Will Reddit's new news site 'Upvoted' create more or fewer Lad Bibles?

Reddit’s recently released a new news site. Called Upvoted, it’ll publish original content and have its own editorial team.

It’s a no-brainer for Reddit. The site (which is essentially an enormous forum) regularly attracts negative publicity, mainly for the way it reacts to controversies surrounding its users, some staff members, and its approach to censorship.

A friendly, interesting, content-driven platform as a tidy front-of-house makes absolute sense. Now, depending on your internet savviness that might mean something to you or absolutely nothing at all. It’s worth keeping a very keen eye on how it works out, though; whether you know how Reddit works or not we can guarantee that you’ve probably seen some of its content online or on TV.

Because content that 'goes viral' often begins life on Reddit, whether it’s a clip of a piano-playing dog or a video of a man who’s dressed his chin up like Ed Sheeran ('Ed Sheerchin', apparently). That’s what happens when you have such a huge active community submitting and sharing User Generated Content 24/7.

https://youtu.be/Kf0lp6FVQAs

One of its best known and most loved sections is the Ask Me Anything (IAMA) subreddit which has over the years grown to include more than 9 million subscribers. IAMA has managed to host some incredible candid celebrity interviews from personalities as diverse as John Malkovich, Patrick Stewart, Barack Obama, Gordon Ramsay, and Stephen Hawking; all chatting candidly in response to users questions.

Reddit essentially popularised the interview format in new ways across the web and restyled it with quickfire real-time questions coming from users. Which is also where part of its problems lie; such a strong core of users, who more or less produce the entirety of the site’s content, hold a lot of the power.

As recently as July moderators of most of the site’s subreddits – including the most popular – set them to private making them inaccessible to people. Why? Because a lot of people were unhappy with how the site’s owners sacked a popular employee, Victoria Taylor, who actually organised a lot of celebrity AMAs.

The controversy that followed saw CEO Ellen Pao resign and tell the world of the vitriol and abuse she personally received, with over 210,000 also signing a petition calling for her to quit. Reddit’s only just recovered.

With more than 36 million active user accounts on the self-styled 'front page of the internet' Reddit is a content-lover’s dream, with videos, pictures, infographics, data, and much more produced across nearly a million subreddits.

And that’s helped companies across the globe explode into new online territories, grow highly-target lists of new customers, reach out to specific local regions, and more.

How, though? Mostly by taking popular content from Reddit and sharing it on their own social channels to generate interest and increase engagement. The key phrase here is user-generated; media companies have used the ‘real’ nature of Reddit’s content to try and resonate with their users on a more personal level.

Let’s take The Lad Bible, owned by Manchester-based 65twenty, as an example. Only three years old, the company has used Reddit’s content to help The Lad Bible become one of the most visited websites in the UK (above The Guardian), attracting more than £1 million a year in ad revenue.

That can’t all be from reposting content from Reddit, though, surely? No, but that user-generated angle has been essential in its growth. The same goes for The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed when they both started. Mainstream publishers are also reporting on stories posted on Reddit to increase traffic, from The Daily Mail, Mirror and BBC to name a few.

It’s also fair to point out that Reddit isn’t the only source publishers are attracted to when it comes to featuring UGC. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Vine, and other social platforms are all fair game, and after building up their brand enough people also send their own submissions in via email and mobile. Nearly every brand-run social media campaign and competition over the last 12 month has had an element of UGC involved. O2's recent #WearTheRose campaign saw thousands of [soon to be disappointed] fans share photos of them donning the red English Rose, dominating feeds with the O2 brand. The chosen few were then projected on the roof of the O2.

https://twitter.com/O2sports/status/648235992835620864

Combine UGC with a good social marketing and bidding strategy and you can potentially attract a large number of new customers to your business. So long as you pair it with your own unique content too.

There’s a lot more to this kind of growth than just finding content on sites like Reddit and sharing it on your social channels. You need to plan ahead; create a content calendar and research what your audience is into. Use data to target the right people with social targeting and gather data useful to your business that will aide its growth.

But the strategy can have its problems if you’re looking for quick growth. A lot of people that have had their content used from Reddit have been unimpressed with lack of attribution. Use the wrong content to target new customers and you’ll be wasting your social budget.

Probably the biggest danger though is the continual use of fluffy content. People get bored of it and frustrated with clickbait tactics. An overreliance on it can make your brand look unimaginative.

Recently a post was widely shared about a magician performing a prank behind a Sky News reporter. It was reported as fact. It was actually fake, and made those that shared it for quick hits look a ill-informed.

Consider engagement, too. A popular social post that jumps on the viral wave may get you views, but it means little if you’re not engaging with those people and funnelling them back to your website to help them discover more about who you are and what you do.

There’s nothing wrong with using UGC as part of your growth strategy. In fact, it’s encouraged. If you find a piece of content that entertains and interests the demographic you’re trying to target then it can be a hugely valuable way to make your brand more visible and relevant to them. If it’s relevant to the overall path to conversion you’ve created, then use it wisely.

Consider some key points:

1. Attribute the content you use to the creator
2. Direct that traffic to areas on your site that will work for you
3. Complement UGC with your own original, unique content to bolster your own voice and engage with the right people

Which is what Reddit’s trying to do with Upvoted because, as they know, nothing’s more attractive to the imagination than creative, original content.

The times are changing, outbound is outdated and in some cases, can be potentially dangerous for your brand financially and in a reputational sense. Big fines are being handed out to serial data offenders. With inbound you can avoid this and get the best from your leads so read our blog “How to create Inbound Strategy Masterclass” for more information.”