How I Got My First 60 Customers from Reddit (Without Spending a Dime on Ads)

I spent all of December 2024 with exactly zero customers.

Not because my product was bad. I had a working SaaS, clean UI, decent docs. The problem? Nobody knew it existed.

Twitter got me crickets. LinkedIn post? 12 views (2 from my mom). Posted on IH, got some upvotes but zero signups.

Then I tried Reddit. And got banned. Twice. Same week.

Yeah, that sucked.

The Brutal Truth About Reddit Marketing
Here's what I didn't get at first: Reddit absolutely hates advertising.

You can't just drop your landing page link and expect upvotes. The community will smell self-promotion instantly and downvote you into oblivion. Or permanently ban you. Both happened to me.

But here's the paradox: some founders are absolutely crushing it on Reddit. MediaFast bootstrapped to $2,000 MRR purely through Reddit posts. Howitzer (a Reddit tool) hit $5k MRR before raising seed. One founder I talked to got 60 out of his first 100 users from a single Reddit thread that hit 14k views.

So what's the secret?

The Shift: From Selling to Solving
After my second ban, I had a choice: give up on Reddit, or figure out what I was doing wrong.

I spent a week just lurking. Reading. Watching how successful founders talked about their products. Pattern I noticed:

They never sold. They solved.

Instead of "Check out my new Reddit tool!", they wrote stuff like:

"Been struggling with X for months. Tried solutions Y and Z, both sucked. Built a quick script to fix it. Made it a desktop app. Happy to share if helpful."

See the difference? One's a pitch. The other's a story.

What Actually Worked: My 3-Step Framework
Step 1: Find Where Your Customers Are Complaining
Don't post randomly. Don't spam r/entrepreneur with launch announcements.

Instead, search for keywords like:

"reddit marketing tools"
"how to find customers on reddit"
"reddit scraper alternatives"
But not just in obvious subreddits. I went deeper - r/Entrepreneur, r/AskMarketing, r/GrowthHacking, r/B2BMarketing.

Found threads where people were actively asking "How do I monitor Reddit for keywords?" or "Anyone know a good Reddit research tool?"

These are GOLD. These people have the problem RIGHT NOW.

Step 2: Provide Value First (70%), Mention Product Last (30%)
Here's my comment template that worked:

"Yeah I struggled with this too.

Tried building a Python scraper with PRAW but hit rate limits after 100 requests. Then tried web scraping but Reddit's Cloudflare kept blocking me. Super annoying.

What worked: I built a desktop tool that runs locally. No rate limits because it uses your own IP. Has filters for dates, karma, keywords - basic stuff but saves hours.

I call it Wappkit Reddit. UI could use work tbh but it gets the job done. Has a 3-day trial if you want to test it, then $14/month with code BNWPJRLVJH for 30% off.

Not perfect, but beats spending 3 hours manually scrolling."

Notice what I did:

✅ Shared my own struggle (relatability)
✅ Mentioned failed attempts (credibility)
✅ Positioned tool as "scrappy solution" not "ultimate product"
✅ Admitted flaws ("UI could use work")
✅ Focused on time saved, not features
This comment style got me 60% of my early users.

Step 3: Scale with Tools (Manual Search Doesn't Scale)
Here's the problem: manually searching Reddit every day is exhausting.

After two weeks of this, I realized I needed automation. Started using the same tool I built to:

Set up keyword alerts ("reddit marketing", "find customers")
Filter by subreddits and engagement (5+ comments)
Sort by newest to catch threads early
Get daily digests
Saves me about 10 hours a week. Tool pays for itself in saved time.

The Results: 60 Customers in 45 Days
Here's the breakdown:

Week 1-2: Got banned twice (learning phase)
Week 3: First 5 customers from one well-placed comment
Week 4: Another 15 customers from 3 threads
Week 5-6: 40 more from consistent engagement

Total: 60 customers in 45 days. Zero ad spend.

Conversion rate: About 20% of clicks signed up for trial. About 30% of trials converted to paid.

Not amazing numbers, but way better than my $500 Facebook Ads experiment that got me 2 signups and 1 chargeback.

What Doesn't Work (Save Your Time)
Tested a bunch of stuff that failed:

❌ Posting in r/SideProject or r/IMadeThis - Only gets you other founders, not paying customers
❌ Reddit Ads - Spent $200, got 50 clicks, 0 signups
❌ Stealth marketing with fake accounts - Got caught, shadow banned, not worth it

The Real Strategy: Be Useful, Not Promotional
Founders who succeed on Reddit all follow the same playbook:

Solve problems publicly. Share knowledge. Write detailed answers. Become "that helpful person."
Mention products naturally. Don't make posts ABOUT your product. Make posts about solving a problem where your product is one possible solution.
Admit limitations. "Not perfect, but works for me" beats "revolutionary AI-powered solution" every time.
Follow up in DMs. If someone's interested, move to DMs. Offer to help them set up. Be human.
Track what works. Not all subreddits convert equally. Double down on what works.
The Unsexy Truth
Reddit isn't a "growth hack."

It's not a magic button where you post once and get 1000 customers.

It's a grind. You need to show up consistently, provide value without expecting anything back, build reputation over weeks, get comfortable with rejection.

But here's why it works:

Reddit users have HIGH INTENT.

When someone searches "best reddit marketing tool" on Google, they're actively looking for solutions. And if your comment from 6 months ago ranks in Google results (which happens more than you think), you get customers on autopilot.

That's the compound effect. One good comment brings customers for months.

If I Could Go Back
One thing I'd tell myself before starting:

"Stop trying to sell. Start trying to help."

The 60 customers didn't come from perfect sales copy or growth hacks. They came from me genuinely helping people solve Reddit research problems, and mentioning my tool as one possible solution.

Not revolutionary. But it works.

If you're building a SaaS and wondering where to find first customers, give Reddit a shot. Just remember:

Don't spam
Don't hard-sell
Do provide value
Do be patient
And maybe avoid getting banned three times like I did. Learn from my mistakes.

Building a Reddit tool yourself? Wappkit Reddit has a 3-day unlimited trial. After that $19.99/month, but use code BNWPJRLVJH for 30% off ($13.99). Pays for itself if it saves you even one hour of Reddit scrolling.