Try, Fail, Repeat A reddit
marketing case study Jamie Rutter, senior community manager

Take a guess Which of
these brands do you think succeeded the best on reddit? ● an intimate moisturizer for menopausal women ● allergy-friendly/vegan candy ● lube for couples trying to get pregnant ● moving company

Answer: the lube After less
than 4 months, Pre-Seed had over 200 karma (link and comment combined), hosted an AMA and generated over 1200 sessions on the brand’s website. The moisturizer’s account crashed and burned (“obvious marketer is obvious”), the moving company generated website traffic but not conversions or conversations, and the candy didn’t get much momentum.

This is why it worked
There were subreddits specifically for their target audience (which vastly differs from reddit’s overall demographics), making community engagement that much easier. These community members were already talking about the exact problem Pre-Seed aims to solve and about the product itself.

This is why it worked

What they liked They reacted
well to helpful, uplifting and personable interaction. Do those traits sound familiar? It should because that’s authentic community engagement.

What they liked

What they didn’t like This
came across as too promotional and inauthentic.

Where it was fuzzy Some
of the content we shared, while helpful, was occasionally called out as marketing material. But having a supportive, engaged community means you have fans who will have your back! That’s why it’s so important to build rapport and trust within the community.

Where it was fuzzy

AMA After being supportive and
informative with positive reactions from the redditors, a mod reached out and invited us to host an AMA! It was a regulatory’s worst nightmare.

AMA: how After scheduling a
time with the subreddit’s mod and announcing the AMA, there was a lot of prep behind the scenes. ● Pre-approved documents with example responses to every possible question we predicted ● “Command center” conference line with regulatory for real-time answers to risky questions ● Promotion on other social channels

AMA: how During the hour-long
live AMA ● Every question or comment was answered ● Questions were not seeded ● Sales were not pitched ● Website content was only linked to when 100% relevant ● Tone was kept light and friendly

AMA: measuring success 1st priority:
community engagement/branding 2nd: creating a search-friendly FAQ resource on reddit 3rd: website traffic

Lesson: You can’t start the
conversation, but you can be part of it! Seek out active, relevant communities and join in by providing something of value (information, accessibility, support, humor, etc.). This builds trust, rapport and fans!

Checklist for success ❏ Useful
content ❏ Voice that matches your community’s ❏ Free reign to represent brand ❏ Related community on reddit (not just target demographic) ❏ Organic conversations related to brand ❏ Follow reddiquette Follow my 5-step reddit marketing guide to get more tips from this case study!

Just starting? This guide will
teach you how to search for and identify your community on reddit, how to interact with them and how to leverage your wins AND failures.