Social Issues Freak Shows

Since time immemorial, curiosity drove a man to seek experiences with unnatural phenomena. Freak shows arose from the counterintuitive natural human desire to see the unnatural. Freak shows were a commercial response to this desire.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Social Issues: Freak Shows specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The shows gave audiences something they craved, and the audiences gladly paid the organizers for putting up the shows. This paper explores the reasons why freak shows are still very attractive to various audiences despite the moral and ethical concerns that surround them. The Elephant Man Elephant Man refers to a man born in Britain with severe deformities in 1862 (Durbach 6). His real name was Joseph Merrick. At birth, Merrick was normal. However, after a few years, he started developing several abnormalities (Durbach 6). His skin became thicker than usual, and he developed a bony lum p on his head. His skin also became rough and looked like an elephant’s skin. At age 10, Merrick fell and injured his hip. He developed a permanent deformity because of this injury. Merrick’s mother died when he was ten years old, and after his father remarried, his parents rejected him. At some point, Merrick contacted a showman known for freak shows in England. This man was Sam Torr. Thor took Merrick into his show business and his managers gave Merrick the stage name, â€Å"Merrick, the Elephant Man† (Durbach 7). Merrick’s show career was more successful than hawking which he had tried for a few years. However, his managers exploited him and abandoned him in Brussels. He made his way back to England, and with the help of a surgeon named Frederick Treves, Merrick found accommodation in the London Hospital where he died in 1890 (Durbach 8). Merrick’s life was a tragedy from the onset, and society exploited him because of his uniqueness. His story is representative of the lives of people who live with deformities.Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Contemporary Freak Shows Before the advent of the television, freak shows were live shows. The organizers either displayed deformed people in shops devoted to freak shows, or in circuses and traveling theatres. The need for travel arose from the realization that once someone saw a deformed person, his curiosity was satisfied. This means that the market for a particular freak show diminished after the audience viewed the persons on display. After the advent of television and the internet, freak shows are now part of the items viewers consume from television stations and websites. Important differences exist between freak shows today and those held in the past. First, there are tighter controls on freak shows because they tend to exploit the deformed person. In some countri es, freak shows are illegal. Secondly, modern freak shows tend to highlight deformities in an educative manner, rather than purely for entertainment. This point is debatable because the shock effect is what makes the freak shows attractive. In general, people with deformities today have more legal protection against abuse compared to those who lived in the previous centuries (Bogdan 29). Reasons for the Popularity of Freak Shows The main question this paper intends to answer is why freak shows are still popular. The most important reason explaining the popularity of freak shows is the shock factor associated with human deformities (Durbach 14). Curiosity is part of human life. In this regard, many people are willing to pay to view phenomena they have never seen. In a certain way, curiosity explains why the world has a thriving tourism business. People are willing to travel around the world to get new experiences and to see plants, animals, and physical features that have never seen before. This basic motivation is what drives the appetite for freak shows. In the same vein, shocking stories tend to get the most attention. Freak shows appeal to human sympathy and can be unnerving. Human deformities evoke very strong emotions when the audience tries to empathize with the deformed persons (Bogdan 44). The deep emotional connection with the deformed person makes the event unforgettable. It is paradoxical that human beings will make an immense effort to see bizarre things, which at the same time can be very repulsive. The second reason for the popularity of freak shows is the financial returns associated with the shows. Some commentators compare freak shows to pornography. Pornography is generally unwelcome in many societies. In some jurisdictions, it is illegal to access pornographic materials (Kull 34). However, the financial returns from pornographic content reveal that the world has a very huge online porn market.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Social Issues: Freak Shows specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This raises a paradoxical situation where the moral values of society are against pornography, yet society rewards pornography with economic returns. This illustration shows that something that is revolting or morally questionable can still be in demand. According to the basic laws of economics, goods and services follow demand. In this case, the demand for freak shows, regardless of its moral and ethical implications, drives its popularity. The third dimension that explains the popularity of freak shows is that the deformed persons are adapting to the social stigma associated with their condition. The biography of Merrick shows that he tried to lead a normal life. He obtained a hawker’s license to facilitate his efforts towards earning a living (Durbach 6). However, his appearance was too grotesque. Potential customers, especially women, were too scare d to interact with him. As a result, Merrick had no source of income. He, therefore, found his way to the show business to enable him to make some money in order to survive. In this sense, Merrick joined the freak show business consciously. It was a way of making himself acceptable as a human being. In addition, the shows gave him an income that made him less dependent on charity. In this sense, freak shows provide people with deformities with a source of income. Since they cannot find normal jobs, freak shows give them a legitimate way of making money. They are adapting to social stigma by giving the society something it craves in exchange for monetary return (Pidgeon, Kasperson and Slovic 28). This shows that people with deformities are partly responsible for making freak shows popular because they avail themselves for the shows. Conclusion The three main reasons behind the popularity of freak shows are the shock effect they have on audiences, the market demand for shows, and the self-promotion of persons with deformities. The ethical concerns surrounding freak shows are not sufficient to stop freak shows. In this regard, freak shows resemble pornography, which despite being universally unacceptable still commands a significant market share in the entertainment industry. In the past, freak shows took, place in theatres and in special shops. In modern times, the shows appear on TV, and online. The only way in which freak shows can end is by empowering deformed persons to earn a living in other ways. This calls for more effort towards social integration, education of the masses, and training targeting the deformed persons. This will kill both the supply and the demand for freak shows.Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Works Cited Bogdan, Robert. Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990. Print. Durbach, Nadja. Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture. Berkeley, CA: Unversity of California, 2009. Print. Kull, Katrin. The Model of Internet-Based Marketing Communication. Tallinn: Tallinn Technical University, 2003. Print. Pidgeon, Nick, Roger E Kasperson and Paul Slovic. The Social Amplification of Risk. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. This research paper on Social Issues: Freak Shows was written and submitted by user Rory Y. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Words Ending in -aire

Words Ending in -aire Words Ending in -aire Words Ending in -aire By Mark Nichol A small class of English words derived from the Latin suffixes -arius/-aria/-arium, meaning â€Å"connected with† or â€Å"pertaining to,† can be identified by the French descendant -aire. Here is a summary of those terms as used in English. The primarily British English term commissionaire refers to someone who performs commissions. (That word is used in the sense of â€Å"tasks.†) Debonair was originally the French phrase de bon aire, meaning â€Å"of good family, nature, or race†; it was applied originally to well-trained hawks, later pertained to people of a courteous nature, and was then revived (after that sense became obsolete) to refer to a confident, sophisticated man. Doctrinaire describes a dogmatic, headstrong person (the root word is descended from the Latin word doctor in its original sense of â€Å"teacher†). Extraordinaire is an adjective that, in deference to its French origins, is often located after the noun it modifies; its root word, meaning â€Å"regular† or â€Å"usual,† ultimately stems from ordo, the Latin word from which order is derived. Millionaire is based on million, from the Italian term millione, meaning â€Å"a great thousand† (a thousand thousands); it refers to someone whose wealth amounts to at least a million dollars. By extension, a billionaire is someone who has a billion dollars or more; inevitably, there will eventually be trillionaires. Legionnaire derives from the Latin legion, which stems from legere, a verb meaning â€Å"gather† or â€Å"select.† A legion was the basic military unit in ancient Rome, and the French adopted the term and formed legionnaire to refer to a soldier. In English it is associated with the personnel of France’s Foreign Legion, and in the United States it is known as part of the name of Legionnaire’s disease, so named because the first outbreak occurred at a convention of the patriotic organization known as the American Legion. Solitaire, from the Latin word solitarius, meaning â€Å"alone† or â€Å"isolated,† came to refer to a recluse or a widow and then later a single gem, but now it is mostly associated with a card game one plays by oneself. The French word affaire, adopted into English in the diplomatic title â€Å"charge d’affaires† (which refers to a deputy ambassador or minister) is unrelated, as is the English form affair; they are descended from the French phrase faire, meaning â€Å"to do,† and are related to facile and fact. Luminaire, from the French word for â€Å"lamp† or â€Å"lighting† and referring to a lighting unit, also has no connection; it’s from the Latin word lumen, meaning â€Å"light.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" Does "Mr" Take a Period?How Do You Fare?

