For a long time, Twitch et Reddit were perceived as niche territories, reserved for passionate gamers or ultra-specialized communities. A reductive view. Today, these platforms are part of the digital ecosystems that truly structure conversations, uses, and audience expectationsIgnoring them risks missing out on powerful engagement dynamics and strategic weak signals.
For us communicators, the challenge is clear: to decipher usage patterns and identify concrete opportunities according to one's objectives. notoriety, image or Recruitment specialistand draw inspiration from brands that have managed to find their place accuratelyBecause the question is no longer whether Twitch and Reddit matter in the digital landscape. They do. The real question is strategic: How can brands express themselves there with credibility, relevance, and impact? 💡
Reddit, the discussion platform built for AI 🤖
Founded in 2005 within the Y Combinator incubator ecosystem, Reddit It has long had an image of being a network reserved for tech enthusiasts. But the figures now tell a different story: over 108 million daily active users, 1,1 billion monthly active users and a growth of +189% in one year worldwideIn France, the platform already has 12,8 million monthly visitors, with +72% increase in users in one yearReddit is now the 10th most visited social network in France.
The real turning point, it's artificial intelligenceBy signing agreements with Google and OpenAI to feed their language models, Reddit has become THE conversational database for generative AI.A direct consequence of this is that the platform is now cited in more than 40% of search queries linked to comparisons or user feedback on ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews. For brands, this changes everything: being present and credible on Reddit also ensures visibility in AI responses, what's called the GEO, for Generative Engine Optimization.
How does it work in practice?
Reddit is a network structured around more than 100,000 “subreddits“Sovereign thematic communities with their own rules and moderators. On these forums, algorithmic democracy governs:” Content lives or dies through user upvotes (positive votes) and downvotes (negative votes).The result: any overly promotional or polished content is rendered invisible within minutes. The platform also uses an invisible Contributor Quality Score (CQS) that assesses the authenticity of accounts. Brands that attempt astroturfing (fake reviews) see their reach reduced to nothing through shadowbanning.
💡 The We Are COM council Before taking any action on Reddit, evaluate the target subreddit using a qualification grid: post activity and recency, community guidelines, tone of discussions, audience relevance, presence of competition, and moderator responsiveness. A score below 20/30 indicates a community that is too risky for a first approach.
How are brands investing in Reddit?
Three main themes emerge: the activation de trademark, advocacy et influence, And the advertising.
Regarding direct presenceOVH created its own subreddit in 2019, run by company employees. The result: over 3,500 visitors per week and 50 contributions, complementing its traditional brand forum. Back Market opted for a different approach by creating a "company" account to proactively address discussions questioning the legitimacy of its platform. The golden rule: always be clearly identified as a brand representative, never be too promotionalBloomberg and the Washington Post, for their part, have chosen to reposition their journalists as subject matter experts in the most relevant subreddits, bringing behind-the-scenes insights and new elements to their articles.
The format WADA ( "Ask Me Anything“) is one of the platform's most powerful assets. Ubisoft in 2017Audi with its “ campaignThink Faster"animated from a race car, or the US Navy with its five-week recruitment challenge: these are all examples that show that This format demands total transparency and genuine humility.Carlos Ghosn had a painful experience with this in 2015, when users noticed that the "positive" questions were coming from newly created accounts. The negative publicity was immediate.
Employee advocacy is another promising avenue. Sonos' community manager, identified by their first name in the brand's name, has accumulated over 1,100 contributions in less than three years, blending customer support, expert discussions, and personal sharing. This personification of the brand, faceless but with a real voice, proves to be particularly effective in establishing an authentic presence in demanding communities.
On the co-creation front, Skoda handed over the keys to configuring its new Octavia to the British automotive community on Reddit, allowing users to vote on every feature of the vehicle. The “Redditor Edit" was born, actually available for purchase on the brand's website.
