At first glance, Reddit may seem to be the most disjointed website you’ve ever seen. Its jumbled collection of content that is strewn with comments and upvotes creates an unattractive platform, one that’s far from ideal. However, as Reddit statistics show, beneath this facade is a fascinating hub of diverse information, endless conversations, and millions of active users that create a highly-engaged community.
Reddit has the potential to help you drive traffic, test new products, reach your target audience’s interests, and expand marketing exponentially. For these reasons, you’d want to get into the nitty-gritty of this peculiar social platform to explore how it can help you grow your business.
In this article, we’ve compiled all the mind-blowing Reddit statistics you should know. Having these statistics at your fingertips will empower you to understand the social news community. Moreover, it should allow you to see this network’s role in your campaigns, and how you can improve them using content marketing software.
Reddit Statistics You Must Read Table of Contents
1. General Reddit Statistics
Reddit is a distinct online social planet that predictably deviates from the norms of traditional social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The platform has evolved into a peerless mix of trending news and forum website that adds a dash of the social networking ethos to yield organic growth even among the hard-to-reach audience.
Operating in a peculiar world where controversial content is a harsh reality is not an easy feat, but somehow Reddit has developed the knack to shun negativity and the missteps that blemish reputation and jeopardize marketing growth. Consequently, Reddit has gained the confidence of digital advertisers, and its popularity is on an upward trajectory.
- Reddit reached over $100 million in ad revenue in 2019. (Wall Street Journal, 2020)
- The website is expected to maintain steady growth and more than double its ad revenue to $261.7 million by the end of 2021 (eMarketer, 2019).
- According to the latest ranking from Alexa, Reddit is the 7th most popular website in the US, ranking behind Google, YouTube, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, and Zoom (Alexa, 2021).
- Reddit user base stats have grown from 250 million in 2017 to 330+ million active users in 2019, making it among the fastest growing social media platforms. Reddit also has approximately 150,000 active communities (Reddit, 2020).
- In 2020, Reddit recorded 52 million daily active users–up by 44% YoY (Reddit, 2020).
- Also, 26.6 million internet users in the US use Reddit at least once every month (Cnet, 2019).
- Meanwhile, as of October 2020, Reddit is the 13th most popular social media platform across the world with 430 million monthly active users. (DataReportal, 2020)
What do these statistics mean?
There is no denying Reddit has been a treacherous proposition for digital marketers and advertisers over the years. However, looking at these broad numbers, one trend is conspicuous: the tide is changing, and Reddit is undoubtedly on the rise. As it stands, the platform is on par with Twitter and is giving other top social networks like Facebook and Instagram a run for their money.
Reddit has put its best foot forward, and while it still doesn’t get as much appreciation as other social networks, its advances and effort in ad prospects point to a burgeoning influence. If you haven’t weighed Reddit before as a marketing channel for your brand, it may be reasonable to take your time to understand how the website works and gain some insights into subreddits that are relevant to your business.
2. Reddit User Statistics
The discussion-based nature of Reddit makes it uniquely different from other social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram. And not just its structure, Reddit has one of the most engaged and active communities of all social networks. Apparently, Reddit users are more interested in learning and usually engage in in-depth conversations on self-selected topics within numerous communities or subreddits. Here are some intriguing Reddit users statistics:
- Almost half (41.2%) of Reddit’s visitors are from the United States. (Alexa, 2021)
- 22% of Internet users aged 18-29 and 14% of Internet users aged 30-49 use Reddit. (Alphr, 2020).
- 69% of Reddit users in the US are males (Alphr, 2020).
- People who use Reddit for their news also skew to more males at 71% (Alphr, 2020).
- Based on available data, 64% of Reddit’s users are between the ages of 18 and 29, 29% are between 30 and 49, 6% are between 50 and 64, and 1% are 65 and older (Alphr, 2020).