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic - CoSchedule Blog

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic Blog Since you’re reading this on the internet, I’m going to assume you know what Reddit is. Even if you’re not a dedicated redditor, you probably have a general idea of what the site is all about. (If you really don’t know anything about Reddit, it’s basically a gigantic online community made up of user-generated and user-curated content.) Reddit ranks within the top 25 most-visited websites  in the world, and often sees more than one million unique pageviews  in a single day. Consider those last two points from a marketer’s perspective. Light bulbs going off yet? Simply put, if you go about it the right way, Reddit can be a major  source of targeted traffic  for your website- and ultimately lead to massive conversions. Additionally, Reddit is considered the â€Å"front page of the internet, for a reason- if your post makes it to Reddit’s homepage or to the top of a subreddit, there’s a good chance of getting coverage for your product or service or getting a link back if you’re promoting a post as a lot of influencers and publishers are scouring Reddit to find content for their own sites But, that’s a pretty big if. The thing about Reddit is, it’s not like most other social networks full of â€Å"everyday† users. While effective marketing on any social network happens when you provide serious value to the readers, because Redditors are good at spotting marketers, you better be prepared to provide serious value to the Reddit community. Redditors are good at spotting marketers, so you better be prepared to provide serious value.If it’s blatantly obvious that you’re using it just to promote your business, things aren’t going to go well for you. Not only do you face the possibility of being banned from posting within a certain area of the site (or possibly the entire site altogether), but you also run the risk of ruining your online reputation as a whole. Now, this isn’t to say that it’s impossible to generate traffic and leads by posting your own content to Reddit. But it’s not going to happen overnight, either. The following article will discuss the process you’ll need to go through in order to successfully leverage the Reddit community as a reliable source of long term - trafficas well as common pitfalls to avoid while doing so. (Sure you could skip this whole guide and bribe moderators, buy upvotes, and attempt to brigade other posts in an attempt to get your post front and center, but marketing isn’t manipulation and a strategy like this isn’t sustainable). Before We Move On, Get Your Free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Bonus Guide Supercharge your blog with Reddit. Download your free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Guide and learn how to mine the popular link sharing site to find awesome blog ideas. Reddit Marketing Guide to Driving Targeted TrafficWhy Use Reddit for Marketing? As a content marketer, becoming a redditor can benefit you in a number of ways: (As mentioned) It can help drive massive amounts of targeted traffic to your blog or website It can help you expand your audience base It can point you toward trending topics and areas of interest within your niche Let’s take a look at each of these benefits in greater detail. Recommended Reading: How to Use Reddit to Unlock Awesome Blog Post Ideas A Traffic Influx There’s no shortage of content marketers’ success stories with using Reddit to drive traffic to a specific website. Eddy Azar’s website went from 41 to 4,266 visitors a day  overnight  after he posted a single link to a post on his site. (Source  / Caption: Can’t argue with results.) Ryan Stewart discovered how to leverage Reddit to grow his traffic numbers by over 1,000 visitors  (an increase of about 33%). And Travis Levell also gained almost 1,000 site visitors  after posting a link to an article he’d written- and he posted it pretty much on a whim. Recommended Reading: 14 Time-Tested Tactics to Get Tons of Traffic From Social Media But there’s more to these examples than just traffic stats. After posting on Reddit: Eddy’s Medium following grew from zero  to over 14,000 in one month Ryan now uses Reddit to generate the majority of his traffic Travis earned over 600 signups for a brand new offering in the two weeks after posting So, not only did posting on Reddit help these guys get more eyes on their site, but it also helped them gain a larger following, and provide them the potential to grow their business. And that’s because†¦ Reddit Makes It Easy to Target Highly-Qualified Audience Members Reddit is made up of thousands and thousands of â€Å"subreddits†, which are forums dedicated to a specific topic or idea. Subreddit topics can be fairly general (such as /r/science  or /r/gaming), or they can be ultra-specific (â€Å"Squirrels eating unconventional things†). Yes, we’re serious. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEUT/. There are also subreddits dedicated to educating the community in some way or another. On /r/explainlikeimfive/, members share simplified explanations of complex topics. On /r/todayilearned, people discuss interesting factoids they had never known before. What this means for you as a marketer is you can almost certainly find at least one (and, more likely, numerous) subreddits full of individuals who align perfectly with your ideal customer personas. As mentioned in the previous section, seeing an influx in traffic is one thing. Knowing that the new visitors to your site are champing at the bit to engage with you is another. Recommended Reading: 30 Social Media Engagement Tactics That Will Boost Shares and Conversions Reddit Uncovers Industry Trends as They Happen If something worth knowing is happening in your industry, you can bet Reddit’s members will be on top of it. Even if you’re just lurking through subreddits and not actively looking to generate traffic at the time, you can still glean valuable insight regarding: Your customers’ pain points Validate market demand  for your product or service New technologies in your industry News and events that could change the way your company operates The information you discover while browsing through your favorite subreddits can lead you to create new blog posts, fine-tune your marketing strategies, and better understand your customers. In this way, using Reddit can even indirectly affect your business in a positive manner. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Use Data to Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy How to Find Your Target Audience and Create the Best Content Can You Build Instant Karma? We mentioned earlier that using Reddit to generate traffic is a fairly involved process (that’s totally worth the effort, mind you). So before we dig into the nitty-gritty of how to leverage Reddit to grow your business, we need to discuss karma. Reddit’s karma system essentially measures your reputation as a redditor. You can gain (or lose) karma in two different areas: the links you post, and the comments you make on posts. It might take you a while to reach this level of Reddit epicness. Source: karmalb.com/. While the number of upvotes and the timeframe those votes happen in a major part of how Reddit’s ranking algorithm  works, karma is an important aspect of achieving success on Reddit. Basically, you can think of karma as a means to an end. The higher your karma level, the more respect you’ll gain from the Reddit population (Also, some subreddits won’t even allow you to post links until you reach a certain level of karma).  The more respect you have from the population, the more likely they are to trust you when you eventually begin posting your own content. The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote (assuming whatever you are posting is epic), even if it’s self-promotional. #Reddit Tip: The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote:Though whether you gain or lose karma is technically up to other users, the general rules are: Posting valuable content, providing insightful commentary, and offering an overall positive experience will result in good karma. Acting selfishly, being rude, trolling, and begging for upvotes or clicks will lead to bad karma. As alluded to earlier, one of the biggest no-no’s when it comes to posting on Reddit is this: Do not  use Reddit solely to promote your own content. Redditors will see through you immediately, and, as mentioned earlier, will use any opportunity they can get to expose you to the community. (You eventually will  have the opportunity to promote your content, but we’ll get to that in a bit.) Do NOT use #reddit solely to promote your own content. Do this instead:Using Reddit to Drive Traffic Okay, now we’re ready to dive into the actual process of using Reddit to drive traffic to your site. In this section, we’ll discuss the following: Picking the right subreddits to focus on Becoming a valued member of the community Posting your content The logistics behind posting on Reddit Advertising potential on Reddit Let’s get started. Picking the Right Subreddits As we’ve discussed, there are literally thousands of subreddits to check out. Of course, not all of them are relevant to your industry. But there are likely dozens (at least) that are. But, even if a subreddit is relevant to your industry, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the best place to focus your efforts. An incredibly small sample of the list of Reddit communities. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ListOfSubreddits/wiki/listofsubreddits. Before you begin actually browsing through possible subreddits to join, ask yourself the following questions: What, specifically, are your areas of expertise? What value are you aiming to provide your audience? What are your target audience members interested in? The answers to these questions will help you narrow down exactly which subreddits will help you achieve your goal of driving more traffic to your website. Without considering these questions, you run the risk of focusing on a subreddit that, as it turns out, doesn’t provide the much in terms of mutual value. To find potential subreddits to join, search Reddit for keywords your target audience would use to search for your product or service. You’ll almost certainly be given a laundry list of subreddits to check out, some of which you’ll be able to screen out immediately. (Note: you can browse through the following list  to find the top 5,000 subreddits). If you live in the US, the second result probably isn’t for you. Source: https://www.reddit.com/search?q=content+marketingrestrict_sr=sort=relevancet=alltype=srcount=3after=t5_2rdsd. Once you’ve generated a decent-sized list of possible subreddits to hone in on, browse through them to get a good idea of: How many subscribers each subreddit has The most talked-about topics  and types of content that have been posted within the past month How active the community is in terms of posting and generating discussion Popular opinions held throughout the community Specific etiquette and rules for that subreddit Some of the rules for posting on /r/todayilearned. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/. Regarding the last two points, each subreddit is a community unto itself. Taking certain actions or making certain comments that might be acceptable in one subreddit may not be so well-received in another. #Reddit Tip: Actions or comments acceptable in one subreddit may not be well-received in another.If it’s not immediately clear where the community stands on a hot-button issue, dig deeper until you know for sure. Otherwise, you’ll come off looking like an outsider, and will almost certainly lose karma points in the process. Consider using a spreadsheet to keep track of what’s acceptable to post where. Source: https://sumo.com/stories/growth-hacking-reddit/. Getting â€Å"In† With the Community Once you’ve joined a good amount of subreddits, and have learned as much as possible about the nuances of each, you’ll be ready to get involved. But this doesn’t mean you should start posting your own content just yet. Instead, begin by joining in the major discussions being held in the comments sections of the more popular posts. But don’t just offer canned responses. A run-of-the-mill comment might not necessarily result in bad karma. But it won’t get you any positive points, either. In other words, if your comment is boring and cookie-cutter, you might as well not say anything at all. On the other hand, an insightful comment full of facts, examples, or links to further reading will not only earn the respect of the community, but it will also keep the conversation flowing. Go out of your way to be helpful for good karma. