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- 🍐#97: How to market on Reddit
Hey,
A pear🍐 a day keeps the doctor away. Idk hadn’t had a pear in a while, just ate one for breakfast, realized how much I liked them, and thought I’d share ;)
This week on the agenda:
Missing video from last week: so sorry for dropping the ball on this one
How to market on Reddit: a bunch of insights and examples there
+ a few bonus links at the end
Total pearusing time: 7min
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Developer marketing insights
1.* (Missing video from last week) Interactive visuals on Svelte Flow website
See the last issue if you want my written comments on it.
2. How to market on Reddit
I went on a bit of a rabbit hole that ended up with me reading through a bunch of resources and discussions, compiling learnings, and adding a few of my favorite examples. Click out to the original resources or jump to my takeaways at the bottom.
But here is the story.
Ok, so I saw this post/video by Tim Davidson:
Which led to me reading comments from Tas Bober:
and Rich Simmonds:
And someone mentioning Maddie Wang:
So I followed that thread:
And found another comment and article on it which I also read through.
Which pushed me to watch the interview with Paul Xue:
And after combining learnings from all of that here are my takeaways:
Pick your subreddits
Start with places like r/devops, r/programming, r/kubernetes, or anything tied to your tool’s stack.
Use research tools (GummySearch, HiveSight) or manual keyword searches (“API observability,” “microservices hosting”).
Do your research
Sort posts by Top (last year) to see which threads get traction. Look for patterns—tech reviews, personal ‘war stories,’ rants about pricing, etc.
Create a swipe file of headlines and conversation styles. Notice how the community communicates (they can be blunt).
Set up a legit account
Use a personal account at least 6 months old. New accounts arouse suspicion.
Build some karma before pushing your product. Comment on general dev topics, post in r/ProgrammerHumor for fun, be authentic.
Disclose and engage
Be transparent: “I’m an engineer/founder building X.” but keep it casual and towards the end of the post
Answer real questions: Offer solutions, code snippets, or relevant experiences from your own stack. Go into details, and actually share something net-new.
Mention competitors if they fit. Showing honesty wins trust among devs.
How to comment
Case studies and war stories
Detail how you or a customer cut build times, tackled scaling, or fixed a memory leak.
Include specifics (languages, frameworks, metrics).
Doing that in a bulleted format works great
Subtle CTA
End posts with: “I’m building a tool that does X—DM me if you’re curious.”
Don’t open with a pitch. Redditors hate it.
Ask for input
“Anyone else tried solving this? What worked for you?”
Encourage discussion and show you’re there to learn, too.
Craft high-performing posts
Try punchy titles: “we cut docker build times by 70% with these 3 changes.” But more generally use a similar format to what performs in a given Subreddit.
90:10 rule: 90% useful tips, <10% mention of your tool.
Engage quickly: Reply to comments within hours. Devs expect prompt back-and-forth.
Mind the moderators
Read subreddit rules: Some allow links on certain days or pinned threads only.
When in doubt, DM a mod for permission. A quick ask can save you from a ban.
Get Google/AI SEO through Reddit
Bottom-of-funnel keywords often rank via Reddit. “best error monitoring tool for python” might land your post high on Google.
Optimize titles: Use those keywords in the post or comment title, but keep them human-friendly.
Iterate and track
Measure results: Use unique links or simply ask new signups, “How did you hear about us?”
Improve if you get downvoted. Adjust your tone, or pick a different topic next time.
Stay consistent
Post or comment weekly: Don’t spam; just show up to relevant threads.
Respond to DMs: You’ll get private messages → answer them thoroughly. They can turn into real leads.
To add to that story I have a bunch more examples of Reddit posts, comments, and promoted ads in my example gallery.
Here are a few of my favorites:
I think I’ll just convert this to an article for my blog so if you have any questions, insights, resources, or feedback → please share so I can extend it.
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