Following Reddit’s successful market entries in Canada and the UK, account teams and a dedicated office launched in Australia as the social network expands. There’s locally-based Community and Engineering staff, too, as part of the push for local brand partnerships. Reddit communities are loyal and passionate – yet mostly overlooked by brands.
Australia is core to the firm’s international growth strategy and follows Reddit’s successful market entries in Canada in March 2021 and the United Kingdom in September 2020.
The team launches with dedicated, locally-based Community, Engineering and Sales staff, as well as Country Manager, David Ray, who will join in the coming weeks from WooliesX, and has experience leading teams in Australia for Amazon, Twitter and Telstra.
The Australian business is managed by Reddit’s Head of International, Tariq Mahmoud, and is already partnering with local entities, working with Australian-based moderators and communities, and establishing local brand partnerships.
The Australian Sales team sits within a global Sales org under the leadership of Reddit’s EVP and President Global Advertising, Harold Klaje.
“We’ve been fortunate to experience strong organic growth from our Australian user base in recent years, and with this comes a significant opportunity to level-up our local offering in a more focussed and nuanced way,” said Reddit Chief Operating officer, Jen Wong. “From building out our highly engaged Australian communities to finding homes for local brands on the platform, this launch is just the beginning of our investment in the market and key to our wider international vision as we continue to scale Reddit at pace.”
Globally, Reddit brings together more than 52 million Daily Active Users across 100,000+ communities. In Australia, user activity mimics global trends with gaming, crypto and entertainment among the most popular interest groups.
The subreddit r/australia, the community of 700,000 members where you can “chew the fat about Australia and Australians”, is the most popular subreddit among Australian users, with r/ausfinance and r/asx_bets following closely behind. In a surprise to no one, r/afl and r/nrl also make the Top 10 Australian communities list, joining Reddit’s Sports Interest Group which attracted more than one billion screen views globally, for the month of April 2021 alone.
Local takes on leading global communities are also popular among Australian Reddit users, with r/askanaustralian, r/australianteachers and r/ausproperty among the fastest growing communities for Australian users in 2021.
At an average of 31 minutes per day, Australians spend more time on Reddit than they do Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest and they collectively contribute 158 million posts, comments and votes on the platform every month. 62% of our Australian users sit in the highly desirable 18 – 34 year old segment, with 28% aged between 35 – 49.
40% of Reddit users in Australia are not on Twitter, 20% are not on Facebook, 23% are not on Instagram, 51% are not on Snapchat and 70% are not on TikTok.
“Reddit is a cultural phenomenon and a great platform for brands wishing to connect with customers, fans, and advocates who influence brand loyalty and purchase decisions,” said UM’s US Chief Digital Officer, Joshua Lowcock. “As an Australian expat living in New York, I have seen first-hand the success clients have had working with Reddit. Investing in a dedicated Australian presence and local approach to community and moderation will reinforce Reddit’s market position for locally-based brands and advertisers seeking to navigate the depth and breadth of the platform and unlock its immense value.”
“With the rise and power of online communities, the launch of Reddit in Australia is exciting not only for us but for the industry at large,” said Reprise CEO Maria Grivas. “Reddit is the home of online community and I’m looking forward to seeing more Australian brands embrace these highly influential online spaces and the distinct marketing opportunities they bring, with Reddit’s official introduction to the market.”
