by Are you wondering whether amazon affiliate marketing on Reddit works in 2023?
The answer is yes, it works.
In fact, if you’re an Amazon affiliate, Reddit should be high up on your list of traffic sources.
Most affiliate marketers, including Amazon Associates, avoid using the platform to make money online. This is because it is strict on matters regarding affiliate marketing and promotion.
You cannot post affiliate content or link to affiliate products haphazardly, as most people do on other platforms.
With Reddit, you need to go about affiliate promotions in a certain way.
And that’s why we’ve created this guide to Reddit Amazon affiliate marketing. Learn how Reddit works and how to use it for affiliate marketing, particularly with the Amazon Affiliate program.
Contents
What is Reddit and How Does it Work?
Reddit is an online discussion forum where people talk about several topics and ideas.
You can find information about anything on the platform – from history, science, and technology to the latest trends, events, and news.
The platform relies on a user-generated content model. Meaning registered users, often called Redditors, share various types of content to start and hold conversations on different matters.
Some content on the site includes photos, links, videos, and text-based posts.
Because it’s a social news website, most people describe Reddit as a social media network.
However, its structure and mode of operation are very different from mainstream social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Here’s a section of Reddit’s homepage showing some of its features, such as trending news, popular posts, and communities.
Structure
The website consists of several categories, referred to as subreddits.
Each subreddit represents a specific subject or idea and allows those interested in the topic to meet and build a community.
Reddit communities may include individuals from all walks of life who share similar hobbies, passions, or goals.
There are over two million registered communities or subreddits on the platform. You can find a community for everything you’re interested in at any time.
It’s easy to tell subreddits apart by looking at their names and URL. Each has a small letter /r/ as part of its online identification.
For example, r/Digital Marketing is a community of digital marketing business owners and freelancers who discuss all things marketing.
Also, one community can have thousands to millions of members. The digital marketing community, for instance, has 95.8k members.
You should know that most users are passionate about their respective communities.
They participate actively by posting valuable content or adding their thoughts on different conversations through comments on other people’s posts.
The conversations, referred to as threads, are usually subject-oriented. There are moderators on every subreddit to ensure discussions stay on course.
A moderator also helps to set and implement community-specific rules, which ensure all engagements are meaningful to members.
Voting System (Upvotes and Downvotes)
Users can also vote to rate content in their subreddits by clicking arrows on the top-right side of posts or below a comment.
Positive votes (upvotes) are similar to likes on other platforms and generally indicate users’ approval or satisfaction. Negative votes (downvotes) denote dissatisfaction.
The total number of upvotes or downvotes shows how popular a piece of content is and determines its visibility.
Posts and comments with the highest number of upvotes are the most popular. Reddit ranks them at the top of pages or threads for particular topics. This leads to more people seeing and upvoting them.
The most popular posts from different subreddits appear on the site’s front page. These are the answers non-registered Reddit users may see when they search online.
On the other hand, downvoted posts and comments are unpopular. The platform pushes them to the bottom of their respective pages and may hide them at some point.
In addition to helping display the best content for users, the voting system also indicates popularity among Redditors.
Specifically, upvotes earn you points, known as karma. These points are critical to your journey as an amazon associates Redditor.
What is Karma?
Karma is an accumulation of Reddit points that reveal the significance of your contributions to a community. They reflect how much your posts or comments mean to members.
There are two types of karma – posts karma and comments karma. You can gain these points by posting, commenting, giving, or receiving awards.
The more upvotes you receive on your posts or comments, the more karma points you’ll get. And the more karma you earn, the more visible your content becomes to other users on the platform.
Getting a lot of karma on several posts and comments indicates that members enjoy and gain value from your content.
You can establish yourself as an authority in a niche this way and boost your Amazon affiliate marketing endeavors.
Overall, comment karma has more weight than post karma. You want to collect enough of these before promoting anything on the site. Do this by commenting on other people’s posts often but not in a spammy way.
Karma spamming involves commenting across various posts around the same time, which you’ll get penalized for.
Don’t try to promote products or services when you have zero points. Your content may be marked as spam and attract penalties.
Redditors’ karma points are visible on their pages. Take a look at the karma of one of Reddit’s founders, Steve Huffman, below:
Who Uses Reddit?
Millions of people from all over the world use Reddit.
In 2019, the number of monthly active users on the site was approximately 330 million, but by 2020, it was around 430 million. That’s over a 30% increase in a year.
Are you seeing the traffic potential of the platform? As an Amazon affiliate program Redditor, you will gain access to a chunk of these millions of monthly active users.
The majority – around 63.8% are men, whereas women make up around 36.2%. This means the site is a traffic gold mine for Reddit Amazon Associates on any niche. But if you have a niche site targeting men, you’re well covered.
What’s left is to learn how to place Amazon affiliate links on Reddit.
Can You Do Amazon Affiliate Marketing on Reddit?
The short answer is yes. You can do Amazon affiliate marketing on Reddit.
However, you have to be careful not to break the operating policies on both platforms. Failing to abide by the rules of each site will result in a permanent account ban.
For Amazon, follow this Amazon Affiliate Associates Guide to learn the guidelines you need to follow. An essential rule to follow is that Amazon does not allow link cloaking.
On the other hand, Reddit does not allow users to post affiliate links directly. This may provide room for link cloaking.
But, there are ways to build community and demonstrate your expertise in a specific niche. Then, you can subtly introduce offers or generate interaction off the platform at the right moment.
