Marketing & Selling on Reddit? (Without Pissing People Off)

[DoTheWork]

Hey guys,

Two weeks ago I started a subreddit that attracts my target audience. I've grown it to 540 members and it continues to grow each day.

Reddit seems like a very powerful tool for marketing since you can build very tight, dedicated communities around your niche. The problem is that people on Reddit hate self-promotion, especially when little or no value is given. They will come together and tear you down if you do it wrong!

I'm eager to start marketing my services there (again, on my OWN subreddit), but I don't want to get backlash from the audience I've created.

I'm offering website management & maintenance services to online publishers (blogs, etc.). I've just built out a list of one-time services and am making everything under $50 free for new customers, so there is value being given upfront. These services are very specific things that my audience wants and asks about frequently (common pain points).

The objective for my one-time services is to get them familiar with my brand and get them on an email nurture list, then eventually to sell my monthly website maintenance plans.

Has anyone had experience with marketing on Reddit like this? What's a good way to bring these people into my ecosystem? This seems like untapped potential.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Great topic, thanks for posting it.

 

[Jobless]

If manage your own subreddit, you can curate it however you want. If someone complains, you can remove their comment/post. If however you ban them completely, they will notice and probably get mad. There is a lot of spam, 'corruption', censorship, manipulation, guerilla marketing, bot accounts on reddit. That said, you can also use the approach of 100% honesty/openess, and the audience will perceive it positively if you understand and identify with their pain points.

Don't ask for emails or ask people to click a link. That is push marketing. You need to pull them in. Get them to ask you for the link, the email list. This makes them invested and creates social proof / pressure.

 

[DoTheWork]

If manage your own subreddit, you can curate it however you want. If someone complains, you can remove their comment/post. If however you ban them completely, they will notice and probably get mad. There is a lot of spam, 'corruption', censorship, manipulation, guerilla marketing, bot accounts on reddit. That said, you can also use the approach of 100% honesty/openess, and the audience will perceive it positively if you understand and identify with their pain points.

Don't ask for emails or ask people to click a link. That is push marketing. You need to pull them in. Get them to ask you for the link, the email list. This makes them invested and creates social proof / pressure.

That's true. I just don't like to "censor" people who make negative comments (unless it's something that obviously needs to be removed).

Openness and being casual is the approach that I'm leaning towards for sure. You definitely can't get away with "salesy" language on Reddit.

I would like to pin a post underneath the welcome message that mentions the free services I have available for the community. I'll have to be careful with how I write the copy, though. I still think it's very challenging to do it even though I understand Reddit culture fairly well.

 

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[Yula]

I've been writing in subreddits for the past few months now in my niche subreddits.

The problem is that people on Reddit hate self-promotion, especially when little or no value is given. They will come together and tear you down if you do it wrong!

This is 100% correct!

The framework I'm currently following for "acceptable" self-promotion in these communities is as follows:

- Create a high-value post (quite easy to do since it's Reddit)

- Engage with the community in the comments

- ONLY once it's a logical response, add your self-promotion link

Reddit is notorious for being filled with haters, especially in the subreddits I'm posting in...

But this way of self-promotion has only gotten me positive feedback, and a lot of free impressions!

 

[Andy Black]

Get them to ask

I've not been on Reddit, but this ^^^ is what's worked for me over the years in Facebook groups and forums.

Bounce around helping people, supporting people, and engaging in conversation in the comments. Add value. Eventually people will ask for things from you. So now you give people what they actually want, and you're not pushing anything.

The trick for me is to be in groups I enjoy being in. It doesn't work if you don't enjoy just hanging out in the group.

Also, there's something magic about helping people in the replies again and again and again. Eventually you get better at replying, and can then post a thread you refer to when the same questions crop up in future. It means those threads are "battle tested", and you'll continue to link people to them for years to come.

Ha. I even did a thread on this:

HOT! - MARKETING - How to use forums (and Facebook groups)

How to use forums (and Facebook groups) I'm going to braindump some of my learnings about using Forums and Facebook groups. For those trying to "validate a need" (I kinda hate that phrase), then forums and Facebook groups are a fantastic resource. Not only do people nicely group themselves...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[DoTheWork]

I've been writing in subreddits for the past few months now in my niche subreddits.


