Skip the Surveys: How to Use Reddit for Your Content Marketing Research
Posted October 24, 2016
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Some businesses don’t conduct content marketing research because they have a small budget. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to explore your target audience without ever paying a dollar. In this blog, we’ll explain the function of Reddit in regard to content marketing research.
The purpose of surveys
First, it’s important to understand why exactly businesses create surveys. The short answer is that they’re a simple way to get lots of feedback from your target audience.
The information in the surveys is worth its weight in gold in relation to your content marketing campaign. When you write your next article or blog, you’ll have a better idea of what topics to include, when to post it, and how to share it.
Reddit as a social media site
Although Reddit is considered social media, it couldn’t be any different from Facebook and Instagram. The main difference is that in order to create posts and comments, Reddit requires you to make a username, which gives users the option of anonymity.
In regard to social media, anonymity is a game-changer. It lets people open up about their experiences, opinions, and thoughts. It allows them to be completely honest without having to worry about their personal brand or relationships.
Another important feature of Reddit is subreddits, which are a kind of subforum. What makes them so special is their abundance and variety — whatever you can think of, there’s probably already a subreddit for it. If it’s an active community, then there will be a steady stream of content and comments from Redditors.
Conducting content marketing research on Reddit
Because of the millions of active users and diversity of topics, Reddit is a fantastic site to conduct market research on. All you have to do is find a relevant active subreddit and start following the top posts.
You can either sit back and read or create an account and interact with users. The important thing is to document a strategy before you get your hands dirty. There are hundreds of millions of Reddit posts and comments, and it’s easy to get lost in the site if you don’t have a clear goal.
Why use Reddit when surveys work just fine?
Yes, Reddit can serve as a substitute to surveys in relation to conducting market research, but we haven’t yet explained why businesses would want to do that. As it turns out, there are many benefits of giving up surveys and relying on Reddit.
One advantage of using Reddit is the high amounts of activity on the site. It’ll be difficult to get as much feedback from surveys unless you already have a successful social media marketing campaign.
Other factors here include time and money. You can’t create, conduct, and review surveys overnight. It’s a process that takes time. On the other hand, you can go to Reddit at any time to research your target audience. As long as you find a relevant post, you can find everything you need within a couple of hours.
Representing a user vs. representing a company
One last consideration in regard to using Reddit for content marketing research is to decide whether your company will have an official presence on the site. Some businesses have gone this route and used it as an opportunity to be transparent with consumers.
Whatever you decide to do, you should never try advertising on Reddit, unless you purchase an ad on the site. The users there won’t react kindly to a marketing campaign in disguise, and it’ll wind up doing more harm than good. Remember that you’re there for the sole reason of conducting research.
Reddit is full of feedback, making it a goldmine for content marketing research. With good execution, businesses can use Reddit to replace the function of their marketing surveys.
