Reddit is inherently easy — suppose old-school web boards. And regardless of — or maybe due to — that simplicity, it may be overwhelming. I can’t inform you what number of rabbit holes I’ve discovered myself browsing down, solely to comprehend I’ve misplaced a ton of time or that I’m not doing what I got down to do.
Whereas the time misplaced to the scroll can really feel like simply one other social platform, pondering of Reddit like LinkedIn or Fb is a mistake, particularly whenever you put in your advertising and marketing hat. Whereas Reddit has a TON of social media advertising and marketing potential, it wants a particular technique that will help you construct belief together with your viewers — and keep away from feedback like “Good advert, Bro.”
I’ll take you thru errors to keep away from whereas promoting on Reddit so you possibly can present up authentically and benefit from your model presence on Reddit.
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Reddit Advertising Errors to Keep away from
Entrepreneurs are beginning to take Reddit critically and with good purpose. Social media platforms are more and more unpredictable. Reddit exhibits up close to the highest of most Google search outcomes, and over 101 million individuals use Reddit every day.
So, what precisely does it imply to take Reddit critically? In our 2025 State of Marketing report, 57% of entrepreneurs surveyed plan to keep up or enhance their funding in Reddit, and eight% plan to begin utilizing it for the primary time.
The indicators are clear — when you have the time and finances, Reddit is value a glance, particularly with individuals placing a rising emphasis on genuine advertising and marketing. In our 2025 research, 28.78% of entrepreneurs reported creating content material that displays model values as a high technique in 2024, and that quantity is holding sturdy in 2025.
Reddit matches proper into that shift. However earlier than you dive in, ensure you learn the room and keep away from the largest pitfalls.
Mistake #1: Treating Reddit Like “Simply One other” Social Platform
I’ve to say, utilizing the phrases “Reddit” and “social media” in the identical sentence doesn’t fairly really feel proper. Though it predates most social platforms we use at the moment and is inherently social, Reddit doesn’t have the identical polish that involves thoughts after I consider social media.
My good friend Jenn Prochaska, a copywriter and model messaging specialist, made me chortle out loud when she described Reddit as “Metallica earlier than The Black Album” as a result of it feels way more underground than mainstream.
Once I interviewed Bryan Grover and Martin Ceisel — each B2B writers and entrepreneurs — for an article exploring Reddit user demographics, they each independently referred to as it the “Wild West.”
Suffice it to say, Reddit shouldn’t be constructed for fairly images or look-at-me type advertising and marketing. As a substitute, communities count on you to tug up a chair, sit down, hear, and share one thing actual.
So, don’t copy-paste your Instagram or LinkedIn technique and suppose it would work. Redditors need you to carry worth, not shamelessly self-promote.
As Roshni Shaikh, product marketer and GTM strategist, shares, “Platforms like Reddit are the final corners of the web the place we will discover genuine experiences that aren’t shadowed by social media’s flaunty nature.”
What to do as an alternative: Lurk within the communities the place you wish to have interaction, get a way of what’s anticipated, and create a particular technique to construct genuine connections.
Mistake #2: Poorly Timed or Irrelevant Engagement
I caught up with Garrett Gottlieb, founding father of Pulse, a software designed to assist manufacturers market on Reddit by genuine conversations. He shared that timing is every thing on Reddit, and that “significantly on high-engagement posts — being among the many first commenters vastly enhances visibility and affect.”
However, being first to remark doesn’t do you any good in the event you’re participating with the incorrect conversations. Gottlieb, like others I’ve talked to, supplied phrases of warning: “Redditors rapidly detect and dismiss inauthentic promotion, so providing actual, significant worth by related conversations is essential.”
Gottlieb is fixing this drawback by guaranteeing his platform “makes use of superior logical operations (to filter out irrelevant discussions, pinpointing not simply good communities however the good locations to interact” so manufacturers may be more practical of their conversations.