This is 100% correct!

The framework I'm currently following for "acceptable" self-promotion in these communities is as follows:

- Create a high-value post (quite easy to do since it's Reddit)

- Engage with the community in the comments

- ONLY once it's a logical response, add your self-promotion link

Reddit is notorious for being filled with haters, especially in the subreddits I'm posting in...

But this way of self-promotion has only gotten me positive feedback, and a lot of free impressions!

When you say "only once it's a logical response," I'm assuming you mean only include the link when someone in the comments specifically asks for something highly relevant to the link?

Such as "where can I learn to do this?"

 

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[Yula]

When you say "only once it's a logical response," I'm assuming you mean only include the link when someone in the comments specifically asks for something highly relevant to the link?

Such as "where can I learn to do this?"

Correct! If they reply with an add-on to your post to make the thread more valuable, just say thanks or go more into detail.

This was a result of one of the posts I made:



The post got 46 upvoted and 38 replies, including mine. I've replied to 3 comments with some added value and my link.

This post alone brought me 40 sign-ups on my email list.

 

[Kevin88660]

I remember creating a sub-section for promotion and community building at same time but got banned without any explanation given.

While I have a lot of organic traffic on tiktok and there have zero issue with promotion.

The rules are not very clear in Reddit. I had zero issue is any forum or social media elsewhere.

 

[DoTheWork]

Update:
Started reading some stuff about monetizing subreddits which leaves me pretty confused.

Reddit's user agreement states: "You may not perform moderation actions in return for any form of compensation, consideration, gift, or favor from third parties;"

It seems like a confusing gray area where it is unclear whether or not you can earn money from your subreddit in any way.

My original idea was to pin a post listing my services (and the free services) that I have available to my audience, but that seems risky since it may violate the user agreement.

Regardless, taking the approach that @Andy Black mentioned seems like the best way to go. More trustworthy and you don't have to worry about violating the user agreement.

Bounce around helping people, supporting people, and engaging in conversation in the comments. Add value. Eventually people will ask for things from you. So now you give people what they actually want, and you're not pushing anything.

Another idea -- I have a free website maintenance course and could offer similar, valuable long-form content for people in my audience.

I could write some very helpful articles for my demographic and list them out as resources in a stickied reddit post.

But again, does this count as monetizing by subreddit against the user agreement?

 

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[MitchC]

Update:
Started reading some stuff about monetizing subreddits which leaves me pretty confused.

Reddit's user agreement states: "You may not perform moderation actions in return for any form of compensation, consideration, gift, or favor from third parties;"

It seems like a confusing gray area where it is unclear whether or not you can earn money from your subreddit in any way.

My original idea was to pin a post listing my services (and the free services) that I have available to my audience, but that seems risky since it may violate the user agreement.

Regardless, taking the approach that @Andy Black mentioned seems like the best way to go. More trustworthy and you don't have to worry about violating the user agreement.


Another idea -- I have a free website maintenance course and could offer similar, valuable long-form content for people in my audience.

I could write some very helpful articles for my demographic and list them out as resources in a stickied reddit post.

But again, does this count as monetizing by subreddit against the user agreement?

I think that just means no one can pay you to be a moderator. Or no one can pay you to moderate a comment.

Like I’ll pay you $1000 a week to moderate this sub for me.

Or I’ll pay you $1000 to remove that comments.

I don’t think it means you can’t self promote or run and moderate a sub for the sake of self promotion.

I would treat your sub as a community because that’s what reddit is. Use it as a means to build authority and social proof. Do the selling outside of reddit where it’s more appropriate.

If you had something to link them to that was appropriate like a YouTube or blog, people can naturally go from that to reaching out for a sales call or whatever the next step is. Once you’re on a YouTube video or blog post it’s more expected to see a call to action and some self promotion.

I wouldn’t just say hey go to this blog post it answers it. I’d answer the problem in detail in the comment, and then at the end say if you want more information here’s a blog I wrote about it.

