Reddit marketing strategy: 8 organic ways to promote your brand without being salesy

Creators usually turn to popular social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc., when they want to connect with their audience.

But this discounts the value of creating a Reddit marketing strategy.

Marketing on Reddit is often overlooked but can be a treasure trove of community and authentic interaction that helps you grow your business.

Learn exactly how to use Reddit and the promotional strategies that will help you market your creator business on the platform.

How is Reddit useful to creators?

The aspects of Reddit that make it enjoyable for individuals—reading real perspectives and experiences on topics you care about—are the same that make it useful to creators.

Since you can join niche communities on Reddit, it’s a great place to learn what your audience cares about, become a thought leader, and generate new ideas.

Here’s why you should create a Reddit marketing strategy:

• Connect with a relevant audience: Subreddits are curated spaces where you’re guaranteed to find people who fit into a particular target market or demographic.
• Stay informed about your niche: Browsing subreddits and reading comments reveals the news, trends, and perspectives that dominate your niche.
• Gain inspiration and ideas: Creating can be a two-way street when you use Reddit to find inspiration and ideas from other people’s viewpoints.
• Establish a reputation for trust and knowledge: You have to put in the work to use Reddit successfully as a creator, but as a result, you build a reputation as someone worth listening to.
• Gather valuable feedback: Creator businesses are often solitary, so sharing ideas and progress with a Reddit community helps you improve.
• Monitor and improve your brand image: If you’re a creator with a large following, people might talk about you or your work on Reddit. You can connect with fans or respond to criticism if you come across it.
• Connect with fellow creators: Running a solo creator business can be lonely, but finding fellow creators to learn from and collaborate with helps.

Reddit basics: what you need to know to get started

Reddit works differently than Instagram or Facebook, so it helps to know a few terms and ideas before you start.

• Subreddits: These are the communities within Reddit, listed with ‘r/’ like r/pics or r/funny. The variety and size of subreddits vary widely, even within an interest. For example, r/gardening has 6.7 million users, while r/rosegardening has 228. Sometimes, smaller subreddits are better for creators (more on that later).
• Posts: Reddit users can create text posts to generate discussion or post a link to an outside website.
• Upvotes and downvotes: Redditors can boost comments or posts they like with an upvote or disagree with them with a downvote. Think of it like a thumbs up or thumbs down.
• Karma: A score that measures your contributions. Upvotes on your posts or comments earn you karma.
• Reddiquette: These are the values users should follow. Basically, if you want to be a good Reddit user, follow Reddiquette.
• OP (original poster): The person who creates a post.
• AMA (Ask Me Anything): A Q&A style of post.
• Mod (moderator): An individual who manages a subreddit and makes sure posts and members follow the subreddit’s rules (since each one is unique).

8 simple Reddit marketing strategies to build community engagement

We’ve already touched on a few of Reddit’s quirks, one of which is that experiences and rules vary widely between subreddits. Still, there are general best practices that you should follow if you want to use Reddit to build your creator community.

1. Find relevant subreddits
2. Interact with existing threads
3. Post valuable content
4. Repost across subreddits
5. Work on your karma
6. Host an AMA every now and then
7. Branch out if you’re multilingual
8. Create your own subreddit

1. Identify subreddits where your target audience hangs out

Getting the most out of Reddit is all about finding your community.

Ideally, your target audience hangs out in the subreddits you already use and enjoy. If not, use the Reddit search bar to look for your niche.
Another way to find relevant subreddits is to Google a question, phrase, or topic and add ‘Reddit’ at the end.

When you’re picking subreddits to use, look for engagement over size. It’s easier to stand out and connect with people in an active, smaller subreddit than in one with more than a million members.

Interacting with large subreddits is still useful, but you should mix in smaller communities, too. Also, pay attention to how frequently members post and how active the comments are.

