Almost everyone underestimates Reddit as a channel for building an audience. Done right, a post with just 50 upvotes could drive you dozens of newsletter subscribers.
Crazy, right? It is, and it scales. A Reddit post with a thousand upvotes can net you hundreds, if not damn near a thousand, new people subscribed to your newsletter. That’s a value most marketers would shell out their monthly salary for.
So why does nobody do it? Because most people don’t understand Reddit. They treat it like every other marketing promotion channel, get downvoted to hell, and give up.
How to build an audience on Reddit?
Enter Keevin (not a typo). Last year, he accrued thousands of subscribers to his newsletter, Brainstorms, simply by posting on Reddit.
Here’s an example of one of Keevin’s best posts. Our mini-playbook from his success:
Know the community.
Keevin posted startup ideas in an entrepreneur subreddit.
It was exactly what people wanted: A perfect product-market fit.
Be honest about promotion, and only mention your off-Reddit content once.
In Keevin’s case, a simple link to his newsletter at the start of the post worked.
Create a metric ton of value.
Keevin’s posts were so well-received in the r/Entrepreneur community because of their value. People didn’t mind that he also had a newsletter, and they were happy to subscribe.
In other words, change your thinking from “let’s post on Reddit so we can get subscribers” to “let’s create the most valuable post this subreddit has ever seen”.
Adjust your mindset to the latter, and the audience will follow.