I don’t post on reddit at all so I don’t have any other examples but pride and pinion have done a good job of social media and authority.

Viral watch videos on YouTube that are pure information and entertainment no selling.

A sub reddit named after them with what seems to be no self promotion just conversation about watches and maybe the YouTube channel.

Naturally with this much authority and trust in a shady industry, when people are ready to buy a watch who are they going to reach out to?

 

[DoTheWork]

I think that just means no one can pay you to be a moderator. Or no one can pay you to moderate a comment.

Like I’ll pay you $1000 a week to moderate this sub for me.

Or I’ll pay you $1000 to remove that comments.

I don’t think it means you can’t self promote or run and moderate a sub for the sake of self promotion.

I would treat your sub as a community because that’s what reddit is. Use it as a means to build authority and social proof. Do the selling outside of reddit where it’s more appropriate.

If you had something to link them to that was appropriate like a YouTube or blog, people can naturally go from that to reaching out for a sales call or whatever the next step is. Once you’re on a YouTube video or blog post it’s more expected to see a call to action and some self promotion.

I wouldn’t just say hey go to this blog post it answers it. I’d answer the problem in detail in the comment, and then at the end say if you want more information here’s a blog I wrote about it.

I don’t post on reddit at all so I don’t have any other examples but pride and pinion have done a good job of social media and authority.

Viral watch videos on YouTube that are pure information and entertainment no selling.

A sub reddit named after them with what seems to be no self promotion just conversation about watches and maybe the YouTube channel.

Naturally with this much authority and trust in a shady industry, when people are ready to buy a watch who are they going to reach out to?

From what I've read, it's still a bit unclear. It seems that some people have had their subreddits closed or banned even in situations where it seems like it would be fine.

It says, "You may not perform moderation actions in return for any form of compensation." The act of owning and running a subreddit could be considered a "moderation action," some people argue.

Anyway, still true that not directly promoting or linking to services is the way to go. People will seek you out.

 

[Andy Black]

People will seek you out.

My preference is to leave breadcrumbs for the people who *want* to seek you out.

 

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[DoTheWork]

My preference is to leave breadcrumbs for the people who *want* to seek you out.

What does that look like in practice? Can you give an example?

 

[Andy Black]

What does that look like in practice? Can you give an example?

This forum for instance. I've a course I listed in the marketplace. It's in my signature too. I don't mention it anywhere else in the forum.

 

[DoTheWork]

Quick update:
My subreddit is roughly 3 weeks old now and has 628 members. The engagement is very good.

So far I've:

• Delivered 2 project estimates: $249/month and $795 for a one-time project
• Sold a one-time project for $85

Not bad. Although the upfront conversations I had to invest in to give those estimates and make the $85 took a large deal of time, but this is only the start. Also, these people may need much more from me in the future. I'm not expecting profitable results yet.

Seems like this might work well after it has time to snowball.

Will be posting a more comprehensive update soon in my progress thread: EXECUTION - [PROGRESS THREAD] (24 y/o) Sick and cognitively impaired for 2 years... Doing the work anyway

 

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[DoTheWork]

Not sure if this was news that everyone heard about or if it's just me because of my industry, so I figured I'd share anyway.

Google strikes $60 million deal with Reddit, allowing search giant to train AI models on human posts

Google wants access to Reddit users' "authentic, human conversations" to help train its artificial intelligence tools.

www.cbsnews.com

Not only has Reddit made this AI deal with Google, but Reddit has been rewarded with very high search rankings since September 2023.

Many websites have lost major organic traffic since then, including one of mine. I've lost a few hundred thousand dollars because of traffic loss to Reddit (which would've been life-changing money for me).

It's becoming very difficult rank in Google, they're always crowding the search results with more garbage, and some people think search will be replaced entirely by AI.

We look back on Facebook, Google, and other platforms and tell ourselves, "man... If only I got in early on that."

Could Reddit be this platform NOW?

 

[anti_businessman]

This was a really great thread to read. I have been using reddit to grow my newsletter on a new reddit account and it has worked reasonably well. I had to be really careful reading the subreddit rules and just made valuable posts and at the end, I would say something like "follow my journey here". But nothing compared to your numbers.

