How to use Reddit to *really* get to know your audience.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written “really get to know your customers” and “learn how your customers communicate”.

But, for the sake of brevity (which already isn’t my strongest suit…) I often leave out the nitty gritty details.

So, to make up for that, here’s a super effective way to really get to know your customers, even if you don’t have weeks to dedicate to customer research:

Get Did you know that Reddit gets between 15–20 million unique visits every month?

Not only that, but the average time spent on the site is between 11 and 13 minutes (although, for many users — myself included — I suspect it’s much, much more).

Plus, Reddit is a made up of a huge collection of smaller forums, with the site divided into communities of people that share common (often super niche) interests.

In fact, I’d wager that there’s a subreddit (or community) for pretty much anything you can think of.

In other words, Reddit gives you instant access to an insane amount of people that are actively (and often passionately) interested in your niche or product or thing.

The people commenting in those forums have chosen to spend their free time communicating with anonymous people on the internet because they share a passion for a particular thing.

And, best of all, they all talk to each.

They develop their own social rules, slang and collective opinions. You can watch them having conversations about things they love, things they hate, things they’re indifferent about…

All the while, you can scroll and absorb how they talk, what they care about and, in many ways, who they are, all without leaving your desk.

️ You after a while on Reddit.

Those nuggets of information and a subconscious sense for the rhythm and voice of your audience is an incredible resource to have before you start writing for your audience.

Why?

Because, although users in r/movies might disagree on the merits of Wes Anderson’s cinematography or whether John Wick is the best action film of the past decade (it is), they’re all huge cinephiles.

They are all passionate, knowledgeable and actively interested in cinema, past and present.

They share a common language, common interests, common reference points, common opinions…

And that means that if you’re marketing a product that relates to film in any way  — Netflix, NowTV, Amazon Video, MUBU, a new magazine, a new cinema etc — then you’ve found the perfect window into the mind of your ideal target audience and a roadmap for getting your message heard.

You don’t have to take educated guesses or invent avatars and made-up backstories about how many kids they have and what car they drive; you’ve got 24/7 access to your living, breathing audience, right there in front of you.

And you can tap into it whenever you need to. Reddit is like a constant (and free!) customer profile and focus group at your disposal.

Not sure how your audience feels about certain things? Or how they talk about certain things? Or how they feel about your competition or your industry?

The answers are almost always there, on Reddit.

All you have to do find them and listen.

(Even better, why not set yourself up with a Reddit account and get involved? Join a few conversations, check out any of the thousands of communities that might relate to your business and really learn how your customer base thinks. You could even ask them how they feel about things, if you want to find super-specific details…)

Want to give it a go? Here’s a great place to start.

If you want to dip your toe and get to know your customers a little better, take 15-20 minutes this afternoon and head to RedditList.

This website tracks the top 5000 subreddits, so you’re almost certain to find an active subreddit that relates to your business in some way.

(Heads up: Reddit has subreddits for everything, including the NSFW stuff. Handily, Redditlist filters by SFW and NSFW subreddits, so you won’t end up in any awkward situations at your desk.)

And, if you can’t find a subreddit that you think fits on Redditlist, head to Google and search subreddits about your field/product/niche.

Once you’ve picked a subreddit, dive in and sort the threads by Top and Of All Time using this filter…

(You should see this…)

This will give you access to the most popular topics and discussions that particular subreddit has ever had. AKA, goldmines of voice of customer research.

Then, pick a few threads and dig around.

Look at what your customers are saying, how they’re saying it and how they’re interacting with each other.

Then, just follow the rabbit hole for a little while.

Don’t go in all analytical guns blazing. 

Take the time to let yourself be absorbed by the conversations and pick up on the nuances of their language. 

If you go in critically and objectively to start with, you’re going to miss out on the opportunity to get a real feel for your customers.

You’ll naturally start to pick up on in-jokes and slang that are specific to your audience. You’ll probably learn about tangential interests and the pop culture they enjoy and reference too. And most of all, you’ll learn how they speak and like to be spoken to.

And that’s CRAZY valuable.

Communicating in a way that demonstrates a deep, thorough understanding of your audience is THE difference between “meh” copy and “oh wow, where’s my wallet?” copy.

Without that, you’re just writing nice sounding sentences based on best guesses about your audience.

Get started: 3 important things to look out for on Reddit

1. Common language that crops up again and again:

Slang and shared language are great for demonstrating that you get your audience, but they go beyond that too. They demonstrate belonging and identity and say “we’re part of your crowd”. 

Finding a few choice words that your audience — and only your audience use — and sprinkling them into your copy can act as linguistic nitroglycerin, making your copy a billion times more powerful and effective.

2. Pop culture references that crop up time and time again

Like slang or your audience’s language, a well-placed pop culture reference can hit those same “we’re one of you” notes. But an ill-placed pop culture reference can call it all into question.

Can you imagine if Patagonia started commenting on Keeping Up With The Kardashians or Audi started commenting on Love Island? 

It’d be odd, right? 

3. Most of all, look at how they speak to each other

This is the most important one of all. 

As you go through the comments, make a list of words that describe the way your audience speak. 

(For example: sarcastic, dry, passionate… Try to be as specific as possible, though. Scribble down examples, if you’ve got time. Take screenshots, too.)

 Then look at how they speak to each other. 

This tone and voice that they use to speak to each other is gold. If you can replicate this `1-to-1, part-of-the-same-gang tone in your copy, you’re off the races, my friend.

So there you have it. A whistle stop tour of one of my favourite ways to get inside an audience’s head. 

If this floated your boat, there’s lots more like this in my free 5-day email course! Whack your deets below to get the first email right away!