- 70% of Reddit’s user base is white non-Hispanic, 12% are Hispanic, and 7% are black non-Hispanic, and 11% are other non-Hispanic. (Alphr, 2020).
- Reddit ranks 18th in global internet traffic and engagement with 4.44 daily page views per visitor (Alexa, 2021).
- Daily time spent on Reddit: 15 minutes and 50 seconds. (Alphr, 2020).
- 52% of Reddit users in the US access the site daily; 82% said they use it weekly; and 95% said they use it monthly (AudienceProject, 2020).
Source: Techjunkie, 2020
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Does the user statistics make sense to you?
Marketers have been told to shun using Reddit for their marketing strategies. However, contrary to its anti-marketing reputation, Reddit statistics show that the platform should be getting more significant attention from marketers than it currently is.
Numbers don’t lie and, from the stats above, it’s easy to see that many Reddit users belong to a highly engaged and tech-savvy cohort (Millennials and Generation Z), hence, very attractive to marketers. As a result, all you need is to be more calculated and careful with how you utilize this social platform to reap optimal benefits.
One thing you’ll like about Reddit is that many of its users are individuals who don’t use other social media channels. This means using Reddit can open infinite opportunities and help you win new audiences in a remarkably targeted way. Even better, unlike other social media channels, any visitor, regardless of whether they have a Reddit account or not, can easily watch videos, read the news, discover subreddits, and see ads. The advertising niche has experienced a significant shift, and brands have to rely on paid social media advertising to reach a significant audience. However, that is not the case with Reddit: with a well-orchestrated strategy, you can easily reach a huge audience without spending a penny.
3. Reddit Traffic Statistics
As mentioned earlier, Reddit is a popular website with over 430M+ visitors every month. Its wide selections of over 150K subreddits that cover virtually any topic conceivable provide rooms for businesses to engage in conversations and explore interests of target audiences around topics that are relevant to their niche. With 168 billion+ yearly views, every marketer should endeavor to leverage this far-reaching social platform to drive traffic to their sites and build brand recognition. Other Reddit traffic statistics include:
Reddit Visitors by Subreddits
- The visitors on Health and Fitness communities spend 15 times more time on subreddits (Reddit, 2019).
- Reddit has approximately 14 million visitors and 10 million subscribers to its health and fitness subreddits (Reddit, 2019).
- Reddit has over 27 million monthly visitors, 284M+ monthly views, and 23M+ subscribers to its technology subreddits (Reddit, 2019).
- Also, 47% of Reddit visitors have bought consumer electronics, 98% of which are highly likely to be high spenders on tech (Reddit, 2019).
- Of all technology enthusiasts online, 40% are active on Reddit, whereas 38% of all Redditors are passionate about technology (Reddit, 2019).
- On average, a Reddit visitor spends 4.96 minutes per session on Reddit, making it the 3rd most popular social app in the US by average session duration. It ranks under the top app, Tiktok (10.85 minutes), and 2nd placer, Pinterest (5.06 minutes) (Verto, 2019).
- 67% of Reddit visitors view websites in the photos category, whereas 53% visit websites in the Advice category (Alexa, 2021).
- Between February 2018 and March 2019, approximately 1.6 billion internet users visited Reddit on either desktop or mobile devices (SimilarWeb, 2020).
Reddit Traffic Sources
- Reddit traffic by countries puts the United States (49.32%) at the top spot, the United Kingdom comes second at 7.85%, followed by Canada (7.76%), Australia (4.34%), and Germany (3.11%) (SimilarWeb, 2020).
- Ranking desktop traffic by sources for June 2019 reveals the following: direct (48.95%), search (48.04%), social (1.69%), referrals (.77), and mail (0.52%). In addition, 0.03% of Reddit traffic is from display ads (SimilarWeb, 2020).
- Of the traffic from social channels, 53.83% is from YouTube, 16.05% is from Facebook, and Twitter (17.33%) (SimilarWeb, 2020).
