The Do’s and Dont’s of Using Reddit for Startup Growth in 2025
I’ve seen founders organically generate thousands of sign-ups and build trust with hyper-engaged Reddit communities. We’ve seen them turn Redditors into collaborators who help shape their product roadmap. But we’ve also seen plenty of startups struggle to grow because they misunderstood how Reddit works.
To help you avoid the latter, here are the do’s and don’ts of using Reddit for startup growth in 2025, based on real founders’ experiences – including my own as the founder of GummySearch.
DON’T: Jump in Like You Own the Place
Going into Reddit like “We just launched our product, check it out” is a way of starting on the wrong foot. You might not have enough karma to post that since Reddit encourages you to engage through comments before anything else.
Instead, get deeply involved in the subreddits where your target users already hang out. This doesn’t mean self-promotion is off the table – some communities, like r/sideproject, welcome it in the right context. Founders often share their projects there because the community is open to giving feedback, offering critiques, and even signing up as beta testers.
Even the most critical feedback can be the motivation you need. People will challenge your idea, ask “How are you different from X?” or “Why would anyone switch from what they already use?”
These are the kinds of insights that can help you refine your positioning and strengthen your value proposition. But if you come across as someone just looking to drive traffic without contributing to the conversation, you’re more likely to get ripped apart.
DO: Engage First, Promote Later
Redditors aren’t shy about their dislike for traditional advertising, and if they sense even a whiff of disguised self-promotion, they’ll let you know. They won’t hesitate to call you out if you try to pass off an ad as a “casual” community post.
But…despite honest opinions, it’s not true that Reddit users hate advertising altogether. What they dislike is bad advertising.
Reddit is one of the few platforms where users can downvote ads, and they often do. But just as easily as they can reject an ad, they can also support one they enjoy. Take Maker’s Mark, for example.
Over a decade ago, they became the first alcohol brand to advertise on Reddit, and instead of running a generic campaign, they leaned into the community’s love for humor and creativity. To celebrate that weekend’s Kentucky Derby, they invited Redditors to submit their own whiskey-themed horse names. The most creative ones were then featured in a dynamic Reddit homepage takeover on the Friday before the event.
Thousands of comments poured in, and even when Maker’s Mark slipped in a “shameless plug” for their bourbon, the community didn’t mind because the engagement felt organic.
As Maker’s Mark’s executives later pointed out, Reddit advertising works best when it blends into the environment rather than disrupting it. If you try to force or fake engagement, users will reject it. But if you’re transparent and offer something Redditors actually want to engage with, they just might reward you for it.
DON’T: Ignore Subreddit Culture
Every subreddit has its own culture and set of rules. This means that if you post like an outsider, you’ll be treated like one. That’s why you’ll often see Redditors preface their posts with “Long-time lurker, first-time poster.” Lurking first is a sign of understanding the nuances of how people communicate and engage.
Needless to say, ignoring subreddit rules is a rookie mistake. You’ll typically find them in the right sidebar, but if you click to expand, you’ll often find even more details. Some communities are laid back, while others, like r/sidehustle, have stricter requirements.
Even a minor rule break can get your post removed or banned. Be sure to spend time in the community before posting to understand what your audience cares about and how you can contribute.
DO: Blend In, But Make an Impact
The key to Reddit’s success is looking like a Redditor, not a marketer.
An early-stage mental wellness app for Gen Z mastered this by embedding themselves in r/Anxiety and r/GetMotivated. Instead of spamming ads, they responded to posts, shared insights, and even ran an Ask Me Anything (AMA) where their founder discussed their own mental health journey.
They also partnered with subreddit moderators to sponsor community-driven events like daily check-in threads, integrating their app without making it feel like an ad. One founder took note of their journey and summed it up beautifully:
“You can’t ‘sell’ on Reddit, but you can spark conversations that sell for you.” — Niclas Schlopsna, CEO, spectup
DON’T: Expect Instant Results
As Rocky Balboa would say, Reddit is about going the distance.
The founder of BeardBrand, Eric Bandholz, can confirm that.
Before ever hosting an AMA, he spent five years actively engaging in discussions, asking questions, sharing tips, and being the face AND beard of his own brand.
By the time he finally did an AMA, people were eager to participate.
This kind of trust doesn’t happen overnight, and Beardbrand’s growth proves why it’s worth the effort. Launched in 2013 with just $8,000, they quickly scaled up to over $10 million per year at their peak.
If you treat Reddit like a get-rich-quick scheme, the community will see right through you. Holz said it himself:
DON’T: Be a Long-Time Lurker
Lurking for research and not interacting can get too comfortable, and comfort is the opposite of growth. You want to talk to people, learn as much as you can, and gain traction.
Even though there are so many ways to engage, like beta invites, AMAs, or early access programs, I recommend sticking to regular posting and commenting for a while until you feel comfortable doing AMAs, for example.