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/18r63h/does_reddit_protect_your_karma_totals_from_mass/. If you happen to disagree with a comment someone else posted, that’s fine- as long as you’re respectful about it. Not only should you be respectful, but you also should back up your claims with (as mentioned above) facts, examples, and other documentation. Again, the point of commenting is to further the discussion, even if that means offering counterpoints and rebuttals. Another thing to consider when putting yourself â€Å"out there† on Reddit is the hivemind aspect  of the community. Essentially, this refers to the fact that a good percentage of redditors in a community will blanketly agree or disagree with you based on whether or not you’re â€Å"going along with the herd.† In other words, be careful when posting counterpoints (even when justifiably warranted), as you might end up getting down-voted for reasons other than the quality of your comment. Whether you agree or disagree, it never hurts to give kudos to others for voicing their opinion (and working hard to back it up). This extra bit of generosity can go a long way toward earning you a positive reputation within a subreddit, making it easier for others to trust that you’re there for the good of the community as a whole. Once you’ve interacted with other community members enough to start gaining some karma (and possibly making connections), you can then begin actually posting content. But not your own. Instead, share resources such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, and infographics that will contribute to the on-going conversations in the community. By sharing content which you have zero stake in, you’ll further the notion that you’re there to provide value to the community, not just gain publicity for yourself. Note that you should only share content if it will truly provide value to the community. In other words, don’t post dozens of links hoping a handful will resonate with other members. In the same way you (hopefully) don’t share every meme you come across with your friends on Facebook, be prudent when it comes to sharing resources in your targeted subreddits. Also, stay away from controversy as best you can. Yes, you want to get noticed within the community, but you don’t want to be known as a rabble rouser. Even if the content you’re thinking of sharing is  insightful and possibly valuable, if it’s too opinionated you run the risk of alienating a good amount of the community. Once you’ve become a valued member of the community, it’s time to start sharing your own content and generating traffic to your site. Posting Your Own Content on Reddit Now that you’ve built a reputation for yourself as an active redditor who cares about your industry and community, you can start sharing your own content. Regarding the actual content you share, follow the tried-and-true rules for creating epic content  you’ve (hopefully) always followed. At this stage, the importance of sharing incredibly valuable content of your own is essential. Of all the content you’ve shared during your time engaged with the community, you want your own to be the absolute best of the best. Recommended Reading: The 6 Types of Social Media Content That Will Give You the Greatest Value The content you share could be posts you’ve written previously - as long as it’s in-line with currently-trending topics in the subreddit. If the discussion steers toward a topic you’ve already written about (and your post meets the highest standard of quality), toss it out there for others to check out. You can also leverage the on-going discussions within your community and create new  content  that goes along with it. Use the skyscraper technique  to transform a so-so post into an absolute masterpiece. Provide information that supplements another user’s epic content. Or go against the grain and offer up a longform rebuttal. You might be wondering if it’s acceptable to post the same piece of content in multiple subreddits. The answer is â€Å"yes, with a ‘but.’† Begin by posting the link to the most appropriate subreddit (i.e., the one that prompted you to think of your content in the first place). Then, when posting to similar subreddits that would also get value from your content, include the phrase â€Å"[posted from /r/originalsubredditname]† in the subject line. Without this addendum, your multiple posts will look like spam to anyone who sees them in more than one spot. Now that you’ve begun sharing your own content, there are a few things to note: Don’t force it. You have a much better chance of gaining traction by posting articles that relate to the current topic than you do by posting something that came out of left field. Don’t stop posting other people’s content. The community will figure out your intentions if you start posting links only to your own site. Don’t beg for upvotes or clicks. The other community members don’t owe you anything. If they like your content, they’ll check it out. Tip:  Remember, just because you’re now at the stage of posting your own content doesn’t mean you can go back to marketing yourself. Being a part of the Reddit community is about providing value, not promoting your business. Logistics Behind Posting Content on Reddit These last pieces of advice will probably sound pretty familiar: When posting content to Reddit, make sure it’ll get in front of the most eyes as possible, and make sure the title begs to be clicked. Because Reddit’s massive community is active throughout the world, there’s no single optimal time to post your content. However, you can use Later for Reddit’s Subreddit Traffic Analysis tool  to figure out the best time to post on a specific subreddit. This tool requires you have a ballpark idea of how many upvotes you believe your content will get, assuming you post at the best possible time. For example, if you think you’ll get 50 upvotes, you might want to set the Vote Threshold at around 20-25. The best time to post on /r/science seems to be 8:00am on Wednesday mornings. Source: https://www.redditlater.com/analysis/#/r/science. While it’s possible to post at a less-than-optimal time and still see your fair share of upvotes, it’s best to get your content out there when you know the most people are looking - for two reasons: The human factor. The more recent the link, the fresher (and more-clickable) it will appear in the eyes of your audience. Reddit’s ranking algorithm. Newer stories are inherently scored higher than older ones. If your subreddit sees more than a few dozen posts per day, your content will easily get buried if you post at an inopportune time. One thing worth noting here is, you really only need to worry about the time you post when posting your own  content. Feel free to post other people’s content whenever you feel (as long as you follow the guidelines we set above). If only a small amount of people see those posts, it’s a no-harm-no-foul situation. On the other hand, if you post your own  content and nobody sees it, you’ve wasted an opportunity. Moving along, you also want to make sure your headline attracts as many viewers as possible. Similar to when creating the perfect headline for a blog post, you want to take time to craft a headline for your Reddit post that intrigues your audience and tells them what they’ll get out of clicking through to the full article. As should be clear by now, redditors are well-versed in all things internet. They’ve seen every clickbait headline known to man. Don’t do it. No matter how valuable your full piece is, no self-respecting redditor will click something with the phrase â€Å"you won’t believe what happened next!† in it. Use clickbait, and you can expect to get downvotedwhether your audience members actually clicked on your post or not. Recommended Reading: How to Write Headlines that Drive Traffic, Shares, and Search Results What About Advertising on Reddit? All throughout this article, we’ve made it a point to drill home the fact that coming across as a marketer on Reddit is all but a death sentence for your company. So how are you supposed to get away with actually posting paid advertisements  on the site? Well, the reason we left this for last is because you need to make sure you’ve done everything  else right up until the point that you begin thinking about posting ads on Reddit. Once you’ve been accepted into a subreddit community, you at least have a bit of leverage when it comes to selling your products or services to other community members. (Who would you  trust more with your money in the real world: a long-time town resident who you’ve known and respected for years, or the new guy who just moved in last week from parts unknown?) As long as you’re fully confident that you won’t face backlash from posting an ad to your most-frequented subreddit, it’s worth giving it a go. The three ways you can go about advertising on Reddit are: Sponsored Posts: These will be pinned to the top of the subreddit of your choice at a cost of $0.75 CPM (with a minimum purchase amount of $5). You can choose to either post link to external content, or to a full-length text post on that subreddit. Display Ads: If your advertising budget can handle it, display ads on Reddit work just as they do on any other site - with one addition: users can seamlessly upvote and downvote your ad, and even generate discussions about them, as well. To post these type of ads, you’ll need to speak directly with the Reddit team (rather than simply fill out billing info). Sponsored QA: Similar to Reddit’s famous (or infamous) Ask Me Anything sessions, sponsored question and answer forums allow you to set up a specific time in which you’ll provide answers to your target audience’s burning questions regarding your product, service, or industry as a whole. Again, to set up a sponsored QA session, you’ll need to collaborate with the Reddit team to determine how long you’d like the session to last, and which subreddits the session will be posted to. When actually creating content to be advertised on Reddit, the ground rules remain the same: Provide ultimate value: As we’ve said time and again, redditors hate marketers - unless you can truly  provide them something that will drastically improve their lives in one way or another. If there’s ever a time to share the absolute best you have to offer, this is it. Be real: Be honest with your intentions: you have something of value to sell, and you want your community to know about it. Also, be personable and true to your audience. If you truly are a part of the community, others will likely be more than happy to share their hard-earned cash with you if they trust you’ll give them something incredible in return. Learn from the experience: If you take the leap into advertising on Reddit and it doesn’t go as well as you’d hoped, don’t turn tail and run. Address your audience’s concerns, respond to negative comments, and figure out what you can do better the next time. Redditors want to know their  voices are being heard; if you tweak your campaigns to fit their needs, they’ll most likely forget all about the negative experiences of the past. Even if you do  see success with advertising on Reddit, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Continue to share other content as you normally would, and reserve paid posts for when you have a major announcement to make, such as a product release or change in services provided. Ready to Start Driving Traffic With Reddit? If you’ve never actually used Reddit before, you might be under the misconception that it’s all memes and silliness. While it certainly has its fair share of ridiculous content, Reddit can also be an incredible source for marketers and entrepreneurs in terms of generating traffic and staying up with current industry trends. Now, all that’s left is for you to start building up that karma.