Subreddits where different creator types may find their ideal clients

• Subreddits for artists: r/paintingtutorials, r/drawing, and r/illustration
• Subreddits for authors: r/authors, r/selfpublish, and r/writing
• Subreddits for bloggers: r/Blogging, r/bloggingbusiness , and r/juststart
• Subreddits for coaches: r/lifecoaching, r/coaching, and r/consulting
• Subreddits for course creators: r/coursecreators, and r/entrepreneur
• Subreddits for marketers: r/marketing, r/marketinghelp, and r/digitalmarketing
• Subreddits for musicians: r/musicians, r/WeAreTheMusicMakers, and r/musicbusiness
• Subreddits for newsletter creators: r/newsletters and r/emailmarketing
• Subreddits for podcasters: r/podcasters and r/podcasting
• Subreddits for YouTubers: r/youtubers, r/SmallYoutubers, and r/NewTubers

2. Interact with existing threads

Instead of wondering what you should post, you can jump into a conversation that’s already happening on Reddit.

In the blogging subreddit, we found a user asking about starting a new blog. This would be a perfect opportunity to contribute to the conversation and gain upvotes.

Pro tip: As you get used to posting on Reddit, we recommend replying to five different threads for every post you publish. This will help you get in the habit of using Reddit not only to market yourself but also interact with people through the comments.

3. Post valuable content in subreddits

In addition to responding to existing posts, you should contribute and create new, valuable posts.

You can create Reddit posts about:

• Questions you have
• Ideas or strategies you’ve tried
• Interesting content you find (that isn’t your own)
• Tips and lessons you’ve learned
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Discussion starters about industry news

Always check the subreddit rules before you post, though.

Each subreddit has its own rules, and while an AMA post is welcome in one group, it might need special pre-approval in another.

There are also different rules about self-promotion. For example, some subreddits don’t let you link to your blog or newsletter, while others allow it in certain instances.

In general, you need to be active in a subreddit before you ever consider linking to or mentioning your business specifically. Reddit isn’t a place where you can show up, drop a link to your new course, and leave.

As long as you show up genuinely and consistently, it’s a great place to connect, though.

Experiment with different types of posts, like images vs. text vs. links, and also what time and how frequently you post.

4. Repost content across related subreddits

If you see something interesting on one subreddit, try sharing it on a related subreddit to earn karma.
Similarly, if one of your original posts creates good discussion in one community, share it with another and ask for their perspectives.

5. Work on your karma

Karma is your reputation on Reddit, and it’s important if you want to establish credibility.
Occasionally check your karma on your profile, and spend time thoughtfully responding to comments and sharing helpful content to boost it.

6. Do an AMA (ask me anything)

Celebrities and public figures like Bill Gates, Keanu Reeves, and even President Barack Obama have appeared on Reddit AMAs.

Still, you don’t have to be well-known to host an educational and successful AMA. You can get started in the AMA subreddit or r/entrepreneur. Hosting AMAs is fun, and as a bonus, you often get to link to your website.

7. Don’t limit yourself to English

If you’re fluent in multiple languages, use them. Redditors from around the world and across languages can benefit from your content.

Plus, sharing information about a particular topic in a non-English post introduces you to new audiences who can’t use existing English content.

8. Create your own subreddit community

You can start a new subreddit if you don’t find one that matches your niche or want more control over community rules.

The most engaging approach is creating a subreddit adjacent to your brand but not all about you.

For example, YouTuber Jade The Libra hosts a Facebook Group called Halloween Forever that attracts people interested in her content topics.

Another option is to create a branded subreddit to connect with customers and your audience.

When buyers are frustrated with a service or product, they don’t always take it directly to a review website or the company. Sometimes, they post about it on social media or in forums like Reddit.

Being active on Reddit will allow you to approach these comments that would have otherwise gone unaddressed.

Outside of negative commentary, you can also use Reddit as a place to provide answers to potential customer questions.

Use Reddit to grow your newsletter

Reddit isn’t a good place to constantly share links to your content and products, but it is perfect for finding and engaging with an audience.

If you want to turn Redditors into customers, you need to funnel them into your email list. Here’s how:

• Add a link to your website or newsletter in your Reddit bio
• Connect with fellow creators through Reddit, and then use the Creator Network to recommend subscribers to each other
• Do occasional AMAs where you can link to your content

Getting started with an email newsletter tool is usually free, and building an engaged audience is an important step in growing a sustainable creator business. Once your Reddit friends are on your email list, then you can promote your products with a sales funnel.

Ready to start building your email list? Sign up for a free Kit account.