Okay so here's the thing.

I spent my entire November 2024 building a SaaS product. Polished the UI. Wrote docs. Set up the perfect landing page. Then December rolled around and I had exactly ZERO customers.

Not because the product was bad. Because nobody knew it existed.

I tried Twitter - crickets. Posted on LinkedIn - 12 views, 2 of them were my mom. Indie Hackers got me some upvotes but zero email signups.

Then I tried Reddit.

And got banned. Twice. In the same week.

Yeah. That happened.

Why Reddit is Different (And Why Most People Fail)

Here's what I didn't understand at first: Reddit hates advertising.

Like, REALLY hates it.

You can't just drop a link to your landing page and expect upvotes. The community will smell self-promotion from a mile away and downvote you into oblivion. Or worse - permanent ban.

But here's the paradox: some of the most successful SaaS products got their first 100 customers from Reddit. MediaFast bootstrapped to $2,000 MRR through Reddit posts. Howitzer (a Reddit outreach tool) hit $5k MRR before raising seed funding. One founder I talked to got 60 out of his first 100 users from a single Reddit post that hit 14k views.

So what's the secret?

The Shift: From "Selling" to "Solving"

After getting banned twice, I had a choice: give up on Reddit, or figure out what I was doing wrong.

I chose option two.

I spent a week just lurking. Reading. Watching how successful founders talked about their products. And I noticed a pattern:

They never sold. They solved.

Instead of: "Check out my new tool for Reddit marketing!"

They wrote: "I was struggling with X problem for months. Tried Y and Z, both sucked. So I built a quick script to fix it. Made it into a desktop app. Happy to share if anyone's interested."

See the difference?

One is a sales pitch. The other is a story.

What Actually Worked: The 3-Step Framework

After testing dozens of approaches, here's what consistently brought me customers:

Step 1: Find Where Your Customers Are Complaining

Don't post randomly. Don't spam r/entrepreneur with your launch announcement.

Instead, use search.

I searched for keywords like:

"reddit marketing tools"
"how to find customers on reddit"
"reddit scraper alternatives"

But not just in the r/SaaS or r/startups subreddits. I went deeper:

r/Entrepreneur
r/AskMarketing
r/GrowthHacking
r/B2BMarketing

I found threads where people were actively asking: "How do I find people talking about X on Reddit?" "Anyone know a good way to monitor Reddit for keywords?"

These are GOLD. These people have the problem RIGHT NOW. They're not just browsing - they're actively looking for solutions.

Step 2: Provide Value First (70%), Mention Product Last (30%)

Here's my comment template that worked:

Yeah I struggled with this too.

Tried building a Python scraper with PRAW but hit rate limits after 100 requests. Then tried web scraping but Reddit's Cloudflare blocks kept triggering 403 errors. Super annoying.

What worked for me: I built a desktop tool that runs locally. No rate limits because it uses your own IP. Has filters for comment count, upvotes, date ranges - basic stuff but saves hours.

I call it [Reddit Toolbox](https://www.wappkit.com/download). UI could use work tbh but it gets the job done. Has a 3-day trial if you want to test it, then $14/month with code BNWPJRLVJH for 30% off.

Not perfect, but beats spending 3 hours manually scrolling through subreddits.

Notice what I did:

✅ Shared my own struggle (relatability)
✅ Mentioned failed attempts (credibility)
✅ Positioned tool as "scrappy solution" not "ultimate product"
✅ Admitted flaws ("UI could use work")
✅ Mentioned trial AND discount code
✅ Focused on time saved, not features

This comment style got me 60% of my early users.

Step 3: Use Tools to Scale (Because Manual Search Doesn't Scale)

Here's the problem: manually searching Reddit every day is exhausting.

You need to:

Monitor 10+ subreddits
Check new posts every few hours
Filter out low-quality threads
Respond before threads get buried

After doing this manually for two weeks, I realized I needed a better system. I started using the same tool I mentioned above (classic dogfooding situation) to automate the monitoring part.

Now I:

Set up keyword alerts for "reddit marketing", "find customers", "reddit tools"
Filter by posts with 5+ comments (shows active discussion)
Sort by "newest first" to catch threads early
Get daily email digest of matching posts

Saves me about 10 hours a week. The tool pays for itself in saved time.

