40+ Reddit Marketing Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

Reddit bans and content removals follow very specific patterns. And once you understand those patterns, you can diagnose (and fix) almost any Reddit marketing problem in minutes.

In this guide, I’ll show you the exact troubleshooting framework I use to identify why Reddit is killing your marketing efforts – and the step-by-step playbook to recover.

Let’s get into it.

Why Reddit Keeps Banning You

Most marketers think Reddit hates businesses and marketing.

That’s not quite right.

Reddit hates lazy marketing. There’s a big difference.

Reddit was designed from the ground up as an anti-marketing platform. The upvote/downvote system, the moderator tools, and the spam filters all exist to catch and eliminate promotional content.

But here’s what makes Reddit REALLY different from platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn:

Every single subreddit operates like its own country.

Each one has its own laws (rules), its own culture (unwritten norms), its own government (moderators), and its own citizens (community members) who will absolutely rat you out if you break the social contract.

A strategy that earns you 100 upvotes in r/startups might get you permanently banned from r/cosplays.

And the platform’s detection systems? They’re getting smarter every month.

Reddit’s anti-spam AI detector now looks at:

• Account age and karma ratio (new account + promotional content = instant flag)
• Posting velocity (too many posts in too short a time)
• Domain reputation (certain link shorteners and affiliate domains are blacklisted)
• Behavioral fingerprints (posting the same content across subreddits)
• Engagement patterns (only commenting on your own posts = red flag)

But here’s the good news:

Almost every Reddit marketing failure follows one of the predictable patterns. And every single one is fixable once you know what to look for.

Let me show you how to figure out exactly what went wrong.

(If you’re brand new to Reddit marketing, start with our complete Reddit Marketing Guide first, then come back here when something breaks.)

How to Deal with it

Before you try ANY fix, you need to figure out what’s actually broken.

I use this simple 4-step medthod to diagnose Reddit marketing problems fast:

Step 1: Find the sign

What EXACTLY happened?

• Posts disappearing after publishing?
• Entire account locked out?
• Comments invisible to everyone but you?
• Zero engagement on everything you post?
• Constant downvotes?

Each symptom points to a completely different root cause. So getting this right matters.

Step 2: Determine the Ban

This is the step most people skip. And it’s the most important one.

Ask yourself: Where is this happening?

• One subreddit? You’re dealing with a moderator issue or a community-specific rule violation. This is usually the easiest to fix.
• Multiple subreddits? Your account or content is getting flagged at a higher level. This means Reddit’s platform-wide spam filters are catching you.
• Everywhere on Reddit? You’re likely looking at a shadowban or site-wide suspension. This is the most serious but still recoverable.

Step 3: Audit Your Last 30 Days

Pull up your profile here and honestly evaluate:

• How old is your account? (Anything under 30 days is a massive red flag for promotional activity)
• What’s your karma breakdown? (Comment karma matters WAY more than post karma)
• How many external links have you dropped in the past week?
• What percentage of your activity is promotional vs. genuinely helpful?

(Pro tip: Run your account through our Reddit Profile Analyzer to get an instant health check.)

Be brutally honest here. The 80/20 rule (80% value, 20% promotion) is actually the MINIMUM. Top Reddit marketers operate closer to 95/5 (only 5 soft mentions every 100 Reddit comments).

Step 4: Fix it

Now that you know the symptom, scope, and recent history, match it to the specific fix below.

Let’s start with the most common problem.

My Post Get Removed (Single Subreddit vs. Platform-Wide)

Post removal is the #1 issue Reddit marketers deal with.

And it comes in two very different flavors.

Case 1: Your Post Got Removed From ONE Subreddit

This is almost always a community-level issue. Here’s what’s probably going on:

The #1 culprit: You included an external link.

This is BY FAR the most common reason posts get nuked. Reddit’s AutoModerator (a bot that moderators configure) is set up in most popular subreddits to automatically remove any post containing an external URL.

And no, editing the link in later doesn’t work either. Reddit’s systems detect post edits that add links, and they’ll pull your content down retroactively.

Other common triggers:

• Wrong flair selection (some subreddits auto-remove posts without proper flair)
• Breaking a rule you didn’t know existed (many communities have rules buried in wiki pages, not just the sidebar)
• Your content doesn’t match the subreddit’s unwritten culture norms
• Moderators recognized your account as promotional from your post history

The fix:

1. Strip ALL external links. Rewrite your post to reference your tool, product, or site by name only. Don’t include the URL. People who are interested will Google it. (And they do - trust me.)

For a deeper dive on what you can and can’t say without getting flagged, read our guide on how to comment safely on Reddit.

2. Reverse-engineer successful posts. Go to the subreddit. Sort by “Top - Past Month.” Read the top 50 posts. Notice the format, length, tone, and structure. Your post needs to look like THOSE posts, not like a marketing blog.

Need help structuring posts that don’t get removed? Our guide on how to write a Reddit post covers the exact formats that work.