What to do as an alternative: Whether or not you utilize a software that will help you “hear” and discover the suitable conversations otherwise you do all of it manually, ensure you hit the suitable mark and discover the suitable thread.
Mistake #3: Ignoring Subreddit Guidelines
Reddit seems just like the Wild West, however each subreddit has guidelines, they usually’re strictly enforced. What flies in a single group may get your publish eliminated and depart you downvoted into oblivion elsewhere.
Moderators take their roles critically, they usually’re not the one ones paying consideration. Publish the incorrect content material, and the group will roast you. As a substitute of chucking rotten tomatoes at you, they’ll make certain to humble you.
That mentioned, most communities on Reddit are inclined to worth considerate dialogue. As Prochaska explains, even when individuals disagree, the tone tends to remain extra clever and respectful, particularly in comparison with platforms like Fb. However that increased customary additionally means there’s much less tolerance for off-topic posts or low-effort content material.
What to do as an alternative: Earlier than you publish, learn the principles. Lurk a bit. Higher but, remark earlier than you create unique content material. It builds goodwill and offers you a way of how issues really work.
Mistake #4: Lacking Out on the Context
Reddit feedback aren’t remoted questions or opinions. They’re a part of threads and even bigger ongoing conversations. At a minimal, don’t soar in till you’ve learn the complete publish. Doing so is a rookie mistake, and with out the context, no matter you share may land flat and kill your credibility.
Should you’re utilizing Reddit for market analysis, don’t take one remark at face worth. The total context may help you higher perceive your viewers and the way they really feel concerning the subject at hand.
What to do as an alternative: Whether or not you’re utilizing Reddit to market your corporation or utilizing it to realize market insights, gradual your roll. Learn the unique publish and scroll by the feedback. If that you must, ask some clarifying questions. A considerate strategy will likely be rewarded.
Mistake #5: Ghosting a Dialogue
Once I’m speaking about any advertising and marketing technique, particularly e mail or social media, I usually inform individuals to keep away from hit-and-run conditions. Whereas I’m often explaining the significance of consistency and never solely displaying up when it’s time to promote, it applies to Reddit advertising and marketing, too.
The precept is identical — domesticate relationships by providing worth. Should you drop a publish after which promptly abandon ship, by no means returning to the feedback, individuals take discover. Issues occur, but when failing to stay round and have interaction turns into an ongoing problem, I can promise you that you simply’re sending the incorrect message.
What to do as an alternative: Acknowledge that Reddit shouldn’t be often a quick-win area. It’s concerning the lengthy recreation, so be sure you take part.
Mistake #6: Blatant Shilling
In all places you flip, you’re bombarded by advertising and marketing messages. So, consider me after I say that Reddit customers have seen all of it. And they aren’t right here in your advertising and marketing funnel. In case your content material feels like a pitch, Redditors will downvote it earlier than you’ve completed your sentence.
The truth is, in our latest Reddit survey, customers mentioned pretend natural posts are their #1 advertising and marketing turnoff (49.5%), way over apparent promotion (20.4%) or irrelevant content material (18.4%). It’s not simply what you say — it’s how sincere you’re being about your intentions.
“Should you’re being promotional, you lose credibility on Reddit as a result of individuals wish to hear about uncooked and actual experiences, not orchestrated posts from entrepreneurs,” says Shaikh, and he or she shared an instance of this thread the place a person requested for profession recommendation.
As a substitute of promoting something, the host shared her private expertise. She was sincere, particular, and didn’t attempt to steer the dialog towards her firm.
What to do as an alternative: Publish like an individual. Everybody I’ve spoken with echoes this recommendation. Concentrate on being a helper first, delivering priceless insights and experiences. If individuals need extra information, they’ll take a look at your profile (which you’ve optimized, proper?).
Mistake #7: Cherry Choosing Conversations
That is two-fold. If utilizing Reddit for market analysis, don’t choose and select. Make certain to get the entire image as an alternative of specializing in the items that greatest suit your narrative.
