Sponsored posts are coming to Reddit. Marketers will soon be able to turn content that has been submitted organically by redditors into Promoted User Posts, according to Reddit’s co-founders.
Any brands that want to create Promoted User Posts must ask redditors for their express consent.
In exchange for allowing their posts to be turned into sponsored posts by brands, such as Coca-Cola and eBay, redditors won’t get any money. Instead, they will be rewarded with a lifetime of Reddit Gold, the social network’s premium membership program that costs $29.99 a year.
“There are car enthusiasts on Reddit,” CEO and founder Steve Huffman told Ad Age. “Makeup addicts, people who discuss movies, books and video games where these commercial relationships are already developing with our users. It is not a stretch for the advertiser to come in here and engage with our audience.”
Reddit already offers an auction-based native ad system that companies can use to reach its users. Those posts, which the advertiser creates, are clearly marked as promoted.
Reddit, with 234 million unique users and 8 billion page views per month, is the ninth largest website in the U.S.
Yet many brands and marketers remain wary of Reddit. However, it’s hard to ignore its awesome power, especially with many excellent examples of companies succeeding on Reddit.
The big question is whether redditors will accept this change, or if they will greet Promoted User Posts with hostility when Reddit’s new form of advertising begins rolling out August 4.
“This isn’t traditional display advertising,” Huffman told Ad Age. “This is different and more personable. You have to bring your A game here and if you do, it works amazingly.”
Image Credit: Reddit
