Leado
Find your first users from Reddit conversations.
Here's the problem with most social listening setups: they count mentions and call it insight. A dashboard that tells you your brand got mentioned 40 times this week is not listening. It's a receipt, and not a very useful one.
Listening means reading the 40 mentions and knowing that 30 were recommendations, 8 were pricing complaints, and 2 were someone asking if you're a real company or a Chrome extension wearing a company's clothes. That's a judgment call. No amount of keyword volume gets you there, no matter how many "AI-powered" badges get bolted onto the dashboard.
I've spent the last stretch rebuilding this distinction into Leado properly, instead of just adding more alerts:
Monitoring answers "how many times did this get mentioned."
Listening answers "does this mention mean anything, and what should I do about it."
AI is genuinely good at the first half. It's still bad at the second, and pretending otherwise is how you end up automating spam instead of judgment. The point isn't to remove a human from the loop, it's to stop making the human wade through 40 mentions to find the 2 that matter.
Same habit is useful earlier than I expected too. Before there's a product to monitor mentions of, the same read-the-thread-not-the-keyword discipline is how you find what to build in the first place. A complaint that shows up once is an anecdote. The same complaint in three unrelated threads is a brief.
Wrote up both halves properly if useful:
Genuinely curious how this community handles it: does your listening setup interpret, or does it just count?
When I launched Leado, I thought the hardest part would be finding Reddit posts where people needed my product.
I was wrong.
The hardest part was helping people reply in a way that didn't feel like marketing.
Early users wanted AI to generate responses instantly. But the first versions sounded... like AI.
Over the past few months I've completely changed that approach.
Instead of generating generic promotional comments, Leado now:
Understands your product from your website.
Finds high-intent Reddit conversations.
Drafts replies that focus on being genuinely helpful.
Lets you review and edit everything before posting.
One thing I've learned is that Reddit isn't about posting more, it's about showing up at the right moment with something useful.
The biggest surprise?
Some users have told me a handful of thoughtful Reddit replies generated more qualified leads than weeks of cold outreach.
I'm still improving the product every week, and I'd love to hear from other founders:
How are you currently finding customers? Has Reddit worked for you, or has another channel surprised you?
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This hit home. The “sounding like AI” trap is so real—Reddit has a sixth sense for it. One whiff of GPT-ese (“Navigating the nuances of…” or “Thanks for sharing your thoughts!”) and you’re done. The community will eat you alive.
What you’ve landed on is the sweet spot: AI for the heavy lifting (finding the needle), human for the nuance (threading the needle).
I’ve noticed the same thing—a few genuinely helpful replies in a subreddit where my ICP actually hangs out will outperform 500 cold emails every time. It’s the difference between interrupting someone and helping them.
One small thing I’ve found helps with the “human” factor: I always try to include a tiny bit of personal friction or a specific detail I relate to in the reply. Instead of just saying “I help with X,” I’ll say, “Ugh, I remember fighting with [specific technical issue] for a week back in ‘22—what finally worked for me was Y.” It’s those little imperfections that make it feel like a person wrote it.
Out of curiosity, how are you handling the “review” step for users now? Is it a simple text editor, or do you give them alternative phrasings to choose from? That middle ground between automation and control feels like the future for these tools.
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The "review and edit everything before posting" step is doing more of the real work here than the drafting model, in my experience. AI-drafted replies rarely fail by sounding robotic anymore, that part's mostly solved. They fail by saying something technically relevant but slightly off from what the person actually needs, and if you're reviewing forty of these a week, editing quality drifts because you're skimming instead of really reading each thread. Curious how you're getting users to actually slow down at that step instead of treating it as a rubber stamp, since that seems like the part most likely to erode as volume goes up.
On the actual question: Reddit's been more useful to me as a place to notice patterns in what people are frustrated by than as a direct lead channel. A handful of good replies here and there, sure, but the bigger value has been seeing the same specific complaint surface across different threads and treating that as signal for what to fix or build next, not just who to pitch.
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That's an interesting reflection. I'm not even sure ifs mainly about AI. I mean, yes for sure, it's a big part of it. But I'm wondering if it's just an amplifier of an underlying issue, that would be still there without AI. That issue is, you want to make your product known. That's more then legitimate. That's the start of everything. Even if the product is shitty and nobody wants to spend a penny. Without nobody knowing about it, you obviously don't have a chance to find out - whether brilliant jackpot, or piece of shit.
But that brings a dilemma with it. It's usually not a natural way, and most of the time requires a marketing approach. It's a bit like a door-to-door vacuum salesman, getting the doors slammed to his face, because there is a reputation talking people into something (basically there is no substance behind it). The guy might hear the community is having a celebration, and that he will be better off going there and getting to know the people first. He might be a very humble and likeable guy with an interesting live story. Furthermore the vacuum might be a great deal after all and the guy is just trying to make money for his living (basically there is substance behind it).
But whether clumsily ringing doorbells, or going to the community celebration and elegantly rocking the dance floor, it's still driven by the same objective - selling/marketing. But I guess that's all fine, the difference is the process how to relate to people and if that's genuine or not.
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Really enjoyed this one. The bit about AI replies sounding too "markety" and killing trust, that's such an honest thing to admit, and it's exactly why adding a review step before posting was the right call. Reddit users can smell a sales pitch a mile away, so slowing down to actually be helpful first makes total sense. "Discovery wasn't the bottleneck, trust was" is a great line, feels like it took real trial and error to land on that. Nice work, thanks for sharing the honest version of the journey instead of just the highlight reel.
To answer your question, mostly organic content and community posts for us, Reddit included. It's slow, but genuine replies still beat cold outreach every time.
