How I Accidentally Used Reddit and AI To Get 23 Clients For My Business This Year in Under 90 Days.
The Secret Reddit Content Planting Strategy that Got Me Clients.
I got things like this going on in my inbox….
Hold on, it gets “worse”.
This is was a horrible mistake, really an experiment.
I made a few posts on reddit a few months ago, and now my inbox is flooded with clients and people that are inquiring about my services that I am actually not even offering, I was just trying to prove a point to myself.
I think a lot of founders realize that they can leverage reddit to get an influx of users or to validate their business, but I think a lot of them do not go about the right way.
The way they publish content actually hurts them more than it helps them overtime and they have the wrong impression about how to be successful on there.
Reddit recently just went public so I think it is fair to say that utilizing my method on this platform to seek solutions, validate ideas, attract customers, and being strategic using these methods can change your life.
This article will unveil how I leveraged Reddit and a touch of AI to cultivate a steady stream of clients for my business.
Understanding the Reddit Landscape 101:
If you have never been on Reddit, you have to understand common Reddit etiquette.
Reddit is a forum platform where users can participate in various subreddits to answer questions, contribute to discussions, and debate on various subjects.
It fosters and revolves around authenticity and real opinions. It is also a more anonymous based platform where you can hide your identity and say how you really feel unlike traditional urban social media. It is centered on genuinely helping people that are looking for solutions on the net.
Subreddits are specific forums dedicated to a specific topic and are usually shown as “R/{topic}” on the platform. So If I wanted to access the self improvement forum, I would type in “r/selfimprovement” in the search bar.
Most subreddits hate and put in their rules that there should be no self promotion.
Reddit hates direct self promotion and will delete your comments if you are actively trying to promote yourself or your services without permission or being in the appropriate situation.
Reddit is also based on this “karma” principle. Where once you create a profile and start contributing to conversations, you will get karma points if your comments are “upvoted” or deemed as valuable comments. If your comments are unhelpful, deemed as promotion, violate rules, you will get negative karma points.
The effects of karma points? Once your score gets too low, you will not be able to participate in certain subreddits overtime, but the more karma points you have, the more subreddits you can participate in, the more you will actually be able to promote yourself as well especially if you build good will with the subreddits moderator.
Now that you understand the basic components of reddit, you can navigate it more smoothly.
I will also let you know that reddit is not a the friendliest platform and not for the most sensitive people. People will get on your ass if you do not contribute value, ask a stupid question, or don’t value the subreddit rules.
Planting the Seeds: Valuable Content is Key
Forget spammy self-promotion. The key to Reddit’s planting strategy is providing genuine value. Here’s how:
- Identify Your Target Subreddits: Research subreddits where your ideal clients hang out.
Make a list of 2–3 subreddits that you would like to focus on for the next years. You want to be strategic by targeting subreddits where your ideal client, user, or customer hangs out frequently.
Disclaimer: You may discover that some subreddits are saturated with other people that have the same mission as you, they want to contribute to gain potential clients and users and it shows. Do not be discouraged, this is a long term plan.
- Become a Valued Community Member: Actively participate in discussions, answer questions thoughtfully, and share insightful content related to your expertise. I would like to re-emphasize the point about actively trying to contribute value on a daily basis on your main subreddits because this builds a subtle compound effect on the platform.
You will be able to eventually make a promotion post on a subreddit after building some rapport within the community. You also leave SEO trails and traces on the internet that have a life span of 5–7 years where people that are searching how to solve a specific problem on the internet can run into your comment and personally message you for more assistance.
Reddit is a space where quality and quantity are both important.
The more trails that you leave for the consumer to read, the better, the more opportunities that will come your way. The higher quality your responses, the more upvotes, the more likely people will lean onto your expertise for their problem.
Look into these subreddits and make it a point to contribute daily in your subject matter.
In each subreddit, there is a hot tab, a trending tab, and a rising tab, try to contribute to each tab by giving value or stating your opinion to start.
You want to simply do this for 30 days daily for the first month to build your good will and karma points up on the platform.
- AI Can Help You Find Opportunities: Utilize AI writing assistants to identify trending topics and craft compelling Reddit posts that address user pain points.
After the first 30 days….
You want to utilize Brand24.com to start practicing social listening.
