Reddit is such an underrated social media platform. Many think that Reddit is a place for memes and arguments. But it’s more than that. Reddit is a great place for market research.

If you’re trying to solve a problem, you can find your solution on Reddit. If you want to know how your customers talk and behave, go to Reddit. Do you want to know how to make the lives of your employees better? Talk to your employees  — and go to Reddit.

Thanks to Reddit, a Manager was able to realize a happier workplace.

Case: Observing Reddit to change the work environment.

This week I came across a Reddit post shared on LinkedIn. It was a post written by a Manager in the subreddit r/AntiWork. The manager thanked the community for making him realize what employees actually want and need. Because of their posts, he was able to improve the work-life balance of his colleagues.

r/AntiWork is a subreddit where employees come together to complain about poor work circumstances, low wages and irrational managers. They share awful things they experienced on the work floor and they discuss about what employers and employees should do to improve the work standards.

One manager took notes of these discussions. After reading multiple r/AntiWork posts, he realized that employees don’t want bonuses and extracurricular activities to make their work lives better. Instead, they want a more sustainable work-life balance.

This manager shared his findings with his boss, and he suggested the following changes:

1) A permanent salary raise

2) Give employees more days off

3) No mandatory work on Mondays

After applying these changes, he saw the work environment improve. Employees worked less, were happier and at the same time the company’s revenue didn’t decrease.

What Reddit can teach us

Marketers need to understand the problems, emotions and needs of their consumers. And Reddit is one of the best places where we can find out what problems, emotions and needs our target audience has.

Millions of Redditors come together on this platform to talk about their topics of interests. And there are more than 2.8 million subreddits. This means that there are 2.8 million niche communities where Redditors share their insights, problems and emotions.

So if you join Reddit, you can find out what your target audience wants and needs, by simply going to the subreddit where they talk about their desires and needs.

• So if you are a hiring manager who wants to know what future employees are looking for, scrape data from r/Antiwork or r/jobs. Write down what they need and think of how you can make the application process easier for them.
• If you are a Social Media Marketer who helps entrepreneurs, go to subreddits like r/entrepreneurs and r/Marketing. Find out what struggles they have when bringing their product or service to the market. Include these problems in your messaging and promise solutions.
• If you are a Marketer looking for ways to better describe how your product or service can help other customers: Go to subreddits, look for people who talk about your (or your competitors’) product and take notes. Write down the benefits, opportunities, and limitations they experience while using your product, and look for a solution.

Just by engaging on social media platforms like Reddit, you can find many valuable insights about your target audience. So make sure to observe your audience first before executing your Marketing Strategy. Search for useful subreddits, Facebook Groups, and forums and take notes.