The identical goes for collaborating. It’s tempting to solely have interaction in threads that serve your model targets. However Reddit communities are too good for that. Should you’re solely displaying up when it advantages you, individuals will discover.
Finally, sure, Reddit has some individuals on the perimeter. Nonetheless, keep in mind that it’s stuffed with people who find themselves there to share, to not rank on Google. You’ll be able to be part of them.
“Reddit conversations usually embrace individuals with deep experience who establish their credentials. It’s usually extra knowledgeable and balanced than a easy Google search, and even the information, as a result of these individuals aren’t commenting for Website positioning,” says Prochaska.
What to do as an alternative: Take a wide-angle view, whether or not you’re researching or participating. Should you’re mining Reddit for insights, look past the handy quotes and recurring complaints for patterns and outliers.
And whenever you’re collaborating, present up with the identical curiosity and contribute the place it counts.
Mistake #8: Not Being Clear
Reddit doesn’t tolerate fakes, and that features your profile. Making an attempt to fly below the radar with out disclosing your model affiliation may really feel like a wise solution to keep away from detrimental publicity or downvotes. Nonetheless, it’s one of many quickest methods to lose credibility.
In keeping with our Reddit person survey, 61% of customers mentioned a model feels most genuine when it clearly identifies itself. Transparency ranked increased than even offering priceless insights (54%) or actively collaborating in dialogue threads (47%).
What to do as an alternative: Be clear about who you might be and who you characterize, beginning together with your profile. You don’t want to steer together with your model each time you remark, however don’t cover it, both. Transparency is the primary constructing block of belief on Reddit. With out it, even your most useful contributions can really feel manipulative.
When Reddit Advertising Works
Reddit advertising and marketing can work in the event you create the suitable technique for it. Should you’re hoping for fast wins or to go viral, this isn’t your greatest wager. However in the event you’re in it for credibility and belief, Reddit may be extremely efficient.
Right here’s when it tends to work greatest:
- Constructing authority and credibility in a specific niche.
- Constructing word-of-mouth buzz.
- Getting beta testers and genuine suggestions (even when it’s brutally sincere).
- You’re keen to indicate up constantly, not simply publish and disappear.
- Mining actual market analysis information.
- Placing your finger on the heart beat of business discussions (and utilizing that info to create content material).
“Reddit is highly effective for sharing reporting, storytelling, and micro-doses of perception,” says Shaikh, who explains that a lot of these posts are usually probably the most actual, which is what customers crave.
She goes on to recommend that companies think about beginning communities or subreddits across the issues they’re fixing. In different phrases, in the event you can’t discover a area, create one.
As a result of plenty of individuals I talked to are copywriters and entrepreneurs, many use Reddit for getting a deeper understanding of an issue or for message mining. It presents unfiltered language straight from individuals’s mouths.
Due to the anonymity, they don’t censor themselves. In contrast to Website positioning-optimized Google outcomes or polished LinkedIn feedback, Reddit offers you the true stuff: questions, frustrations, and moments of readability in individuals’s personal phrases.
“Reddit is a superb supply for concept technology. I’ve been in a position to look over the discussions in some related subreddits to search out widespread questions individuals ask. Along with answering them on Reddit, they’ve impressed posts I can share on social media,” says Nikita Morell, copywriter and messaging strategist for architects.
Reddit shouldn’t be a shortcut.
One of many greatest appeals Reddit has is its worth to construct belief, if and provided that you play by the principles. As a result of individuals who use it are sometimes skeptical, I discover it may be an actual proving floor for your corporation.
With no flash or glamor, there’s no solution to pretend authenticity or automate your manner into belief. By displaying up as an actual human, even whenever you characterize a model, you possibly can type actual connections and set up a terrific status.
The underside line? Give Reddit a shot in the event you’re keen to indicate up with worth and be clear. It would simply turn out to be one in all your greatest advertising and marketing channels.