- Also, 48.04% of Reddit traffic is from search with the top five organic keywords being reddit, cyberpunk 2077, livestreamfails, cyberpunk reddit, and lol reddit (SimilarWeb, 2020).
These staggering numbers provide enough evidence that Reddit is one of the richest sources of authentic traffic. It’s true Reddit doesn’t have the capabilities of search marketing software, but it can be a wealthy source of keywords that generate targeted traffic.
Do not sit on the sidelines again, poke around several subreddits and you’ll certainly marvel at the massive possibilities to drive targeted traffic to your website. The sheer significance of the traffic opportunities on the table, backed by intriguing demographics, makes Reddit the place to go for every marketer.
However, you must do everything cautiously because Reddit has a well-documented reputation for crushing self-serving marketers, and this why many people think it’s terrible for traffic. To get quantifiable traffic from Reddit, you must first become an active user who offers real value to the relevant subreddits or communities before you start promoting your brand. Unfortunately, there is no other way around this since Reddit provides no room to casual users or joyriders.
Reddit Traffic by Country
US: 49.32
US
%UK: 7.85
UK
%Canada: 7.76
Canada
%Australia: 4.34
Australia
%Germany: 3.11
Germany
%Source: Similar Web, 2020
Designed by4. Reddit Content Marketing Statistics
At its core, Reddit is a diverse and expansive social media platform that promotes content via upvotes and downvotes. On the one hand, the channel is simple in the way it enables users to submit posts to a community or subreddit as they wish. On the other hand, Reddit has a unique structure and stringent content posting rules which make it different from other social networks.
Owing to its user-generated content, Reddit can be a gold mine for boosting brand authority, referring traffic to your site, and reaching previously underserved audiences in your niche. Its content marketing capabilities are limitless, while its human-based moderation is, by far, the most potent aspect you’ll find in any social media channel. What is fascinating is that the platform is more focused on the content rather than the contributor. Ostensively, Reddit doesn’t take spammers lightly and any marketer trying to fool the system is instantly flagged and ostracized.
Reddit Posts Statistics
- The most upvoted post in 2020 was “I’ve found a few funny memories during lockdown. This is from my 1st tour in 89, backstage in Vegas” (via r/pics) with 406,000 upvotes (Reddit, 2020).
- Posts with questions get the most comments, whereas posts without questions get the most upvotes (Foundation, 2021).
- 11 million Reddit posts are submitted every month (DMR, 2021).
- Posts on Reddit are now over 303.4 million up 52.4% year-over-year (Reddit, 2020).
Reddit Video Statistics
- Native videos on Reddit have surpassed 1 billion monthly views (Vidooly, 2018).
- Reddit claims to serve more than 400,000 hours of native videos daily (Vidooly, 2018).
- According to Reddit market research data, 70% of Reddit videos are viewed on mobile (Foundation, 2021).
- Since launching the native video hosting service and the redesign of Reddit, there has been a 50% increase in video posts—a 31% year-on-year increase (Vidooly, 2018).
- Videos are the most popular and upvoted external links (Foundation, 2021).
- With the Reddit App, mobile video views have doubled to 70% (Vidooly, 2018).
- Advertisers are now seeing a 2.3 times higher rate of conversion and 3.5% higher engagement since Reddit Video launched. (Vidooly, 2018).
Reddit Communities
- The two biggest business communities in 2020 were r/coronavirusrecession and r/stimuluscheck (Reddit, 2020).
- Mentions of “maskne” (mask acne) spiked by 305.6% in July in the top beauty community, r/skincareaddiction (Reddit, 2020).
- The 3rd most popular community (based on YoY activity) was r/coronavirus (Reddit, 2020).
- r/2020policebrutality was the top activism community based on the number of subscribers created in 2020 (Reddit, 2020).
Reddit Views, Links, and Comments
- Additionally, over 50% of the content in the top subreddits are video links (Foundation, 2021).
