Online Communities Are Key to Understanding Your Audience

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today's column from Reddit's Timo Pelz examines two case studies where brands converted online community engagement into successful campaigns and product launches. Below, in his own words, he says virtual spaces can be a wellspring for consumer insights. The challenge The past 18 months have brought about a new era in commerce, ushered by a deep shift in both consumer behavior and values. As consumers continue to move to online and ecommerce solutions in droves, they are savvier than ever, and they’re expecting more from the brands they support. According to the 5W 2020 Consumer Culture Report, 71% of consumers prefer to buy from companies that align with their values—and this trend has only accelerated in 2021. As a result, the desire to build a connection and establish affinity with a brand before pledging loyalty has gone from an aspiration to a necessity, and so too has the need for meaningful consumer engagement and personalization. This notion may seem obvious, but in order to truly get under the skin of your customer and make them feel heard and understood, more is required than brand tracking, market research or focus groups. Investing in real, two-way engagement that caters to individual customer needs is a key to cutting through a crowded marketplace, and this all starts with understanding your audience. The process Engaged online communities provide an ideal vehicle for meaningful consumer interaction and social listening. United by shared passions and interests rather than demographic information, the people who make up these valuable online spaces are there for a specific reason. Whether it’s to learn more, be entertained or seek recommendations on a particular topic, their interest is already baked in. This not only makes for the perfect environment for brands to meet their customers where they are most engaged, but they can also do so with informed insights into what they’re thinking, feeling and saying about any given topic. Online communities are keyholes into wider categories, and brands looking for a deep, data-driven understanding of consumer sentiment are increasingly turning to these spaces to identify trends and a breakdown of the audience’s perception, understanding and affinity on specific subjects in order to optimize their strategy and creative. Take the brewing company Lagunitas, for example, when it launched a first-to-market custom campaign on Reddit this summer. The brand called on users to design their own IPA and promised to make the winning entry available to purchase. Working closely with our in-house creative team, Lagunitas took a standard promoted post and transformed it into a highly engaged call to action, asking Reddit communities like r/homebrewing, r/gifrecipes and r/askculinary to comment with suggestions of what they wanted to see from the beer. The post garnered over a thousand user comments and culminated with the introduction of a limited-release double IPA at the Lagunitas taproom. By meeting Redditors where they were most engaged, Lagunitas elevated its brand in an authentic and interactive way—not only did it achieve its goals, but it also also inspired a thoughtful and informed dialogue with its consumers, which surfaced key user insights. Another great example is Tushy, the direct-to-consumer bidet company that recognized early in the pandemic that people’s fears around lacking toilet paper supply were very real. Rather than simply posting ads for its alternative product solution, the brand joined in on the conversation and, in the process, started one of its own. Tushy banked on humor and did something we don’t often see from DTC brands—it enabled comments on its ads. What we saw play out was a very genuine and hilarious exchange between brand and community. Not only did the ad rank as the No. 2 most Upvoted promoted post in Reddit’s 2020 Auction, but Tushy also saw a 450% return on ad spend, and compared to Reddit benchmarks, the campaign received a 49% higher click-through rate and a 300% lower cost per click. Tushy read the virtual room, understood what people needed, offered a real solution that added value and engaged in an authentic way that resonated with its audience. Most importantly, the brand stuck around for the chat. Tushy responded to comments and the community appreciated it. It also promised to name a new, limited-edition bidet after the best Reddit suggestion if its post achieved 10,000 Reddit Upvotes—and so, the Ass Blaster 9000 was born. The takeaway Online communities are a highly effective place for brands to understand, align with and activate their most engaged audiences. These two examples highlight how human connection and shared values build trust and affinity for a brand, which cannot be achieved without meaningful two-way engagement built on a foundation of understanding.