Reddit’s VP of International Growth, Durgesh Kaushik, sits down with Mobile Marketing Magazine to discuss the innovative strategies being implemented by the social media platform to scale growth in core regions, enhance accessibility and revolutionise internationalisation.

Kaushik joined the social media forum in December last year, being appointed Vice President of Growth of APAC and Emerging Markets before his promotion earlier this year.

Now as the VP of International, Kaushik is spearheading a comprehensive internationalisation strategy, focusing on responsible scaling and growth across all of Reddit’s core regions.

“My work is focused on creating a truly local and culturally relevant experience for people, no matter where they live,” Kaushik says.

“The more we can deliver this to audiences worldwide, the more benefit we will ultimately bring to local advertisers in these markets.”

On expanding into new markets

Over the past three years, Reddit’s international footprint has “grown steadily”, according to the former Snap Managing Director.

As a result, the company has entered markets including the UK, Canada, Australia and non-English speaking countries like Germany and France.

In all of these instances, Reddit was already, and completely organically, a thriving destination for local users, he claims.

However, before launching into a new market, there are several factors that need to be considered.

“We always look at where people are actively engaged on our platform and how we can continue to add value to their Reddit experience through teams on the ground, who bring invaluable local context and nuance, and ultimately allow us to scale the experience for users and advertisers alike,” Kaushik adds.

On becoming more accessible and culturally relevant

Kaushik’s broader internationalisation strategy at Reddit is centred around accessibility, localisation, cultural relevance and a true sense of “community and belonging”.

Part of this strategy includes connecting with local moderators, to ensure they have what they need to cultivate and grow their communities, which is something Reddit has been doing across multiple countries in the past year.

Another part of this is understanding where and how its local audience is spending their time on Reddit, and serving up experiences that enhance this activity.

For example, to celebrate the Cricket World Cup in November, the platform localised Reddit avatars and custom accessories for the participating countries, turning Reddit into an unofficial second screen for fans.

On future plans

Kaushik hints at ongoing innovations and technologies that will impact the internationalisation of mobile marketing, stressing that internationalisation efforts are inherent in everything Reddit builds.

As a result, he reveals the platform is focused on making Reddit more “accessible” and welcoming to a diverse set of users globally.

“We [Reddit] are trialling and testing products in international markets that will eventually be rolled out across the platform

“We are focused on making Reddit easier to use and more welcoming to a more diverse set of users around the world.

He concludes: “You will continue to see the product and design improvements that will simplify and streamline how people discover, join and contribute to communities, and bring new ways to engage in conversations and content – which is especially important to our growing international user base.”

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Reddit’s Head of Mid Market UK, Hannah Walker, has predicted the era of categorising consumers solely by age may be drawing to an end next year.

According to Walker, who has been with the social media giant since October this year, consumers, regardless of their age, are increasingly breaking away from societal norms.

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She claimed the stereotypical distinctions between generations are becoming less relevant, leading advertisers to reconsider their strategies in targeting audiences.

Walker said: “Advertisers must recognise these nuances as they think about who they are targeting and how to do it and let’s face it: really whether you’re 25 or 35, you’re still likely to want to eat chocolate or go on holiday.

“In response to this, interest-based targeting is likely to continue to increase in prevalence, which allows engagement based on factors that have nothing to do with a consumer’s age.”

As a result, she emphasises that consumer expectations regarding brand interactions are on the rise, urging advertisers to delve into the intricacies of each consumer’s daily life.

“It’s important advertisers are realising the complexities of any given consumer’s everyday life and targeting based on actual activity and engagement, rather than demographic, which should lead to more personalised and effective interactions,” she said.

Read Mobile Marketing Magazine’s recent interview with Reddit’s VP of International Growth on becoming more ‘accessible and culturally relevant’

The post Reddit predicts the demise of generational marketing in 2024 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Reddit enters Canada with dedicated management, sales, community, and engineering teams based out of Toronto. The office is led by Reddit’s Head of International, Tariq Mahmoud, and the sales team falls under the global leadership of EVP and President of Global Advertising, Harold Klaje.

“Canada is already home to a deeply engaged Reddit audience that is growing steadily by the day and it is a top priority for us and our internationalisation strategy,” said Reddit’s Chief Operating Officer, Jen Wong. “Establishing a dedicated presence in the market will ensure best-in-class teams, tools and resources to continue to build out our growing user base and level-up our offering to local clients in a more focussed, nuanced way.”

The Canadian team has already begun working with brands such as Tim Hortons, General Mills, CDW, and Call of Duty: Mobile to reach Reddit’s users in Canada – a base which is growing by 40 per cent year-on-year.

In the coming weeks, Reddit will name a Country Manager and additional sales leadership roles to take charge of the office.

Reddit’s move into Canada comes six months after it opened for business in the UK, setting up shop in London back in September.

The post Reddit opens doors on Canada office appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The ‘Enterprise Partnership’ agreement will provide the clients of OMG agencies Hearts & Science, PHD, and Resolution with access to Reddit’s creative strategy team, education and training tools, innovation offering, measurement and reporting, data, and the platform’s insights capability, providing OMG clients with a more effective way to engage Reddit’s 52m daily active users and enhance the value of their media spend.

