How are you finding users on Reddit?

by bradley

I want to try to acquire new customers/users by posting my app on an applicable subreddit.

One thing I've started to notice is that most subreddits have rules against advertising. Since that seems to be the case, how are you all going about acquiring users on reddit? Or is reddit a channel I need to disregard at this point.

bradley

posted to

Growth

on April 17, 2021

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Hey Bradley, I'm a big fan of Reddit! I'm using to validate my ideas, get my first users and feedback and even get recurrent traffic.

I wrote a full blog post about it: https://blog.spreadtheworld.net/posts/get-first-users-reddit/

TL;DR on how to find users:
- Look for a small reddit sub, but super targeted. (i.e. /r/nocode if you're building a nocode tool)
- Post your project there and get the feedback - small reddit are more ok with self-promo than the bog ones.
- Iterate on the feedback, share your updates with the community. Also, help the people there. Try to understand what works.
- When you're comfortable with Reddit, move to bigger subs. Don't self promote, create some valuable content and share it instead.
Last tip: Don't be afraid by Redditors. I know they have a pretty bad reputation but they're nice most of the time if you don't spam!
xavier

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3 years ago
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I pretty much gave up with reddit. My market is focussed towards developers and I don't know if developers are very fixed in their ways or something else, but usually got quite rude responses or instantly got blocked, even on subreddits that were focussed on telling people about what you are working on which was a little odd to me.

Not sure if maybe part of the problem was my reddit name was the product name instead of me personally, maybe with hindsight I should have used a personal name may have come across better but not sure.

boardy

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3 years ago
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  If you need to find developers here is a cool trick. Go to fiverr.com and search for a keyword in your niche..you will get listings from many different devs....copy their usernames into skype search and 90% of the times they are a match..voila!
  
  pablosvg
  
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  3 years ago
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My tips for reddit:
- each sub is different, read rules + look at post format before making your own
- don't make your first post in the sub self-promotional. you'll get modded
- add value to the community in your post. don't do a link post, write out your content. make a reference to your website in an indirect way (add to a comment, or at the end with a "for more content like this go here")
- self-promotion is much less moderated in comments rather than submissions
- post just in a few subs at a time, with different titles
- stick around for the comments
- ease your expectations. some posts will go nowhere, some will blow up for little reason
I'm building GummySearch for indie hackers to discover reddit communities for their niche, and discover conversations with their target customers. If you'd like, sign up for the beta or reach out to me on Twitter and I'm happy to discuss more reddit strategies with you.
foliofed

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3 years ago
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Yeah - this one is pretty tricky.

Subreddits like r/startups are designed for this, but this feels more like you are shouting into the faces of other founders only.

Whereas the subreddits related to your niche are a lot more closed on anything that comes across as promotional. Even when trying to be subtle and helpful, I've had posts deleted that I thought landed on the safe side of things.

The obvious win is when someone else posts about your product and says "hey - have you guys tried X?" but even then that can be dodgy.

At the same time - everyone raves about it being a way to get early adopters.

Like all social, a series of failures intermingled with the occasional win.

jcowley

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3 years ago
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  but this feels more like you are shouting into the faces of other founders only.
  
  I feel like that is so true about IndieHackers too but it comes across in a different way somehow. IH is clearly better and more support all around, but it seems the tools for founders/hackers, by hackers seem to be the most well received
  
  MikePrivette
  
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  3 years ago
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  Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with this.
  
  maker256
  
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  3 years ago
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    Its pretty much a grind - posting to as many places as you can as only a few will get through. You can try and be smart about it so instead of saying "Hey I built X" say "Who else struggles with Y?" and then in the comments offer a solution. It's tricky, therefore sometimes its worth realising if its worth your time, or if you'd rather just spend the £100 on paid advertising or a shoutout etc.
    
    JLenny
    
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    3 years ago
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I advise Syften [1] users to monitor Reddit for mentions of their competitors. If someone mentioned a competitor and they didn't get banned then it's fair game for you to mention your product too :)

[1] https://syften.com

akfaew

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2 years ago
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What about finding users that post in a relevant subreddit and messaging them directly? Or will that get you banned as well?

martindbp

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3 years ago
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i don't really use reddit, personally, for finding users.

8bit

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3 years ago
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Could you please tell more about your app?

Vo_Alex

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3 years ago
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