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I literally couldn't post any replies on a sub Reddit because of the bot that flags ai
Even when I wrote them myself
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The "sounded like AI" problem is the whole game, and I live it daily building SocialPost.ai. What fixed it for us wasn't better prompts, it was feeding the model the user's actual voice and forcing a human review step, the same call you made. The counterintuitive part: adding friction with review-before-post increased usage, because people trust a tool more when it refuses to embarrass them.
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I like the review first approach. That is probably why the replies feel more natural. One thing I would add is a short reason with every suggested reply. Show why the tool picked that Reddit post and what problem the person is trying to solve. That helps users learn instead of just copying AI text. I have found that the best Reddit comments are the ones that answer the question first. The product mention should come only if it really fits.
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Congrats on the progress, Leado sounds like a solid pivot, moving from "generate instantly" to "review before posting" is exactly the right call. Reddit users can smell canned AI replies from a mile away, so building in that human-editing step probably did more for your conversion rate than any prompt engineering could.
To answer your question: Reddit has worked well for us too, but only when the reply adds value before mentioning the product, same lesson you landed on. What's worked better than cold outreach for me has been engaging in niche subreddit threads where someone's actively describing a problem, then following up with a soft mention only if it's relevant. Communities like IndieHackers and niche Discord/Slack groups have also surprised me, slower, but higher trust and better conversion than paid ads.
Curious how you're identifying "high-intent" threads, are you using keyword matching, or something more semantic (like intent classification)? That's usually the hardest part to get right without flooding yourself with false positives.
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honest answer from doing this the manual way: finding the threads was never the bottleneck for me either.
two other things bite instead. the first is that a genuinely useful reply is usually one only you can write, and those threads are rarer than the intent signals suggest. any tool will surface more matches than you can answer well, and answering one badly is worse than staying quiet, because the sub remembers.
the second is account gates, and i think that one matters for your onboarding specifically. the subs actually worth replying in filter new and low-karma accounts, sometimes silently. so a new user can install leado, get a perfect match, write a genuinely good reply, and have it removed without ever being told. they will conclude the tool does not work.
if leado could surface that before they hit post (sub karma and account age minimums, whether their recent comments are still visible when logged out) it would be properly differentiated. it is the failure mode people cannot diagnose on their own, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the reply.
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Nice that sounds a lot like what I been going through with trying to get started.
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the useful test for a draft is: delete the product line. if it still deserves to be in that thread, then it might actually help. if not, it’s just a pitch with nicer grammar.
i’d also track follow-up questions from the OP, not reply count. someone asking ‘wait, how would i do that?’ is probably a better signal than 20 upvotes. -
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Your product sounds really interesting. In the AI era, where marketing is becoming more important than development itself, a product like this has a lot of potential.
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The biggest insight here is that the bottleneck wasn't discovery, it was trust.
A lot of growth tools optimize for volume, but communities usually reward relevance and timing. The interesting question is whether this approach can extend beyond Reddit into other founder-led channels.
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As someone who freshly launched I appreciate this post so much
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Leado UI is interesting , Look forward to what you are building.
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lol this hit close to home. I'm currently locked in a battle with Reddit's spam filter over a post that has literally zero marketing language in it. New account + outside link = instant "removed by filters," no trial, no jury, just gone. Meanwhile I'm sitting here like "but I said please 😭"
Kind of ironic that you built a tool to help people NOT sound like an ad, and the platform still treats you like one anyway just for being new. Reddit really said "guilty until proven innocent."
To answer your question — no idea yet if Reddit works for me, I haven't even made it past the bouncer. Ask me again once I'm allowed inside the club.
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Really interesting — using Reddit conversations to find first users is smart. With Finsight AI, I’ve found that real community signals often reveal pain points faster than surveys. Curious, how do you filter noise from genuine demand?
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How did you finally avoid it sounding like AI? Any key unlock?
I haven't posted too many updates on Leado because I spent the last few months just watching how people actually find products today and I noticed a huge shift.
The big realization? Google search is basically broken. It is all SEO blogs and AI content. Because of that, everyone is adding "reddit" to their searches to find real opinions from real people.
This has created a massive opportunity for us indie hackers that most people are missing.
Instead of fighting for a Google ranking for six months, you just need to find the person asking the question on Reddit today. I noticed that when someone asks for a tool recommendation on a subreddit, they usually buy or sign up within 24 hours. The intent is way higher than any other platform because they are actively looking for a solution to a problem they have right now.
I have been tweaking Leado to focus on these specific "high intent" moments. The goal isn't just to find people talking about a topic, but to find people who are at the end of their rope and looking for a tool to help.
If you are not monitoring Reddit for your niche, you are missing the only place left on the internet where people are still being honest about what they need.
How are you guys finding users lately? Is SEO still working for anyone or have you moved to social and communities too?
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What most caught my eye was the shift from “campaigners would search for traffic” to “marketers would find for intent in real time.” ~
Unlike SEO which can sometimes take months to pay dividends, you are going straight to where the customers are asking for solutions right now.
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Great idea to monitor reddit...
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The only thing I would add is that Reddit is very quickly becoming saturated with the same type of problem. Lots of people promoting their product with AI posts and bots. Not all subs are that way, but a lot of the traditional ones are overrun already. You can still find your niche and the customers are there, it just takes a bit more work to find them than it used to. Overall a great write up :)
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Agree. it is bit crowded with similar topics. But still worth exploring.
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Yeah the bot problem is real, especially in subs like r/entrepreneur and r/startups. You can spot them instantly though, its always the same format: "hey i built this tool that does X, check it out [link]" with zero context lol.
