AMA Recap: Reddit Leadership On Leveraging The Platform For Business Success via @sejournal, @brentcsutoras

On November 7, we hosted an exclusive Ask Me Anything (AMA) event and invited three of Reddit’s top executives to share their insights.

The insights they shared about Reddit’s growth, advertising potential, and community engagement are pure gold for any marketer looking to tap into the power of Reddit.

And the best part?

They didn’t just give us high-level fluff – they dug into the nitty-gritty with real-world examples and actionable strategies.

With close to two decades of experience on Reddit, I aimed to ask the right questions to get the most value from our panel of experts. The executive panel included:

• Susan Billingsley, who leads Reddit’s global business brand and audience marketing. Susan is responsible for crafting impactful narratives that resonate with audiences and drive brand loyalty.
• Rob Gaige, who uses insights from Reddit’s conversations and communities to help brands stay ahead of consumer trends, turning real-time discussions into actionable marketing strategies.
• Nishé Modoyan, who oversees Reddit’s core ads platform, leads go-to-market strategies, and has a passion for identifying products and opportunities for Reddit’s business partners.

Here are the key takeaways and insights they shared during the AMA:

Reddit’s Key Growth Drivers In 2024

When asked about the key elements driving Reddit’s growth in 2024, Susan explained that improvements to the platform, such as better findability and posting tools, have led to increased engagement on conversation pages.

She also highlighted strong international growth due to machine learning-based language translation. On the advertiser side, performance marketing and SMB/mid-market growth have been significant.

Overall, the key driver of growth is people’s desire for human connection and authenticity in a world overwhelmed with information and paid influencers.

As Susan put it, “Really what’s driving a lot of our user growth and even growth within the advertiser communities and the way they’re communicating is just that need for authenticity.”

I added, “I was actually thinking back to when you first broke 10 million users, and I remember saying back then, look, where do you see a company that has a ridiculous growth rate month over month? And this was 10 years ago, five years ago, two years ago, and it just continues and continues.”

Reddit’s Staying Power

Addressing whether Reddit’s growth is a temporary trend, Rob emphasized that Reddit is not a passing fad.

He also highlighted that users don’t grow out of Reddit. They may join as a 20-year-old gamer, but as they progress through life stages, there are always relevant communities for them to engage with. This results in long-term user retention and increased engagement over time.

Rob explained, “If Reddit is a trend, it’s the slowest trend on Earth, given that the platform has been around for 19 years. With half of America coming to Reddit weekly, and the platform being evenly split between men and women, Reddit is ubiquitous.”

Reddit’s Unique Advertising Proposition

Susan broke down three key factors that make Reddit unique as an advertising platform:

1. “Conversations are organized by interest, making it the only platform structured entirely around passions, where people actively signal, ‘I’m into this, I’m interested in this’.”
2. “Our audience is large, growing quickly, and full of highly engaged users with strong intent. Finally, these conversations drive real, impactful decisions.”
3. “Conversations are ultimately driving real decisions,” Susan said. “People come to Reddit hungry for information and validation, which leads to real actions – purchases, spending, and long-term value.”

As a result, advertising on Reddit combines the benefits of social media and search, allowing brands to reach their target audience in a context that drives business outcomes.

Balancing Organic Presence And Paid Advertising

When asked about the relationship between organic and paid presence on Reddit, Nishé explained that while combining both approaches is optimal, companies can start with either organic or paid advertising based on their resources.

She emphasized that authenticity is key and every business has expertise they can share on Reddit, regardless of category.

Nishé noted, “You do not have to take on both. You can absolutely do one or the other, but obviously what I’m going to talk about is the power of doing them together.”

She detailed how Reddit Pro can be used as a free tool to understand communities and trends, which can inform both organic engagement and paid campaigns.

I added insight about matching the approach to the user journey – using ads for purchase-ready users and organic engagement for awareness phases.

How Brands Can Join Conversations Authentically

Responding to a question about how brands can join meaningful conversations on Reddit without annoying users, Susan provided multiple real-world examples of successful brand engagement.

She emphasized treating Reddit users as humans deserving of respect and authentic interaction.

Susan advised, “Authenticity is a really big thing. Just remember that you’re talking to humans. So people on Reddit want to be talked to, just like all of us want to be talked to, you want to be talked to with respect, you want to be talked to as if your opinion matters.”

Examples ranged from Fidelity’s customer service approach to a vegan company’s community engagement, to Keith from Sonos’s personal approach to crisis management.

I highlighted how humanizing brand interactions changes user responses positively. Susan also shared how a publisher discovered new audience segments through organic content sharing.

The key themes were authenticity, human connection, and providing genuine value to communities, whether through customer service, content sharing, or community engagement.

