This reddit case study post focuses on AR500 Armor, a body armor manufacturer that’s been building a straightforward, well-received promoted thread on the value of their products. Contents 1. Simple And Straightforward 2. Quality Commenting 3. Longevity
1. Simple And Straightforward
The AR500 ad is simple and straightforward: “AR500 Armor – Industry leading manufacturer of affordable and reliable body armor | Made in the USA.” The directness of this ad was praised in the comments, including a highly upvoted comment that thanked AR500 for not using a meme to try and connect with redditors.
The above commentor was referencing a trend of reddit advertisers to use reddit memes and inside jokes to better engage redditors — often in styles that would seem off-brand if they were somewhere other than reddit. The risk of such stylization is that redditors may interpret it as exploiting their own language and experience in order to better sell to them.
2. Quality Commenting
The AR500 account was both frequent and thorough in its responses to redditor questions. The effect of such a process is a high-quality product information page that’s customized to the collective desires of reddit. The purple nodes in the below illustration depict the AR500 account’s frequent participation in the thread. Nodes are connected to the things they’re commenting on. (Created using Kawandeep Virdee’s reddit discussion visualization tool.)
The below screenshot depicts the thoroughness and well-reception (through upvotes and positive community sentiments) of AR500’s comments. And note the links to more brand content on YouTube and the brand’s website, which are then accessible to all future thread visitors.
3. Longevity
The thread’s duration (since October 2013) significantly contributes to its quality, because it allows the thread to grow in information tailored to the reddit community (with currently 240+ comments). Part of what makes this duration possible is that the thread is not tied to a temporary campaign or offer. (Haworth Chairs is another advertiser successfully employing this tactic on reddit.) Temporary campaigns are also appropriate, but brands will value from considering a dual reddit strategy, in which temporary campaigns are paired with an evergreen promoted thread like AR500’s.
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