- Reddit has over 50 billion monthly views per month (Reddit, 2020).
- As of December 2020, Reddit had registered over 2 billion comments and 49.2 billion upvotes (Reddit, 2020).
- According to Alexa.com, there have been 6.7 daily pageviews per visitor and a 42.2% bounce rate in the last three months (Alexa, 2021).
- There were more than 50.2 million mentions of COVID, COVID-19, or coronavirus across the platform in 2020 (Reddit, 2020).
How to use the numbers to your advantage
These numbers are mesmerizing and, from the looks of it, Reddit is an exciting social platform for marketers. It’s one of the untapped resources around that harbors an outsized content marketing and promotional potential for any brand. While Reddit content marketing is not one of the trends shaping the marketing landscape, it’s secretly pulling strings behind the scenes, and its influence should not be ignored. However, the platform remains a double-edged sword, and it takes time and effort to unearth the limitless marketing opportunities and generate the desired results.
Don’t be swayed by the fantastic content marketing statistics to dive into Reddit communities with a narrow focus on solely using the platform for marketing. You’ll be cut off from the course, and your endeavor will be a complete waste of time. To succeed in Reddit content marketing, understand the etiquette of the relevant community. Then, aim to become a legitimate member of the subreddits that matter most to your brand.
What do These Reddit Statistics Mean for Your Marketing Strategy?
The data we’ve culled can only mean one thing. Reddit is a highly effective marketing channel that is more often than not underutilized.
As we discussed earlier, at first sight, Reddit may resemble the most obsolete platform for marketers. Also, while it’s one of the most popular social platforms, it is one of the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to content and social media marketing. Even worse, its antimarketing reputation has marketers either scratching their heads or shaking in their boots at the thought of using it. But given its strict posting rules and structure, we don’t blame marketers for overlooking Reddit.
However, as statistics have shown, the tide is changing, and fast. Reddit is rapidly transforming into a powerful channel for increasing engagement and distributing content. With an increasing user base, native video service, and an easy-to-use mobile app, Reddit is now becoming the social media channel many hoped it should be. With the help of the best content marketing platforms, Reddit can boost brand reputation and drive tremendous results.
It’s true, Reddit is different from other social media platforms. However, its infinite capabilities are turning heads in the content marketing arena. Today, all you need is a thorough understanding of how Reddit works. And if you have the confidence to engage Redditors with authentic content, then, Reddit will surely power your digital marketing strategy. Above all, you need to stay abreast of the best practices that you can implement to get the most out of Reddit.
The Ball is in Your Court
We hope our Reddit statistics compilation has given you an in-depth look into Reddit’s capabilities. By now, you should have an idea of how the platform can aid your marketing efforts. Hopefully, these statistics have shed light on Reddit’s capability as a marketing channel. You should endeavor to include Reddit into your arsenal of digital marketing tools. Moreover, you need to learn how to create an organized workflow to improve your content marketing.
Key Insights
- Rapid Growth: Reddit has shown impressive growth in recent years, reaching over 430 million monthly active users as of October 2020, with significant ad revenue growth expected to more than double by the end of 2021.
- Highly Engaged User Base: Reddit users are highly engaged, spending an average of 15 minutes and 50 seconds daily on the platform. Over 52% of US users access the site daily.
- Diverse User Demographics: The majority of Reddit users are between 18-29 years old (64%), with a significant male dominance (69%).
- Traffic and Content Reach: Reddit boasts over 50 billion monthly views, making it a rich source of traffic. Popular subreddits in technology, health, and fitness attract millions of visitors and subscribers.
- Content Marketing Potential: Posts with questions receive the most comments, while those without questions garner the most upvotes. Videos and links are among the most popular types of content on the platform.
- Global Reach: The US accounts for the largest portion of Reddit’s traffic (49.32%), followed by the UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany.
FAQ
- What is Reddit?
Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered members submit content, such as links, text posts, and images, which are then voted up or down by other members. - How does Reddit’s user base compare to other social media platforms?