3. Contact the mods (politely). Send a message like: "Hey team, my post about [topic] was removed and I want to make sure I'm contributing properly. Could you help me understand what I should do differently? Happy to adjust my approach."

Notice what this message does NOT say: it doesn’t argue, justify, or defend. It asks for help. Moderators respond very well to humility.

4. Reposition your angle. Instead of “I built a tool that does X,” try “I struggled with X for months, here’s what finally worked for me.” Same information, completely different frame.

Example: A project management tool founder got removed from r/productivity for posting “We just launched a free task manager.” He rewrote it as “The 7 apps that actually stuck after I tried (and deleted) 50 others in 2025” and then mention his product in the list. The same product is mentioned naturally in the story. 2,100 upvotes.

Case 2: Your Posts Get Removed Across MULTIPLE Subreddits

This is a different beast entirely. When multiple communities are blocking you, the problem isn’t with the subreddits – it’s with your account.

What’s happening behind the scenes:

Reddit’s platform-level spam filters have flagged your account. Reddit uses an internal content quality scoring system to evaluate accounts. Learn how it works in our Reddit CQS guide. Every post you make now gets extra scrutiny, and most auto-moderation systems will catch and remove it before any human even sees it.

My Account is Banned

Getting banned hurts. But it’s not always permanent.

There are two types of bans, and they require completely different responses. For the complete breakdown of every ban type and how they differ, see our dedicated Reddit ban guide.

Subreddit Ban (You’re Blocked From ONE Community)

When a moderator bans you from a specific subreddit, you’ll get a private message explaining:

• Which subreddit banned you
• The reason (sometimes vague)
• The duration (temporary or permanent)

You can still use the rest of Reddit normally. This is a community-level punishment.

How to handle it:

For temporary bans (usually 3-30 days): Just wait it out. Seriously. Don’t message the mods 69 times. Don’t create an alt account. Both of those actions can escalate a temporary ban into a permanent one.

For permanent bans, you have one shot at an appeal:

“Hi mods - I understand I was banned for [specific reason]. Looking back at my posts, I can see why that crossed the line. I’ve been active on Reddit in other communities since then, and I’d love the chance to contribute here again. I’ll follow the rules going forward. Would you consider lifting the ban?”

Key elements: Own the mistake. Show growth. Don’t grovel.

If the appeal is denied? Move on. There are thousands of relevant subreddits. Find three new ones to invest in.

Critical rule: NEVER create an alt account to get around a subreddit ban. Reddit’s detection systems link accounts by IP, browser fingerprint, and behavioral patterns. Getting caught means a site-wide suspension.

Type 2: Site-Wide Ban (Your Entire Account Is Locked)

This is the big one.

A site-wide suspension means Reddit’s admin team (not just community moderators) has taken action against your account. You’ll see a message when you try to log in.

What triggers site-wide suspensions:

• Multiple subreddit bans triggering a platform review
• Vote manipulation (using bots, alt accounts, or coordinated upvoting)
• Spam detection algorithms hitting a confidence threshold
• Harassment reports from multiple users

Your recovery options:

Option 1: Appeal (for temporary suspensions)

Go to reddit.com/appeal. Be concise and honest. Explain what happened and what you’ve learned. Don’t deny things that are obvious from your post history.

Most temporary suspensions last 3-7 days. If you appeal well, they sometimes get lifted early.

Option 2: Start fresh (for permanent suspensions)

If you can’t even access your account to appeal, check our Reddit login troubleshooting guide first.

If your account is permanently gone, here’s the reality: you need a new account AND a new strategy.

Wait at least 30 days. Use a different email. And - this is the part most people miss - completely change your approach. If you got banned for promotional posting, coming back with the same strategy on a new account will just get you banned again faster.

Follow a proper account warm-up process.

We cover the full appeal process (with more templates) in our guide on how to appeal Reddit account bans.

What to do with Shadowban

Shadowbans are the SNEAKIEST problem on Reddit.

Why? Because Reddit doesn’t tell you when you’re shadowbanned. Your posts and comments look perfectly normal to YOU. But nobody else can see them.

It’s like shouting into a soundproof room.

How to Detect a Shadowban

Method 1: The incognito test. Open a private/incognito browser window. Navigate to your Reddit profile. If your profile page shows “This account has been banned” or your recent comments are invisible, you’re shadowbanned.

Method 2: Use our Shadowban Checker. Use our free Shadowban Checker here to quick check your account status with just a single click.

Method 3: The friend test. Ask someone with a separate account and device to check if they can see your latest comments. Simple but effective.

Why Reddit Shadowbans Accounts

Shadowbans are reserved for accounts that Reddit’s systems believe are spam bots or manipulative actors. The specific triggers include:

• Posting at machine-like intervals (every 30 minutes, every hour, etc.)
• Sharing the same domain across multiple subreddits within a short window
• Using link shorteners or known spam domains repeatedly
• Voting patterns that suggest manipulation (upvoting all your own posts from linked accounts)

The Shadowban Recovery Process

Step 1: Stop ALL activity immediately. Don’t post, comment, or vote for 48 hours.

