Use Reddit When:
Skip Reddit If:
Reddit isn't like LinkedIn or Twitter. The platform operates on community-first principles where users actively reject promotional content. Success requires understanding three core systems:
1. Karma as Trust Signal Karma is a publicly visible score on Reddit that reflects how many upvotes and down-votes you’ve received on your posts and comments. Upvotes on your posts/comments are the only direct source of karma.
There are two types: Post Karma (from posts) and Comment Karma (from comments). Many subreddits impose minimum karma (total karma) before allowing a new account to post or comment, in order to reduce spam and low-quality content.
Note: There are several subreddits that are friendly to new comers where you don’t need any karma. More on this in the warm-up plan section.
2. Contributor Quality Score (CQS) Reddit assigns every account a hidden Contributor Quality Score (CQS) to measure how trustworthy or spam-like your activity appears across the site. No one knows how this calculated. It is a combination of your account age, your activity history, and your content quality are some of the factors that are supposed to be factored in. Moderators can use this score to filter or auto-remove content from accounts that look low-quality or suspicious.
3. IP and Device Fingerprinting Reddit logs IP and device/network signals and uses those (plus behavioral signals) to detect ban-evasion and spam. Don’t try to “game” the system by rapidly changing IPs or creating many accounts from the same device; instead, warm up a single, legitimate account from a stable device/IP, verify it, and build real engagement.
So the first question most people ask is: how should I setup my account - anonymous, company handle, combination or something else?
Best for: Testing the waters, individual thought leaders, employees doing advocacy
Setup:
Pros: More flexibility, can speak freely, easier to build authentic connections
Cons: Harder to build direct brand recognition, need multiple accounts for scale
Best for: Established companies ready to own their presence, community building
Setup:
Pros: Direct brand recognition, builds official presence, clearer attribution
Cons: Higher scrutiny, less flexibility, promotional content expectations
Best for: Founders, executives, subject matter experts representing companies
Setup:
Pros: Builds personal brand alongside company brand, most authentic, best for thought leadership
Cons: Requires personal time investment, blurs personal/professional boundaries
ok, now that you have setup your account, how do you start engaging on Reddit? Unlike other social platforms, each subreddit has rules for who can post or comment and many well moderated subs do not like new accounts to post and comment on day 1. So you need to warm up your account and get credibility slowly.
Objective: (1) Join low or no karma subreddits to build karma and (2) observe your target subreddits
Total time: 30 mins per day
Daily actions (30 min/day):
This is mine after the first 1 week. Most of the Karma came from engaging in the r/catadvice and r/catsbeingadorable subreddit which was easy for me as I am genuinely interested in cats
(Rocksalt helps here by telling you what you should do based on your karma and the subreddit you are in)
Objective: Continue building your karma, comment/post in low karma subreddits
Total time: 30 mins per day
Daily actions (30 min/day):
For example: In week 2, I asked about a genuine problem I was dealing with with my cat. I also asked a similar thought provoking question in b2bmarketing about email marketing - a subject I know there will be lot of opinions on and one I was genuinely curious about.
Objective: (1) Evaluate the best subreddits for your business to double down on, continue engaging lightly in a few interest based subreddits. (2) Aim to get 50+ karma points.
Total time: 30 mins per day
Daily actions (30 min/day):
We recommend that you still engage in other relevant subreddits but you pay more attention to a few and start building your credibility there. Absolutely no links or mentioning of your product
Here is an example of subreddits I am monitoring and recommendations on others that might be relevant to me based on my interests.
Objective: Aim to get a 100 Karma points
Total time: 30 mins per day
Daily actions (30 min/day):
Once you get 300 Karma points and your account is 3 months old, then you can post comments or content that mention your product. The exact tactics on doing this is covered in Part 3 of the guide. But for starters:
“I work at ___. Sharing our experience with X—no sales pitch; happy to clarify.” Reddit+1
With Reddit’s strict rules, it’s better to err on the side of caution and do everything to prevent bans as it is extremely difficult to reverse bans.
There are two types of bans that can happen on Reddit:
1. Your content gets removed: This is the most common type of bans newbie redditors experience. This is when your posts or comments get deleted. Sometimes you get notified, sometimes you don't. The best course of action here is to (a) read the subreddit rules to understand what you may have done wrong. You can also try contacting the mod team via Modmail to politely enquire the reason for the removal so you won’t make the mistake again.
2. Subreddit ban: You’re blocked from posting/commenting in that community only. Mods enforce their community’s rules (which can be stricter than sitewide rules). Appeal by contacting the mod team via Modmail; whether they reverse it is up to them.
3. Account suspension - if this happens, you’ve done something that goes against reddit policies and there is usually nothing that can be done. Reddit explicitly prohibits creating new accounts to get past these bans and uses sophisticated detection methods including checking your IP addresses and your device ID as well as seeing familiar behaviour patterns to detect new accounts setup to evade site wide bans.
In Reddit, prevention (of bans) is a better strategy than the cure (trying to appeal a ban). Here are some things you can do to avoid getting banned:
Q1: Should I use a personal account, a branded account, or a pseudonymous SME persona?
A: All are allowed. Reddit permits pseudonyms; you don’t need your real name. What matters is not impersonating a person or company and abiding by each community’s rules. If you represent a brand, be transparent about that in relevant threads. redditinc.com
Q2: Do I disclose my employer/affiliation in my bio or in every relevant comment? What wording avoids auto-removal?
A: Don’t rely on a bio alone. Keep a short, matter-of-fact line you can paste as part of your comment (e.g., “I work at __; sharing how we handle X—no sales pitch.”). Reddit+2Federal Trade Commission+2
Q3: One account per marketer or a team of SMEs? How do we avoid “astroturf” vibes?
A: Multiple accounts are fine (brand + SMEs) as long as each acts independently, discloses affiliation when relevant, and never coordinates votes. Vote manipulation (asking colleagues to upvote, using alts, etc.) is prohibited and enforced. Reddit Help
Q1: What triggers removals, temp bans, or other enforcement?
A: Admins enforce the Reddit Rules with removals, restrictions, suspensions, and quarantines. Common triggers include content manipulation (e.g., spam or vote cheating), harassment, privacy/doxxing, impersonation, or illegal/prohibited transactions. redditinc.com
Q2: A mod flaired me as “vendor” or removed my post. How do I appeal respectfully?
A: Use Mod Mail (“Message the moderators”) to ask which rule you tripped and how to comply (edit vs. repost). Keep it concise, cite their rule, and propose a fix. Reddit Help
This guide covered Getting your reddit account ready for engagement. Future parts of this series will address:
Part 1: What factors influence whether Reddit content gets cited by LLMs
Part 3: Commenting and posting guidance for LLM visibility
Part 4: Reporting and measuring Reddit activity for LLM visibility