How to use Reddit to perform quick and effective market research

People who are interested in social media marketing and want to sell their own products and services know that Reddit is the services where they can find needed information about them and their competitors on different platforms.

Global social media audience is growing very fast, and with the time people start using Reddit to perform their own market research. However, some of them can`t understand how it works and how it could be used. So, it this post, you will see how we can use Reddit to perform an effective market research.

A quick intro

Right now, we can`t say that all Reddit users are visiting this service to make a research or something like that. In most cases, they are wasting time by subscribing multiple communities and scrolling through the tons of unnecessary content. These communities could be divided by different topics: sport, science, nature, street art, music and others. People choose something that is more interesting for them. We can also find groups made in “Ask Reddit” format, where the community answers questions.

It`s normal when people subscribe topics or groups dedicated to their jobs or interests. They don`t have viral content in their news feed, and it also helps them to control the time they spend in the Internet (sometimes people could fall into the social media and forget about all things). These users are called casual.

Another group of users, called dedicated Reddit users, prefers to join communities that appear confusing to an outsider. They are more interested in conversations rather than content. For example, if someone posts a funny meme or a GIF, other users prefer to chat between each other, and it will be more interesting for them than just looking through the unnecessary content.

Here are some specific Reddit terms that you should know:

• Niche communities often related to specific interests. Some subreddits attract millions of monthly views. Others attract small groups of dedicated users.
• Reddit gold. Users will “gift” each other a premium subscription to Reddit if they think that comment has some value for the community.
• A specific Reddit point system that rewards users who contribute to the community. If you make a post and other users appreciate it, you will gain points.
• Downvote and upvote. This is the golden economy that keeps Reddit valuable. In social media, we can see tons of unneeded content floating to the top of the feed. Fortunately, Reddit users could filter content that comes to them. They downvote or upvote the content. For example, if someone posted a link about a specific topic in order to discuss it, people could downvote it, so it will be thrown to the bottom. However, if this topic appears to be interesting for someone, it could be upvoted and stay in for the discussion.
• Throwaway account. You will see this phrase every day while visiting Reddit. If you post a comment that draw other users` attention, they could look through your comments history to find some personal information about you to avoid that, most users create “throwaway” account to post a comment and never use it again.

How to perform a market research on Reddit? Quick guide in 3 steps

1. Find your customers

First of all, you should find a subreddit filled with your target customers. No magic here – you just need to work to find the right communities. Search by the title, subreddit and URL. If you are looking for a particular topic (for example, Coca Cola, use these words while searching.

You can also use Reddit Enchantment suite. This free tool adds advanced searching and filtering options to Reddit. You can filter irrelevant subreddits, keywords and posts.

2. Ask special questions

During the research, focus on answering these specific questions:

• How do people feed about your product category? On Reddit, it`s easy to find hundreds of opinions and thoughts that people share across the platform.
• How do people feel about advertising in your category? On the top of the Reddit, you will see eight tabs. Use the “promoted” tab to see advertising campaigns run by your competitors. Pay attention to the comments to see how consumers responded, and what they feel about advertising campaigns in this current category.
• How sophisticated are consumers of your products? Consumers get good at buying products – what differentiates you today is expected tomorrow. Reddit can help you to stay away of your customer`s demand – whether that be the features that bore them, the promise they`ve tired of hearing, or the things they wish brands would get right.
• Who is the HXC customer? Probably the biggest difference between Reddit and social media platforms is that Reddit pushes the smallest comments and most discerning consumers to the top. It`s a small social network filled with smart and opinionated consumers. This is the exactly the consumer you want to aim your marketing strategy at. According to the definition given by Julie Supan, the HXC consumer is a person who has specific opinions and expectations for products.

3. Analyzing and monitoring

At this point, you should focus your attention on keywords. It will be good for you to add Reddit Keyboard Monitor Pro app to your Hootsuite dashboard. You can monitor brand terms or keywords for any topic, pulling all these hyper-targeted conversations right into your Hootsuite dashboard.

Follow all these steps that we showed here, and it`s a hundred percent guarantee that you will make a successful research with Reddit.