Step 2: Submit an appeal to Reddit admins at reddit.com/appeal. Keep it short:

“I believe my account may have been incorrectly flagged. I’m a genuine user who wants to participate in [relevant communities]. Could you review my account status?”

Step 3: If the appeal is denied (or you don’t hear back within a week), it’s time for a fresh start. Create a new account and follow the warm-up protocol in Chapter 10.

Step 4: On your new account, operate on a strict 90/10 ratio. That means 90% of everything you do on Reddit is completely non-promotional. Community discussions, helping strangers, sharing opinions on topics you care about. Only 10% should even remotely relate to your business.

Disappearing Comments

Your comments vanish. No notification. No removal message. They simply don’t exist for anyone but you.

This is almost always AutoModerator at work.

The Silent Comment Killer

AutoModerator is a bot that individual subreddit moderators configure with custom rules. It operates silently, your comment gets removed instantly, and you’re never notified.

Here’s what triggers it:

❌ Trigger 1: External links in comments. This is the single biggest comment killer. Many subreddits are configured to auto-remove any comment containing a URL. Even “helpful” links to your blog or documentation.

❌ Trigger 2: Spam language patterns. Certain phrases are almost universally filtered:

• “Check out my...”
• “I built a tool that...”
• “Visit our website...”
• “Use code [X] for a discount...”
• “Link in bio”

These phrases scream “marketing” to any auto-moderator filter. Even if your comment is genuinely helpful, using these phrases can get it killed instantly.

❌ Trigger 3: Low karma threshold. Many popular subreddits set minimum karma thresholds for commenting. If your account has less than 50-100 comment karma, your comments may get silently removed in those communities.

❌ Trigger 4: Rapid-fire commenting. Posting 5+ comments within a few minutes - especially with similar content - looks like bot behavior. AutoModerator flags it, and Reddit’s spam systems take notice.

How to Fix Disappearing Comments

1. Never include URLs. Mention your product, tool, or resource by name. If it’s good, people will find it.

2. Write substantial comments. One-liner comments are much more likely to get caught by filters. Aim for 3-5 sentences minimum. Add context, share personal experience, answer follow-up questions before they’re asked.

Our complete guide on commenting safely on Reddit covers 8 rules for writing comments that never get removed.

Want your comments to actually rise to the top? Learn how Reddit ranks comments so you can time and structure yours for maximum visibility.

3. Ditch the sales language. Instead of “I created a tool that helps with X,” try “I’ve been dealing with X for a while and found that [approach/method] works really well. Happy to share more details if you’re interested.”

The information is the same. But the framing is completely different. And AutoModerator can’t tell.

5. Space out your comments. Leave 10-15 minutes between comments. Vary your sentence structure and content. Don’t copy-paste the same response to similar questions.

Why Nobody Engages With My Posts?

Your post isn’t removed. It’s not banned. It’s just... sitting there. One upvote. Zero comments. Completely invisible.

This is actually the most frustrating Reddit marketing problem. Because there’s no error message to diagnose.

Here’s what’s going on, and how to fix each cause.

Cause 1: Terrible Timing

Reddit engagement follows predictable daily and weekly patterns. Post at the wrong time and your content gets buried before anyone sees it.

The data says:

Most US-centric subreddits peak between 6-9 AM Eastern on weekdays. That’s when the morning commute and early work browsing happens. Weekend engagement peaks later, around 10 AM – 1 PM Eastern.

But here’s what most timing guides miss: every subreddit has its own peak hours. A gaming subreddit peaks in the evening. A business subreddit peaks in the morning. A fitness subreddit peaks early morning and late afternoon.

The fix: Check our data on the best time to post on Reddit for specific subreddit peak hours. Test 3-4 different posting times over two weeks and track which ones get the most early engagement.

Cause 2: Your Title Is Boring

On Reddit, your title IS your marketing. It’s the only thing people see before deciding whether to click, upvote, or scroll past.

👎 Titles that fail:

• “My thoughts on productivity tools” (vague, no hook)
• “New AI writing assistant - check it out!” (obviously promotional)
• “Help needed with marketing” (too generic)

👍 Titles that work:

• “I analyzed 200 cold emails and found the 3 patterns that actually get replies” (specific number + promise of insight)
• “After 6 months of tracking every minute of my day, here’s the one change that saved me 2 hours daily” (personal story + specific outcome)
• “Why I stopped using Notion and built my own system instead” (contrarian take + curiosity gap)

Cause 3: Wrong Subreddits

This one is subtle.

A post about bootstrapping a SaaS to $10K MRR might flop in r/business (too niche) but explode in r/SaaS (perfect audience).

A detailed technical breakdown might get ignored in r/entrepreneur (too complex) but get 500 upvotes in r/webdev (exactly what they want).

Not sure which subreddits fit your niche? Use our Reddit Thread Finder to discover active conversations in your industry.

The fix: Before posting in any subreddit, spend 10 minutes reviewing its top posts from the past month. Ask yourself: does my content look and feel like the content this community celebrates? If not, find a better subreddit.