“The social media ecosystem is changing – we’re seeing an outflow of media consumption from people-based platforms, and an inflow towards interest-based platforms,” said Reddit’s Global Agency Lead for Omnicom Media Group, Andrew Abbott. “We’ve been working with Omnicom Media Group for some time to help their agencies and clients navigate this shift towards online communities and ensure their effective place within them. Formalizing this partnership is a logical and exciting next step towards greater collaboration and client success.”

Prior to officially entering into a partnership, Reddit and OMG have been working together on brand safety through OMG’s Council on Accountable Social Advertising, which was created to give advertisers more control over where their ads appear on social media.

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Tyrone Stewart chats with Harold Klaje, VP & President of Global Advertising at Reddit, about the platforms entry into the UK market and what it means for advertisers

On Monday 28 September, Reddit officially opened for business in the UK, with its London sales team working out of Holborn to deliver opportunities for advertisers and experiences for users locally.

The UK already boasts the biggest community of Reddit users outside of the US, representing between seven and eight per cent of the global users on ‘the front page of the internet’. Reddit is also in the top five most visited websites in the UK and saw its UK views grow by 64 per cent year-on-year in 2019.

So, why has Reddit decided that now was the right time to enter the UK market and, in turn, the European market?

“Like many platforms, we’ve seen spectacular growth from a user perspective. This is an environment whereby, because of the physical world being a bit more challenging, the online world becomes even more important – especially with our communities where people can find answers to questions they have or come up with ideas of what to do,” Harold Klaje, VP & President of Global Advertising at Reddit, tells Mobile Marketing.

“We’ve seen an even faster acceleration in our international growth of users. And the UK is already our second biggest user market after the US. So, that’s just another catalyst for us to say, ‘hey, it’s time for us to start expanding internationally and with the UK as our primary focus because of user base and user growth’.”

For advertisers, the entry into the UK represents an opportunity to tap into what Reddit calls ‘unduplicated reach’. That’s people found on Reddit that you can’t find on other platforms. For example, 48 per cent of UK Reddit users aren’t on Snapchat, ­32 per cent aren’t on Twitter, and 26 per cent aren’t on Instagram. A fact that is “super exciting” for an advertiser, according to Klaje.

Moreover, 68 per cent of Reddit users in the UK are aged between 18- and 34-years-old. And they’re spending an average of 33 minutes on the platform each day.

“There’s about 130,000 subreddits or communities or topic engagements on Reddit. And these are all people who have highlighted what they’re interested in – from the Premier League to gardening to the latest panel shows and gameshows. So, there’s all these interest topics that people can become a community member of and, therefore, showcase that they’re interested in that, ask questions about it, and bond with a group of people,” says Klaje.

“That’s what is interesting for advertisers in the UK. All the UK subreddits, or communities, that people are passionate about and involved in. As an advertiser, you can really understand what their interest is.”

Reddit looks at that ‘interest’ as another key area which differentiates it from other social media platforms. Generally, advertisers would have a good idea of demographics but might not always be sure if they’re targeting the right people based on their specific interests. Reddit’s community focus removes that uncertainty because users are involved in subreddits which they are passionate about.

This passion and interest mean that 70 per cent of users actually welcome brands on Reddit, because, if you’re passionate about something, you want to hear more about it.

“If you have something that is relevant to their community, they love hearing about it. That’s the starting point: these people want to hear from brands,” says Klaje. And brands are able to be heard through promoted posts, takeovers, and Ask Me Anything (AMA) events.

Promoted posts – available via video, text, or display formats – are pretty self-explanatory and common across social media, so no need to go into too much detail. On the other hand, takeovers enable a brand to ‘take over’ a spot in a trending page or on the homepage.

AMAs are Reddit’s most interactive way connecting with users. These events see a brand host a session, which anyone can join and ask any questions. AMAs provide a platform for “real interaction” with Reddit’s communities, according Klaje.

Beyond those products, Reddit wants to continue making sure that its users are engaged and finding what they are looking for, rather than releasing more product features, because, for Klaje, “the key thing about Reddit is the audience we have – and I think that’s the key area that most of our advertisers are interested in when engaging with us”.

As we wait to see what the UK market brings for Reddit and how it continues to grow from here, Klaje, as a European himself, is excited about what the UK entry means and the quality of marketing that exists in the region.

“The UK, for us, is the second biggest user market – but it’s also it’s a massive creative and interesting digital agency market. It’s a frontrunner when it comes to creative strategies and creative branding. From that regard, I love working in the UK, because of all the creative agencies and the way that the digital and mainstream media market is ahead there,” Klaje concludes.

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Reddit plans to use CPC ads to enhance its performance advertising, which will be led by recently hired VP of ads product & engineering, Shariq Rizvi. Including the launch of CPC, Reddit will now offer four campaign objectives to advertisers: reach, video view, traffic and conversions. The objectives will all be linked to bid types such as CPM, CPV and CPC.

