Quora and Reddit: Dos and Don’ts for Ecommerce Marketers

Reddit has lots of niche communities built-in. Each has its own rules. Join those related to your company’s products and services. Watch and observe. Then start by commenting on posts rather than creating your own.

Quora

Quora is a user-generated question-and-answer site. Merchants can respond to queries relevant to their niche, which can raise awareness and show competence.
Profile. The “About Me” section is your chance to communicate your occupation, business, and anything noteworthy. Space is limited to a few short paragraphs. Most folks go heavy on credibility and accolades.
Becoming prominent on one platform is better than occasionally participating in both. Thus choose one and devote time to it rather than stretching yourself thin.
The reply to the question below — “What is not good about being smart?” — starts with a photo and a quote. Neither directly answers the question, but both entice readers.

We can see meaningful replies, eventually leading to one helpful Redditor (“satis”) inserting a link. A merchant selling pet items, for example, could follow such threads and suggest products only after being helpful and genuine.

Quora and Reddit provide opportunities for merchants to engage with prospects while demonstrating expertise. I’ll offer tips for using both platforms in this post.
The Original Poster included a video of his dog playing with his dog bowl rather than eating. It garnered meaningful replies, eventually leading to one helpful Redditor (“satis”) inserting a link.
Marketing on Quora comes from replying to the questions. But first, complete your profile to establish credibility and trustworthiness.

In this profile, Philip Hofmacher, a trainer and entrepreneur, introduces himself and his expertise, and links to his tools and resources.

Karma is Reddit’s term for your score as a user. It’s the ratio of upvotes against downvotes on your posts and comments, reflecting your trustworthiness. A good Karma score is vital.
The reply to the question below — “What is not good about being smart?” — starts with a photo and a quote.

The complete reply has won more than 10,000 upvotes.

After completing your profile, search for questions to answer. Type in related terms in the upper search bar and click “Follow” on the ones you can address.

Reddit

Note the example below from Philip Hofmacher, a trainer and entrepreneur. He introduces himself and his expertise, and links to his tools and resources.
How does your company get upvoted and garner attention on Reddit? By understanding the “Karma” system.
Like Quora, Reddit users “upvote” or “downvote” posts and comments, depending on their appeal. Downvoted submissions are buried while upvotes are moved to the top — the very top goes to the front page of Reddit!
The reply then addresses the question directly, but only after it caught the reader’s eye. It has won more than 10,000 upvotes.
Quora users “upvote” or “downvote” replies. Only detailed, helpful answers appear in the feed. The more authority your answer contains, the better chance it has at being upvoted. Include examples, statistics, photos, and references.
Reddit contains all sorts of content and quality, unlike Quora, which is in-depth expertise.
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The reply doesn’t contain links, but it could have if they enhance the answer naturally. Avoid “visit my site” requests and always provide original responses. Plagiarism can get you banned from Quora.
Reddit is among the 10 most popular websites in the U.S. The site is part community dialogue and part news. It hosts more than 130,000 niche discussion branches, called subreddits.
A high Karma score comes from posting engaging content with no self-promotion. Reddit has a firm stance on promotion, noting, “It’s perfectly fine to be a Redditor with a website; it’s not okay to be a website with a Reddit account.”

In the example below, the Original Poster (or “OP”) on a thread for “Dog Training” (r/Dogtraining) posted a video of his dog playing with his bowl rather than eating. Concerned, the poster turned to Reddit for answers.

Quora vs. Reddit

Reply to questions. Quora “collapses” (hides) irrelevant answers. To avoid this, read Quora’s policies and guidelines to ensure your comments align with what’s allowed.