Find Customers on Reddit

Reddit is one of the internet's biggest buyer-intent engines. Learn how to find customers on Reddit, which subreddits to watch, and how to turn conversations into leads without being salesy.

In this section, we'll cover:

Reddit has become a goldmine for buyer-intent conversations. By the end, you'll know exactly how to find them, where to focus, and how to join in without breaking subreddit trust.

Why Reddit is a goldmine

Key stats proving Reddit's buyer-intent power

Value by business type

How SaaS, e-commerce, services, and locals can win on Reddit

Finding the right subreddits

Which communities to monitor and how to prioritize them

Search syntax & keywords

The exact queries to uncover buyer intent

The timing challenge

Why speed matters and how to solve it

How to reply without being salesy

Scripts and tone that work on Reddit

Mini case study

A real example of alert → reply → conversion

Why most businesses fail

The common traps that kill Reddit outreach

Next steps

Your 15-min/day Reddit listening plan

1. Why Reddit Is a Goldmine for Buyer Intent

Reddit isn't just memes and AMAs — it's one of the world's largest intent engines. People openly ask what to buy, which competitor is better, and how to solve urgent problems.

🌍 Scale: Reddit reports 400M+ monthly active users. That's hundreds of millions of conversations across every niche imaginable.
🔎 Research-driven: Reddit's own studies show that 74% of users say Reddit helps them make faster purchase decisions, and 74% of people reported satisfaction with a purchase they made based on information found on Reddit.
📈 Search dominance: Independent SEO research (Sistrix) found Reddit's Google search visibility increased by 1,348% in 2023–24. That's why so many threads now rank #1 for long-tail buyer queries.
🚀 Traffic growth: In May 2024, Reddit traffic was up 39% year-over-year, largely driven by Google surfacing forum content as "helpful results."
🤖 AI engines love Reddit: A study by SEMRUSH shows Reddit has become the #1 most-cited source for ChatGPT.
🎯 Ad platform: Beyond organic, Reddit Ads allow hyper-targeting by community, interest, keyword, and geography.

Put simply: Reddit is where buyers talk out loud before they buy.

2. Understanding Reddit's Value for Different Businesses

Reddit's power isn't limited to tech startups. Here's how different businesses benefit:

SaaS

Catch users switching tools or complaining about competitors.

Example: "Anyone else feel HubSpot is too bloated for small teams?"

E-Commerce

Find product recommendation threads or reviews:

Example: "Best headphones under $200?"

Consulting / Services

Spot problem-driven posts like "How do I increase Shopify conversions?" and offer a short, helpful answer.

Example: "How do I increase Shopify conversions?"

Mobile Apps

Join niche app discussions where users ask for alternatives:

Example: "Best free habit tracker that integrates with calendar?"

Local Businesses

Community subs are full of "near me" discussions:

Example: "Best wedding photographer in Chicago?"

3. Finding the Right Subreddits

Success on Reddit comes from joining the right communities. Not every sub will welcome you — focus where buyer conversations happen:

📈 Niche subs: r/Entrepreneur, r/PersonalFinance
❓ Problem-based subs: r/SmallBusiness, r/SEO
🛍️ Product/brand subs: r/Shopify, r/WordPress

💡 Pro Tip: Pro tip: Use subreddit search filters → Top + Past Month. This surfaces evergreen discussions that still get traffic from Google.

4. Search Syntax & Buyer-Intent Keywords

Finding buyer-intent conversations on Reddit isn't about endless scrolling — it’s about knowing the right queries to run.

By combining smart Google search operators with Reddit’s built-in filters, you can zero in on posts where people are actively asking for recommendations, looking for alternatives, or comparing products.

Below are proven queries and real-world examples that you can start using today.

Google Search Operators

Google is still the fastest way to surface high-intent threads on Reddit. Try combinations like:

site:reddit.com "vs" "alternative to"
site:reddit.com "recommend" "tool"
site:reddit.com "how do I" + [niche term]

Example: Searching site:reddit.com "alternative to Mailchimp" surfaces posts like this thread, where small business owners openly discuss what they switched to. That’s a goldmine for SaaS email tools.

Inside Reddit

Once you're inside Reddit, refine your results further:

Use subreddit:[name] to focus on specific communities
Sort by: New to catch fresh posts before competitors
Sort by: Top to find evergreen threads with high visibility

Example: subreddit:SaaS recommend brings up requests like this post where a potential customer is looking for a helpdesk software.

Keywords to Test

Mix and match these keyword formats with your niche for maximum coverage:

Problem + "recommend"
Example: "SEO audit" recommend → people asking for SEO tools.
Competitor + "alternative"
Example: "Salesforce alternative" → discussions where users want lighter or cheaper CRMs.
Niche + "vs"
Example: HubSpot vs Zoho → comparison posts where buyers are actively deciding.

These keyword patterns align with buyer-intent search behavior, the same principle behind SEO keyword research (Ahrefs on buyer keywords).

5. The Timing Challenge (and Opportunity)

Reddit threads move fast. Most engagement happens in the first 1–3 hours. If you reply late, you're buried.

The challenge: new posts don't appear in Google for hours (sometimes never). Manually refreshing subs all day is unsustainable.

Solution: Set up alerts for your high-intent keywords. With Alertly, you get a daily summary of every matching Reddit post — no endless scrolling.

6. How to Reply Without Being Salesy

Redditors spot self-promo instantly. The key is to help first, mention second.

🔧 Lead with a fix: Share a useful tip or process before mentioning your product.
📊 Add proof: Drop a screenshot, checklist, or neutral resource.
🙋 Be transparent: "I built this to solve the same issue."

Bad reply

Try our CRM, best on the market!

Good reply

We outgrew HubSpot too. Two hacks helped: X and Y. I built [tool] because of this exact issue — happy to share a free trial.

Result: Upvotes + leads.

7. Mini Case Study

Trigger

An alert catches a new r/SmallBusiness thread: "Our Shopify store is so slow, any fixes?"

Action

You reply with 3 fixes (image compression, theme cleanup, lazy-load). Add a link to a neutral checklist, then offer a free audit.

Result

The OP DMs you → booked consultation → paid engagement.

Bonus: that same thread later ranks on Google for "Shopify site slow" — continuing to send traffic long after your reply.

8. Why Most Businesses Fail on Reddit

Most companies treat Reddit like Twitter or LinkedIn and wonder why they get buried. Redditors are hyper-sensitive to shilling, and the platform rewards relevance, timing, and authenticity.

🥶 Jumping in cold with a pitch → downvotes

Imagine a new account replying “Check out our tool!” to the first post they see. It’s seen as spam and quickly hidden.

🗑️ Not learning subreddit culture → deleted posts

Each community has its own rules. For example, r/SaaS bans links in top-level posts, while r/Entrepreneur encourages resources if you share context. Skipping these rules = post removed.

⏰ Arriving late → invisible replies

Reddit is real-time. A thoughtful reply posted a week after the thread goes live will rarely be seen. Alerts help you reply within hours, not days.

💥 Using noisy keywords → irrelevant results

Searching “marketing” gives you memes, not leads. Buyer-intent phrases like “recommend email tool” or “alternatives to HubSpot” cut through the noise.

9. Next Steps

Pick 5–10 buyer-intent keywords (problem, competitor, vs, recommend)
Spend 15 minutes/day scanning threads
Reply with value-first comments

Stop scrolling endless Reddit threads

Alertly finds the posts where people are asking for solutions like yours — and delivers them straight to your inbox.

⚡ Find Customers on Reddit with Alertly