Am I biased? Obviously. Does it work? Yeah, that's why I'm still using it myself.

The Results: 60 Customers in 45 Days

Here's the breakdown:

Week 1-2: Got banned twice (learning phase)
Week 3: First 5 customers from one well-placed comment
Week 4: Another 15 customers from replying to 3 threads
Week 5-6: 40 more customers from consistent engagement

Total: 60 customers in 45 days. Zero ad spend.

Conversion rate: About 20% of people who clicked actually signed up for trial. About 30% of trial users converted to paid.

Not amazing numbers, but way better than my $500 Facebook Ads experiment that got me exactly 2 signups and 1 chargeback.

What Doesn't Work (So You Don't Waste Time)

I tested a bunch of stuff that didn't work:

❌ Posting in r/SideProject or r/IMadeThis - Only gets you other founders, not paying customers
❌ **Submitting to r/Producti

vity** - Got removed for self-promotion
❌ Reddit Ads - Spent $200, got 50 clicks, 0 signups (probably targeting was bad)
❌ "Stealth marketing" with fake accounts - Got caught, shadow banned, not worth it

The Real Strategy: Be Useful, Not Promotional

The founders who succeed on Reddit all follow the same playbook:

Solve problems publicly. Share your knowledge. Write detailed answers. Link to your blog posts. Become known as "that helpful person."
Mention products naturally. Don't make posts ABOUT your product. Make posts about solving a problem, where your product is one possible solution.
Admit limitations. "Not perfect, but works for me" beats "revolutionary AI-powered ultimate solution" every time.
Follow up in DMs. If someone's interested, move the conversation to DMs. Offer to help them set up. Be a human.
Track what works. Not all subreddits convert equally. Double down on what works, ignore what doesn't.

Tools That Help (Beyond My Own)

Look, I'm not gonna pretend my tool is the only option. Here's what else people use:

F5Bot - Free keyword monitoring (but only sends alerts, doesn't help with searching history)
Google Alerts - "site:reddit.com YOUR_KEYWORD" - super basic but free
Reddit's own search - Terrible UX but it's there
GummySearch - Popular tool, around $50/month, does audience research
Reddit Toolbox (mine) - $14/month with code BNWPJRLVJH, focused on local search and filters

Pick whatever fits your budget. The strategy matters way more than the tool.

The Unsexy Truth About Reddit Marketing

Reddit isn't a "growth hack."

It's not a magic button where you post once and get 1000 customers.

It's a grind. You need to:

Show up consistently
Provide value without expecting anything back
Build reputation over weeks, not days
Get comfortable with rejection (downvotes, bans, ignored comments)

But here's why it works:

Reddit users have HIGH INTENT.

When someone searches "best reddit marketing tool" on Google, they're not just browsing. They're actively looking for solutions. And if your comment from 6 months ago ranks in Google results (which happens more than you think thanks to Reddit's domain authority), you get customers on autopilot.

That's the compound effect. One good comment can bring you customers for months.

Final Thoughts

If I could go back and tell myself one thing before starting Reddit marketing:

"Stop trying to sell. Start trying to help."

The 60 customers I got didn't come from perfect sales copy or clever growth hacks. They came from me genuinely helping people solve their Reddit research problems, and mentioning my tool as one possible solution.

Not revolutionary advice. But it works.

If you're building a SaaS and wondering where to find your first customers, give Reddit a shot. Just remember:

Don't spam
Don't hard-sell
Do provide value
Do be patient

Oh, and maybe avoid getting banned three times like I did. Learn from my mistakes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have about 15 Reddit threads to reply to today. This grind doesn't stop.

Want to try the tool I mentioned? Reddit Toolbox has a 3-day unlimited trial. After that it's $19.99/month, but use code BNWPJRLVJH for 30% off ($13.99/month). Pays for itself if it saves you even one hour of manual Reddit scrolling.

Download here: https://www.wappkit.com/download

How I Found My First 60 Customers on Reddit (Without Spending $1 on Ads)