Cause 4: You’re Not Working the Algorithm

Reddit’s algorithm heavily weights early engagement. A post that gets 5 upvotes in the first 30 minutes will dramatically outperform a post that gets 5 upvotes over 3 hours. That is why people buy Reddit upvotes and buy Reddit comments.

Understanding how Reddit ranks content behind the scenes helps you avoid these triggers. We break down Reddit’s ranking algorithm in detail.

Tactics to boost early engagement:

• Post when you KNOW you’ll be online for the next hour to respond to comments immediately
• Write a compelling first comment on your own post that adds additional context or asks a question
• Make your post end with something that invites discussion (“What’s your experience with this?” or “Curious if others have seen the same thing”)
• Share your post with 2-3 friends who genuinely use Reddit and would find it interesting (NOT coordinated upvoting - just natural sharing)
• Here’s a tactic most marketers miss: you can also boost comments on older posts that are still getting traffic from Google. Many Reddit threads rank for years.

Cause 5: Your Post Doesn’t Deliver Enough Value

Here’s a harsh truth:

The bar for content quality on Reddit is higher than on any other social platform. The average top-performing post in business subreddits is 400+ words with specific, actionable advice.

Posts that get ignored:

• Generic advice anyone could Google in 5 seconds
• Surface-level “10 tips for X” listicles without depth
• Posts that promise value in the title but deliver fluff in the body

Posts that earn engagement:

• Personal stories with specific numbers and outcomes
• Detailed breakdowns of processes or strategies that actually worked
• Contrarian takes with evidence to back them up
• Genuine asks for help that show you’ve already put in effort
• Good new meme, funny images (not reposted).

The Downvote Death Spiral (And How to Break It)

Getting downvoted on Reddit is frustrating.

But it’s also a signal. And if you can read that signal correctly, you can turn things around.

Why Your Posts Are Getting Downvoted

Reason 1: The community smells promotion.

Redditors are INCREDIBLY good at detecting marketing. If your post history shows a pattern of always mentioning the same product, or always steering conversations toward your business, the community will downvote you into oblivion.

Reason 2: You’re in the wrong neighborhood.

Some subreddits are simply hostile to business content. r/technology, for example, tends to downvote anything that smells like self-promotion - even genuinely useful tools.

Reason 3: Competitor suppression.

Yes, this happens. If you’re in a competitive niche, competitors (or their teams) may systematically downvote your content. It’s against Reddit’s rules, but it’s hard to prove and hard to stop.

Reason 4: The backlash effect.

Sometimes a post hits a nerve. You accidentally come across as arrogant, out of touch, or dismissive of community concerns. The downvotes pile on fast, and Reddit’s algorithm buries your post.

How to Deal with it

1. Audit your post history ruthlessly. Open your profile. Read your last 20 posts and comments as if you were a skeptical Redditor seeing them for the first time. Does it look like a real person with diverse interests? Or does it look like a marketing account?
2. Engage with every comment. When people comment on your posts (even negatively), respond thoughtfully. Acknowledge criticism. Answer questions. Thank people for their perspective. This alone can reverse a downvote trend.
3. Test new subreddits. If one community consistently downvotes you, try adjacent communities. r/indiehackers might love what r/startup hates.
4. Lead with vulnerability. Posts that start with “I messed up” or “Here’s what didn’t work” tend to earn upvotes because they feel honest. Posts that start with “I achieved X” tend to feel like bragging - even when the advice is solid.

Subreddit-Specific Survival Rules

Every subreddit has unwritten rules. Here’s what actually works (and what gets you killed) in the most popular business and marketing communities.

r/AskReddit

What dies: Direct promotion of any kind. You cannot post about your business here. Period.

What thrives: This isn’t a place for posts - it’s a place for strategic comments. When someone asks “What’s a product you can’t believe more people don’t know about?” or “What small purchase changed your life?” - those threads are GOLD for organic mentions.

Insider tip: Sort by “Rising” and look for question threads that are gaining momentum but aren’t on the front page yet. Early comments on rising threads get exponentially more visibility than late comments on hot threads. Set up keyword alerts for questions relevant to your product category.

r/InternetIsBeautiful

What dies: Tools that are obviously just landing pages with an email capture form. Anything that requires a signup to use.

What thrives: Free, instantly usable tools and websites with a genuine “cool factor.” Think interactive visualizations, unique calculators, creative browser experiments. If your product has a free tier that genuinely delivers value without friction, this subreddit can send massive traffic.

Insider tip: Posts here go viral or die - there’s very little middle ground. If your tool gets traction, expect 10K-50K+ visits in 24 hours. Make sure your server can handle it. Many founders have had their biggest traffic day ever from this subreddit, only to have their site crash under the load.

r/SaaS

What dies: Generic product announcements. “We just launched our tool” posts.

What thrives: Technical deep-dives and behind-the-scenes growth metrics. “How switching from Stripe to LemonSqueezy changed our payment flow (with metrics).” Show the infrastructure, not the brochure.