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic - CoSchedule Blog

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic Blog Since you’re reading this on the internet, I’m going to assume you know what Reddit is. Even if you’re not a dedicated redditor, you probably have a general idea of what the site is all about. (If you really don’t know anything about Reddit, it’s basically a gigantic online community made up of user-generated and user-curated content.) Reddit ranks within the top 25 most-visited websites  in the world, and often sees more than one million unique pageviews  in a single day. Consider those last two points from a marketer’s perspective. Light bulbs going off yet? Simply put, if you go about it the right way, Reddit can be a major  source of targeted traffic  for your website- and ultimately lead to massive conversions. Additionally, Reddit is considered the â€Å"front page of the internet, for a reason- if your post makes it to Reddit’s homepage or to the top of a subreddit, there’s a good chance of getting coverage for your product or service or getting a link back if you’re promoting a post as a lot of influencers and publishers are scouring Reddit to find content for their own sites But, that’s a pretty big if. The thing about Reddit is, it’s not like most other social networks full of â€Å"everyday† users. While effective marketing on any social network happens when you provide serious value to the readers, because Redditors are good at spotting marketers, you better be prepared to provide serious value to the Reddit community. Redditors are good at spotting marketers, so you better be prepared to provide serious value.If it’s blatantly obvious that you’re using it just to promote your business, things aren’t going to go well for you. Not only do you face the possibility of being banned from posting within a certain area of the site (or possibly the entire site altogether), but you also run the risk of ruining your online reputation as a whole. Now, this isn’t to say that it’s impossible to generate traffic and leads by posting your own content to Reddit. But it’s not going to happen overnight, either. The following article will discuss the process you’ll need to go through in order to successfully leverage the Reddit community as a reliable source of long term - trafficas well as common pitfalls to avoid while doing so. (Sure you could skip this whole guide and bribe moderators, buy upvotes, and attempt to brigade other posts in an attempt to get your post front and center, but marketing isn’t manipulation and a strategy like this isn’t sustainable). Before We Move On, Get Your Free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Bonus Guide Supercharge your blog with Reddit. Download your free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Guide and learn how to mine the popular link sharing site to find awesome blog ideas. Reddit Marketing Guide to Driving Targeted TrafficWhy Use Reddit for Marketing? As a content marketer, becoming a redditor can benefit you in a number of ways: (As mentioned) It can help drive massive amounts of targeted traffic to your blog or website It can help you expand your audience base It can point you toward trending topics and areas of interest within your niche Let’s take a look at each of these benefits in greater detail. Recommended Reading: How to Use Reddit to Unlock Awesome Blog Post Ideas A Traffic Influx There’s no shortage of content marketers’ success stories with using Reddit to drive traffic to a specific website. Eddy Azar’s website went from 41 to 4,266 visitors a day  overnight  after he posted a single link to a post on his site. (Source  / Caption: Can’t argue with results.) Ryan Stewart discovered how to leverage Reddit to grow his traffic numbers by over 1,000 visitors  (an increase of about 33%). And Travis Levell also gained almost 1,000 site visitors  after posting a link to an article he’d written- and he posted it pretty much on a whim. Recommended Reading: 14 Time-Tested Tactics to Get Tons of Traffic From Social Media But there’s more to these examples than just traffic stats. After posting on Reddit: Eddy’s Medium following grew from zero  to over 14,000 in one month Ryan now uses Reddit to generate the majority of his traffic Travis earned over 600 signups for a brand new offering in the two weeks after posting So, not only did posting on Reddit help these guys get more eyes on their site, but it also helped them gain a larger following, and provide them the potential to grow their business. And that’s because†¦ Reddit Makes It Easy to Target Highly-Qualified Audience Members Reddit is made up of thousands and thousands of â€Å"subreddits†, which are forums dedicated to a specific topic or idea. Subreddit topics can be fairly general (such as /r/science  or /r/gaming), or they can be ultra-specific (â€Å"Squirrels eating unconventional things†). Yes, we’re serious. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEUT/. There are also subreddits dedicated to educating the community in some way or another. On /r/explainlikeimfive/, members share simplified explanations of complex topics. On /r/todayilearned, people discuss interesting factoids they had never known before. What this means for you as a marketer is you can almost certainly find at least one (and, more likely, numerous) subreddits full of individuals who align perfectly with your ideal customer personas. As mentioned in the previous section, seeing an influx in traffic is one thing. Knowing that the new visitors to your site are champing at the bit to engage with you is another. Recommended Reading: 30 Social Media Engagement Tactics That Will Boost Shares and Conversions Reddit Uncovers Industry Trends as They Happen If something worth knowing is happening in your industry, you can bet Reddit’s members will be on top of it. Even if you’re just lurking through subreddits and not actively looking to generate traffic at the time, you can still glean valuable insight regarding: Your customers’ pain points Validate market demand  for your product or service New technologies in your industry News and events that could change the way your company operates The information you discover while browsing through your favorite subreddits can lead you to create new blog posts, fine-tune your marketing strategies, and better understand your customers. In this way, using Reddit can even indirectly affect your business in a positive manner. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Use Data to Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy How to Find Your Target Audience and Create the Best Content Can You Build Instant Karma? We mentioned earlier that using Reddit to generate traffic is a fairly involved process (that’s totally worth the effort, mind you). So before we dig into the nitty-gritty of how to leverage Reddit to grow your business, we need to discuss karma. Reddit’s karma system essentially measures your reputation as a redditor. You can gain (or lose) karma in two different areas: the links you post, and the comments you make on posts. It might take you a while to reach this level of Reddit epicness. Source: karmalb.com/. While the number of upvotes and the timeframe those votes happen in a major part of how Reddit’s ranking algorithm  works, karma is an important aspect of achieving success on Reddit. Basically, you can think of karma as a means to an end. The higher your karma level, the more respect you’ll gain from the Reddit population (Also, some subreddits won’t even allow you to post links until you reach a certain level of karma).  The more respect you have from the population, the more likely they are to trust you when you eventually begin posting your own content. The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote (assuming whatever you are posting is epic), even if it’s self-promotional. #Reddit Tip: The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote:Though whether you gain or lose karma is technically up to other users, the general rules are: Posting valuable content, providing insightful commentary, and offering an overall positive experience will result in good karma. Acting selfishly, being rude, trolling, and begging for upvotes or clicks will lead to bad karma. As alluded to earlier, one of the biggest no-no’s when it comes to posting on Reddit is this: Do not  use Reddit solely to promote your own content. Redditors will see through you immediately, and, as mentioned earlier, will use any opportunity they can get to expose you to the community. (You eventually will  have the opportunity to promote your content, but we’ll get to that in a bit.) Do NOT use #reddit solely to promote your own content. Do this instead:Using Reddit to Drive Traffic Okay, now we’re ready to dive into the actual process of using Reddit to drive traffic to your site. In this section, we’ll discuss the following: Picking the right subreddits to focus on Becoming a valued member of the community Posting your content The logistics behind posting on Reddit Advertising potential on Reddit Let’s get started. Picking the Right Subreddits As we’ve discussed, there are literally thousands of subreddits to check out. Of course, not all of them are relevant to your industry. But there are likely dozens (at least) that are. But, even if a subreddit is relevant to your industry, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the best place to focus your efforts. An incredibly small sample of the list of Reddit communities. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ListOfSubreddits/wiki/listofsubreddits. Before you begin actually browsing through possible subreddits to join, ask yourself the following questions: What, specifically, are your areas of expertise? What value are you aiming to provide your audience? What are your target audience members interested in? The answers to these questions will help you narrow down exactly which subreddits will help you achieve your goal of driving more traffic to your website. Without considering these questions, you run the risk of focusing on a subreddit that, as it turns out, doesn’t provide the much in terms of mutual value. To find potential subreddits to join, search Reddit for keywords your target audience would use to search for your product or service. You’ll almost certainly be given a laundry list of subreddits to check out, some of which you’ll be able to screen out immediately. (Note: you can browse through the following list  to find the top 5,000 subreddits). If you live in the US, the second result probably isn’t for you. Source: https://www.reddit.com/search?q=content+marketingrestrict_sr=sort=relevancet=alltype=srcount=3after=t5_2rdsd. Once you’ve generated a decent-sized list of possible subreddits to hone in on, browse through them to get a good idea of: How many subscribers each subreddit has The most talked-about topics  and types of content that have been posted within the past month How active the community is in terms of posting and generating discussion Popular opinions held throughout the community Specific etiquette and rules for that subreddit Some of the rules for posting on /r/todayilearned. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/. Regarding the last two points, each subreddit is a community unto itself. Taking certain actions or making certain comments that might be acceptable in one subreddit may not be so well-received in another. #Reddit Tip: Actions or comments acceptable in one subreddit may not be well-received in another.If it’s not immediately clear where the community stands on a hot-button issue, dig deeper until you know for sure. Otherwise, you’ll come off looking like an outsider, and will almost certainly lose karma points in the process. Consider using a spreadsheet to keep track of what’s acceptable to post where. Source: https://sumo.com/stories/growth-hacking-reddit/. Getting â€Å"In† With the Community Once you’ve joined a good amount of subreddits, and have learned as much as possible about the nuances of each, you’ll be ready to get involved. But this doesn’t mean you should start posting your own content just yet. Instead, begin by joining in the major discussions being held in the comments sections of the more popular posts. But don’t just offer canned responses. A run-of-the-mill comment might not necessarily result in bad karma. But it won’t get you any positive points, either. In other words, if your comment is boring and cookie-cutter, you might as well not say anything at all. On the other hand, an insightful comment full of facts, examples, or links to further reading will not only earn the respect of the community, but it will also keep the conversation flowing. Go out of your way to be helpful for good karma. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/18r63h/does_reddit_protect_your_karma_totals_from_mass/. If you happen to disagree with a comment someone else posted, that’s fine- as long as you’re respectful about it. Not only should you be respectful, but you also should back up your claims with (as mentioned above) facts, examples, and other documentation. Again, the point of commenting is to further the discussion, even if that means offering counterpoints and rebuttals. Another thing to consider when putting yourself â€Å"out there† on Reddit is the hivemind aspect  of the community. Essentially, this refers to the fact that a good percentage of redditors in a community will blanketly agree or disagree with you based on whether or not you’re â€Å"going along with the herd.† In other words, be careful when posting counterpoints (even when justifiably warranted), as you might end up getting down-voted for reasons other than the quality of your comment. Whether you agree or disagree, it never hurts to give kudos to others for voicing their opinion (and working hard to back it up). This extra bit of generosity can go a long way toward earning you a positive reputation within a subreddit, making it easier for others to trust that you’re there for the good of the community as a whole. Once you’ve interacted with other community members enough to start gaining some karma (and possibly making connections), you can then begin actually posting content. But not your own. Instead, share resources such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, and infographics that will contribute to the on-going conversations in the community. By sharing content which you have zero stake in, you’ll further the notion that you’re there to provide value to the community, not just gain publicity for yourself. Note that you should only share content if it will truly provide value to the community. In other words, don’t post dozens of links hoping a handful will resonate with other members. In the same way you (hopefully) don’t share every meme you come across with your friends on Facebook, be prudent when it comes to sharing resources in your targeted subreddits. Also, stay away from controversy as best you can. Yes, you want to get noticed within the community, but you don’t want to be known as a rabble rouser. Even if the content you’re thinking of sharing is  insightful and possibly valuable, if it’s too opinionated you run the risk of alienating a good amount of the community. Once you’ve become a valued member of the community, it’s time to start sharing your own content and generating traffic to your site. Posting Your Own Content on Reddit Now that you’ve built a reputation for yourself as an active redditor who cares about your industry and community, you can start sharing your own content. Regarding the actual content you share, follow the tried-and-true rules for creating epic content  you’ve (hopefully) always followed. At this stage, the importance of sharing incredibly valuable content of your own is essential. Of all the content you’ve shared during your time engaged with the community, you want your own to be the absolute best of the best. Recommended Reading: The 6 Types of Social Media Content That Will Give You the Greatest Value The content you share could be posts you’ve written previously - as long as it’s in-line with currently-trending topics in the subreddit. If the discussion steers toward a topic you’ve already written about (and your post meets the highest standard of quality), toss it out there for others to check out. You can also leverage the on-going discussions within your community and create new  content  that goes along with it. Use the skyscraper technique  to transform a so-so post into an absolute masterpiece. Provide information that supplements another user’s epic content. Or go against the grain and offer up a longform rebuttal. You might be wondering if it’s acceptable to post the same piece of content in multiple subreddits. The answer is â€Å"yes, with a ‘but.’† Begin by posting the link to the most appropriate subreddit (i.e., the one that prompted you to think of your content in the first place). Then, when posting to similar subreddits that would also get value from your content, include the phrase â€Å"[posted from /r/originalsubredditname]† in the subject line. Without this addendum, your multiple posts will look like spam to anyone who sees them in more than one spot. Now that you’ve begun sharing your own content, there are a few things to note: Don’t force it. You have a much better chance of gaining traction by posting articles that relate to the current topic than you do by posting something that came out of left field. Don’t stop posting other people’s content. The community will figure out your intentions if you start posting links only to your own site. Don’t beg for upvotes or clicks. The other community members don’t owe you anything. If they like your content, they’ll check it out. Tip:  Remember, just because you’re now at the stage of posting your own content doesn’t mean you can go back to marketing yourself. Being a part of the Reddit community is about providing value, not promoting your business. Logistics Behind Posting Content on Reddit These last pieces of advice will probably sound pretty familiar: When posting content to Reddit, make sure it’ll get in front of the most eyes as possible, and make sure the title begs to be clicked. Because Reddit’s massive community is active throughout the world, there’s no single optimal time to post your content. However, you can use Later for Reddit’s Subreddit Traffic Analysis tool  to figure out the best time to post on a specific subreddit. This tool requires you have a ballpark idea of how many upvotes you believe your content will get, assuming you post at the best possible time. For example, if you think you’ll get 50 upvotes, you might want to set the Vote Threshold at around 20-25. The best time to post on /r/science seems to be 8:00am on Wednesday mornings. Source: https://www.redditlater.com/analysis/#/r/science. While it’s possible to post at a less-than-optimal time and still see your fair share of upvotes, it’s best to get your content out there when you know the most people are looking - for two reasons: The human factor. The more recent the link, the fresher (and more-clickable) it will appear in the eyes of your audience. Reddit’s ranking algorithm. Newer stories are inherently scored higher than older ones. If your subreddit sees more than a few dozen posts per day, your content will easily get buried if you post at an inopportune time. One thing worth noting here is, you really only need to worry about the time you post when posting your own  content. Feel free to post other people’s content whenever you feel (as long as you follow the guidelines we set above). If only a small amount of people see those posts, it’s a no-harm-no-foul situation. On the other hand, if you post your own  content and nobody sees it, you’ve wasted an opportunity. Moving along, you also want to make sure your headline attracts as many viewers as possible. Similar to when creating the perfect headline for a blog post, you want to take time to craft a headline for your Reddit post that intrigues your audience and tells them what they’ll get out of clicking through to the full article. As should be clear by now, redditors are well-versed in all things internet. They’ve seen every clickbait headline known to man. Don’t do it. No matter how valuable your full piece is, no self-respecting redditor will click something with the phrase â€Å"you won’t believe what happened next!