This guide was created to help podcasters use reddit to improve their podcast and grow their audience. Podcasters will learn how to use reddit to gather valuable information, recruit new listeners, and develop a listener community.
Become a redditor
Before you can use reddit to grow your podcast, it is important that you learn how the platform works and to become an active reddit user (or “redditor”). We created the Beginner’s Guide to reddit which will teach you the basics of reddit. We strongly recommend you read the Beginner’s Guide if you are not an active redditor.
Read the Beginner’s Guide to reddit (for Marketers)
Customize your subreddit subscriptions
Click to learn how to manage your subreddits
Use the subreddit search to find subreddits related to your podcast. Search for topics that you discuss on your podcast as well as communities that are filled with your target audience.
Also unsubscribe from all subreddits that are not related to your podcast. Reddit is a rabbit hole of information, so unsubscribe from subreddits that will distract you every time you log onto reddit.
Tip: Subscribe to /r/Podcasts, the largest community of podcasters and podcast listeners on reddit.
Use reddit to source content and topics for your show
Reddit is a great tool for finding hot topics and learning about your target audience. In fact, reporters have been using reddit for years to source story ideas. A properly curated subreddit feed (see section above) will produce a goldmine of topics to discuss on your podcast.
You can also search reddit for specific keywords yielding articles and discussions related to your topic of interest. This search for “Kobe Bryant” turned up dozens of interesting talking points for a basketball podcast:
Search reddit for topics you want to discuss. You’ll find dozens of interesting articles and discussions.
Engage relevant subreddit communities
The primary goal when engaging a subreddit community should be to contribute value. Some of these engagements may lead to awareness of your podcast and some may not. Either way, the value of interacting with your target audience will help you understand them and generate interesting content for your podcast.
You can engage subreddits in a number of ways:
- Solicit feedback on a topic, guest, or idea for your show. Think of reddit as a focus group that can help you develop ideas for your podcast while you give them an interesting topic to discuss.
- Pose a question to a subreddit to create content for your show. The “Ask” subreddits are a great place to pose a question (e.g. /r/AskMen or /r/AskScience). The sidebar of /r/AskReddit has a directory of Ask subreddits titled “Other subreddits you might like”.
- Share relevant clips from your podcast with a subreddit. Edit out a particularly interesting part of the podcast and share it with a highly relevant community. This is much more effective than sharing the entire episode as most users will not take the time to listen.
- Add to the conversation in the comments section. On reddit there are endless opportunities to answer questions, fulfill requests, and drive discussions forward.
Advertise your podcast
Advertising on reddit is a great way to engage a subreddit and share your podcast with them. A paid ad on reddit will automatically place your submission at the top of the subreddit.
Many podcasts do not have advertising budgets, but reddit is actually one of the most affordable ad platforms available. You can place an ad for as little as $5 and receive 1,000 impressions per $1 of budget.
You are paying to be at the top of the subreddit, but your ad should still contribute value to the community. Instead of just linking to your podcast, do something creative. For example, you could ask a question and promise to read some of the responses on your next episode. Other possibilities are posting a relevant clip from your podcast, running a contest, or promoting your podcast’s subreddit.
Create a subreddit for your podcast
Let’s Talk Bitcoin created /r/LetsTalkBitcoin for their audience to discuss the podcast.
Have you ever thought of starting your own discussion forum for your podcast? A subreddit could be the perfect solution if you have a large enough audience who is interested in being a part of a community. Propose the idea to your listeners and see how they respond to the idea. Based on the response, you can then decide if your audience is interested in a subreddit.
You can facilitate the development of your subreddit by engaging the community regularly. Here are a few ways to utilize your subreddit as a podcaster:
- On your podcast, talk about content that is generated by the subreddit. This will be a huge incentive for listeners to participate in the subreddit. Do this randomly or create a recurring segment on your show. They will see the real value in participating in the subreddit when they hear you talking about it on the show.
- Be creative and push the limits of what is possible with reddit. Reddit is a great way to source feedback and content from your audience and the voting system gives your audience a fun way to be a part of the decision making process.
- Take some time out of each podcast episode to tell your listeners about the subreddit and the reddit platform. If you present your subreddit as the best way to connect with you, listeners will go there to submit their questions and comments.
- Put a link to the subreddit on your website. We suggest you create a “Community” link in your website’s main menu that links to a page that has information about the subreddit.
Consistency is the key to growing and maintaining an active subreddit for your audience. Promote the subreddit consistently to keep new users coming into the community. Post content and respond to listeners in the subreddit to keep the community active.
For more information about using a subreddit as an online discussion forum, read How to launch a subreddit as an online discussion forum.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Reddit can be a tremendous resource for podcasters if it is approached correctly. First, make sure you learn the basics and become an active redditor. Then you can start sourcing content and feedback for your show. If you want to promote your show, this can be done organically or through advertising, but make sure you are always contributing value and not spamming.
If you have a large enough audience and they are interested in reddit, you can create subreddit for them. Instead of a traditional forum, a subreddit is an efficient and effective community platform for your audience.
Whether you are sourcing content, promoting your show, or building your own community, reddit can help you achieve your goals as podcaster.