What still works is being the person who answers questions without linking anything. i've gotten more signups from comments where i never even mentioned my product than from any "launch post" i ever did. People click your profile when you actually help them, and thats a way harder thing to fake with bots.
The smaller niche subs are still gold though. stuff like r/NewTubers or r/podcasting where the communities are tight and mods actually care. Those havent been overrun yet.
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Totally agree, I usually try to be as helpful as I can and the engagement on what I do for a living comes naturally from there. Unfortunately, my niche right now is a bit overrun so I get lost in the noise hehe. C'est La Vie, I'm expanding my horizons where I can haha
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The Google-to-Reddit pipeline observation is real and accelerating. As AI overviews increasingly surface Reddit threads in Google results, the dynamics of Reddit lead gen have fundamentally shifted — you're not just getting traffic from people who use Reddit, you're getting traffic from people who searched on Google and ended up on a Reddit thread. That changes the quality of inbound significantly. People who land on a Reddit thread via Google search are often much further down the buying journey than typical Reddit browsers. They searched for something specific, found a discussion, and are reading the recommendations. That's a warmer lead than someone who happened to scroll past your post on the feed. Curious how Leado is thinking about sourcing — are you pulling from the Reddit posts themselves, or also from the Google-indexed versions of those threads?
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Moving from Google to Reddit is just changing landlords. 🏛️🛰️
Reddit is a goldmine now, but if you build your business on Reddit, you’re still a tenant. When the "Algorithm Tax" hits there, you’ll be looking for the next "mess" to escape. 🧬
I architected a $10k/mo "Too Native" engine specifically to stop this migration cycle.
Visual Trust (85mm Aesthetics): High-end authority that works anywhere.
Anatomy-Effect: Frictionless conversion inside the content structure.
The Bunker: Total sovereignty.
Harvest the Reddit flow, but store the value in your own Bunker. ⛩️
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I'm trying to pull both strings, but what you're saying is very true. I guess my answer to the ai SEO issue and to the Reddit angle is: humans want humans.
For my approach this means that I'm trying to write real, genuine SEO blog posts that are very personal and niche. And for my Reddit outreach this means also coming from an angle where I really try to help the user from a personal and humane angle – not just pushing my tool.
I set up my openclaw automation to only surface Reddit posts where I can give a spot on personal response. And for my current SEO strategy I actually try to implement a similar strategy, although, of course, the message is quite different from a Reddit response.
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The "reddit" search trick is something I only clocked recently and it completely changed how I think about distribution.
I'm building Smooth Handoff, a client portal for web agencies, and the subreddits where my users hang out are full of people actively venting about the exact problem I solve. They're not browsing. They're frustrated and looking for a fix right now. That's a completely different type of lead.
Your point about high intent is spot on. Someone Googling "best client portal for web agencies" might be casually researching. Someone posting on r/freelance asking "how do you handle project handoffs" is ready to change something today.
Just starting to go deep on Reddit myself so this is well timed. What subreddits have you found work best for Leado?
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Absolutely this matches what I’m seeing too. Reddit (and niche communities) is where intent is clear and people are actually looking for solutions right now. SEO still works, but it’s slower and more crowded. Monitoring these “hot moments” can give a huge edge if you act fast.
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"Solid advice. My only concern is how crowded Reddit is getting lately. It feels like every second post is an AI-generated pitch or a bot. While the customers are definitely still there, you really have to dig deeper into the smaller, niche subreddits to find authentic engagement now. It’s no longer as easy as it was, but still worth the hustle!"
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Totally agree—“add reddit to the search” has basically become the new filter for authenticity. The intent on those threads is insanely high compared to SEO traffic. The tricky part though is doing it without coming off as self-promotional—what’s been working for me is genuinely helping first and only mentioning the product when it’s a perfect fit. Curious if Leado helps with timing/context so it feels natural rather than spammy?
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The Reddit SEO angle is real. We've noticed our programmatic
pages competing directly with Reddit threads for AI tool
queries. The interesting part is Reddit's answer quality
for "best AI tool for X" is often terrible — huge opportunity
for directories that actually curate well.
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This is exactly what I’ve been thinking lately. Google is really flooded with low-quality AI and SEO content now, so it’s hard for users to get real, honest suggestions. I’m building an AI image tool as a solo dev and haven’t focused much on SEO yet. Instead, I’ve started digging into communities like Reddit to see what people actually need. The intent here feels so much higher—people are looking for solutions right now, not just reading articles. It’s great to see someone else pointing this out. SEO is definitely a long-term game, but communities are where real users are right now.
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Totally agree with this. I've also noticed people adding "reddit" to searches more and more.
Feels like SEO content is getting less trustworthy, especially with so much AI-generated stuff.
I'm currently experimenting with simple websites and thinking about testing Reddit as a traffic source too.
Do you focus more on replying manually to posts or using some kind of automation?
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been seeing this too. google is basically becoming a reddit search engine for anything "best tool for X" related. its wild.
i run a small saas and the best leads i get are from reddit comments i left months ago where i just answered someones question. no link, no pitch. they click my profile, see what im building, and sign up. the conversion on that is way higher than any ad ive run.
the founders who treat reddit like twitter (broadcast mode, drop link, bounce) get destroyed though. reddit users can smell that from a mile away.
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Yeah, the community is way brutal on the obvious post blasters. I feel bad for them sometimes just reading it haha
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lol right. the "hey guys check out my amazing tool" posts with 0 upvotes and 12 comments all saying "this is spam" never gets old. honestly its a feature not a bug though, it means the people who do it right stand out way more.
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The Google quality drop is real - been noticing it for a while with our PM tool traffic. Organic from Google converts way worse than it used to, but a Reddit thread where someone asks a genuine question? Completely different conversion rates.
