Everyone knows search is changing. The way people discover and educate themselves on brands is shifting from Google search to AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
Brands are augmenting SEO with new, more nuanced strategies. Many are thinking about Reddit, which is the second-most cited platform in AI search behind YouTube. With Reddit more influential than ever before, how should a brand activate on the platform?
What Makes Reddit Different
Reddit is one of the only platforms where creators are not financially compensated for being active or popular. There is no creator fund. There are no brand deals for Redditors. There are no Reddit “influencers” in the traditional sense of the word. But, ironically, that’s what might make Redditors the most influential of them all. Reddit’s status as an entirely organic, community-based platform is likely why we’re seeing AI models choosing to pull from Reddit.
“Reddit provides something rare on the Internet,” said Steve Huffman, Reddit Co-Founder and CEO. “444 million people come here each week for authentic conversations they can’t find anywhere else, and increasingly, for engagement with brands, institutions and publishers.”
You might be thinking, “Wait. They don’t care about money? Then what do they care about?”
Redditors care about power, access, community, and legitimacy. As a brand, you have the ability to give them all of these.
Reddit may be home to one of your brand’s most loyal and passionate communities. Even if your brand doesn’t have a dedicated subreddit, you can find real fans on subs related to your brand. Offering these users power, access, community, and legitimacy can show that you recognize the influence they have and want to make them a part of your brand’s journey.
How to Work with Reddit Users
- Offer a sense of legitimacy
Give Redditors who care deeply about your brand the ability to work with you in an official capacity. For these users, an official role is much more valuable than compensation. In fact, if that role doesn’t include monetary compensation, Redditors get to keep what they value most: their independent opinions.
What this offer looks like will vary depending on your brand. For example, we partnered with a sports organization that wants to focus on community activation. We created a fan council that gives loyal sports fans on Reddit a seat at the table, so they have the power to share their opinions with actual decision makers. These newly-legitimized brand champions are very proud to be part of this council, they’re very engaged, and they’ve updated their social media profiles accordingly. What’s more, this approach has paid off in AI search visibility, with fan perspectives on key issues showing up in AI results via Reddit and X.
- Offer access
You can also provide access to Reddit users who are active and vibrant members of your brand’s community. One of our clients is a musical artist with a passionate fan base and active subreddit. They wanted to engage with their fans in a smaller setting as part of their tour promotion. We conceived of an intimate pop-up featuring the artist and teased it on Reddit first. If you weren’t an active user on their subreddit, you would not have heard about the event in time to beat the line that formed around the block. The inside scoop on an IRL connection with your favorite artist was the reward for organic community participation.
- Offer power
You don’t need a passionate fan base to engage with users on Reddit. In fact, you can engage with your brand’s critics, as well. One of our clients received a slew of negative Reddit reviews for one of their products. In response to the feedback, they redeveloped the product, and we're working with them to reach out to every single person who wrote a negative review to offer to send them this new product for free. We’ve granted users who thought they were shouting into a void the power to influence the new iteration of the product and be one of the first people to use it for free. There is no amount of posting, ads or AMAs that could replace that impact. Real influence is power. Reddit users know this.
Common mistakes to avoid
Cultivating a relationship with your Reddit community isn’t something that happens overnight. This timeline can be difficult for brands who want to see immediate ROI. But there is a huge benefit to activating a community on Reddit in a thoughtful way beyond one AMA or paid campaign. Even once you successfully and authentically activate your Reddit community, you may not see immediate results. Reddit will not immediately drive sales for you, nor will investing in a community program mean your brand is the top result in any AI search platform a month later. It's going to take time and continued effort. But as we say at Orchestra, you can’t just buy customers; you have to earn them.
What to remember about leveraging Reddit
For any brand, whether or not you care about pulling into AI search results, your Reddit strategy must involve respecting your community, listening to them, and continuously monitoring the conversations they’re having on the platform.
It’s important to remember that these community members are not your employees. They will not unquestioningly champion your brand or parrot all your desired talking points. The reason that Reddit users don’t want to be paid for their work is because they see that exchange as illegitimate. They want to own their opinions and own the trust of their community.
Some people are going to say negative things about you, but remember that if someone is taking the time out of their day to just talk about you—no payment involved—they already care a significant amount. And you shouldn't be afraid of those people. You should, in fact, appreciate the people who are criticizing you. They are the most powerful advocates you could have, because they want you to do better. Neutrality can be the death of relevance. So why not engage with the people who already clearly care—positively and negatively—about what you're doing?
A multi-channel approach
Reddit has immense value, but it should always be implemented as part of a larger multi-channel strategy. At Orchestra, we help brands adapt to the ever-changing way people engage with and discover them. We bring together a team of subject-matter and platform experts to help your brand navigate the entire ecosystem of influence across both social and traditional media channels. We develop and execute the multi-channel strategies that will help your brand stand out and drive real-world results.
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At Orchestra, our subject-matter experts and channel strategists collaborate to connect the dots across industries, platforms, and audiences—and turn that orchestration into real-world impact. If you are a brand or organization that wants to build or strengthen your Reddit strategy, reach out to Orchestra.
If you’re interested in hearing more about Orchestra’s comprehensive AEO program, which makes brands more visible, more credible, and more impactful in the AI-powered landscape, email AEO@orchestraco.com.