† in it. Use clickbait, and you can expect to get downvotedwhether your audience members actually clicked on your post or not. Recommended Reading: How to Write Headlines that Drive Traffic, Shares, and Search Results What About Advertising on Reddit? All throughout this article, we’ve made it a point to drill home the fact that coming across as a marketer on Reddit is all but a death sentence for your company. So how are you supposed to get away with actually posting paid advertisements  on the site? Well, the reason we left this for last is because you need to make sure you’ve done everything  else right up until the point that you begin thinking about posting ads on Reddit. Once you’ve been accepted into a subreddit community, you at least have a bit of leverage when it comes to selling your products or services to other community members. (Who would you  trust more with your money in the real world: a long-time town resident who you’ve known and respected for years, or the new guy who just moved in last week from parts unknown?) As long as you’re fully confident that you won’t face backlash from posting an ad to your most-frequented subreddit, it’s worth giving it a go. The three ways you can go about advertising on Reddit are: Sponsored Posts: These will be pinned to the top of the subreddit of your choice at a cost of $0.75 CPM (with a minimum purchase amount of $5). You can choose to either post link to external content, or to a full-length text post on that subreddit. Display Ads: If your advertising budget can handle it, display ads on Reddit work just as they do on any other site - with one addition: users can seamlessly upvote and downvote your ad, and even generate discussions about them, as well. To post these type of ads, you’ll need to speak directly with the Reddit team (rather than simply fill out billing info). Sponsored QA: Similar to Reddit’s famous (or infamous) Ask Me Anything sessions, sponsored question and answer forums allow you to set up a specific time in which you’ll provide answers to your target audience’s burning questions regarding your product, service, or industry as a whole. Again, to set up a sponsored QA session, you’ll need to collaborate with the Reddit team to determine how long you’d like the session to last, and which subreddits the session will be posted to. When actually creating content to be advertised on Reddit, the ground rules remain the same: Provide ultimate value: As we’ve said time and again, redditors hate marketers - unless you can truly  provide them something that will drastically improve their lives in one way or another. If there’s ever a time to share the absolute best you have to offer, this is it. Be real: Be honest with your intentions: you have something of value to sell, and you want your community to know about it. Also, be personable and true to your audience. If you truly are a part of the community, others will likely be more than happy to share their hard-earned cash with you if they trust you’ll give them something incredible in return. Learn from the experience: If you take the leap into advertising on Reddit and it doesn’t go as well as you’d hoped, don’t turn tail and run. Address your audience’s concerns, respond to negative comments, and figure out what you can do better the next time. Redditors want to know their  voices are being heard; if you tweak your campaigns to fit their needs, they’ll most likely forget all about the negative experiences of the past. Even if you do  see success with advertising on Reddit, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Continue to share other content as you normally would, and reserve paid posts for when you have a major announcement to make, such as a product release or change in services provided. Ready to Start Driving Traffic With Reddit? If you’ve never actually used Reddit before, you might be under the misconception that it’s all memes and silliness. While it certainly has its fair share of ridiculous content, Reddit can also be an incredible source for marketers and entrepreneurs in terms of generating traffic and staying up with current industry trends. Now, all that’s left is for you to start building up that karma.

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic - CoSchedule Blog

Reddit Marketing Guide How to Drive Targeted Traffic Blog Since you’re reading this on the internet, I’m going to assume you know what Reddit is. Even if you’re not a dedicated redditor, you probably have a general idea of what the site is all about. (If you really don’t know anything about Reddit, it’s basically a gigantic online community made up of user-generated and user-curated content.) Reddit ranks within the top 25 most-visited websites  in the world, and often sees more than one million unique pageviews  in a single day. Consider those last two points from a marketer’s perspective. Light bulbs going off yet? Simply put, if you go about it the right way, Reddit can be a major  source of targeted traffic  for your website- and ultimately lead to massive conversions. Additionally, Reddit is considered the â€Å"front page of the internet, for a reason- if your post makes it to Reddit’s homepage or to the top of a subreddit, there’s a good chance of getting coverage for your product or service or getting a link back if you’re promoting a post as a lot of influencers and publishers are scouring Reddit to find content for their own sites But, that’s a pretty big if. The thing about Reddit is, it’s not like most other social networks full of â€Å"everyday† users. While effective marketing on any social network happens when you provide serious value to the readers, because Redditors are good at spotting marketers, you better be prepared to provide serious value to the Reddit community. Redditors are good at spotting marketers, so you better be prepared to provide serious value.If it’s blatantly obvious that you’re using it just to promote your business, things aren’t going to go well for you. Not only do you face the possibility of being banned from posting within a certain area of the site (or possibly the entire site altogether), but you also run the risk of ruining your online reputation as a whole. Now, this isn’t to say that it’s impossible to generate traffic and leads by posting your own content to Reddit. But it’s not going to happen overnight, either. The following article will discuss the process you’ll need to go through in order to successfully leverage the Reddit community as a reliable source of long term - trafficas well as common pitfalls to avoid while doing so. (Sure you could skip this whole guide and bribe moderators, buy upvotes, and attempt to brigade other posts in an attempt to get your post front and center, but marketing isn’t manipulation and a strategy like this isn’t sustainable). Before We Move On, Get Your Free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Bonus Guide Supercharge your blog with Reddit. Download your free Reddit Blog Post Ideas Guide and learn how to mine the popular link sharing site to find awesome blog ideas. Reddit Marketing Guide to Driving Targeted TrafficWhy Use Reddit for Marketing? As a content marketer, becoming a redditor can benefit you in a number of ways: (As mentioned) It can help drive massive amounts of targeted traffic to your blog or website It can help you expand your audience base It can point you toward trending topics and areas of interest within your niche Let’s take a look at each of these benefits in greater detail. Recommended Reading: How to Use Reddit to Unlock Awesome Blog Post Ideas A Traffic Influx There’s no shortage of content marketers’ success stories with using Reddit to drive traffic to a specific website. Eddy Azar’s website went from 41 to 4,266 visitors a day  overnight  after he posted a single link to a post on his site. (Source  / Caption: Can’t argue with results.) Ryan Stewart discovered how to leverage Reddit to grow his traffic numbers by over 1,000 visitors  (an increase of about 33%). And Travis Levell also gained almost 1,000 site visitors  after posting a link to an article he’d written- and he posted it pretty much on a whim. Recommended Reading: 14 Time-Tested Tactics to Get Tons of Traffic From Social Media But there’s more to these examples than just traffic stats. After posting on Reddit: Eddy’s Medium following grew from zero  to over 14,000 in one month Ryan now uses Reddit to generate the majority of his traffic Travis earned over 600 signups for a brand new offering in the two weeks after posting So, not only did posting on Reddit help these guys get more eyes on their site, but it also helped them gain a larger following, and provide them the potential to grow their business. And that’s because†¦ Reddit Makes It Easy to Target Highly-Qualified Audience Members Reddit is made up of thousands and thousands of â€Å"subreddits†, which are forums dedicated to a specific topic or idea. Subreddit topics can be fairly general (such as /r/science  or /r/gaming), or they can be ultra-specific (â€Å"Squirrels eating unconventional things†). Yes, we’re serious. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEUT/. There are also subreddits dedicated to educating the community in some way or another. On /r/explainlikeimfive/, members share simplified explanations of complex topics. On /r/todayilearned, people discuss interesting factoids they had never known before. What this means for you as a marketer is you can almost certainly find at least one (and, more likely, numerous) subreddits full of individuals who align perfectly with your ideal customer personas. As mentioned in the previous section, seeing an influx in traffic is one thing. Knowing that the new visitors to your site are champing at the bit to engage with you is another. Recommended Reading: 30 Social Media Engagement Tactics That Will Boost Shares and Conversions Reddit Uncovers Industry Trends as They Happen If something worth knowing is happening in your industry, you can bet Reddit’s members will be on top of it. Even if you’re just lurking through subreddits and not actively looking to generate traffic at the time, you can still glean valuable insight regarding: Your customers’ pain points Validate market demand  for your product or service New technologies in your industry News and events that could change the way your company operates The information you discover while browsing through your favorite subreddits can lead you to create new blog posts, fine-tune your marketing strategies, and better understand your customers. In this way, using Reddit can even indirectly affect your business in a positive manner. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Blog Writing Process to Create Killer Posts How to Use Data to Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy How to Find Your Target Audience and Create the Best Content Can You Build Instant Karma? We mentioned earlier that using Reddit to generate traffic is a fairly involved process (that’s totally worth the effort, mind you). So before we dig into the nitty-gritty of how to leverage Reddit to grow your business, we need to discuss karma. Reddit’s karma system essentially measures your reputation as a redditor. You can gain (or lose) karma in two different areas: the links you post, and the comments you make on posts. It might take you a while to reach this level of Reddit epicness. Source: karmalb.com/. While the number of upvotes and the timeframe those votes happen in a major part of how Reddit’s ranking algorithm  works, karma is an important aspect of achieving success on Reddit. Basically, you can think of karma as a means to an end. The higher your karma level, the more respect you’ll gain from the Reddit population (Also, some subreddits won’t even allow you to post links until you reach a certain level of karma).  