Hello, I'm UberDanger, I'm a duck.
Today I will share with you, how I use Reddit to get traffic to my channel.
Theese are the Reddit posts for my last 2 videos:
(Don't worry, this isn't self-promotion, both threads are by far over, and I'm not trying to fish for upvotes here, I just want to show the stats as proof that I really do know how to gain traffic from Reddit)
Now before I even get into how you get a post to the frontpage, you need to find out which type of content you have, and where it would fit in on Reddit. Default subreddits like /r/videos, /r/gaming, and so on, are incredibly hard to get on, simply because they ARE default subreddits. Finding a niche, like for example /r/leagueoflegends for me, is really great, since they are more likely to want your content.
If you're a gamer it simplifies things, since for many big titles, there are large subreddits. /r/pokemon /r/dota2 /r/gtav and so on. /r/oculus is very much so on the rise, and I think VR gaming is the future.
If you're a vlogger, I'd say your best shot is honestly /r/videos or /r/funny, now I know I'm contradicting myself here, however I just don't see any worth while traffic in subreddits as small as /r/vlogging. My favorite vlog of all time is one I found on /r/funny, it's the one Nate Clark made after towing Joey Gayceffas car, and it has over 3 million views if I'm not incorrect.
If you make skits/short films there are several smaller subreddits in which you could go on discovery, however this is very tricky. /r/videos is always there if you make something completely new and awesome, and it will be an amazing place to get traffic. However it depends entirely on what you're making, in this case YOU have to work to find the niche.
Another thing that should be clarified, is that Reddit functions kind of like a newspaper. All the biggest "news" are in front, which means that if your content isn't original, has been done before, or isn't very entertaining, then you are NOT going to get a lot of traffic from Reddit.
Now that that's over, it's time to GET TO THE FRONTPAGE
There are 3 stages of a Reddit post, and I'll be going over them seperately.
The baby phase AKA "the drowning phase":
You just recently submitted your Reddit post, and 3-5 votes in either direction could change everything, remember the first 10 upvotes mean as much as the next 100, and the next 1000 after that. At this point what I do is I message all my friends, asking them to upvote my post. Now do NOT send a direct link to the reddit thread, this will only make the mods see a bunch of traffic coming from one link, and they WILL remove your post.
For example if I just submitted it, I'll send them a link to /r/leagueoflegends/new, where you can see all the new posts. You keep doing this untill your post hits at least the second page.
Contrary to popular belief, it is actually ok to have a link to your Reddit thread in your video description, or in the comments. I usually tell people, that if they don't have g+, they can comment on the Reddit thread. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, ask for upvotes, or your thread will be removed.
As for submitting, it's ok to submit your own videos, as long as your comment-to-video submission rate on that subreddit is at least 9:1.
The undecisive teenager AKA "the float or sink":
Your Reddit post is in on of "thoose" phases, and it's deciding whether it's gonna burst or breach. At this point you want to go into the comment section, and reply to all the things that are relevant, but do it without seeming desperate for recognition. If someone asks for the song, you link them the song, don't forget to format your comments, Reddit has a formatting guide right below the comment box.
Do not under any circumstance ask people to subscribe, or anything similar in the comment section.
No brakes on the traffic-train AKA "Money in the bank, pimpin ain't easy":
You've done it, your post just hit the frontpage, and for it to have come this far a ton of people looked at your content and said to themselves "I like this, upboated". Keep answering relevant comments on Reddit and there's pretty much nothing that can stop your post at this point. DO NOT go on social media and write "yay frontpage" or in your comment section. This can be seen as attempts to get more upvotes, and might get your post taken down.
Depending on the size of the subreddit, and it's active users, you will now gain traffic depending on how long it stays there. A large subreddit with 10+ hours of frontpage exposure in the top 3, will easily grant you 250,000 views, but remember it's much more than that. The exponential growth you gain from thoose extra views/followers, goes way beyond that number itself.
View-to-sub ratios are wildly different for chanels, getting in the top 3 will give you a minimum of 200 subscribers. Now I say a minimum, but usually it's much higher than that. I gained 3000 subscribers yesterday alone, and I believe that the exponential growth that 250k views can give you, can lead to much more than that.
Finishing words:
I hope this guide helps you, I wish I could have gone more in-depth in terms of subreddits, however fact of the matter is there aren't a TON of big subreddits. If you have any questions please post below, I will be on/off and answering.