Insider tip: Founders who share MRR milestones WITH the specific growth tactics that got them there dominate this subreddit.

r/entrepreneur

What dies: Product launches, “check out my startup” posts, generic business motivation.

What thrives: Transparent growth stories with real revenue numbers. “I went from $0 to $5K/month - here are the 4 things that actually moved the needle.” Share the strategy, not the product.

Insider tip: The community rewards humility. Admitting what DIDN’T work earns more respect than bragging about what did.

r/smallbusiness

What dies: Theory and frameworks. MBA-level strategy talk.

What thrives: Tactical, boots-on-the-ground advice. “Here’s the exact email template that got my first wholesale client.” Specific, copy-paste-ready advice wins here.

Insider tip: Answer questions in the daily threads for 2 weeks before posting your own content. The regulars notice and will upvote your future posts.

r/marketing

What dies: Beginner-level advice. “10 tips for better social media” is going to get buried.

What thrives: Data-driven case studies. “We A/B tested 47 email subject lines. Here’s the data.” The more specific your numbers, the better this community responds.

Insider tip: This community values methodological rigor. If you can show your sample size, confidence interval, or experiment design, you’ll earn massive credibility.

Niche Industry Subreddits

What dies: Coming in as an outsider and immediately posting promotional content.

What thrives: Lurking for 2-4 weeks. Learning the jargon. Understanding the inside jokes. Then contributing as someone who clearly “gets it.”

Insider tip: Many niche subreddits have weekly threads (Feedback Friday, Self-Promo Saturday, etc.) where promotion is explicitly allowed. Use them.

If your ideal subreddit doesn’t exist yet, you can create and grow your own subreddit as a community hub for your niche.

Our step-by-step guide to creating a subreddit covers everything from naming to building your first 1,000 members.

If your business targets adult audiences, NSFW subreddits have their own unique rules. We cover them in our NSFW subreddits guide.

Targeting users in specific regions? Our Reddit geo-targeting guide shows which subreddits serve which locations.

The Complete Recovery Strategy

OK, so something went wrong. Maybe you got banned. Maybe you got shadowbanned. Maybe your account is just so flagged that nothing you post gains traction.

Here’s the complete playbook for starting over and building a Reddit presence that actually works.

Phase 1: Fresh Start (Days 1-14)

Create a new account. Use a different email address. Use a different email address. Clear your browser cookies. And follow our Reddit account warm-up guide to the letter - this is the single most important step.

And here’s the important part: don’t use a business name as your username.

✅ Good usernames: “jake_in_product”, “sarahbuildsthings”, “alexfromdenver”

❌ Bad usernames: “AcmeSoftwareOfficial”, “BestCRMtool”, “GrowthHackPro”

Your username is the first thing moderators check when they see a reported post. Make it look human.

Stuck on username ideas? Our Reddit username generator creates natural-sounding names that don’t trigger moderator suspicion.

For the first 14 days, your ONLY goal is building karma and account history.

• Subscribe to 10-15 subreddits that genuinely interest you (including your target communities)
• Comment on 3-5 posts per day with genuinely helpful responses
• Ask questions in communities you’re curious about
• Share interesting articles or resources (NOT from your own site)
• Upvote and engage with content naturally

Target: 200+ comment karma before ANY promotional activity.

Phase 2: Community Integration (Days 15-45)

Now you shift from pure karma building to becoming a recognized voice.

• Start answering questions in your target subreddits where your expertise is relevant
• Share insights from your business experience WITHOUT naming your company
• Help other business owners solve problems you’ve solved yourself
• Contribute to weekly discussion threads
• Build genuine relationships with active community members

Target: People in your target subreddits should start recognizing your username.

Phase 3: Soft Promotion (Days 45+)

After 45+ days of genuine community building, you’ve earned the right to start mentioning your business. But carefully.

The rules:

• Only mention your product when it’s DIRECTLY relevant to someone’s question
• Always embed the mention inside a comprehensive, helpful answer (never as a standalone pitch)
• Never include links - just mention the name
• Monitor removal notifications and community reactions closely
• Maintain the 90/10 ratio: 90% helpful, 10% business

Example of Phase 3 done right:

Someone asks: “What tools do you use for email deliverability?”

Your response: “I’ve tested about a dozen options over the past year. The biggest improvement I saw came from warming up my sending domain properly - I spent 3 weeks gradually increasing volume before any cold outreach. For monitoring, I use [Tool A] for inbox placement rates and [Your Tool] for bounce tracking. But honestly, the domain warm-up made a bigger difference than any tool.”

Notice: The product mention is buried in a genuinely helpful, detailed answer. It doesn’t read like an ad. It reads like an experienced person sharing their toolkit.

The Reddit Account Health Checklist

Use this checklist to evaluate your account’s health BEFORE you start any campaign.

Pre-Launch Requirements

• Account is at least 30 days old
• 200+ comment karma (NOT just post karma)
• Active comment history across 5+ subreddits
• No more than 10% of your posts contain external links
• Username doesn’t reference your business name
• Profile has a bio and avatar (makes the account look real)

Bonus: Unlocking Reddit account achievements makes your profile look more established and trustworthy.