The more respect you have from the population, the more likely they are to trust you when you eventually begin posting your own content. The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote (assuming whatever you are posting is epic), even if it’s self-promotional. #Reddit Tip: The more you are trusted, the more likely Redditors will give you an upvote:Though whether you gain or lose karma is technically up to other users, the general rules are: Posting valuable content, providing insightful commentary, and offering an overall positive experience will result in good karma. Acting selfishly, being rude, trolling, and begging for upvotes or clicks will lead to bad karma. As alluded to earlier, one of the biggest no-no’s when it comes to posting on Reddit is this: Do not  use Reddit solely to promote your own content. Redditors will see through you immediately, and, as mentioned earlier, will use any opportunity they can get to expose you to the community. (You eventually will  have the opportunity to promote your content, but we’ll get to that in a bit.) Do NOT use #reddit solely to promote your own content. Do this instead:Using Reddit to Drive Traffic Okay, now we’re ready to dive into the actual process of using Reddit to drive traffic to your site. In this section, we’ll discuss the following: Picking the right subreddits to focus on Becoming a valued member of the community Posting your content The logistics behind posting on Reddit Advertising potential on Reddit Let’s get started. Picking the Right Subreddits As we’ve discussed, there are literally thousands of subreddits to check out. Of course, not all of them are relevant to your industry. But there are likely dozens (at least) that are. But, even if a subreddit is relevant to your industry, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the best place to focus your efforts. An incredibly small sample of the list of Reddit communities. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ListOfSubreddits/wiki/listofsubreddits. Before you begin actually browsing through possible subreddits to join, ask yourself the following questions: What, specifically, are your areas of expertise? What value are you aiming to provide your audience? What are your target audience members interested in? The answers to these questions will help you narrow down exactly which subreddits will help you achieve your goal of driving more traffic to your website. Without considering these questions, you run the risk of focusing on a subreddit that, as it turns out, doesn’t provide the much in terms of mutual value. To find potential subreddits to join, search Reddit for keywords your target audience would use to search for your product or service. You’ll almost certainly be given a laundry list of subreddits to check out, some of which you’ll be able to screen out immediately. (Note: you can browse through the following list  to find the top 5,000 subreddits). If you live in the US, the second result probably isn’t for you. Source: https://www.reddit.com/search?q=content+marketingrestrict_sr=sort=relevancet=alltype=srcount=3after=t5_2rdsd. Once you’ve generated a decent-sized list of possible subreddits to hone in on, browse through them to get a good idea of: How many subscribers each subreddit has The most talked-about topics  and types of content that have been posted within the past month How active the community is in terms of posting and generating discussion Popular opinions held throughout the community Specific etiquette and rules for that subreddit Some of the rules for posting on /r/todayilearned. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/. Regarding the last two points, each subreddit is a community unto itself. Taking certain actions or making certain comments that might be acceptable in one subreddit may not be so well-received in another. #Reddit Tip: Actions or comments acceptable in one subreddit may not be well-received in another.If it’s not immediately clear where the community stands on a hot-button issue, dig deeper until you know for sure. Otherwise, you’ll come off looking like an outsider, and will almost certainly lose karma points in the process. Consider using a spreadsheet to keep track of what’s acceptable to post where. Source: https://sumo.com/stories/growth-hacking-reddit/. Getting â€Å"In† With the Community Once you’ve joined a good amount of subreddits, and have learned as much as possible about the nuances of each, you’ll be ready to get involved. But this doesn’t mean you should start posting your own content just yet. Instead, begin by joining in the major discussions being held in the comments sections of the more popular posts. But don’t just offer canned responses. A run-of-the-mill comment might not necessarily result in bad karma. But it won’t get you any positive points, either. In other words, if your comment is boring and cookie-cutter, you might as well not say anything at all. On the other hand, an insightful comment full of facts, examples, or links to further reading will not only earn the respect of the community, but it will also keep the conversation flowing. Go out of your way to be helpful for good karma. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/18r63h/does_reddit_protect_your_karma_totals_from_mass/. If you happen to disagree with a comment someone else posted, that’s fine- as long as you’re respectful about it. Not only should you be respectful, but you also should back up your claims with (as mentioned above) facts, examples, and other documentation. Again, the point of commenting is to further the discussion, even if that means offering counterpoints and rebuttals. Another thing to consider when putting yourself â€Å"out there† on Reddit is the hivemind aspect  of the community. Essentially, this refers to the fact that a good percentage of redditors in a community will blanketly agree or disagree with you based on whether or not you’re â€Å"going along with the herd.† In other words, be careful when posting counterpoints (even when justifiably warranted), as you might end up getting down-voted for reasons other than the quality of your comment. Whether you agree or disagree, it never hurts to give kudos to others for voicing their opinion (and working hard to back it up). This extra bit of generosity can go a long way toward earning you a positive reputation within a subreddit, making it easier for others to trust that you’re there for the good of the community as a whole. Once you’ve interacted with other community members enough to start gaining some karma (and possibly making connections), you can then begin actually posting content. But not your own. Instead, share resources such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, and infographics that will contribute to the on-going conversations in the community. By sharing content which you have zero stake in, you’ll further the notion that you’re there to provide value to the community, not just gain publicity for yourself. Note that you should only share content if it will truly provide value to the community. In other words, don’t post dozens of links hoping a handful will resonate with other members. In the same way you (hopefully) don’t share every meme you come across with your friends on Facebook, be prudent when it comes to sharing resources in your targeted subreddits. Also, stay away from controversy as best you can. Yes, you want to get noticed within the community, but you don’t want to be known as a rabble rouser. Even if the content you’re thinking of sharing is  insightful and possibly valuable, if it’s too opinionated you run the risk of alienating a good amount of the community. Once you’ve become a valued member of the community, it’s time to start sharing your own content and generating traffic to your site. Posting Your Own Content on Reddit Now that you’ve built a reputation for yourself as an active redditor who cares about your industry and community, you can start sharing your own content. Regarding the actual content you share, follow the tried-and-true rules for creating epic content  you’ve (hopefully) always followed. At this stage, the importance of sharing incredibly valuable content of your own is essential. Of all the content you’ve shared during your time engaged with the community, you want your own to be the absolute best of the best. Recommended Reading: The 6 Types of Social Media Content That Will Give You the Greatest Value The content you share could be posts you’ve written previously - as long as it’s in-line with currently-trending topics in the subreddit. If the discussion steers toward a topic you’ve already written about (and your post meets the highest standard of quality), toss it out there for others to check out. You can also leverage the on-going discussions within your community and create new  content  that goes along with it. Use the skyscraper technique  to transform a so-so post into an absolute masterpiece. Provide information that supplements another user’s epic content. Or go against the grain and offer up a longform rebuttal. You might be wondering if it’s acceptable to post the same piece of content in multiple subreddits. The answer is â€Å"yes, with a ‘but.’