Reddit Inc (NYSE:RDDT) is in the “early innings” of international growth and remains focused on three priorities to boost active unique users, Chief Financial Officer Drew Vollero tells Benzinga.
So far, it’s working. The company reported 17% year-over-year growth in daily active unique users in the first quarter.
“Growing daily active uniques is a big focus for us,” Vollero said, citing CEO Steve Huffman‘s goal of increasing everyday usage of Reddit. “When we look at how to move that needle, I think it comes down to improving three things: reach, frequency, and depth of engagement.”
Vollero says Reddit already has great reach, but has more it can do to increase its 200 million U.S. weekly users and 500 million global weekly users.
“We are using machine translation to make the platform more accessible to a global audience and searchable by local search engines,” Vollero said. Reddit currently translates into more than 35 languages.
For frequency, Vollero said the company is trying to convert weekly users into daily users by improving notifications and personalization tools to “give them a compelling reason to keep coming back to Reddit.”
“We’re focused on lowering barriers to posting in communities and expanding our video capabilities, including our recent rollout of video in comments.”
Video, Vollero says, is also one of the keys to depth of engagement.
International User Growth on Deck
Reddit has beaten analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share in each quarter since going public in March 2024.
The company recently reported international revenue growth of 76% year-over-year in the first quarter, outpacing the 67% year-over-year growth in U.S. revenue.
“Since going public two years ago, international has consistently been one of the fastest-growing parts of the business,” Vollero said. “We’ve been encouraged by this growth, and still believe we’re in the early innings.”
The Reddit CFO said investments in machine translation and improved advertiser adoption bolstered international revenue growth in Q1. Machine translation is making Redditt “more accessible and relevant to users around the world,” he added.
The company opened local sales offices to drive international user growth and advertising. It also works with third-party sellers to expand its ad business.
“Reddit is strongest in developed markets more similar to the U.S., like Western Europe, Canada, and Australia,” Vollero said.
Photo: JarTee / Shutterstock