What I am curious about: how are you handling the timing piece? Like are you monitoring subreddits for fresh posts or more retroactively finding old threads that still get traffic?
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The Google quality drop is real - been noticing it for a while with our PM tool traffic. Organic from Google converts way worse than it used to, but a Reddit thread where someone asks a genuine question? Completely different conversion rates.
What I am curious about: how are you handling the timing piece? Like are you monitoring subreddits for fresh posts or more retroactively finding old threads that still get traffic?
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Reddit cynicism is unfortunately at an all time high and canned plugs are popping up everywhere for me right now. Its frustrating to see and I think it will end up driving people off of reddit.
I wouldnt overlook traditional SEO as it has a massive impact on GEO and will continue to be ever more prevalent as market penetration continues. I do believe right now if you can somehow insert your product casually in appropriate threads then it gives you a chance but its very difficult to not get instantly downvoted at any mention of a brand. -
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Can confirm this from the other side. I just posted my side project on a subreddit yesterday and it got instantly filtered by the spam detector because my account is new. Meanwhile my competitor who has been on the platform for years can post freely.
The irony is that Google isn't sending me any traffic either — DR 0, 10 keywords, all ranking on page 4+. So community platforms are literally the only viable free channel right now, but they are gated behind reputation and account age.
What's actually working for me so far: technical articles on developer blogging platforms (dofollow backlinks plus developer audience), and answering real questions in communities like this one. Slower than automated lead gen but more sustainable for a solo founder with no budget. -
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Yep, it does look like that. Google seems to have become much noisier, while Reddit seems to have much higher buyer intent. The difficult part, though, is making sure what people find is actually sharp enough to convert once they click.
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'When someone asks for a tool recommendation on Reddit, they usually buy or sign up within 24 hours.' - do you have a source for this?
also, whould be curious to learn what exactly worked/didn't work for you positioning Leado on reddit?
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GREAT
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Google search is losing trust, and Reddit is now the best place to capture high-intent users ready to buy.
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Totally agree — I’ve seen way better conversions from Reddit than SEO lately. People there are already ready to act, not just read.
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Noticed that as well. Two weeks ago, I was investigating the rankings for my main niche keywords, and for one of them, Reddit was ranking first in the results. I added a comment, and believe it or not, within the next few hours I got two good leads, and one of them converted into a real client.
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That “Reddit = database of problems” framing is really good.
What I’ve been noticing though is that even when you find those high-intent threads…
the hard part isn’t getting into the conversation — it’s turning that into something people actually act on.
A lot of replies get engagement, but don’t really lead anywhere.
Curious — have you found a way to go from “helpful reply” → something that actually converts, without it feeling like a pitch?
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How do you all deal with Reddit's anti-spam measures? I get my account banned whenever I post just a few more articles, and it’s really annoying.
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I have noticed the same thing. When people want real opinions now they often add “Reddit” to their search. The intent is much stronger there because they’re actively trying to solve a problem, not just browsing SEO content. Communities are starting to feel like the new discovery channels.
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This is a huge shift that most founders haven't noticed yet.
'When someone asks for a tool recommendation on Reddit, they usually buy or sign up within 24 hours.'
That's the key insight. Reddit intent is higher than Google because they're not just searching — they're asking real people for solutions to immediate problems.
What I've seen:
— A comment on Reddit that answers a question genuinely can drive more traffic than a blog post that took weeks to write.
— The window is short (24 hours), but the conversion rate is higher.Quick questions:
1. How does Leado distinguish between casual mentions and high-intent buying signals?
2. Do you have any data on conversion rates from Reddit vs other channels?
3. What's your advice for founders in B2B niches where Reddit is less active?Thanks for sharing — this is the kind of practical insight that actually helps
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Reddit is a very good place to get real users. but it's really hard to mention brand in reddis now. most of the time reddit account get ban even without doing much.
do you have any suggestion ? how to grow reddit account and mention brand safely? -
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This comment was deleted 4 months ago
It’s been a long time since I posted an update on Leado.co, and honestly, that’s because I spent the last few months going back to the drawing board on what a lead actually is.
In the SaaS world, we’ve been told for years that LinkedIn is the gold standard for lead gen. But after building in this space, I’ve realized something: LinkedIn is a database of resumes. Reddit is a database of problems.
If you reach out to a Marketing Manager on LinkedIn, you’re targeting a demographic. You have no idea if they actually need your tool today. You’re just another cold DM in their inbox.
On Reddit, we target intent.
People don't come to Reddit to look professional or network; they come here to complain, ask for help, and find solutions.
LinkedIn: "I’m happy to announce I’ve started a new position as Head of Growth..."
Reddit: "Our current analytics tool is driving me crazy, does anyone know an alternative that handles X?"
I’ve shifted Leado to focus entirely on these "Buying Signals" on Reddit. Instead of finding people who might buy, it finds conversations where people are literally asking for a solution.
When you find a thread where someone is struggling with a problem you’ve solved, you don't need a "sales pitch." You just need to show up and be helpful.
I'm curious for the IH community:
For those of you doing outreach, have you found that intent-based leads (like Reddit/Twitter) convert better than demographic leads (Cold Email/LinkedIn)? Or is it still just a numbers game for you?
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I'm still curious how people are landing customers on reddit without getting banned for promoting a product
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Sometimes I just DM them after they’ve stated their problem.
Other times (and I should be doing this every time) I post to reply in the general comment section so everyone can see, explaining that I have a product that offers a solution to their problem and I just sent you a DM. I also happen to have the website for my product linked to my profile so if anyone ever clicks on my avatar, they’ll see it. Additionally, sometimes another user will ask what that solution is and so you can tell them in a reply to that post. It’s genuinely being solicited by another Reddit user and therefore less likely to get banned. At least in my very limited experience.
