Why Your Company’s CEO Should do an AMA on Reddit
Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Snoop Lion, Bill Nye, some lady who got her face mauled by bears, and a vacuum repair technician. No, I’m not just listing people I’d like to meet.
Editors Note: this blog post was written over a decade ago. If you’re looking for more recent advice on Reddit, we recommend you turn toward our 2024 Reddit organic marketing guide and its section on AMA’s.
These are just some of the people who have top posts of all time on the immensely popular subreddit, /r/IAmA. If you’re not familiar with Reddit, I’m hesitant to say that you should be. Reddit is an entertainment, social, and news aggregating website where users submit content in either a text (self) post, or a link post. Content is voted on by users, and only the best makes it to the front page, or as they like to call it, the front page of the Internet.
It’s occasionally thought to be populated mainly by bad jokes, memes, and the occasional cat. It’s definitely a great procrastination tool, but a lot of amazing things also happen on Reddit. IAmAs are a good example of that. IAmAs are when people, either famous or who have done important or unique things submit a self post asking for Reddit users to “Ask me Anything.” It usually looks like this:
IAmA [insert famous or achieving person here.] Ask me anything!
Reddit users then comment on the post with questions, and the original poster, OP as they say, answers the questions he or she wants to. It really is the perfect form of community outreach. It’s a blend of an open forum and a soapbox. But, why would your CEO need this venue for outreach?
I’ll admit – not everyone should do an AMA. They have rules. According to IAmA moderator /u/karmanaut, they should be about 1) Something uncommon that plays a central role in your life or, 2) A truly interesting and unique event. Number one covers occupations and number two covers achievements. Only the really popular ones make it to the front page and get a lot of questions asked.
IAmA has over 5 million subscribers, though, so a good amount of people will see it, no matter how popular or unpopular it is. So, is your CEO doing something interesting? Maybe he or she is practicing an unconventional way of running business. Maybe it’s selling a unique product. Maybe it’s being an expert on a topic that truly interests people. If a CEO is frequently asked questions about a topic he or she is an authority on, then an AMA will be successful, and the product or service they’re tied to can see thousands of impressions due to it.
At its heart, an AMA is essentially a press conference – except you don’t need to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get the viewers to it. They come for free. Think of it as a mass interview with 5 million people potentially asking you questions. Only the best questions get voted to the top of the post, so you’re answering the most wanted questions in an area you know the best – what better way to get your name out there?
IAmA can be used for promotion, brand awareness, to find out what a niche would like to see from a company, general exposure, or just plain fun. And shouldn’t your business have a little more fun while growing, too?
If you’re looking for highly effective and low-cost exposure for your company from a Reddit Marketing Agency, but you need someone to convince your boss, we’re here to help. Give Online Optimism a call at 504-521-6222 and we’re happy to come over and discuss how an AMA, or more comprehensive internet marketing campaign, will help your business grow.
