How to Go Viral on Reddit: 725,000 Views, 5.7k Upvotes, 1,000+ signups

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share the story of how we launched on Reddit, and got:

• 725,000 views
• 3,000 app downloads (iOS + Android)
• 1,500+ account registrations
• 5.7k Reddit upvotes

Stats:

You can see the thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/yrr20p/

Step 1: Adapt your app to the sub-reddit

Each sub-reddit has its own rules, and what they like and don't like.

I had built an iOS & Android App, but I wanted to launch in /r/internetisbeautiful. Unfortunately, this subreddit has rule against apps that require a download:

I considered just ignoring the rule, and posting my iOS / Android app anyway.

But I took some time browsing through the sub-reddit, and saw that the majority of the apps that did well were web apps.

People on this Reddit want to get an "Aha!" moment quickly, without friction. They want to be able to USE an app, without downloading anything.

So, I decided to double down on making the launch work. I spent about 10 hours building a web version of this app. I built it just for this specific subreddit, and deleted it after the launch (because the mobile app is a better UX.)

It seemed like a lot of work, but in the end I'm glad I did it.

Step 2: Writing the Post

The most important part of the Reddit post is the headline.

To start, I sorted the subreddit by the most popular posts of all time, and read several pages of headlines to get a "feel" for what headlines perform well in this sub-reddit.

Then, I wrote about 20x headlines. I also passed them through GPT-3 to see if an A.I. could make them better for me (it didn't really help lol.)

I put all the headlines down for a day, then came back and picked the best one a day later. Taking a break gives me "fresh eyes", and often I'm able to improve my copy a lot just by letting it rest for a little while.

Step 3: Launch Day

I didn't do anything to make the launch go well. Aside from having a unique product, having a good headline, and building the a web version of the app.

I didn't ask friends to upvote, or do any marketing for the post. The post just took off on its own.

One thing that surprised me was how SLOW going viral is. The first hour only had like 5 upvotes. The second hour had maybe 20 upvotes. Over the next 6 hours we hit a few hundred upvotes. Then it started really snowballing.

I thought it would be like "BOOM" top of the page right from the beginning, but it really didn't work that way. The momentum was slow, and took hours.

Step 4: Answering Every Comment

A big part of why the post did well was answering every comment. People were asking questions, making feature requests, reporting bugs.

I would often fix the bugs right on the spot and reply, or give timelines for when certain features would be ready.

Getting extra traffic on Twitter

I posted about the launch on Twitter (follow me here), and got a bunch of views and retweets:

This ended up bringing in a bunch more users, so I got to double-dip my launch. Maybe I'll re-post it on TikTok next?

What I wish I did differently

There are two things I wish I did differently:

• 1. I wish I wrote a comment to my own post earlier. To introduce myself, tell people why I built the app, and offer to answer questions.
• 2. I wish I added my Twitter handle to the top comment earlier. I added it after the launch, and got maybe 50 to 100 people to follow me. But I think if I'd added my Twitter at peak launch, I would have gotten a lot more.

I learned a lot! Planning to launch on more channels soon. (Follow my journey on Twitter! I'll post all the results there.)