Per-Post Checklist

• Read ALL subreddit rules (sidebar, wiki, pinned posts)
• Reviewed top 10 posts from the past week in that subreddit
• Post contains ZERO external links
• Title matches the style of successful posts in that community
• Content leads with value, promotion is secondary (if present at all)
• You have 30+ minutes available to engage with comments after posting

Weekly Maintenance

• Check if any recent posts were silently removed (view your profile in incognito mode)
• Respond to all replies on your comments and posts
• Contribute at least 5 helpful comments with zero promotional intent
• Monitor karma trends (consistent drops = something is wrong)

Once you’re active, protect your investment. Our guide on keeping your Reddit account safe covers the security basics every marketer needs.

Red Flags That Will Get You Caught

Account-level red flags:

• Multiple posts with external links in the same week
• Identical or near-identical content posted across subreddits
• Only commenting on your own posts, never on others’
• Account activity that only happens during business hours
• Promotional activity within the first 30 days of account creation

Content-level red flags:

• Titles that sound like ad copy or press releases
• First-person posts exclusively about your own product
• Generic advice without specific examples or personal experience
• Asking for “feedback” on your product in multiple subreddits (the community sees through this)

Engagement red flags:

• Never responding to comments on your posts
• Always redirecting conversations back to your product
• Getting defensive when someone criticizes your content
• Thanking people for criticism without actually changing anything

Multi-Account Protection

I need to be upfront: running multiple Reddit accounts for marketing purposes is risky. Reddit explicitly prohibits using alt accounts to evade bans or manipulate votes.

That said, some businesses legitimately need multiple accounts - for different product lines, different team members, or different audience segments.

If you’re going down this path, here’s what you need to know about Reddit’s detection systems and how to stay compliant.

What Reddit’s Detection Systems Track

IP Address Linking: Reddit logs the IP addresses associated with each account. If two accounts consistently log in from the same IP, they’re flagged as potentially connected.

Browser Fingerprinting: Your browser broadcasts a unique combination of screen resolution, installed fonts, timezone, hardware specs, and browser extensions. Two accounts sharing the same fingerprint = connected accounts.

Behavioral Pattern Analysis: Reddit’s systems look for correlated posting times, similar writing styles, and accounts that engage with each other’s content suspiciously often.

Protection Levels

Basic (2-3 accounts):

• Separate browser profiles (Chrome profiles, Firefox containers)
• Different VPN exit nodes for each account
• Distinct email addresses and phone numbers
• Deliberately different posting schedules and writing styles

Professional (5+ accounts):

• Anti-detect browsers (tools like Multilogin, GoLogin, or AdsPower that create isolated browser environments with unique fingerprints)
• Residential proxy services like ProxyBase (starts around $20-30/month for basic plans)
• Unique device profiles per account
• No cross-account engagement (accounts never upvote, comment on, or reference each other)
• One last thing: enable 2FA on every account. Losing access to a warmed-up account is a disaster you can easily prevent.

Multi-Account Rules You Must Always Follow

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common Reddit marketing problems.

01 Why was my Reddit account suspended for no reason?

It feels like “no reason” - but Reddit almost always has one. The most common cause is tripping the platform’s automated spam detection. This happens when your account shows a pattern that looks like spam to an algorithm, even if your intentions are genuine.

The usual triggers: posting external links from a new account, sharing the same (or very similar) content across multiple subreddits within a short window, or having a post-to-comment ratio that’s heavily skewed toward posting.

Reddit doesn’t always explain the specific reason in the suspension notice. Your best move is to submit an appeal at reddit.com/appeal and be honest about your recent activity. If you’re not sure what triggered it, review Step 3 of the Diagnostic Framework above - that’ll help you pinpoint the likely cause.

02 How long does a Reddit ban last?

It depends on the type of ban. Subreddit bans (set by community moderators) can be temporary (usually 3-30 days) or permanent for that specific community. Site-wide suspensions issued by Reddit admins are typically 3-7 days for first offenses, though repeated violations or serious rule-breaking (like vote manipulation) can result in permanent suspension.

Shadowbans have no set expiration. Some lift automatically after a period of inactivity, but most require either an admin appeal or a fresh start with a new account.

The important thing to understand: the ban length matters less than what you do after it’s lifted. Coming back with the same approach that got you banned will just get you banned again - usually faster the second time.

03 Can I make a new Reddit account after being banned?

Technically, Reddit’s terms of service prohibit creating new accounts to evade bans. In practice, many marketers do start fresh after a permanent suspension - but only successfully if they completely change their approach.

If you create a new account and immediately repeat the same promotional patterns, Reddit’s systems will catch you. They track IP addresses, browser fingerprints, and behavioral patterns. A new account that behaves identically to a banned one gets flagged fast.

The key is treating a fresh account as a genuinely fresh start. Different email, different browsing environment, and - most importantly - a fundamentally different strategy.

