How I find subreddits that are actually worth targeting

[Aisha Brown]

I used to think finding a good subreddit was pretty simple... just find the biggest one related to the niche and go from there. If it had 300k+ members, even better

But honestly that doesn't really work that well..

These days, when I'm looking for subreddits I don't really care about the member count at the beginning. I first want to see if the people there actually care about the topic I'm looking at.

For example if I'm working around SaaS so I dont just search for the biggest tech communities and pick one.. i'll open a bunch of them and spend some time looking at what people are actually posting. Sometimes a 20k-30k subreddit can make way more sense than a 500k one

I usually start with the recent posts..... not the top posts from the last year or whatever. I want to see what's happening right now. Are people posting regularly? Are there comments? Are people actually replying to each other, or are most posts just sitting there with a couple of upvotes?

That tells me a lot.

I also look at the questions people are asking. If I'm looking at a subreddit for a particular niche and I keep seeing people asking questions about problems related to that niche, that's a good sign for me. It means there is an audience there that is actually interested in the subject instead of just being a bunch of subscribers sitting on a number.

And yeah, I always check the rules before doing anything. I've skipped plenty of subreddits after reading the rules because some of them are extremely strict about promotion, links, self-promotion, etc. Better to know that before spending time on the community.

One thing I probably pay more attention to now is engagement. A subreddit can have 700k members but if the average post gets barely any discussion, I'm not going to get too excited about it.

On the other hand, I've seen smaller communities where people are constantly asking questions and replying to each other. Those can be much more interesting.

So I don't really have a rule like "only target subreddits with 100k+ members." I just look at the whole thing and ask myself... is the audience relevant, are people active, and are they actually talking about the topic?

That's usually enough for me to decide whether it's worth spending more time there.

Curious how other people here do it. Do you guys mainly look at the number of members, or do you actually go through recent posts/comments before choosing a subreddit?

 

[masterpro92]

I usually seek live social media communities with engagement and a relevant audience to my niche.

 

[HK SEO Expert]

I usually check the recent posts first, then look at the quality of the comments and how often people actually respond to each other. The subreddit rules are also important, especially if there’s any possibility of sharing links or mentioning a product.

 

[Xolta0]

Actually informarive, appreciate the write up legend.

 

[Aisha Brown]

I usually seek live social media communities with engagement and a relevant audience to my niche.

engagement is probably the biggest thing for me too..... a community can look great on paper but once you actually look at the recent activity, its sometimes a completely different story

I usually check the recent posts first, then look at the quality of the comments and how often people actually respond to each other. The subreddit rules are also important, especially if there’s any possibility of sharing links or mentioning a product.

Yep checking the recent comments is something I started paying more attention to as well

Actually informarive, appreciate the write up legend.

Thanks man

 

[Nikolaos]

I used to think finding a good subreddit was pretty simple... just find the biggest one related to the niche and go from there. If it had 300k+ members, even better

But honestly that doesn't really work that well..

These days, when I'm looking for subreddits I don't really care about the member count at the beginning. I first want to see if the people there actually care about the topic I'm looking at.

For example if I'm working around SaaS so I dont just search for the biggest tech communities and pick one.. i'll open a bunch of them and spend some time looking at what people are actually posting. Sometimes a 20k-30k subreddit can make way more sense than a 500k one

I usually start with the recent posts..... not the top posts from the last year or whatever. I want to see what's happening right now. Are people posting regularly? Are there comments? Are people actually replying to each other, or are most posts just sitting there with a couple of upvotes?

That tells me a lot.

I also look at the questions people are asking. If I'm looking at a subreddit for a particular niche and I keep seeing people asking questions about problems related to that niche, that's a good sign for me. It means there is an audience there that is actually interested in the subject instead of just being a bunch of subscribers sitting on a number.

And yeah, I always check the rules before doing anything. I've skipped plenty of subreddits after reading the rules because some of them are extremely strict about promotion, links, self-promotion, etc. Better to know that before spending time on the community.

One thing I probably pay more attention to now is engagement. A subreddit can have 700k members but if the average post gets barely any discussion, I'm not going to get too excited about it.

On the other hand, I've seen smaller communities where people are constantly asking questions and replying to each other. Those can be much more interesting.

So I don't really have a rule like "only target subreddits with 100k+ members." I just look at the whole thing and ask myself... is the audience relevant, are people active, and are they actually talking about the topic?

That's usually enough for me to decide whether it's worth spending more time there.

Curious how other people here do it. Do you guys mainly look at the number of members, or do you actually go through recent posts/comments before choosing a subreddit?

I think this is a great breakdown on how to find profitable niches on reddit.

 

[Aisha Brown]

I think this is a great breakdown on how to find profitable niches on reddit.

Thanks man

 

[Sherymph]

I do mainly choose members, because if there are a lot of members, it helps me targetting.

 

[Salamouna]

i always check related subs in the sidebar first, thats where the real gold is. also test with a low karma burner before committing, some subs have automod that nukes anything from new accounts no matter the quality. saves a ton of time figuring that out early

 

[curdoc]

I agree, member count can be pretty misleading. I usually care more about how active the recent posts are and whether there are actual conversations happening in the comments. A smaller subreddit with the right audience can easily be more valuable than a huge one where nobody really engages.

 

[cryptotrendz]

I check the recent posts first then seek live social media communities with engagement and check related subs in the sidebar.

 

[Aisha Brown]

I do mainly choose members, because if there are a lot of members, it helps me targetting.

Don't rely too much on the member count.. sometimes you'll find a sub with 500k+ members but very little activity.. a smaller active sub can be much better for targeting

i always check related subs in the sidebar first, thats where the real gold is. also test with a low karma burner before committing, some subs have automod that nukes anything from new accounts no matter the quality. saves a ton of time figuring that out early

Yeah and checking the automod early can save a lot of time and money..