Reddit has been ranked as the world’s top 30 sites with a whopping 330+ million monthly active users. Over the years, Reddit has consistently shown growth in YoY traffic, DAU (Daily Active Users), and MAUs (Monthly Active Users), eventually becoming the 19th most popular site in the world.
Does Reddit Even Allow Affiliate Marketing?
YES! But there exists a subtle risk of caution. Reddit does not allow direct affiliate links; therefore, to keep their communities and forums up-to-date, spamming is not permitted on Reddit. The site is not considered a good platform for sharing DIRECT links.
Ideally, to get better outreach on your affiliate marketing strategy, you should share links to your own customized sub-reddit! Otherwise, Reddit bots are likely to remove your posts and even ban your account.
Let’s have a look at how you can actually and safely promote affiliate links on Reddit!
Since we have established that Reddit does not allow direct affiliate links, our strategy to help you maximize your value derived from affiliate marketing revolves around first creating a website for your product/service. By website, we mean a decent well-maintained website that effectively captures everything there is to know about your offering. You should also include organic reviews and experiences about your product/service.
With the problem of direct links taken care of, now that you have a website, you need to first:
- Create an Account
- Research relevant subreddits that are relevant to your product offering
- Shortlist and prioritize your list of subreddits and augment your marketing strategy accordingly
1. Submit Links
Since all your content is now concentrated on your website, you now need to simply go to the link submission button on Reddit. Based on your research about the subreddits that are lucrative markets for your product/service, post the link(s), and target your desired niche by posting about your affiliate product.
2. Disguise Your Links Through Text Submissions
For this to work, you need to first write a brief elevator pitch about your product and service, select the right niche subreddit, and then add your product/service affiliate link.
3. Pushing product/service through posting comments in Niche subreddits
Another easy way to generate traffic is to find relevant niche posts made under various subreddits and submit comments on them through Method (2).
4. Understand Your Market
Reddit is a huge platform of users that are linked with each other through forums and communities in the form of subreddits that are created for sharing experiences, thoughts, reviews, and recommendations. In order to effectively carry out affiliate marketing, understand market sentiment!
A beginner or a novice in affiliate marketing can do this:
- By first searching for subreddits that are relevant to the niche that their product /service aims to capture.
- Going through the ongoing discussions on the subreddits and forums.
- Identifying and prioritizing gaps in the market they need to address by making a list.
If you’re able to understand those gaps and then push a product or service that fills that gap for the audience, your traffic, your conversion rates, your retention rates, and eventually sales are likely to undergo a drastic improvement.
5. Leverage Reddit’s Model To Add Value
For your affiliate marketing strategy to gain traction, it is imperative that you have good Karma (you should be familiar with this!) which will help you gain credibility on Reddit. You can gain Karma/Credibility/Add value by:
- If you interact with the communities on Reddit by first understanding the issue/discussion at hand
- Presenting your critical yet valuable/useful insight into the matter
- Build credibility through continuous efforts to gain more Karma
- Leverage credibility and a solution-driven approach to drive your affiliate marketing strategy.
The beauty of Reddit’s model is that it itself is a huge niche. Individuals who use Reddit are very invested in the content available on the site. If you are able to attract communities and build your brand, you already have an edge over most competitors, and you will gain a head start on your affiliate marketing strategy.
How To Improve Your Visibility In Reddit?
1. Paid – Promotions
Reddit’s UI/UX allows running paid targeted ads like most social media platforms. It allows you to direct your affiliate marketing efforts towards targeted and lucrative subreddits you identified in your research phase. In this case, having discounts and promotions on your product/service can be a great source of attracting new audience. You need to be mindful of the following tips for this:
- Understand the Reddit rules/policies on paid advertisements
- Promote discounts on your ads
- Research. Research. Research. Identify successful ad campaigns and leverage the knowledge gained in your intended affiliate marketing strategy.
2. Organic Posting
As I mentioned earlier, the best way to grow your visibility on Reddit is to add value to the community forums available in the form of subreddits. The tips for successful organic posting are listed below:
- Add value by addressing ongoing discussions and issues on the forums to gain Karma points to enhance your visibility.
- Do not post direct links; post a landing site in the form of your website which you created in phase 0.
- Be honest about your product and service offering, and try your best to effectively communicate the gap you are filling in the market through your product/service to your target audience.
FAQs
Can I Advertise My Links For Free?
Yes, you can, but as mentioned earlier, you need to be smart about it. Using landing pages to direct the audience towards your website is the best way to start affiliate marketing for free.
Does Reddit Allow Affiliate Marketing Links?
Yes, but there are some caveats on this. As part of the Reddit User Agreement, contents in Reddit may include affiliate links from other users. However, you have to bear in mind that posting the same links to different places on the reddit site is considered spamming (as referenced in Reddit Policy on Spamming) thus you have to be mindful whenever you are posting any affiliate links.