“While cost-per-click advertising isn’t innovative, in itself, the launch marks a big moment for the Reddit Ads business,” said Zubair Jandali, Reddit’s VP of brand partnerships. “This is a point of inflection that helps get us to parity in the market and will change the way advertisers think about our capabilities.”

Before the official launch of CPC ads, Reddit performed beta testing with more than 50 advertisers across multiple verticals, including Hired and Kabam. According to the front page of the internet, most of the participating advertisers saw an improved ROI of up to 50 per cent. Advertisers can already purchase CPC inventory on Reddit’s Ads dashboard. CPC ads will then be advertised on all platforms and devices and will be featured as links or Promoted Posts.

The post Reddit unveils its first performance-driven ad format appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

These native ads will have all the characteristics of a standard paid post, with users able to upvote, downvote, and comment on them, reports Marketing Land. Although, brands do have the option to turn off the interactions.

Advertisers will be able to target based on user interest, subreddit, location, device, and time of days.

According to the company, its 330m monthly active users access the site 41 per cent of the time, while logged-in app users spend 30 per cent more time than those on desktop each day and 80 per cent of app users don’t access Reddit via desktop al all.

To capitalise on this, Reddit will begin rolling out native promoted post for iOS on Monday 19 March, while the ad format will arrive to Android ‘in the coming weeks’.

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Through the partnership, brands can engage directly with Reddit users from the Sprinklr platform, and access both real-time and historical Reddit data.

“As home to the most diverse and authentic conversations on the internet, Reddit is a trove of consumer insights and an increasingly valuable component of any brand’s social and engagement strategy,” said Alex Riccomini, director of business development and media partnerships at Reddit. “We’re excited to partner with Sprinklr to offer their users access to business-impacting monitoring, tracking and engagement functionality for the Reddit community.”

Sprinklr users will be able to analyse top-specific pages for actionable insights into customer care issues, and participate in relevant conversation through the Reddit integration. Data available in the integration includes insights into trends, audience reactions, and key topics from across Reddit. This can be used to personalise marketing by anticipating how audiences will react to advertising campaigns.

“This integration takes a process that was previously time consuming and siloed – accessing Reddit data, sending Reddit messages and publishing to subreddits – and simplifies it so companies can centralise customer engagements across social media channels on one platform,” said Elizabeth Closmore, VP of product evangelism and partnerships at Sprinklr. “We’re looking forward to supporting Reddit as it increasingly becomes an invaluable channel for brands to reach, engage and listen to their customers.”

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Subreddits banned and removed include r/NationalSocialism, r/Nazi, r/far_right, r/DylannRoofInnocent and r/whitesarecriminals.

In addition to that, the news aggregation and discussion site is also clamping down on content that “glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals”.

Though these updated policies may sound straightforward, the new policy also says that there are exceptions to the rule. These exceptions can be if the content is educational, newsworthy, artistic, satire, or documentary. Most of these exceptions are all well and good, but it needs to be clearer how content displaying violence against an individual, group, or animal could be deemed artistic or satire.

“In particular, we found that the policy regarding ‘inciting’ violence was too vague, and so we have made an effort to adjust it to be more clear and comprehensive,” said Reddit administrator landofblasters. “This applies to all content on Reddit, including memes, CSS/community styling, flair, subreddit names, and usernames.

“We understand that enforcing this policy may often require subjective judgment, so all of the usual caveats apply with regard to content that is newsworthy, artistic, educational, satirical, etc, as mentioned in the policy. Context is key.”

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The partnership will alert publishers using Taboolas newsroom application when their stories stard trending on Reddit and enable them to participate seamlessly in trending threads that relate to their stories and areas of expertise.

Taboolas newsroom app already provides editorial teams using it with actionable data about how story headlines, thumbnail images and story placements are being consumed in real-time. The new partnership will integrate Reddit insights into this data, providing editors with more context for when particular stories take off.

“Because our engaged user base is often the first to start meaningful conversations about news online, we anticipate the Taboola partnershup will be extremely valuable for editors and newsrooms looking to uncover content trends and track the resonance of their own content within Reddit communities,” said Alex Riccomini, director of business development and media partnerships at Reddit.

Reddit boasts more than 330m monthly active users, 9m monthly post submissions and 2.5m comments per day, making it both a deeply engaged audience for news and a slightly intimidating prospect for news organisations to track and follow.

“Data was a fad for a long time, people spent more money on it than they earned,” said Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola. “We now have an opportunity to use data in an actionable way, and drive growth to our business and to our customers.

“We are thrilled to enrich editors with invaluable insights about stories and readers. Our partnership with Reddit marks an important step in this journey, enabling our publisher partners using Newsroom to pick up a conversation in real time and participate in it.”

The Reddit community is build around users submitting, voting and commenting on content, stories and discussions on various topics. While the various subreddits hosted on the platform cover a huge range of diverse topics, it has drawn criticism in recent years for some particularly large communities which have engaged in targeted abuse campaigns or propogated false stories.

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