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Very interesting. I was just researching how to find threads like this to promote the product I'm working on.
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Thanks for giving it a try!
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This is really cool just checked it out, nice job!
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Thank you!
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The channel-audience mismatch is one of the most expensive mistakes early-stage founders make. LinkedIn gives you impressions from people who want to be impressed. Reddit gives you friction from people who want to be convinced. For physical products I'd add a third: Instagram gives you reach from people who want to be inspired — but converts almost nobody directly. The sale happens somewhere else, usually after 4-5 touchpoints across different platforms.
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Interesting thoughts. I'm not doing outreach, but I'm building a tool (trytov.vercel.app), which uses one idea to make posts for these platforms (not just reddit and linkedin). And you're right, there are completely different people living there :)
If you want to deliver your thoughts to these two different sites, then it will be difficult to write, because in Reddit you need to be simple, "a man of the people", to give value to users, and in linkedin you need to show the official status, look for the right connects, tell about achievements to be noticed.
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Respect. I really like this. Had an idea to build something very similar last week (not just as a lead generation but for anyone who wanted to filter/find specific users/comments that was compatible with their brand/style/opinions. You’re obviously way ahead of me. The business focus is smart. Teaser initial results then paywall is compelling to buy. I like it. Thanks for building.
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What really caught my attention was the way you framed it as a “database of problems versus resumes.” ~
Instead of just trying to figure out who might need your product, you’re actually tapping into where people are already voicing their struggles — and that’s a much more powerful indicator.
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Just experienced this firsthand. Posted on Reddit this week and got 27K views and real conversations from people who actually care about the topic. Meanwhile LinkedIn connections barely move the needle. The difference is exactly what you said - Reddit has people actively looking for solutions, LinkedIn has people performing their career. Intent beats demographics every time
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This is one of the smartest breakdowns of lead gen I've read.
'LinkedIn is a database of resumes. Reddit is a database of problems.'
That's the line every founder needs to remember.
What I've seen:
— LinkedIn outreach: you're guessing who needs you
— Reddit engagement: they're telling you exactly what's brokenThe shift from 'targeting demographics' to 'targeting intent' changes everything.
Quick questions:
1. How does Leado scale this? Finding intent manually works, but at volume, how do you avoid missing the signal?
2. Do you have a rule of thumb for 'helpful comment' vs 'self-promotion' on Reddit? The line is thin.
3. Any advice for B2B founders where the niche subreddit is small or inactive?This is gold. Thanks for sharing.
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I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot while building my own project.
Reddit feels much closer to real intent — you can literally see people describing the exact problem you’re trying to solve.
At the same time, I’m a bit cautious about this approach scaling too much — if too many people start jumping into threads with "helpful" replies that are actually promotion, it could quickly degrade the experience.
Curious how you think about that balance?
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Hey, most of the people using similar engines do not provide the quality that Leado provides in comments, this is why my product is better. Plus, it never spams links, it just suble mentions your product, which is also beneficial for your product's SEO efforts.
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This comment was deleted 5 months ago
Cold email is getting harder. Google is cracking down, domains are getting burned, and response rates are plummeting.
I realized I was trying to force conversations with people who weren't ready to buy.
So I flipped the script. I went to Reddit.
On Reddit, people are literally posting detailed descriptions of their problems and asking for solutions. They are warm leads hiding in plain sight.
The problem was scale.
You can't refresh Reddit 24/7. So I built Leado to act as my 24/7 SDR.
It monitors key communities and flags posts where users are complaining about the exact problem my product solves.
Instead of interrupting a stranger's inbox, I am answering a question they publicly asked.
The math:
Cold Email Reply Rate: <2%
Contextual Reddit Reply Rate: ~15-20%
Has anyone else shifted their outreach resources from Email/LinkedIn to Reddit/Communities recently?
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It's nice that reddit worked for you, but on the other hand, reddit is getting worse now for new users. We also do email marketing for our agency and get to know about reddit, so I create a brand new account. To increase karma, I only do 3 to 4 comments per day on subreddits related to my field, but it results to ban. In total, I've wasted my 3 accounts of reddit.
Reddit is one of the most easy platform to get job or business, but it's more hard to be safe from getting ban. -
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It's nice what you are building. I have been trying your tool but most of the leads it pulled are not relevant. What's the point if you don't fix it. otherwise it would be a another reddit wall. Also irrelevant leads also consume credits .
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Makes sense. The "publicly asked question" vs "interrupting inbox" framing is the key insight here.
Curious about timing though — do you find there's a sweet spot for how quickly you need to respond on Reddit before the thread goes cold? On some platforms (HN, etc.) being early matters more than being polished.
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Interesting shift. I’ve also noticed cold outreach getting weaker, while Reddit conversations feel way more contextual and honest. The trade-off is time and consistency, so tools like this make sense. Curious how you handle communities that dislike promotional replies.
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I built an N8N flow that does something similar and sends me an "assistant" email in the morning so I definitely see value in the process.
Do you help people craft a message or just surface the threads?
I am still doing Linkedin Outbound with varying success. The challenge with any of these tools is hitting the right balance of genuine interaction and automated scale. -
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love the idea! and yes we are thinking about how to better engage with Reddit audiences. Trying this right now
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waow! thanks for this insight. Just what I need at the moment
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I'm going to try your tool, I'm also getting more and more into Reddit, and I can't be bothered with cold emails / DMs.