Effective Reddit Monitoring Strategies

When asked about effective strategies for monitoring Reddit both for opportunities and reputation management, Rob explained that while monitoring Reddit can be challenging due to its massive content volume, Reddit Pro is an effective tool for tracking brand mentions and relevant conversations.

Rob cautioned, “Reddit every two weeks generates a Wikipedia worth of content. Just kind of think about the amount of content there is to go through. So it could definitely be challenging.”

He emphasized the importance of identifying subreddits where target customers are most active and understanding that opinions can vary significantly between different communities.

He used the example of Samsung’s Frame TV, which receives very different reactions in home theater versus home design subreddits, illustrating how different communities can have varying perspectives on the same product.

Creating Engaging Reddit Content

Addressing the question of best practices for creating engaging content on Reddit, Nishé emphasized the importance of using Reddit Pro to understand your audience and identify relevant conversations.

Rob then provided three specific strategies:

1. Creating engaging games or challenges (like the U.S. Navy’s submarine hunt).
2. Treating users as early adopters with exclusive access to products.
3. Providing unique access to expert information.

Rob elaborated, “Redditors love games, quests, and tasks. The second thing they love is being treated like early adopters. And third, they love access – give them access to an expert, to exclusive information, to things they can’t get elsewhere, and they’ll geek out with you.”

They emphasized that successful content needs to add genuine value to the community and align with how Redditors naturally engage with content.

Brand Presence Approach On Reddit

When asked about the best approach for brands to establish their presence on Reddit, Rob outlined different models:

1. Fully brand-moderated communities (like Fidelity).
2. Hybrid communities with both brand and independent moderators.
3. Participating in existing communities as a regular member.

As Rob pointed out, “It’s really critical here. The first model, which Susan mentioned with Fidelity, involves company-employed moderators who run and maintain the brand’s subreddit. Then there are hybrid models, and finally, the third model we’ve been discussing, where a brand simply joins an independently run community and participates just like any other member.”

Susan emphasized that there’s no single correct approach – it depends on the brand’s goals, target audience, and available resources.

They suggested that brands can start small and scale up their presence as they learn what works best for their specific situation.

Handling Negativity On Reddit

Responding to a question about how brands should handle negative comments, trolling, and criticism on Reddit, Rob shared research showing that Reddit is predominantly positive, with most negative comments actually being constructive product feedback rather than pure criticism.

He noted that true trolling makes up only 1-2% of negative interactions, and most users view brands more favorably when they respond to criticism constructively.

Rob revealed, “First thing we learned is that overwhelmingly Reddit is a positive place. So no matter what category we study, we find between four to one, seven to one positive to negative, even in insurance conversations on Reddit, it’s a two to one positive to negative.”

Nishé added tactical advice, suggesting that authentic community engagement improves brand sentiment over time.

She also provided specific guidance about managing comments on ads, recommending leaving comments on when seeking engagement but turning them off for pure conversion-focused campaigns.

The key message was that negativity on Reddit is both less common and less impactful than brands might fear, and can often be turned into positive interactions through proper engagement.

Drive Brand Growth With Reddit

Phew, that was a lot of incredible information!

We’re so lucky that Susan, Rob, and Nishé took time out of their busy schedules to share their expertise with us. It’s not every day you get to hear directly from the people driving one of the most influential platforms out there.

If you’re feeling inspired and want to start leveraging Reddit for your brand, you’ve got a couple of fantastic resources at your fingertips.

Head over to Reddit for Business to learn more about working directly with the Reddit team on your advertising and partnership opportunities.

And if you want to focus on building your organic presence and engaging with Reddit communities in a meaningful way, you can connect with me on LinkedIn to talk more.

No matter which path you choose, one thing’s for sure – with the insights from this AMA, you’re well on your way to unlocking the full potential of Reddit for your brand.

Looking forward to seeing you and your brand on Reddit!

Here are the links to each question on the AMA recording on our YouTube channel (make sure to subscribe while you are there!).

• “What have been some of the key elements for Reddit’s growth during 2024?”
• “Is Reddit just a trend? Is this something that six months from now will go away? Is this something that is here to stay?”
• “How can they leverage Reddit for organic search in an authentic way?”
• “What makes Reddit unique as an advertising platform?”
• “How do you balance using ads and having an organic presence?”
• “How can brands organically join meaningful conversations?”
• “What’s one of the best strategies for monitoring Reddit?” 
• “How do you craft content on Reddit that gets the clicks, that gets the votes, that gets the views?”
• “Should I be an actual brand with the brand name or should I be somebody who works at the brand? … how do I have that proper brand setup?”
• “How should brands handle negativity on Reddit?” 

More resources:

• A Beginner’s Guide To Reddit: How To Get Started
• Reddit Makes Game-Changing Updates To Keyword Targeting
• Why Every Marketer Should Be On Reddit

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