Reddit has over 430 million monthly active users, making it one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. It ranks as the 7th most popular website in the US and the 13th most popular social media platform globally. - What demographics are most active on Reddit?
The majority of Reddit users are between 18-29 years old, accounting for 64% of the user base. Additionally, 69% of Reddit users are male, and a significant portion of users are tech-savvy millennials and Generation Z. - How much time do users typically spend on Reddit?
On average, users spend 15 minutes and 50 seconds per day on Reddit. This makes it one of the most engaging social platforms, with users frequently interacting with content and discussions. - What are the top traffic sources for Reddit?
The top traffic sources for Reddit include direct visits (48.95%) and search engines (48.04%). Social media accounts for a smaller portion of traffic, with significant contributions from YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. - What types of content perform best on Reddit?
Content that poses questions tends to receive the most comments, while posts without questions receive the most upvotes. Videos, especially those posted natively, and links to external content also perform well. - How does Reddit handle marketing and advertisements?
While Reddit is known for its strict posting rules and a reputation for being anti-marketing, it has seen significant growth in ad revenue. In 2019, Reddit reached over $100 million in ad revenue, with projections to more than double by 2021. Successful marketing on Reddit requires a careful, value-driven approach. - What are some popular subreddits for businesses to engage with?
Popular subreddits for business engagement include those focused on technology, health and fitness, and specific interests relevant to the business’s niche. Subreddits like r/technology, r/fitness, and r/marketing can provide valuable opportunities for targeted engagement. - How can businesses effectively use Reddit for marketing?
Businesses should focus on providing value and engaging authentically with the community. Participating in relevant subreddits, sharing useful content, and avoiding overt self-promotion are key strategies. Understanding and respecting the community’s norms and etiquette is crucial for success on Reddit. - What are some challenges of using Reddit for marketing?
Reddit’s strict moderation and community-driven nature can be challenging for marketers. Self-promotion is often discouraged, and businesses must navigate the platform carefully to avoid being perceived as spamming. Building genuine relationships and providing valuable contributions are essential to overcoming these challenges.
References:
- Alexa (2021, April 5). reddit.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic. Alexa
- Alexa (2021, April 5). Top Sites in United States. Alexa
- AudienceProject (2020, September). Frequency of Reddit use in the United States as of 3rd quarter 2020. AudienceProject
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- DataReportal (2021, January). ALL THE NUMBERS YOU NEED. DataReportal
- eMarketer (2019, March 26). Reddit to Cross $100 Million in Ad Revenues in 2019. eMarketer
- Foundation (2021, March 22). Reddit Statistics For 2021 (Demographics, Usage & Traffic Data). Foundation
- Foundation (2021). The State Of Reddit Marketing In 2021. Foundation
- Manicka, A. & Johnson, J. (2019, January 8). Technology on Reddit. Reddit
- Patel, S. (2020, December 1). Reddit Claims 52 Million Daily Users, Revealing a Key Figure for Social-Media Platforms. Wall Street Journal
- Reddit (2020, January). Dive Into Anything. Reddit
- Reddit (2020, January). Reddit by the Numbers. Reddit
- Reddit (2020, December 8). Reddit’s 2020 Year in Review. Reddit
- Sattelberg, W. (2020, April 27). The Demographics Of Reddit: Who Uses The Site? Alphr
- Sen, S. (2018, December 11). Native Videos On Reddit Have Now Surpassed 1 Billion Monthly Views. Vidooly
- SimilarWeb (2021, February). reddit.com February 2021 Overview. SimilarWeb
- Smith. C. (2021, March 16). Reddit Statistics and Facts (2021) | By the Numbers. DMR
- Verto (2019, November). Most popular mobile social networking apps in the United States as of September 2019, by average session duration. Verto
- Zhou, M. (2019, March 27). Reddit may cross the $100 million mark in revenue this year. Cnet
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