts where decision cycles are longer.

Cost-Effective: Compared to platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit Ads tend to be more affordable, allowing B2B advertisers to test campaigns without blowing the budget.

For B2B brands that want to engage niche, passionate, and influential communities, advertising on Reddit offers a unique blend of affordability and precision targeting that’s hard to beat.

What Not To Do on Reddit Ads?

The community-driven nature of Reddit, combined with its younger (and often terminally online) demographic, means there are quirks you should be keenly aware of before running ads on the platform. The user base can often be highly contrarian and loves to feel like the smartest person in the room — so giving them fodder will only hurt your brand.

Don’t Be Inauthentic: We know you wouldn’t do this on any platform, but it’s doubly important on Reddit to be earnest. This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, but tone is everything. If your ad feels like it belongs on r/FellowKids, it’s time to start over.

Don’t Enable Comments: Don’t be a hero—turn off the ability for users to leave comments. A dissatisfied person is 100x more likely to leave a comment than a satisfied one. You won’t be able to guide the conversation, and your ad will just become a paid roast.

Don’t Be Salesy: Reddit users are famously anti-advertising. They over-index in ad-blocker adoption and non-Chrome browser use. They can smell an ad from a mile away, so don’t try to sneak one past them.

Don’t Try to Cheat the System: Absolutely do not try to post an ad as an organic post. Yes, most communities allow users to make posts, but this will break community guidelines and earn you all the ill-will in the world. Some less scrupulous agencies may offer to create stealth ads (aka astroturfing), but beware—you could end up on r/HailCorporate.

Don’t Be Inauthentic: Seriously. We’re writing this bullet twice for a reason. Don’t force your Gen-Z copywriter to jam some Reddit lingo into your ad, it will be “cringe” as the kids say. You will not be making your ad any cooler, you’ll only be making Reddit worse.

What To Do on Reddit Ads?

Okay, so what do you do if all your previous creative isn’t a fit for the platform? Take off your advertiser hat, put on your consumer hat, and have some fun with it.

Get on Reddit: See what the fuss is about! Create a username, explore communities your business would fit in, and see what your potential customers are saying. You won’t get a more unvarnished view of your market anywhere else.

Create Authentic Ads: Shocker, right? Users may be anti-ads, but they’re not ad-blind. Be clear about what you’re offering and how it benefits the user. Once you’ve followed our advice in the previous bullet and taken a quick spin around the platform, you’ll understand what Reddit users like and don’t like.

Lean Into Awareness: Reddit is one of the lowest-cost major platforms while also delivering a highly qualified audience. While you can and should have a lead-gen strategy, remember that your ads are serving to users actively consuming relevant content.

Dust Off Your Resource Section: Do you have white papers, ebooks, or technical blogs that answer real-world questions and showcase your expertise? Now’s the time to use them. Reddit users pride themselves on being subject matter experts, making those resources great candidates for ad units. Anecdotally, we have seen much better results from authoritative assets, with informative content handily outperforming more “salesy” assets.

Have a Lead Nurturing Plan: You’ll get fewer, but more qualified leads who may not be ready to buy right now. This applies to any B2B program, but on Reddit, remember to prioritize authentic content — this is just the first step on a longer customer journey, so nurturing is a must

While advertising on Reddit won’t replace your Google, LinkedIn or Meta Ads programs, it will complement them by positioning you where conversations are actively happening. At Firebrand, when auditing paid media programs, we evaluate whether Reddit is a good fit for an individual client’s media mix and assess whether they have the right content strategy in place to engage authentically with Reddit users. From memes to martech, we love discussing all things marketing, so reach out if you want to chat with our pros!

Original source: https://www.firebrand.marketing/2024/10/b2b-advertising-on-reddit

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