In this blog, we will dive into the world of Reddit Affiliate Marketing; for which we will be covering two main sets of topics.
The first topic will explain what Reddit is and how Redditors use this platform. In the second topic, we will explore how affiliate marketers can use this platform to promote products, drive traffic (to their landing page/website), or sell with affiliate links directly.
What is Affiliate Marketing Reddit?
Let us start off by answering the question, What is Reddit?
Reddit is an open and wide discussion platform designed to be inhabited by many communities. This platform was founded in 2005 to allow people to chat about the news and rate web content. According to Supermetrics.com, as of 2022, Reddit is frequented by about 26 million users, just in the United States, on a monthly average.
It boasts numbers of about 1.5 billion global users per month. According to Alexa, it is the 19th most popular website globally.
You can typically find content for every topic under the sun. Each major and minor subject is scrutinized in subreddits. Subreddits act as sub-divisions and enable groups of people to come together and ponder about their interested fields.
How can we do affiliate marketing on Reddit? We will continue to explore this theme as we descend.
Reddit Affiliate Marketing
I have already covered affiliate marketing holistically in one of my previous blogs. In this blog post, I will discuss what Reddit is and how it can be used as a platform for targeting our desired sets of audiences. And the safest yet most successful strategies to optimize your marketing on Reddit without violating any of the Reddit guidelines.
What is Reddit like?
Furthermore, the discussions on these forums can be based on various disciplines and passions. To hint what kinds of niche users make posts, comment, debate, and exchange ideas on the subreddit page, I will provide you with a little list of some of the topics these communities are passionate about.
People express their thoughts on genres such as current affairs, sports, books, movies shows, anime, politics, educational systems and reforms, businesses, industries, wars, countries, space, awareness issues, video games, as well as Creepypastas. So, as you can see, some of the most inquisitive minds log on to this website.
This provides a golden opportunity for any affiliate marketer to find the specific groups of people that they would like to target. However, Reddit is no easy place to sell or market products in.
What are the specific dos and don’ts of a site like Reddit?
A word of warning for affiliates!
Here, I should clarify that Reddit is not a place where you will only receive plaudits or positive feedback. More often, anyone who shares their opinion on a social media site such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or in the comment section of a YouTube video knows that not everyone will agree with their perspective.
But Reddit is a whole different ball game. Discussions can often spark disagreements among members of a subreddit. Criticisms are commonplace, and I’m not just talking about constructive ones. Some would argue that this forum can be brutal when it’s not your day.
How to Start Affiliate Marketing on Reddit?
First, let’s talk about how you can start using Reddit as a medium for generating leads and sales for your affiliate partners.
For utilizing Reddit affiliate marketing, you first need to make an account. It would help if you then scavenged which subreddits to join. This will depend on the products you wish to present to your audience.
Content Creation plays a pivotal role here too!
You can write posts or share content that will benefit the community. This will inevitably contribute to building your credibility. A lot is determined by Karma points, which can be acquired through making content or helping others by answering their questions by commenting on their posts.
Karma Points!
Reddit users rate comment karma more highly than posts. Karma provides the liberty for affiliate marketers to post direct affiliate links. The more Karma points you have, the more valued member of your community you’re likely to be. This increases your chance of selling an item by leveraging referral links.
Traffic on Reddit affiliate marketing
As with every other affiliate marketing medium, there can be two types of drive traffic that the marketer can look to employ to improve their chances of earning commissions through affiliate links or sales.
Organic Traffic
Producing affiliate-focused content generates organic traffic. It would help if you established yourself as a fully contributing member on Reddit over time. People should develop a favorable of you, as indicated via Karma points.
Which Strategies to Develop?
Browse for a specified niche to surf its most commonly asked questions, and look to provide the answers.
For affiliate marketing on Reddit, you can address these questions in-depth on your business or company blog and provide links to them on the subreddit.
Let them know what you are promoting!
Additionally, members will also appreciate transparency. Tell your followers and other group members of the subreddit what affiliate product you’re trying to sell and why you believe it will benefit them.
You can still promote on subreddits that are solely made for self-promotion. Certain s
Paid Traffic
This refers to the phenomenon whereby you can generate traffic by targeting members with paid ads.
An affiliate marketer can deploy a Reddit ad to promote affiliate goods and services.
This method has the potential to produce results more hastily rather than to wait and slowly build your credibility.
Not to state the obvious, this will cost more money, and not every affiliate marketer can afford it.
Strategy for Paid Traffic
Affiliate marketers can promote discounts by offering coupon codes as an effective method to lure potential customers.
Ad Blindness
Ad blindness is ever-present in Reddit affiliate marketing as people might not see or outright ignore your links or banners.
Every particular subreddit covers posts and comments related to the niche which rules it. So it is not unusual for people to not pay attention to your ads.
This would represent a waste, both in terms of money and the opportunity cost. If it persists, you should probably withdraw your money from the ads and put it to better use.
Look to target Smaller Subreddits!
Not all subreddits hold the same number of users. You need to know the right niche and the right people to direct affiliate links at. This should involve careful planning. For example, Reddit affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be about trying to reach as large an audience as you possibly can.
Subsequently, there might be apparent flaws in such a tactic. Let’s assume you target a subreddit covering a subject that masses of people talk about. What is the likelihood of your words actually being heard?
So, more does not necessarily mean merrier, as the number of posts and comments that flood the first page itself makes it hard to build recognition for yourself. Most Reddit users will miss the thread that you’ve dedicated considerable time and effort into.
Reddit affiliate marketing guide
Let’s just get this fact out of the way. Reddit does not allow self promotion without a significant amount of Karma points and prohibits the use of direct affiliate links.
How to Conduct Affiliate Marketing on Reddit without opposing the rules?
One way you could avoid the use of affiliate links is by guiding prospective buyers to your blog’s landing page instead. You can then offer links to the affiliate product from your blog, business website, or your YouTube channel if you have one.
As explained earlier, self-promoting is not appreciated on this channel. Unless you can acquire Reddit ads, pay for them, or have gained plenty of Karma points.
Be Careful!
Additionally, the backlash among communities can be severe when an individual tries to promote or sell their own product or a third-party product. Most people would argue that they come to the site to enhance their knowledge of a particular subject matter or to hear other people’s views without bias. So, for such people, the primary purpose of Reddit is open discussion, and they look down on self-promotion.
Is Affiliate Marketing worth it on Reddit?
So my final thoughts on conducting affiliate marketing on Reddit, instead of forums such as Facebook groups and Google ads are encumbered on a few key elements.
As already mentioned, Reddit is not a simple space to link your online business to, especially when it comes down to promotion. If you make a mistake, the remarks might be harsh.
On the flip side of the coin, there are rewards for careful strategic planning.
Success will most likely follow if you can get your target audience to acknowledge you as a key contributor. Reddit fanbase can be a real weapon once you gain their loyalty and trust.
Overall, I would say that if you can create pristine content, survive this forum and successfully embed yourself as a part of your niche community, Reddit affiliate marketing will surely be worth your while.
