Ross Simmonds, who has more marketing accolades than I can reasonably collect in a single intro, has a simple framework for any brand starting out on Reddit. It’s called the 4 E’s, and he told Kyle Denhoff and Aja Frost all about it on a recent ep of the Field Notes podcast.
Field Notes
Ross Simmonds' 4 E's for Reddit Success
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Educate. What does your audience want on Reddit? Do they want top 10 lists? How-to instructionals? Here’s how Simmonds figures that out:
- Using Reddit’s built-in Ask Reddit function, ask, “What is the best [insert your category here]?” Simmonds says it will “do an analysis across all of the millions of pieces of content that have been published within its ecosystem, and look for queries and keywords that align with what you just typed in.”
- That will help you identify relevant subreddits. From there, sort by top post. “There is clear insight that these are the types of content that people in this subreddit want. You’re going to analyze the top 100 of those and look for trends.”
- Engage. Simmonds says that Reddit might not be “a social network the way that we traditionally think about it, but it is a place where there's a lot of heated discussions and debates, and if your team can inspire that conversation, it's a huge win.” Ask questions that will actually start up a dialog.
- Empower. If you’re in a subreddit about, say, true crime, there’s an expectation that you know something about it. Nobody wants the host of a new true crime podcast to show up one day in the subreddit and start telling everybody how DNA testing works.
Instead, show up. Listen, interact, and thank the community for what they’ve taught you. Then “they feel like you understand them, they see you, and they want you to win,” says Simmonds. - Entertain. “You have to be able to put your guard down and have a little bit of fun.” Even in traditional industries, Simmonds has convinced clients to share cat GIFs (truly the currency of the internet), jokes, and memes.
“And it does wonders for that brand’s karma,” Simmonds says. “They get awards. People give them gold. It’s an absolutely delightful thing.”
Steal the 4 E's playbook.