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Yeah Reddit is definitly the best platform to grow an audience on a business
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15–20% is wild. Do you track what % of replies are actually non-toxic / constructive? Reddit can be… special 😅
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reddit is real man , you know what I mean ,its like straight talking not a lot of bs
and there is everything on there
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do you have any tips on how to properly build a Reddit account (karma / trust) before posting or mentioning a product?
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I've been looking at Reddit at some point, while posting and replying on X. Thank you for this insight, as I didn't want to mess with cold emailing.
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Nope.
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Reddit gives you context - people describing their exact problems - but there's still a gap: making them understand WHY your solution fits THEIR situation.
You can reply to someone complaining about "Mailchimp is too expensive" with a perfect alternative, but if they don't immediately understand how yours is different/better/relevant to them specifically, you lose them.
That's the difference between contextual outreach and comprehension-driven conversion. Most Reddit strategies optimize for relevance (finding the right thread) but not clarity (making your value obvious in 10 seconds).
We're building voice agents that guide users through products in real-time (demogod.me) - basically eliminating the "I see this is relevant but I don't understand if it's FOR ME" problem.
Your Reddit strategy nailed contextual targeting. The next layer is ensuring instant comprehension once you have their attention.
I’ve been deep in Reddit while building Leado, and it completely changed how I think about lead generation.
Most people treat Reddit like a traffic source or a place to drop links. That almost never works.
What actually works is understanding buying intent:
People asking for alternatives
People describing a painful workflow
People asking “how do you solve X?”
People already paying for a solution and looking to switch
These posts don’t look like leads at first glance, which is why they’re easy to miss.
Two things surprised me:
The best leads come from small comments, not viral posts
Speed matters more than polish. Early, helpful replies win
This is what pushed me to build Leado in the first place, but the insight applies even if you never use a tool.
Curious how others here approach Reddit:
Do you actively monitor it?
Or do you feel it’s too risky / time-consuming?
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Hey Leado team, really smart approach.
Finding users from Reddit is genius.
Most SaaS tools lose signups in week one
because onboarding emails are too generic.
We would love to write your welcome email
sequence completely FREE.
No commitment. Just results.
DM us on X: @ScaleWords
ScaleWords Team
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Good list. I’ve found directories matter most when the work already solves a real problem for someone. When that’s clear, the right people tend to reach out on their own instead of it feeling like promotion.
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ngl this is the exact pattern i noticed too.
Real buying intent is never in the popular threads - it's hiding in
fresh posts with like 5 comments where someone's actually asking for
help. By the time a thread hits 200 comments you're just noise.
The hard part is finding these consistently. Been running Wappkit
reddit tool to filter by comment count + keywords, makes the whole
thing less manual.
How are you handling the discovery side on your end?
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The speed thing is real, responding immediately with helpful answer beats polished answer after 6 /7 hours later or more.
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Early users usually come from places where people already discuss the problem.
Short demo videos help explain the value quickly, and Reddit can be great if approached carefully
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This aligns strongly with what I’ve seen as well. Reddit isn’t a traffic channe, it’s an intent map. The real signal is in those “small” posts where someone is actively describing pain or evaluating alternatives. When founders respond early and helpfully in those moments, the conversion rate is wildly different from any broadcast channel. Most teams miss this because it doesn’t look scalable at first, but it compounds quietly over time. Leado feels like it’s tapping into that exact gap between conversation and acquisition.
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I have used it to come up with 2 SaaS ideas .. its just magic ngl
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Quiet insightful. Marketing is really a piece of art
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The "small comments, not viral posts" insight is spot on. Took me a while to figure that out.
To answer your questions:
Yes, I actively monitor - but not 24/7. Found that targeting threads with 0-5 comments is the sweet spot. Less competition, your reply actually gets seen, and like you said - speed matters.
It was time-consuming until I set up filtering. My Wappkit Reddit tool handles the bulk scanning part - I filter by engagement and subreddit, then focus energy on actually crafting replies.
The risky part is real though. Reddit can smell promotional content from a mile away. What made it work: treating every reply as if I'd never mention my product. Sometimes I don't. The value-first approach builds trust even when there's no immediate conversion.
The buying intent signals you listed are exactly right. "Looking to switch" is probably the highest intent of all - they're already paying someone, just unhappy.
When working on Leado, I ended up spending a lot of time studying Reddit as a marketing and lead generation channel.
What stood out quickly is that Reddit already has massive buying intent. People openly ask for recommendations, alternatives, and solutions to very specific problems. The challenge isn’t demand. It’s catching those conversations early and responding in a way that feels genuinely helpful, not promotional.
A few things we learned along the way:
Keyword alerts alone miss a lot of high-intent posts
Timing matters more than volume. Being early changes everything
Replies that focus on solving the problem outperform direct pitches
Generic automation fails fast on Reddit. Context is everything
This is ultimately why we built Leado. The goal wasn’t to spam Reddit, but to help founders detect real buying signals and respond thoughtfully while the conversation is still active.
Reddit can be an incredible channel when done right, but it’s unforgiving when done wrong.
Curious to hear from others here:
Have you used Reddit successfully for marketing or lead generation?
Do you see it more as a brand channel or a direct acquisition channel?
What’s been the hardest part of using Reddit consistently?
Happy to share more lessons learned if it’s useful.
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will try out leado. there seem to many MANY reddit lead generators - how are you diffentiating?
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Appreciate the breakdown here. Reddit seems brutal until you lead with experience instead of links. Did you notice better results when conversations came before any mention of the product?
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100% yes. when you lead with the problem ("yeah I had the same issue") before even hinting at a solution, people actually listen. the moment they sense a pitch, walls go up.
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Good post. The "contribute value before promoting" approach is underrated.