Reddit’s Official Policy
Reddit’s mission is about creating communities and providing the best human experience for its users. Any activity that goes against this mission is considered spam.
Posting affiliate links to promote products or services without providing any value to community members is considered spam. The site states this clearly in its anti-spam policy.
Check out this other post that explains what constitutes spam and the rules users must follow.
You’ll notice Reddit recommends reaching out to moderators of different communities when looking to post affiliate links.
That’s because different subreddits set their rules to provide the best experience for their members.
Reddit’s Community Rules
Most communities prohibit posting referral links of any kind, while others partially accept promotional links if they help members in some way.
For instance, /r/FemaleFashionAdvice indicates that the community doesn’t allow affiliate links. 
On the other hand, /r/AffiliateMarketing allows individuals to post their affiliate offers, although you’ll have to adhere to strict conditions.
But remember, this is for affiliate managers to self-promote their offers and recruit affiliates. The thread would assist several affiliates who are members of the community to join various programs.
In turn, they’ll earn commissions and increase their affiliate income.
As for affiliates looking to advertise other people’s products or services, the subreddit doesn’t allow it. They indicate this on their community rules on the right side of the page.
Does Reddit Allow Amazon Affiliate Links?
Not exactly. Reddit does not allow direct affiliate links from individual affiliates on its platform.
But this can be a good thing. It’s part of why we think you should consider using the site as your traffic source.
Because the platform doesn’t allow direct affiliate linking, most affiliate marketers prefer not to use it. So competition for traffic remains low compared to other sites like Facebook or Instagram.
You can tap into this traffic powerhouse and build an authoritative brand in any field. But you’ll have to deliver value to users. Doing this requires patience.
If you stick with the methods we’re about to discuss, it’ll be worth it.
Tips to Drive Organic Traffic From Reddit to Your Review Blog
Before you start driving organic traffic to your blogs, you need to build your reputation on the platform first.
To do this, create your account on Reddit.
Then use relevant keywords to find subreddits that are specific to your niche. Join and start contributing to conversations.
As long as you genuinely provide helpful content, you’ll start accumulating karma points, and more community members will trust your opinions.
Once you’ve accumulated enough karma and have a solid reputation on the platform, introduce members to your affiliate products. You can do this in two ways:
1. Create a Landing Page Where Users Can Download Value-Packed Resources Such as E-Books.
These e-books should help users find the specific information they’re looking for or provide answers to their problems. Then link to the Amazon affiliate products you’re promoting from the landing page.
For instance, say you’re in the pet niche. You joined /r/HomeMadeDogFood and established your reputation in the group.
When it’s time to promote your affiliate offers and send people to your review blog, you can create an eBook on homemade dog food recipes.
Most members won’t hesitate to click your link to a landing page with an eBook on homemade dog food recipes. You can then direct them to Amazon’s best homemade dog snacks if promoting them as an affiliate.
2. Find Popular or Hot Topics For Your Niche on the Platform’s Front Page Listing.
With that information, create a helpful (preferably long) article or manual on your site.
Then create the article’s short version as a post on your subreddits and include a link to the manual.
It’s essential to check in with your community’s moderators to confirm if you’re doing this the right way. If your post is helpful, they’ll approve it immediately.
You can also accept to receive reply notifications on your post to keep the conversation going.
Generally, these strategies aim to move potential customers away from the platform. So you can engage with them as you wish without breaking Reddit’s user guidelines.
For instance, when users willingly click your links and visit your site, you can direct them to provide their emails and join your email list. This is not something you can do freely while on the platform.
Also, remember to keep the following guidelines in mind when posting on Reddit:
Tips to Use Reddit to Build Backlinks to Your Review Site
Posting on Reddit, then linking to your review site, as described above, is one way of building backlinks to your website.
Another way is to start a subreddit about your site’s niche and content. This is known as a brand subreddit.
You can use it to provide support for your site’s users and even offer discounts in a creative way.
Also, you’ll be the site’s moderator. So you can post links to your site as you wish.
But you still have to follow Reddit’s content policy and self-promotion rules. You risk losing your source of income if you don’t.
Final Thoughts About Amazon Affiliate Marketing on Reddit
Generally, Reddit is all about community, discussions, and sharing. It’s the best for getting traffic that can turn into loyal fans for life.
Your Reddit Amazon affiliate links posting strategy has to be value-driven for you to succeed as an Associate on the platform.
Unless you go for paid advertisement, you must build your audience and cultivate it over time before marketing to them. It’s best to use an affiliate site for promotions. You can create a site from scratch or get a premade affiliate site if you don’t own a website already.
Aim to provide the best experience for users with every move you make.
Don’t try to manipulate the platform to send traffic to your affiliate offers by getting other people or influencers to upvote your content. It will lead to your downfall and might destroy your brand’s image for good.
Also, avoid competitive subreddits with millions of members when getting started. Users in such communities are generally more intolerant of promotions than others.
FAQs
Is Reddit a Good Source of Traffic?
Yes, Reddit is a good source of traffic.
The platform received approximately 1.7 billion visits in May this year, becoming one of the most-visited online sites. That’s 1.7 billion potential clicks to several affiliates’ offers online.
It’s a treasure trove for affiliate marketers willing to do the work.
What is Reddit Traffic?
Reddit traffic refers to visitors coming to your website from the Reddit platform.
Is Reddit Good for SEO?
Yes, Reddit is good for SEO. Most of the sites’ popular pages rank top on Search Engines’ Results Pages (SERPS), including Google’s first page.