How did you grow your subreddit so quickly? Those are really great numbers, especially in the space of a few weeks. Were you like cross posting or something?

 

[anti_businessman]

Given reddit is community driven, you could just continue to build a loyal and engaging relationship with your community and add them to various aspects of your funnel (ie. newsletter, email lists) and keep building that relationship with the occasional pitch.

People (including myself as a customer) get turned off when it's an immediate sales pitch. But if you're constantly providing value and you are authentic, you start to appreciate the sales pitch and go, yeah this guy's most likely going to be worth it because he knows what he's talking about.

 

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[anti_businessman]

Correct! If they reply with an add-on to your post to make the thread more valuable, just say thanks or go more into detail.

This was a result of one of the posts I made:

View attachment 54657

The post got 46 upvoted and 38 replies, including mine. I've replied to 3 comments with some added value and my link.

This post alone brought me 40 sign-ups on my email list.

That's really impressive. I can only get like 10 at a time, even though I get 30 upvotes on a post. How did you introduce the link? Was it like a reply to a top comment?

 

[Choate]

I think it starts with characterizing the target audience of your average general niche subreddit: they are generally intelligent, curious, adverse to upfront marketing, consume content around the subject they enjoy, and moreso, do enjoy supporting small businesses.

I'm not talking about your average user on /r/amitheasshole, /r/boston, or a gaming subreddit but niche subreddits. There are so many ecosystems of people on that website, it just so happens that they sometimes interact outside of their bubble.

If I were in your shoes, the sort of "upfront value" you need to deliver has to be for valuable content shared on Reddit: you need to make threads and make them worth reading. The audience doesn't give a f*ck about your off-Reddit upfront value. They will see through it. The upfront value needs to be on Reddit itself, whether you're explaining how to do something or giving insights to the industry or something else. It needs to be juicy content. After that, you can write a little snippet about yourself at the end, which needs to be super f*cking transparent, humble, and upfront, and only then you can link to your services or ask for the sale.

I grew a subreddit to 500 members as well and shared very long form articles on a niche topic out of passion in around 2018, ended up getting thousands of views and lots of traffic directed to my blog.

 

[envykyro]

Hey guys,

Two weeks ago I started a subreddit that attracts my target audience. I've grown it to 540 members and it continues to grow each day.

Reddit seems like a very powerful tool for marketing since you can build very tight, dedicated communities around your niche. The problem is that people on Reddit hate self-promotion, especially when little or no value is given. They will come together and tear you down if you do it wrong!

I'm eager to start marketing my services there (again, on my OWN subreddit), but I don't want to get backlash from the audience I've created.

I'm offering website management & maintenance services to online publishers (blogs, etc.). I've just built out a list of one-time services and am making everything under $50 free for new customers, so there is value being given upfront. These services are very specific things that my audience wants and asks about frequently (common pain points).

The objective for my one-time services is to get them familiar with my brand and get them on an email nurture list, then eventually to sell my monthly website maintenance plans.

Has anyone had experience with marketing on Reddit like this? What's a good way to bring these people into my ecosystem? This seems like untapped potential.

option 1 : yes , basically post about the problem your produt solves,.. and then , on a dummy account , talk about the brand , and how it saved you... talk about the competitors you tried aswell

Option 2 : Ask if "Brand" is worth it , have a little rant , and then get your dummy accounts to validate it

Option 3: "i Finally tried "Brand" , heres my first impressions"

----

I am making a list of cheeky ways to promote my brand on reddit , alsooo this works as SEO too , since the new generation use " How to solve X - Reddit" or "How to solve X - Tiktok" instead of google.

 

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[Yula]

That's really impressive. I can only get like 10 at a time, even though I get 30 upvotes on a post. How did you introduce the link? Was it like a reply to a top comment?

Yes, exactly! But it was pure luck that the top comment ended up being somewhat of a question about the platform.

Build in public sort of posts work perfectly as well. I made a post yesterday celebrating our first revenue and already got like 150+ upvotes with 50K organic impressions.

I just mentioned the name of our App and got a lot of new signups!