One thing that made a big difference for me: targeting posts with 0-5 comments instead of jumping into popular threads. Less competition, your reply actually gets seen.
I use Wappkit Reddit tool to filter by comment count across subreddits - what used to take 40 min of scrolling now takes 10.
What subreddits worked best for you?
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Alex, love the mission and onboarding flow of Leado. How does trust play out on Reddit? It’s way more anonymous than Linkedin. How do you convert organically?
Every founder gets told: "Go where your customers are." For B2B, a huge chunk of them are on Reddit.
But most advice on "Reddit Marketing" is terrible. It tells you to:
Search broad keywords: "SaaS," "Marketing."
Post generic pitches: "Check out my tool!"
Result: Instantly get banned for spam.
I launched my tool, Leado, 1 month ago with almost no audience. Instead of chasing follower counts or writing endless content, I decided to focus 100% on Reddit using a different strategy.
My 3-Step Reddit Lead Generation Playbook (0 to $300 MRR):
Step 1: Stop Tracking Topics. Track Pain.
Forget keywords. Your customers are complaining about problems.
Bad: Tracking "email marketing." (You get content creators).
Good: Tracking "Mailchimp is too expensive" or "My cold emails are getting blocked." (You get buyers).
Step 2: Automate Intent, Not Outbound.
Manually sifting through Reddit for these specific pain points is a full-time job. So I automated that part.
I built a Reddit lead generation tool that:
Scans thousands of relevant subreddits (r/SaaS, r/Entrepreneur, r/coldemail).
Filters for explicit "Buying Intent" (users asking for solutions or alternatives).
Drafts a human-like, helpful reply based on the thread's context.
Step 3: Human-in-the-Loop Approval.
This is critical. My AI drafts the replies, but I always hit send. This prevents spam, keeps the tone genuine, and ensures no bans.
The Results:
Leads: ~100 high-intent leads per week.
MRR: $300 in 21 days (from 0).
Marketing Cost: $0.
Reddit isn't a broadcasting channel; it's a giant Q&A forum where your customers are asking for solutions. If you can answer their specific problem, you will win.
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Strong point on tracking pain vs topics — that’s the part most people miss.
I’ve found Reddit works best when the goal isn’t leads directly, but learning the exact language people use when they’re frustrated. That alone sharpens positioning everywhere else.
Curious how you’re handling edge cases where “buying intent” is ambiguous (e.g. venting vs actually looking to switch)?
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Interesting tool, gone on the website, I'd suggest make it abit more clearer what the product itself is! Goodluck on your journey!
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Alex, as someone who is completely new to the idea of marketing on Reddit, I have a very basic question. Once you find the pain point and the person asking for a solution, do you DM them on Reddit itself or is there some other way to try and find their actual name and email address to email them? How do you reach out?
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Reddit is a great source to go where people are complaining about an issue. I have also tried commenting on those posts by giving real life information. Then partway down the comment give your app as a solution to the problem or include it in a list of 2-3 apps as a solution to the problem to not appear as if you are selling something but still getting people interested in your product.
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The tracking pain over topics point is pure gold. Agree wth Adznaz comment below. Is there a secondary step that analyzes rants from the opportunities?
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This resonates hard. I spent months doing Reddit marketing the wrong way - scrolling hot posts, writing comments that got buried under 200 others.
The game changer was flipping it: instead of chasing hot posts, I target posts with under 5 comments, posted in the last 24 hours. Less competition, OP is still waiting for answers.
The manual filtering took forever, so I started using Reddit Toolbox (wappkit.com/download) - it scrapes multiple subreddits and filters by comment count. Saves me 2+ hours daily.
What subreddits work best for you?
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This might genuinely be the lifeline I need. I’m currently building a SaaS called Elixa, and I’ve been trying the Reddit route for the past couple of weeks. The only advice I kept hearing was “just keep going,” without any real direction, which has been frustrating.
This feels like exactly what I’ve been missing. I’ve signed up and would love to hear how you’re planning to grow this further.
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Well said. Intent > keywords every time on Reddit. I help founders operationalize this (pain tracking + human-first replies) without burning accounts.
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I signed up for your tool leado and got a few reddit posts. How do I reply to a post without violating the terms and the risk of being banned? Intent could be to test for MVP or to sell a product. But, almost every reddit sub forbids promotional posts.
2. With 100 high-intent leads/week, did you get just $300 revenue in 21 days? Was that a typo? That means just $300 from 300 b2b leads in 3 weeks?
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This comment was deleted 8 months ago
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This comment was deleted 8 months ago
We spend hours crafting tweets that die in 24 hours. Once the feed refreshes, that effort is gone. It’s a treadmill.
I realized recently that Reddit isn't social media; it’s a database of answers.
If you search for "Best CRM for startups" on Google, the top result isn't a blog, it's a Reddit thread from 2 years ago.
If you comment on that thread today, you are essentially renting space on the first page of Google for free.
The Strategy Shift:
I stopped trying to "go viral" on Reddit. Instead, I started treating Reddit comments as SEO Assets.
Find threads that rank: I look for questions that people are searching for on Google.
Provide the best answer: I write a genuine, helpful solution (not just a link drop).
The Result: A steady stream of leads that compounds over time, rather than a spike that disappears.
The hard part was finding these specific "high-SEO-value" threads without scrolling all day. I built an AI agent (Leado) to hunt them down based on intent, not just recent activity.
Is anyone else treating their Reddit comments as long-term backlinks rather than just social posts?
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Concept of using it as seo asset is beautiful, had never thought in that way.Great iinsigh. My posts have been removed by mods multiple times definitely will try your tool
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Love how you framed Reddit as “SEO assets” instead of just another feed – that mindset shift alone is gold.
