The results speak for themselves. The Gen 2 Spooky Season NFTs were sold out within 24 hours, with popular artists and collections like Rojom and Foustling becoming household names on the sub. Reddit has compellingly shifted its users’ mindset towards NFTs - and the masterful way in which it did so might be one for the college business books. It employed various effective strategies such as the following:

1. Distributed Freebies

It seemed like an era ago when the prevailing vibes on NFTs on this sub were overwhelmingly negative. Regular users commented how our revulsion towards NFTs seemed to be similar to the general public’s disdain for crypto. Reddit might have noticed this dismal aura on this sub. Whatever the reason was, it launched First-Gen Reddit Avatars as an airdrop. For free. Nothing to change attitudes but to drop one of these on people’s laps so that it could grow on them. There’s a rule that states how one would be inclined to view something positively if he is constantly exposed to it, even if he hates its guts in the first place. Well, if the Gen1 Reddit NFT was given to you for free, surely you would be likely to develop fond feelings for it.

2. Exclusivity

The Gen1 NFTs might be distributed for free - but here was Reddit’s ingenious move. Not every Redditor got it immediately. First, the NFT wasn’t available on the mobile app. If you were anything like me, you had to specially log on to the Reddit website and scroll down the threads and pray that you were eligible to collect the NFT. This was because you ostensibly had to have a minimum of 600 karma. So the NFT was free - only if you fulfilled the terms and conditions. This generated much hype for the NFTs because nothing stirred FOMO as much as witnessing your fellow Redditors flex their NFT one by one. Overnight, the Gen1 NFT became a status symbol. It was a badge of honour displayed proudly by people who got it earlier, shedding the NFT stereotype of ‘right click and save’.

3. Whetting Appetites

Now with public perception changing to a positive slant towards NFT, the Reddit sub was ripe for harvesting. Apparently, someone on the Reddit Collectible Avatars Discord channel leaked information on the blockchain - complete with seductive images! That’s how the rumour of an upcoming Gen2 Avatars being launched in time for Halloween spread like wildfire among Reddit users. The air of anticipation was almost palpable in the sub. People who had missed out on securing a profitable Gen1 NFT were determined not to miss out on the competition this time round.

4. Peer pressure

To raise the anticipation to a feverish pitch, Reddit never announced the exact date and time in which the Gen2 NFTs would be released. So when Redditors compared tales of how they had been foregoing sleep and staring at the browser as they were poised for action when the NFTs were ready for sale, you bet that others were motivated to do likewise. The mantra of ‘Never Again!’ seemed to be our collective motto as we sought to seek revenge and do better in terms of acquiring more desirable NFTs this time round.

The million dollar question is: what new tricks does Reddit have up its sleeves as it prepares Gen3 Reddit NFTs for a massive pool of converted and interested buyers?!