† Begin by posting the link to the most appropriate subreddit (i.e., the one that prompted you to think of your content in the first place). Then, when posting to similar subreddits that would also get value from your content, include the phrase â€Å"[posted from /r/originalsubredditname]† in the subject line. Without this addendum, your multiple posts will look like spam to anyone who sees them in more than one spot. Now that you’ve begun sharing your own content, there are a few things to note: Don’t force it. You have a much better chance of gaining traction by posting articles that relate to the current topic than you do by posting something that came out of left field. Don’t stop posting other people’s content. The community will figure out your intentions if you start posting links only to your own site. Don’t beg for upvotes or clicks. The other community members don’t owe you anything. If they like your content, they’ll check it out. Tip:  Remember, just because you’re now at the stage of posting your own content doesn’t mean you can go back to marketing yourself. Being a part of the Reddit community is about providing value, not promoting your business. Logistics Behind Posting Content on Reddit These last pieces of advice will probably sound pretty familiar: When posting content to Reddit, make sure it’ll get in front of the most eyes as possible, and make sure the title begs to be clicked. Because Reddit’s massive community is active throughout the world, there’s no single optimal time to post your content. However, you can use Later for Reddit’s Subreddit Traffic Analysis tool  to figure out the best time to post on a specific subreddit. This tool requires you have a ballpark idea of how many upvotes you believe your content will get, assuming you post at the best possible time. For example, if you think you’ll get 50 upvotes, you might want to set the Vote Threshold at around 20-25. The best time to post on /r/science seems to be 8:00am on Wednesday mornings. Source: https://www.redditlater.com/analysis/#/r/science. While it’s possible to post at a less-than-optimal time and still see your fair share of upvotes, it’s best to get your content out there when you know the most people are looking - for two reasons: The human factor. The more recent the link, the fresher (and more-clickable) it will appear in the eyes of your audience. Reddit’s ranking algorithm. Newer stories are inherently scored higher than older ones. If your subreddit sees more than a few dozen posts per day, your content will easily get buried if you post at an inopportune time. One thing worth noting here is, you really only need to worry about the time you post when posting your own  content. Feel free to post other people’s content whenever you feel (as long as you follow the guidelines we set above). If only a small amount of people see those posts, it’s a no-harm-no-foul situation. On the other hand, if you post your own  content and nobody sees it, you’ve wasted an opportunity. Moving along, you also want to make sure your headline attracts as many viewers as possible. Similar to when creating the perfect headline for a blog post, you want to take time to craft a headline for your Reddit post that intrigues your audience and tells them what they’ll get out of clicking through to the full article. As should be clear by now, redditors are well-versed in all things internet. They’ve seen every clickbait headline known to man. Don’t do it. No matter how valuable your full piece is, no self-respecting redditor will click something with the phrase â€Å"you won’t believe what happened next!† in it. Use clickbait, and you can expect to get downvotedwhether your audience members actually clicked on your post or not. Recommended Reading: How to Write Headlines that Drive Traffic, Shares, and Search Results What About Advertising on Reddit? All throughout this article, we’ve made it a point to drill home the fact that coming across as a marketer on Reddit is all but a death sentence for your company. So how are you supposed to get away with actually posting paid advertisements  on the site? Well, the reason we left this for last is because you need to make sure you’ve done everything  else right up until the point that you begin thinking about posting ads on Reddit. Once you’ve been accepted into a subreddit community, you at least have a bit of leverage when it comes to selling your products or services to other community members. (Who would you  trust more with your money in the real world: a long-time town resident who you’ve known and respected for years, or the new guy who just moved in last week from parts unknown?) As long as you’re fully confident that you won’t face backlash from posting an ad to your most-frequented subreddit, it’s worth giving it a go. The three ways you can go about advertising on Reddit are: Sponsored Posts: These will be pinned to the top of the subreddit of your choice at a cost of $0.75 CPM (with a minimum purchase amount of $5). You can choose to either post link to external content, or to a full-length text post on that subreddit. Display Ads: If your advertising budget can handle it, display ads on Reddit work just as they do on any other site - with one addition: users can seamlessly upvote and downvote your ad, and even generate discussions about them, as well. To post these type of ads, you’ll need to speak directly with the Reddit team (rather than simply fill out billing info). Sponsored QA: Similar to Reddit’s famous (or infamous) Ask Me Anything sessions, sponsored question and answer forums allow you to set up a specific time in which you’ll provide answers to your target audience’s burning questions regarding your product, service, or industry as a whole. Again, to set up a sponsored QA session, you’ll need to collaborate with the Reddit team to determine how long you’d like the session to last, and which subreddits the session will be posted to. When actually creating content to be advertised on Reddit, the ground rules remain the same: Provide ultimate value: As we’ve said time and again, redditors hate marketers - unless you can truly  provide them something that will drastically improve their lives in one way or another. If there’s ever a time to share the absolute best you have to offer, this is it. Be real: Be honest with your intentions: you have something of value to sell, and you want your community to know about it. Also, be personable and true to your audience. If you truly are a part of the community, others will likely be more than happy to share their hard-earned cash with you if they trust you’ll give them something incredible in return. Learn from the experience: If you take the leap into advertising on Reddit and it doesn’t go as well as you’d hoped, don’t turn tail and run. Address your audience’s concerns, respond to negative comments, and figure out what you can do better the next time. Redditors want to know their  voices are being heard; if you tweak your campaigns to fit their needs, they’ll most likely forget all about the negative experiences of the past. Even if you do  see success with advertising on Reddit, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Continue to share other content as you normally would, and reserve paid posts for when you have a major announcement to make, such as a product release or change in services provided. Ready to Start Driving Traffic With Reddit? If you’ve never actually used Reddit before, you might be under the misconception that it’s all memes and silliness. While it certainly has its fair share of ridiculous content, Reddit can also be an incredible source for marketers and entrepreneurs in terms of generating traffic and staying up with current industry trends. Now, all that’s left is for you to start building up that karma.

Critically appraise the fiscal strategy of the UK Conservative-Liberal Essay - 1

Critically appraise the fiscal strategy of the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government - Essay Example Amongst the compromises that the two parties made were their held fiscal policies, which have greatly affected the country to the present moment. The unresolved budgetary deficits, a weak economy and no framework for making a quick recovery for the economy can show this. When the recession hit Great Britain in the period 2007-2009, the Labour Government continued in its overspending in terms of the budget, which worsened the state of the public finances (Giudice, Kuenzel and Springbett, 2012, p. 22).   At the campaigns of the 2010 general election, the Conservatives promised faster action to curb borrowing in order to stabilize the economy. Through a new budget introduced on June 22, 2010 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the government planned to remove the deficit in the budget by the period 2014-2015. By this time, the amount of borrowing as a share of the GDP would have reduced, achieved through cuts in spending by a figure of 80% and increases in tax by 20%. This reassured the financial markets who continued to lend money and at the same time maintaining a low cost in the repayment of existing money owing. By doing this, the Conservatives had made a concession to their Liberal Democrats Coalition partners, which have led to several difficul ties with regard to the fiscal strategy and policy as originally made. The United Kingdom Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government aims at reducing the spending by the government so that the deficits that are in the budget are reduced. As already stated, it was initiated in the year 2010 with the main aim of achieving â€Å"cyclically-adjusted current balance by the end of the rolling, five-year forecast period†. This means that the intention of the fiscal policy was to have the austerity measures in place until the period 2015-2016, but this was pushed to 2018. What these austerity measures meant were

Financial securities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial securities - Research Paper Example Given 100,000 dollars, it is important to make a decision on the right investment decision so as to make the maximum possible profits from the investment. One can choose from a number of securities which are classified into money market securities, capital market securities or derivative securities (Atack and Larry, Pg. 76). Money market securities are those securities that facilitate the sale of short term debt securities. They have a maturity of one year or less. Capital securities on the other hand facilitate the sale of long term securities such as bonds, mortgages, stocks and mortgage backed securities. Bonds are issues by the treasury or by the government agencies (Madura, Pg. 163). They can also be issued by corporations which want to raise funds to expand their operations. Mortgages on the other hand are obligations that are created with the aim of purchasing real estate, while mortgage backed securities are those debt obligations that represent claims on a package of mortgages. Finally, stocks are documents that warrant partial ownership in corporations that issue them (Bhole, Pg. 46). The returns of these securities are influenced by the interest rates prevailing in the economy at particular times. The performance of the various corporations will also influence the returns of these securities (Madura, Pg. 249). When the performance of the corporation is high, the rate of returns will also be high and it will be worth investing in the m. Derivative securities are financial contracts whose values are derived from the values of the underlying assets. They could be for the purpose of speculation or risk management and hedging. An investor is able to speculate on the movement of prices of assets without necessarily buying the assets (Madura, Pg. 341). These securities also help in adjusting the risk of their existing investments in securities. With the 100,000 dollars, one should invest in securities with the least