04 How do I know if my Reddit post was removed?

Reddit doesn’t always notify you when a post is removed. Your post will look completely normal from your own account - you can still see it, edit it, even see your own upvote on it. But nobody else can.

The fastest way to check: open your post URL in an incognito/private browsing window (where you’re not logged in). If the post shows “[removed]” in the body, it’s been taken down.

You can also check your profile from an incognito window. If a recent post doesn’t appear in your post history when you’re logged out, it was silently removed. For comments, the process is the same - view the thread in incognito mode and look for your comment.

05 What is a Reddit shadowban and how do I check?

A shadowban is Reddit’s stealthiest punishment. Your account looks completely normal to you - you can post, comment, upvote, do everything as usual. But nobody else on the platform can see any of your activity. Your posts get zero views. Your comments are invisible. It’s like being a ghost.

Reddit uses shadowbans primarily against suspected spam bots and accounts engaged in manipulation. The sneaky part is by design - if the bot operator doesn’t realize the ban happened, they won’t just create a new account.

To check: visit r/ShadowBan and make a post. A bot will automatically reply telling you your status. Or open your Reddit profile in an incognito window - if you get a “page not found” error, you’re shadowbanned.

06 Why do my Reddit comments keep disappearing?

Nine times out of ten, it’s AutoModerator - a bot that subreddit moderators configure with custom removal rules. It works silently, so you never get a notification that your comment was removed.

The top triggers: External links (many subreddits auto-remove any comment containing a URL), spam-pattern phrases like “check out my” or “I built a tool,” low account karma (popular subreddits often set minimum thresholds of 50-100 comment karma), and rapid posting (5+ comments within a few minutes looks like bot behavior).

The fix: stop including links, avoid sales language, write longer and more detailed comments, and build your karma through genuine participation first.

07 How much karma do I need to post on Reddit?

There’s no single answer because every subreddit sets its own karma threshold. Some have no minimum at all. Others require 100+ comment karma, 500+ combined karma, or even 1,000+ for posting.

As a general rule for Reddit marketing: 50-100 comment karma is the minimum to avoid most AutoModerator filters. 200+ comment karma is comfortable for posting in business subreddits. 500+ combined karma with a healthy comment-to-post ratio is ideal before any promotional activity.

Comment karma is weighted much more heavily than post karma by most subreddit filters. The fastest way to build karma is through thoughtful, helpful comments in active discussion threads - not by posting links or content.

08 How do I appeal a Reddit ban?

The appeal process differs based on the ban type. For subreddit bans: send a private message to the subreddit’s moderation team. Go to the subreddit, click “Message the Mods” in the sidebar. Be polite, acknowledge the mistake, and ask what you can do differently.

For site-wide suspensions: use Reddit’s official appeal form at reddit.com/appeal. You’ll need to explain what happened and why it won’t happen again. Be concise and honest - admins review hundreds of appeals and can spot dishonesty quickly.

For shadowbans: message the Reddit admins directly at r/reddit.com. Explain that you believe your account may have been incorrectly flagged and ask for a review.

One critical rule across all appeals: submit ONE appeal and wait. Sending multiple messages makes you look desperate and can work against you. If your first appeal is denied, that’s usually final.

09 Is Reddit marketing worth it in 2025?

Absolutely - but not the way most people try to do it.

Reddit drives some of the highest-converting organic traffic on the internet. The reason is trust: Reddit users trust recommendations from the community because they know the platform actively filters out marketing. So when your product does get mentioned authentically, people take it seriously.

Reddit threads increasingly rank on the first page of Google for product comparison and “best of” queries. A single well-placed comment in a high-traffic thread can drive qualified visitors for months - sometimes years - after it’s posted.

The catch: Reddit marketing requires more patience, more subtlety, and more genuine community participation than any other platform. If you’re willing to invest 4-8 weeks of genuine community building before you see returns, Reddit is one of the best marketing channels available. If you need results tomorrow, it’s not the right fit.

10 Can I promote my business on Reddit without getting banned?

Yes - but you need to understand the difference between “promotion” and “helpful contribution that happens to mention your business.”

Reddit bans promotion. It rewards helpfulness.

Here’s the line: if you removed your product mention from the post and it would still be a useful, upvote-worthy piece of content - you’re doing it right. If removing the product mention would leave an empty shell with no value - you’re promoting, and you’ll eventually get caught.

Successful Reddit marketers follow a simple ratio: for every post or comment that mentions their business, they make at least 9 that have absolutely nothing to do with it. Some go as high as 19:1.

11 What’s the 80/20 rule for Reddit marketing?

The 80/20 rule is a guideline that says 80% of your Reddit activity should be genuinely helpful, non-promotional content - and only 20% should relate to your business.

But here’s the thing: 80/20 is actually the minimum. It’s where you start. Most successful Reddit marketers operate closer to 90/10 or even 95/5.

Reddit’s spam detection systems analyze your entire post history. If more than roughly 10-20% of your activity involves the same product, domain, or brand mention, you’re at risk of being flagged - even if every individual post is high quality.

