Why your company should be keeping tabs on ‘The Front Page of the Internet.’

Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to digital trends is one sure way to get ahead in the marketing world. For instance, using popular memes as a fun way to get your message across or being the first to share information about a hot industry trend with your audience are both great ways to engage your customers and build up a great rapport.

Unfortunately, being the first one to jump on a trend before it goes viral is very hard. (Almost as hard as trying to think up your own funny image or video in hopes of it going viral.) If only there were a place on the internet that collected genuine, topical content which could be sorted through based on the how worth-while different users thought the content was. Enter Reddit.

Reddit’s tagline says it all―”The front page of the Internet.” In 2012 alone, the website earned 37 billion page views (with 400 million unique visitors). And their most popular post of the year? A personal Q&A session (better known on the site as an AMA―Ask Me Anything) with the President himself, Barack Obama.

In an online world where content is king, Reddit is it’s queen―but with way more cats. (It is the internet, after all.) And why exactly is this a website that marketers should be paying attention to? Because

Reddit thrives on collecting quality content and rewarding the content when it appears.

Not to mention mainstream online media is almost overwhelming dependent on this site, with repurposed Reddit content popping up daily on sites such as BuzzFeed and Gawker.

Here are just a few things to know about this content powerhouse site:

1. Reddit is one of the best sources on the web for finding new, popular content.

No matter what your industry or business may be, there is a place for you to find content on Reddit. The website itself is made of up hundreds of sub-communities that focus on specific topics, such as a city, professional industry, breed of cat, historical time, or any other topic you could think of. You can subscribe to each of these individual subreddits to read up on specific information, or just sort through the constant content circling through the front page, all of which has been voted on by the sites users.

2. A link on Reddit can earn you an overwhelming flood of positive (or negative) traffic.

When you think about different images or stories that have gone viral in the past few months, chances are Reddit was at the center of them. It is safe to say that many of the communities that exist around this website are some of the most enthusiastic and passionate on the web. With that in mind, if you post something that sits well with the site’s users, you may be hit with a huge influx of traffic. However, if it rubs them the wrong way or they feel that you are not being genuine, prepare to also deal with the masses. Which brings us to our next point…

3. Reddit can often be harsh and unpredictable.

One of the reasons why many marketers choose simply not to deal with Reddit is because nothing will get you down-voted faster than posting spammy content that seems like a marketing ploy. In fact, often times if you post a link promoting your website or blog (and that’s all you ever post), your content will be deleted by one of the many moderators crawling the site specifically looking for spammers. However, this is actually a great process because it means that every link or post that has been voted to the top of the threads is there because of the quality of the content itself.

4. The conversations happening in the comments are often more interesting than the content itself.

If you are looking for a place on the internet where people post interesting, educational comments about their interests, Reddit is one of the best websites to turn to. (Although, it is also a great source of distraction when you’re looking for funny gifs, Photoshop pictures or epic fail videos). Despite this, the site has somehow attracted itself to some of the most passionate, cultured people on the web who constantly have interesting theories, back stories, anecdotes and opinions on everything from politics to the latest tech innovations to important changes in social media. Speaking with other users in the comment sections of these kinds of articles can give you a priceless opportunity to interact with the people in your own industry and community about the very things that are changing it!

Have you had an opportunity to explore Reddit yet? What did you think about this unique, powerful site? We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.

Research: Source