Publishers are revamping their strategies by capitalizing on Reddit’s growing influence to drive referral traffic.

Why publishers are turning to Reddit

The latest Reddit Q2 performance report recorded a significant surge in Reddit’s user base, adding 8.5 million daily active users. Reddit's active users have nearly tripled in less than a year, with Reddit’s daily active users now totaling 91.2 million.

This increase in Reddit's visibility and user base has made it a key focus for publishers to reach a growing audience. In response to Reddit's prominence, publishers are connecting with their audience through the platform. Reddit provides an avenue for publishers to interact with specific subreddits and communities where their content is discussed or shared.

Examples of publishers currently leveraging Reddit to drive referral traffic

Major publishers such as Yahoo, The New York Times, AP, and Rolling Stone are currently in this Reddit engagement boom. These organizations are launching and revamping their Reddit accounts to tap into this growing audience.

How publishers have benefited so far 

Publishers are seeing tangible benefits from their current focus on Reddit. July alone saw a record high for Reddit referrals, with organizations reporting substantial gains in traffic and user interaction. 

For instance, for the first time in the past year, The Washington Post experienced periods where Reddit’s traffic surpassed the traffic it received from Instagram. 

Newsweek also reported record-breaking Reddit traffic in July, while Rolling Stone experienced a substantial traffic increase year-over-year. 

Impact of Reddit’s tools and updates 

Reddit also introduced new features to support publishers to engage their audience. In May, Reddit introduced the “Ask Me Anything” feature, enabling users to create “AMA” sessions.

Also, Reddit’s Reddit Pro analytics dashboard released in March offers tools for better engagement and insight into audience interactions. The company also plans to introduce AI Summaries to provide users with concise content summaries.

These updates aim to integrate Reddit into publishers' existing strategies to boost traffic.

Industry impact on this development 

Reddit’s prominence comes as social referrals from traditional platforms are declining. For instance, social referrals from Facebook have seen a 58% drop since 2018. 

Also, in recent months, the social media marketing space has changed with major platforms adjusting their strategies. For example, Meta is moving away from news content and focusing on other content types. In the same way, X is reshaping its social media advertising trends and influencing how marketers approach its campaigns. Publishers are now rethinking their strategies and diversifying their traffic sources. 

Additionally, Google's “Helpful Content Update,” launched to refine search results significantly increased Reddit’s traffic. As a result, Reddit's monthly visitors surged from 132 million to 346 million between August 2023 and April 2024.