From an advertising perspective, Reddit stands out for its contextual targeting Where other platforms target who you are, Reddit targets what you're reading at that precise moment. A mattress brand targeting the sleep subreddit reaches 100% of an audience actively searching. This contextual targeting generates, on average, a 29% increase in click-through rate and a 59% decrease in cost per action compared to traditional methods. Finally, the phenomenon of “pubs ugly"(screenshots, memes, raw content without AI) confirms that on Reddit, authenticity trumps aesthetics, even in advertising.
Twitch, live streaming first 🎮
Launched in 2011, acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970 million, Twitch represents today over 52% of global live streaming time. The 2025 figures speak for themselves: 240 million monthly active users, 19 billion hours of content viewed, 6,9 million live accounts each monthIn France, the platform has 12 million monthly visitors, with an all-time record of 1,55 million simultaneous viewers.
Twitch is a television bidirectionalThe standard is live streaming (often lasting several hours) with an active chat where viewers interact in real time with the creator. Extensions even allow for launching polls, mini-games, or loyalty point systems directly on the video stream. The business model relies on... Subscriptions pay (Subs, approximately €5 per month) and virtual micro-donations (Bits). 72% of users are between 18 and 34 years old, a difficult audience to reach elsewhere.
On the events side, the platform can generate massive cultural momentsSqueezie's GP Explorer 3 in October 2025 attracted up to 1,4 million simultaneous viewers and generated over 1,7 billion impressions across all platforms, with brands like Durex, Alpine, and Lego as top sponsors. ZEvent 2025, a charity marathon for streamers, raised over €16 million in a single weekend.
Keys for brands on Twitch 🎯
The platform offers three investment avenues: the activation as a direct, influence and the advertising.
Few brands successfully develop their own supply chain. CNES stands out as a remarkable exception: since 2023, the space agency has been hosting several live streams per month about space, careers, gaming with engineers or role-playing games with influencers. Regular programming, in accordance with the platform's guidelines, which brings together between 100 and 3,000 participants per session.
Influence is the dominant lever. But the most effective collaborations aren't limited to simply putting a logo on a stream. EDF has thus co-designed an educational live stream using Flight Simulator to give tours of its power plants from a virtual aircraft, with an energy expert influencer.
Transavia transformed a GeoGuessr session into a travel game with streamer Domingo to appeal to a young audience.
Groupama combined first aid training and gaming with Fortnite, under the watchful eye of a real firefighter.
Santévet invited Diablo IV players to protect virtual dogs to raise awareness about animal abandonment.
The case of the Paris Fire Brigade perfectly illustrates the inventiveness that Twitch can inspire: their “FireCatchers” campaign transformed streamers' waiting screens into real-time forest fire lookouts. Viewers could report suspicious fires, with alerts sent directly to the Departmental Fire and Rescue Operations Center. A brilliant mechanism because it is entirely within the platform's conventions.
On the advertising side, the Twitch ecosystem is coupled with that of AmazonThis allows for cross-targeting with actual purchasing behavior. In France, the average CPM is around $8 (attractive compared to other European markets). But be careful: The most effective formats are those adapted to web conventions, not recycled TV commercials.65% of Twitch viewers cannot be reached on any other major social platform: the advertising argument is solid.
Key takeaways regarding his strategy
Reddit and Twitch share the same fundamental requirement: authenticityOn both platforms, communities immediately detect artificial posturing, overly polished messages, or superficial presence. For brands, this means abandoning top-down communication in favor of a useful, honest presence that respects the conventions of each space.
Before getting started, the real question isn't "should I be on Reddit or Twitch?" but "Is my brand ready to adopt their codes?"
On Reddit, it goes through the transparency radical, the 90/10 rule (provide value before requesting a conversion), the s proactive conversations and the “Employee-as-Creator” engagement.
On Twitch, it goes through the searching for the right influencer, the design of a One device interactiveand the acceptance that the audience co-constructs the message in real time.
These platforms do not replace established channels. But They open up spaces of trust, deep commitment, and access to audiences impossible to reach elsewhere.And in a landscape where authenticity has become the rarest resource, it is worth taking a serious look at.
And you? Has your brand ever experimented with a presence on Reddit or Twitch? Share your feedback in the comments.
The replay of the meet-up and the presentation support 🗂️