Brand24 is an AI based social media monitoring platform.
You can monitor brand mentions, names, topics, and competitor mentions in real-time. You can view the most recent up to date mentions of these sub-categories related to your niche and contribute to these discussions and offer any help if anyone is asking for assistance online.
You want to use Brand24 to help you out with reddit by creating a spreadsheet and collecting a list of the most searched questions, idealogies, discussions around your business solutions. You want to find 3–5 search terms to listen for on Brand24 and become highly aware of what people are searching for online.
So For Example: If I have a car selling app that I want people to be aware about, I would go on brand24 and listen for “car sales”, “selling my car”, “private car sales”. I would have to rummage through a lot of bullshit but I eventually would be able to come across a scope of the conversations and videos being made online regarding car selling and take note of these insights on my spreadsheet.
Are your services local or remote? even better.
If your services are local do further research by putting your “city” and the search term right after and see if anything pops up.
Planting the Seeds — The Art of Being Subtle.
Once you have this spreadsheet for brand 24.
While directly promoting your services is a turn-off, there are subtle ways to showcase your expertise:
- Offer Solutions Within Posts: When responding to user queries, demonstrate your knowledge by providing well-explained solutions that showcase your skills.
- Link Back to Valuable Resources: Share blog posts, articles, or even free resources you’ve created that establish you as an authority whenever it is within the rules.
Now, you have to be mindful that most subreddits do not allow links, so you have to navigate around this in a smart way that won’t get you banned off the platform.
You can also drive and convert people out of a subreddit through specific call to actions after giving value on most of your posts. You can redirect people towards your email, your personal reddit account, or towards the link inside your bio.
For higher conversions based on user experience when it comes to reddit, I suggest always giving value then redirecting people to the bio inside your link by stating “I have more information inside my profile bio”. The reason it drives the highest conversions outside the other two options is because of user experience.
It might take 1–2 minutes for a person to copy and paste your email and try to email you about a solution, decide what to say, and also decide whether you are worth trusting after a few short words.
Driving people to your personal reddit account may only work for reddit users, because Reddit gives their subreddits access to people that may not even have a reddit account. So if you tell people to personally message you, they might have to make an account before they can send you message which might take 2–3 minutes and decision fatigue.
People are lazy and want to always take the path of least resistance, so calling people to your bio, with a nice landing page, simple instructions, and testimonials to build trust is your best bet.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Engage in DMs: If someone reaches out with a specific question, use direct messages to offer further consultation (but avoid being pushy).
Message people in subreddits.
Some people check their reddit messages, some people don’t.
Either way, it is worth a shot to personally message people and offer your solutions.
Even though you can’t scale messages, you can actually send in links when it comes to direct messaging, so they may be a benefit if it is actually worth providing a solution to that user.
Patience is a Virtue: Let Your Reputation Grow
Building trust and credibility takes time. Don’t expect an overnight influx of clients. Focus on consistently delivering value, and gradually, you’ll be seen as a go-to resource within the community.
Reaping the Rewards: From Planting to Profit
As you become a trusted voice, users will naturally gravitate towards you. You might see an increase in direct messages inquiring about your services, or even mentions in comments recommending you to others.
Such as these:
The service that I offered was a local service that was lacking in my area of Texas, and I got an influx of emails, so if you can tackle your local SEO (because most of your competitors honestly don’t focus on local SEO) you will be in good hands.
Remember:
- Be Transparent: When the time comes to discuss your services, be upfront and transparent about your offerings.
- Focus on Building Relationships: Always prioritize user needs over a quick sale.
If you would like to get 2 AI prompts that I personally use to find the hidden subreddits at a faster pace, comment “reddit prompts” on this post and I will send it to you by replying with a custom link.
The Final Takeaway
The Reddit planting strategy is a powerful tool for attracting high-quality clients. By providing genuine value and establishing yourself as an expert, you can cultivate a thriving business on this unique platform. So, put on your gardening gloves (figuratively speaking) and get ready to watch your client base blossom!
If you are trying to figure out how to get clients, users, and consumers with your business through content marketing even if you have a small audience, I will give you a blueprint on how I make 10k a month online even with a small audience :) please book a coaching call with me & I can offer some help to you! -> https://calendly.com/meveforme/meve-30-minute-consultation