In practice, this means: if you leave 10 comments today, only one should even tangentially relate to your business. The other 9 should be genuine community participation.

12 How do I find the right subreddits for my business?

Start by thinking about where your target audience already hangs out - not where your product category fits.

A CRM tool might seem like it belongs in r/CRM. But your actual customers might be in r/smallbusiness, r/entrepreneur, r/sales, or r/realestate asking questions that your tool solves.

Step 1: Search Reddit for keywords related to the problem your product solves. See which subreddits those conversations happen in.

Step 2: Check the subscriber count and recent activity. A subreddit with 500K subscribers but only 2 posts per day is less valuable than one with 50K subscribers and 50 posts per day.

Step 3: Lurk for a week. Read the top posts. Get a feel for what the community celebrates and what it punishes.

Step 4: Start with 3-5 subreddits max. It’s better to become a trusted voice in 3 communities than a stranger in 15.

13 Why does Reddit hate self-promotion?

Reddit’s anti-promotion culture isn’t arbitrary - it’s structural.

The entire platform is built on the idea that content quality is determined by the community (through upvotes and downvotes), not by whoever has the biggest marketing budget. Self-promotion undermines that system because it introduces content that serves the poster’s interests rather than the community’s interests.

Think about it from a regular Redditor’s perspective: they come to Reddit to get genuine recommendations, honest discussions, and unfiltered opinions. Every self-promotional post degrades that experience.

This is actually good news for marketers who do it right. Because the community aggressively filters out lazy promotion, the recommendations that do survive carry enormous trust. A Reddit recommendation is worth 10x a sponsored social media post because people know it wasn’t paid for.

14 How do I recover from a bad Reddit marketing strategy?

Stop everything, diagnose the damage, and rebuild with a better approach.

Step 1: Assess the damage. Is your account banned, shadowbanned, or just flagged?

Step 2: Go dark. Stop ALL promotional activity for at least 2 weeks. This gives Reddit’s systems time to stop flagging your every move.

Step 3: Decide - repair or restart. If your account is just underperforming (low engagement, some removed posts), you can repair it by shifting to 100% helpful content for 2-4 weeks. If your account is banned or shadowbanned, you’ll likely need a fresh start.

Step 4: Follow a recovery playbook. A proper rebuild takes about 45 days - but it works. The key mindset shift: focus on genuinely becoming a helpful member of the communities you want to reach. The promotion follows naturally from that.

15 Can Reddit detect multiple accounts from the same person?

Yes - and they’re better at it than most people think.

Reddit’s detection systems use three main signals: IP addresses (if two accounts log in from the same IP, they get flagged), browser fingerprinting (your browser reveals a unique combination of screen resolution, installed fonts, timezone, and hardware specs), and behavioral correlation (accounts active at the same times, with similar writing styles, or that upvote each other).

The consequences of getting caught are severe: all linked accounts get permanently suspended, and your IP may be flagged for future account creation.

If you legitimately need multiple accounts (different team members, different business lines), use separate browser environments, separate proxies, and completely separate behavioral patterns.

16 What words or phrases get your Reddit comments auto-removed?

There’s no universal blacklist because every subreddit configures its own AutoModerator filters. But certain phrases get caught by the majority of filters.

Almost always filtered: “Check out my [website/tool/product],” “I created/built/launched [name],” “Visit [URL],” “Use code [X] for [discount],” “Link in bio,” and any URL shortener (bit.ly, t.co, tinyurl).

Frequently filtered: “My company/startup/business...,” “We just launched...,” “Free trial available at...,” and “DM me for details.”

Occasionally filtered: Superlatives like “amazing,” “revolutionary,” “game-changing,” any mention of pricing or discounts, and competitor comparison language.

The safest approach: write your comment as if you’re giving advice to a friend over coffee. If it sounds like ad copy, rewrite it. If it sounds like a genuine conversation, you’re good.

17 How long should I wait before promoting on a new Reddit account?

The minimum safe timeline is 30 days of active, non-promotional participation. But 45-60 days is significantly safer and produces better results.

Here’s why: Reddit’s spam detection weighs account age AND activity depth. A 30-day-old account with only 10 comments is actually more suspicious than a 14-day-old account with 200 genuine comments across diverse subreddits.

The milestones that matter more than calendar days: 200+ comment karma from genuine comments, activity across 5+ subreddits, at least 50 comments on other people’s posts, zero promotional content in your history, and at least one post that earned genuine community engagement (10+ upvotes).

Once you’ve hit those milestones, start slowly - one subtle mention per week - and monitor closely for any removals or negative reactions.

Now It’s Your Turn

Reddit marketing isn’t easy. The platform is actively designed to make promotional content harder to spread.

But that’s actually a good thing.

Because the difficulty is what makes Reddit one of the HIGHEST-converting traffic sources on the internet. People trust Reddit recommendations precisely because they know the platform filters out the junk.

So when you break through - when your post earns 500 upvotes and your comment gets someone to check out your product - that traffic converts at rates that make paid ads look like a joke.