I work with early‑stage SaaS founders on positioning + messaging, and what you described is exactly the difference between chasing spikes vs compounding assets.
Curious – with Leado hunting high‑intent threads, do you feel the bigger lever now is how the answer is framed (narrative/offer), or simply finding more of those intent queries? -
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Love this take. Reddit is definitely more "sticky" than X for organic traffic.
One thing that's worked for me: filter threads by comment count. Fewer than 5 comments = less competition = your reply actually gets seen.
Been building a desktop tool to automate finding these low-competition threads. Way faster than manual scrolling. Happy to share if anyone's curious- link in profile.
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Exactly. The compounding effect is the underrated part. One well-placed Reddit answer can quietly drive qualified leads for months. Curious,
are you finding and tracking those high-ranking threads manually, or do you have a system for spotting them early?`
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Interesting take, but I'd push back slightly:
Twitter's value isn't just the 24-hour shelf life. It's relationship-building and real-time feedback. Reddit gives you SEO, but Twitter gives you network effects and direct access to potential customers/investors.
They're different tools for different goals. "Treadmill" implies wasted effort, but isn't continuous presence how you build brand?
Have you completely stopped Twitter or just rebalanced?
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This is a great reframe. Treating Reddit as a searchable knowledge base instead of a social feed completely changes the ROI of writing there. The idea that a thoughtful comment can sit on page one of Google for years—while a tweet disappears in hours—is something more founders should internalize. Focusing on intent-driven threads instead of chasing virality is a smart, sustainable strategy.
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Your website is currently unavailable.
leado dot co
Host
ErrorFrom Clouflare
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I was pushing an update at that time, should work now :)
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I’ve built a platform that helps businesses understand how visible they are in AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. It shows a clear visibility score, tracks where and how a brand is mentioned, and compares performance against competitors. As AI becomes a primary discovery channel, this gives companies a way to measure and improve their presence where traditional SEO no longer applies.
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bro i have one question i have used leado and it works perfectly . My question is that how does it actually works i mean how does it the find the exact or relevant messages to the product which i have entered like i'm curious to know this to be honest i'm trying to build something like that
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Not to mention that Twitter hides any tweet with a link too. It’s not the place it used to be.
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true
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This framing is spot on. Reddit isn’t a feed, it’s a search engine with memory. Threads rank for years, and well-placed comments quietly compound traffic and leads long after posting. Treating Reddit as an SEO layer instead of a social channel is exactly how founders should be thinking about durable distribution in 2026. The intent-first approach you outlined is where most people still get it wrong.
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Exactly this.
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Glad it resonates. If you’re open, the next step is simply mapping your ICP to the highest-ranking threads and locking in a few evergreen comment placements that compound leads over time. Happy to walk you through how that would look for your product.
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Yes, I’ve been struggling lately with how to promote my product on Reddit. As you know, posts often get banned if you’re obviously pushing your own tools. So I’d like to ask for some experience—how do you guys post to drive traffic to your products?
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You can just use Leado for this.
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That’s a common challenge, and there is a clean way to drive traffic on Reddit without getting flagged. I’ve helped founders do this by positioning value-first comments that convert quietly over time. Happy to break it down and tailor it to your product, feel free to reach me at michealprecious616@gmail.com and we can continue the discussion there.
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Just hit a major milestone with Leado: $300 MRR in 21 days.
The craziest part? We spent $0 on ads.
We used Leado to market Leado.
The AI scans relevant subreddits for people asking "how to find leads" and other relevant keywords
It filters out the noise (low intent).
It drafts a solution-based comment.
It turns out, selling a solution to people who are actively looking for it is the highest ROI marketing channel there is.
Next stop: $1k MRR.
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I would like to build something like this for my saas idea
Thanks for sharing
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Thanks for sharing. Leado seems like a good tool to have.
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Nice, currently building something similar myself, but it works across multiple platforms. Thanks for sharing, these types of apps are truly the future of sales for sure.
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This is a really sharp way to frame it. Calling Twitter a treadmill and Reddit real estate instantly makes the idea click.
The insight about Reddit being a “database of answers” is spot on — everyone’s seen those old threads ranking above polished blog posts. Treating comments as compounding SEO assets instead of disposable social content feels like one of those obvious-in-hindsight shifts.
Also, respect for actually using your own product to get to $300 MRR. No hype, just meeting real intent with useful answers. Curious to see how far this compounds as those threads age.
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This is insane, since I have used multiple reddit AI scanners, this one looks promising.
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Great results! The "100% organic Reddit" approach resonates with me — I've been analyzing Twitter/Reddit discussions and noticed that authentic engagement consistently outperforms promotional content.
Quick question: how do you identify which subreddits have the highest intent buyers vs. just browsers? I'm curious if you've found patterns in user language that signal purchase readiness.
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Congrats on the milestone. I'm still at $0 trying to figure out what my marketing channel is. What was the thought process of selecting reddit vs other platforms?
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Congrats on the milestone.
What I find interesting here is not just the Reddit angle, but the intent filtering. Most people fail on Reddit because they spray comments everywhere instead of responding to real problems.
Curious: how much manual review do you still do before posting replies, or is it fully automated at this point?
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Interesting to see that Reddit’s api is open after the LLM scraping issues it’s had. Nice update!
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Congrats on the milestone! I'm also building an AI tool. Did you find Reddit or Twitter more effective for your first 10 users?
1 Comment
The monitoring vs listening split is useful.
I've started treating dashboards as "how many times did this show up" and the real work as "which 2 of these 40 actually change what I do tomorrow." AI is fine at the first half. The second half still needs a human who can throw most of it away without feeling guilty.