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Reddit is a vast space full of interesting discussions. People go there to ask for help, share their experiences, or connect with like-minded people.
More and more people ditch google in favor of Reddit when they look for a solution to their problems. That's because on Reddit there is an organic discussion of people who might experience a similar problem and have already found a solution.
For example, if I look for the best tool to record podcasts remotely, I type "remote podcast tool Reddit" into google. I am then scanning through the top results on google and diving deep into Reddit conversations. Listening to what tools people use and why they love/hate them.
I trust the organic discussion more than a biased SEO-optimized article (are you reading one? :D)
That's why Reddit is a great place to get your first customers. They are probably already there, looking to solve a problem you are solving with your product.
First, let's understand Reddit. Reddit has subreddits to segment the vast forum into specific sub-forums. As a Redditor, you join specific subreddits that fit your interests.
If you are building SaaS for podcasters, you may join r/SaaS and r/entrepreneur but also r/podcasting, r/podcast and r/PodcastGuestExchange.
Each subreddit has its own rules and mods. Rules are defined and enforced by mods. It's essential to read the rules of each subreddit before you start engaging, as evading them might get you banned.
Reddit has karma. A core concept to measure the user's popularity. Essentially it keeps the score of your profile. If you post good posts which get upvotes, your karma goes up. If you get downvotes, your karma goes down. The same goes for comments. It's also subreddit-specific.
If you join a new subreddit and post your product as a shameless plug, mods will likely take it down. First, you want to build karma by commenting on others' posts and sharing your product after a while, so you are already an established community member.
Let's give a quick example. You are building a tool for podcasters. You want to be part of r/podcasting, r/podcast, and r/PodcastGuestExchange.
Spend time in the community, listening to what people talk about. What problems do they have? What tools do they love to use? What posts get the most upvotes?
All this can give you important data about how your target audience thinks and the market's current state. This is powerful for product validation as well as market research.
(understanding what people expect from Reddit)
Redditors, in general, hate spam and self-promotion. The community is proud to filter spammers and bots. And for the right reason. That keeps the discussion clean and helpful.
Do not think of Reddit as a place to shamelessly plug your product and get leads. You will be hated and probably banned.
🧠 Always provide value, and offer help. Be another Redditor who helps others and plug your product when it makes sense.
Be the expert in your problem space. As a startup founder or indie hacker, you are likely trying to solve a specific problem, and you know much more about it than others.
Jump into relevant conversations and share your expertise. Be genuinely helpful. And then plug your product in if it makes sense.
You would be surprised how this turns the tables around. Now you are not the spammer. Now you are a helpful person who genuinely helped someone solve a problem. Getting rewards and thankful comments is quite common.
Boom, now Reddit is your new marketing channel. Requiring work, but with visible results and scalable!
Figure out in what subreddits your target audience spends the most time. Be part of every relevant conversation and reply to users who fit your ideal customer profile.
We also use Surfkey to stay on top of every relevant conversation on Reddit. It's a huge time saver as it automatically scans Reddit and sends you a notification whenever a post or comment is relevant to your business and use case.
That way, you can be part of every relevant conversation. Providing value, offering help, and plugging your product if it makes sense.
Reddit is a great way to find users for your product. It's powerful in the early stage. You are trading your time and expertise for happy customers.
We managed to get 100 super-relevant customers from Reddit in 2 weeks by jumping into every relevant conversation. It's a great way to generate leads as well.
Later, Reddit is strong for brand awareness and a deeper understanding of your problem space.
Good luck!
Type in topic of interest, your competitors, your brand to set a new keyword watchdog
Whenever your KWs are mentioned in posts, comments, usernames or URLs. btw you can scope subreddits as well 😌
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