Reddit's Growing Importance | Behind the Numbers

Marcus Johnson (0:00)

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Hey, gang, it's Friday, September 11th. Minda Max and listeners, welcome to Behind the Numbers, an EMARKETER podcast made possible by Verve. Hi, Marcus, and join me for today's conversation. We have two social media experts, two of our, I should say, senior analyst living in New York City, Minda Smiley.

Minda Smiley (0:50)

Hey, Marcus, how are you?

Marcus Johnson (0:51)

Hello, I'm very well. How are you?

Minda Smiley (0:53)

Good, good.

Marcus Johnson (0:55)

No guest never asked me that.

Minda Smiley (0:57)

I'm so polite. Pittsburghers. Thank you so much. Finally. We're nice people.

Marcus Johnson (1:02)

That Ross guy. That's the way he never asked. We're also joined by principal analyst living in Philadelphia, who, if he doesn't ask me how I am, will be my second favorite guest on this episode, Max Willens.

Max Willens (1:13)

Yo, how's it going?

Marcus Johnson (1:15)

No, no, no, no, no. Too late.

Max Willens (1:18)

Don't want to seem too eager.

Marcus Johnson (1:20)

Today's fact.

Who invented the potato chip? Ah, aka the crisp, as it's known overseas.

Credit goes to George. I didn't think I'd be able to figure this one out. I thought this is one of those things where you're like, that's not, you know, it's like myths about who. No, it's, here's the story. George Crumb, born George Speck, in 1853 at Moons Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. Whilst working as a chef, a fussy customer complained that his French fried potatoes were too thick and soft. Despite the customer, that's a shame. Crumb sliced the potatoes paper thin, fried them until they were crispy, and added a lot of salt. But instead of being angry, the customer loved them. And the snack quickly became known as Saratoga chips.

Minda Smiley (2:21)

That's a very funny backstory.

Marcus Johnson (2:23)

Yeah. It wasn't until there was a, so someone invented the packet that, because they used to just come in a barrel.

Someone invented the packet that they come in to keep them fresher. But then it was Mr. Lay's who came along and figured out how to market them. And that's why Lay's is now synonymous with chips, crisps. But Mr. Crumb or Speck, thank you to you.

Max Willens (2:49)

I can't believe that the Saratoga part didn't stick. I like the name Saratoga.

Marcus Johnson (2:53)

Saratoga chips?

Max Willens (2:54)

Yeah, Saratoga chips.

Marcus Johnson (2:55)

Yeah, that's kind of cool.

Max Willens (2:56)

It's some Saratogas. Maybe that's too much of a mouthful. I thought you were going to say he put poison on them. And I was like, well, that I guess that's why it didn't stick.

Marcus Johnson (3:05)

Yeah.

Max Willens (3:06)

It was only when they took the arsenic off the chips that they gained quickly in popularity.

Minda Smiley (3:11)

Okay, quickly. What's everyone's favorite flavor? Now I'm just intrigued.

Max Willens (3:15)

Oh golly.

Minda Smiley (3:16)

Mine's salt and vinegar.

Marcus Johnson (3:17)

Yes, that's the right answer. Max, we don't care what you have to say.

Max Willens (3:20)

Well, the two of you are right, so I don't have to argue with you.

Marcus Johnson (3:23)

Yes, Susie would say ketchup flavored because she's Canadian.

Minda Smiley (3:27)

Oh, that sounds horrible.

Marcus Johnson (3:29)

Yeah, but oh, it was for ketchup flavored chips. I love the Canadians. Anyway, today's real topic.

Reddit's growing importance. Katie Dayton of the journal writes that the AI revolution has transformed Reddit from an afterthought in many marketers' digital strategies to their social media site de jour. Executives are racing to make sure their brands are recommended by AI chatbots. And Reddit is the most cited website in AI answers according to AI visibility data firm PASS. But just because brands are racing to get through the door doesn't mean they are particularly welcome. We don't want to hear from you when we're gossiping about you says social media consultant Rachel Carton. Minda, how can brands participate in Reddit without feeling like an ad crashed the party?

Minda Smiley (4:18)

Yeah, well, that's like the big question, right? And it's not easy, you know, obviously, if you're doing paid advertising, that's one thing, and I'm sure we'll get into that organically, which is what we're talking about. It's really hard, and there's really only like a handful of examples that I feel like I'm always routinely citing of brands that I feel like have been able to crack it. I would say like this is maybe going to sound a little bit counterintuitive, because I feel like so much of the conversation around around Reddit is like that users can be kind of snarky and they're not very adverse. But I do feel like the brands that are going to have success there are coming at it from a more earnest perspective and just genuinely trying to find ways to help, even if it's literally just through customer service and customer support, which I know is the least sexy thing and is not what organic social media managers want to hear. But it is the reality. I mean, the brands that I feel like have found some traction there and have come up with strategies are the ones that are literally just playing the long game and are there to just answer questions, be helpful.