And if you’re like, “people will see that I’m nervous, and I’ll look like a loser…” the next example is for you.
DO: Be Vulnerable and Transparent
Vulnerability and transparency win on Reddit, and nothing proves that more than Caliber Fitness’s ad for their 100% free strength training app. Instead of being ignored like many ads, this one was met with praise.
From the very first line, the founder, Justin Fauci, was upfront. He made it clear this was an ad, even apologizing for interrupting people’s scrolling. But he also shared something important: he’d been a Redditor for eight whole years, which ties in perfectly with our theme.
Plus, he explained he was advertising to help people get better results from their workouts and engaged in the comments like a real human. When users responded, the founder replied with vulnerability, even admitting he was nervous about running the ad.
People appreciated the honesty so much that they wished more ads were like this! The post got 10k+ upvotes, 90+ Reddit awards, and 4k+ comments. What a boost!
Another great example is from a crypto startup in early 2025 that turned $5K in ad spending into over $50K on new users. Not by spamming promotions but by engaging with the community first.
For weeks before launching any campaign, they dropped useful insights into niche subreddits. Naturally, when they finally ran ads, they felt like a smooth transition to the conversations they were already having rather than random promotions.
That move paid off.
- Comments doubled on their promoted posts.
- Upvotes hit over 1,200 on a single thread.
- When they finally offered an exclusive beta invite in r/cryptocurrency, sign-ups exploded.
“They did not push a product. They positioned themselves as active members of the community. Their CEO even jumped into threads to answer tough questions in real time, which built credibility fast. When they finally offered an exclusive beta invite in r/cryptocurrency, sign-ups blew past expectations in under 48 hours.”
—Thomas Franklin, CEO, Swapped
This shows how to do Reddit marketing right, especially if you’re trying to grow your startup.
DON’T: Get Stuck in Endless Research Mode
With so much data available, startups risk spending too much time analyzing and not enough time acting. Spending months researching without taking action won’t grow your startup – it’ll hinder it.
Using the right tools helps you focus on insights that matter without speed-running your research. GummySearch, for example, helps you cut down on research time dramatically, so you can spend more time engaging, iterating, and growing.
DO: Use GummySearch to Avoid the Research Trap
GummySearch lets you instantly surface trending discussions around your product category without spending hours manually sifting through posts.
All you need to do is create your free account, then hit “Make a New Audience” and start adding relevant subreddits where your target users hang out. You can search for niche communities based on the industry, interests, or issues your audience talks about.
For example, this is an audience I’d create for a time management tool:
Here are several ways GummySearch reduces research time:
- It groups top discussions using a scoring-based algorithm, pulling in the most engaged, discussed, and high-performing content so you’re always seeing what is most important.
- Instead of just sorting by “top posts,” it also includes emerging trends or fresh insights.
Beyond that, it delivers AI-generated summaries that condense entire conversations into clear takeaways. That means if I’m just checking in on your audience for five minutes during morning coffee, I can get an instant sense of what they’re talking about without deep-diving into every post.
- It highlights genuine customer pain points, motivators, and requests through AI-powered analysis.
Let’s say I’m running a pain-based ad for your time management tool. I already know people struggle with balancing work and side projects, but what exactly frustrates them the most? Where is the pain strongest?
Instead of wasting time Googling generic searches like: 🔍 “time management tool hate site:reddit.com“ 🔍 “time management problems reddit”
I just open GummySearch, hit Pain & Anger, and let it surface the real frustrations people are venting about.
I’ll instantly see what’s making people struggle the most right now, as well as the predominant sentiment. For the example above, it’s “Despair.”
If I want quick insights, the AI summary gives me a fast breakdown of the biggest recurring pain points. For deeper research, I can dive into specific posts to see how people describe their struggles in their own words.
- It notifies me when people talk about my brand and mention competitors, important keywords, or industry trends.
GummySearch keeps me in the loop without the chaos, automatically pinging me whenever any of my tracked keywords pop up in discussions. It allows me to:
- Set up keyword alerts for my brand name, competitor names, industry trends, or customer pain points.
- Get real-time updates in the Conversations Report, where all my tracked searches are stored.
- Get notified via email, Slack, or even Discord. And I can share the report with my team whenever needed.
If you’re more laid back, you don’t have to get notifications every day. Instead, you can opt for daily or weekly keyword digests. It’s up to you.
Growing a Startup on Reddit is Like Method Acting
Or method marketing, to be more specific. That’s because you need to become a part of your audience to succeed.
Yes, the advice to “engage first” and “build a presence” is abundant, but it is the answer.
There’s no trick to making Reddit work for you. You need to go the distance and interact with your audience as much as you can. In the meantime, you can use tools like GummySearch to break down the research, categorize key insights, and make the process much faster. That’s how you grow a startup at a healthy pace without skipping over any steps.
