Step-by-step guide to grow your brand on Reddit

Lately, Reddit has seen a significant surge in visitors from search engines. This isn’t just a coincidence – it’s a reflection of changing user behaviour.

Now, instead of just searching for “best perfume for men,” most people search for “best perfume for men Reddit.” People have started adding “Reddit” to their searches to find more real reviews and discussions.

This shift has transformed Reddit from a niche community platform into a powerful marketing tool. Today, we’ll explore a strategic, step-by-step approach to leveraging Reddit for your business, focusing on building a genuine presence and, crucially, integrating email marketing to turn your Reddit audience into loyal customers.

Build your presence and earn karma

The most critical first step on Reddit is to establish your credibility. Reddit users are highly sensitive to self-promotion, and an account with no history will be immediately downvoted and ignored. The key is to start by giving, not taking.

To build your presence and earn “karma” (Reddit’s reputation score), become an active and helpful community member. Focus on commenting in relevant sub-Reddits. For example, if you’re an email marketing tool, you might join r/marketing, r/Entrepreneur, or r/SaaS.

Be a problem-solver: Answer questions, offer advice, and share your expertise.
Get in early: Answering questions in new posts can help your comment get more visibility and upvotes.
Avoid the hard sell: Your goal here is to be helpful and gain trust, not to sell a product.

Many sub-Reddits have karma requirements before you can even make your own post. By building up your karma through genuine engagement, you’re not just gaining reputation—you’re proving you’re a valuable member of the community.

Track keywords and mentions

Once you’ve built up your profile reputation and earned good karma, start watching important business keywords. This lets you comment on posts and use your replies to bring traffic to your site.

There are several free and paid tools to track mentions on Reddit, but the best option for most is F5Bot. Not only does it have accurate tracking, but it also has a generous free tier.

Pro-Tip: Don’t limit your tracking to just your business name or niche. Widen your net to include:

Pain points: What problems does your product solve? (e.g., “email deliverability issues”)
Competitors: Track mentions of your competitors to see what users like or dislike about them.
Industry trends: Stay on top of news and discussions related to your field (e.g., “new email regulations”).

Share helpful and relevant inputs

Now that you’re tracking keywords, you can strategically participate in conversations. This is where you put your built-up karma to good use. When you see a post where you can add value, jump in.

For example, if someone asks for advice on improving their email open rates, you can provide a detailed, helpful response. You might share a link to a relevant, non-promotional blog post on your site, but only if it’s genuinely useful and provides more context.

Remember: Reddit’s culture values authenticity. If your response feels like a sales pitch, it will be downvoted. The goal is to provide value, build trust, and subtly showcase your expertise.

Use indirect content marketing

With a solid foundation in place, you can move beyond comments and start creating your own posts. However, remember that most Reddit users are wary of traditional marketing. The most effective approach is to use “indirect content marketing.”

Here are a few post types that work exceptionally well:

News Explanation & Discussion: Share a recent industry news article and provide your expert analysis. For an email marketing tool, you could post about a new data privacy law and explain what it means for marketers, encouraging discussion in the comments. This positions you as a knowledgeable resource.
Share Case Studies: Present real-life examples of a problem you solved. For instance, you could detail how you helped a client improve their email list growth by 200%. Focus on the process, the challenges, and the actionable takeaways—not just the final product. This demonstrates your expertise and builds social proof without a direct sales pitch.
Offer Educational Resources: Create a valuable, non-promotional guide or a series of tips. A post titled “5 Tips to Improve Your Email Deliverability” would be highly valued in marketing-focused sub-Reddits.

Nurture your audience with email marketing

This is the most crucial step for turning Reddit traffic into a sustainable business asset.

While Reddit can be a fantastic source of traffic, you don’t control the platform. Rules can change, algorithms can be tweaked, and your brand’s visibility could shift.

This is where an email marketing tool like EmailOctopus comes in. You need to convert those interested Reddit visitors into your own audience. The best way to do this is by getting their email addresses and adding them to a newsletter or an onboarding funnel.

How to do it:

Create a valuable lead magnet: On your website, offer something of genuine value in exchange for an email address. This could be a detailed guide, a free template, or a valuable checklist that directly relates to the problems you’ve discussed on Reddit. For example, “Download our free guide to advanced email segmentation.”
Nurture with an onboarding funnel: Once a new subscriber joins, use an automated email series to educate them further, provide more value, and introduce them to your product’s key features. This nurtures the relationship you started on Reddit and guides them toward becoming a customer.

Conclusion

Reddit brings in the initial traffic and trust, while email marketing provides a direct line of communication to nurture that trust and build a lasting relationship. By integrating these two powerful channels, you create a marketing loop that is both authentic and highly effective.