If you’re going to read this Reddit newsletter, you should know one thing about me.

I love rap.

And don’t even get me started on the whole “top ten” debate…

(Spoiler: Obviously, Biggie is in it.)

The last few weeks I’ve been buried in work, dad duties, messing with AI, and watching LinkedIn, X, and Reddit itself flood with posts about “rules for Reddit marketing.”

And I realized something.

Most of it is generic AF.

What’s missing is the real stuff:

This was also inspired by the song Ten Crack Commandments (go listen to it).

And honestly… there are more parallels between rap, crack, and Reddit marketing than you’d think.

So without further ado:

If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, here’s the quick version:

Now let’s break them down.

“Before you post, you lurk the sub first
Read the room or watch your reputation burst
Every community's got its sacred ground
Drop a brand pitch cold, they'll run you out of town”

— The Notorious B.I.G.
— me

(Okay, I’m terrible at rapping. But you get the point.)

Every subreddit has its own culture, inside jokes, and unwritten rules.

So the real question is: how long should you lurk before posting?

Honestly, it depends.

If you figure things out quickly, great. Start posting.

If it takes a few days or a few weeks, that’s fine too.

Everyone learns at their own pace.

And this might sound weird, but lurking shouldn’t just mean scanning for your ICP.

Actually enjoy the subreddit.

Spend time understanding what people talk about, what they care about, and how they talk to each other.

The second commandment?

Read the subreddit’s commandments.

Don’t be the person who posts for the first time and immediately gets banned because you didn’t read one simple rule.

Every subreddit has rules. And most mods hate guerrilla promoters.

(Trust me. I’ve broken this rule before too.)

Sometimes promotion is allowed.

But a quick DM to a mod asking how to do it properly can save you from a lifetime ban.

On Reddit, asking for forgiveness instead of permission usually doesn’t work.

The second Redditors smell a pitch, it’s over.

I get it. You want traffic. Leads. Signups.

But dropping your brand name into every relevant subreddit will get you exactly one thing:

Banned.

Instead, focus on being helpful.

Answer questions. Share knowledge. Participate in conversations.

Become known for contributing.

Nine times out of ten, you’ll need to give, give, and give before you even think about promoting anything.

Don’t be this person:

Never post the exact same content across multiple subreddits at the same time.

Redditors check post histories.

And they will call you out.

ONE subreddit and ONE post.

That’s it.

“Never reply with corporate speak
The moment that you do, your credibility leaks
Stiff and formal reads like a press release
Be human, be normal or your engagement’s gonna cease”

— me

(I really need to stop.)

Let’s say someone leaves a negative comment about your product.

Most brands panic.

But honestly? This is often a gift.

It’s a chance to show people who you really are.

The mistake brands make is responding like a customer service bot — stiff, formal, full of corporate buzzwords.

Reddit hates that.

Just be human.

Address the comment directly. Own it if you need to.

People respect honesty way more than a polished PR answer.

One thing to keep in mind though: every subreddit is different.

How you respond in r/startups is different from how you’d respond in r/mildlyinfuriating.

Read the room first.

Then respond like a normal person.

This one is basically Reddit’s version of:“Never get high on your own supply.”

You’ve probably heard you can boost your Reddit presence by buying upvotes or bots.

Same idea as buying followers on Instagram.

It’s a big no-no.

And yet… I still see agencies doing it all the time.

Maybe it feels like “everyone’s doing it.”

But it’s not worth it.

Let’s say you drop $1K on fake engagement and your post suddenly looks successful.

Great, right?

Except when it unravels (and it always does), everything you built goes with it.

The craziest part?

Many brands don’t even know their agency is doing this behind the scenes.

If you hire someone to help with Reddit, make this clear in your contract:

No bots. No fake upvotes. Ever.

At home we don’t have a microwave.

So when my daughter and I make popcorn, we cook it on the stove.

And every time she asks:

“Daddy, when will it be ready?”

I tell her:

“Be patient like popcorn.”

Funny enough, my almost four-year-old understands this better than most clients.

Reddit is a long game.

Brands often show up with a campaign mindset: launch date, approval flows, 30-day test window.

They post a few times.

Maybe run ads.

Nothing explodes immediately.

So they leave.

But Reddit isn’t an Instagram campaign.

It’s a community.

You need to show up consistently and still be there months later.

The good news?

It compounds.

Never use vanity metrics to measure Reddit performance.

Views, upvotes, and comments look great.

And yes — they signal engagement.

But the real question is:

Did it convert?

When I first started doing Reddit marketing, I loved watching the numbers climb.

Upvotes. Views. Comments.

It felt like proof the strategy was working.

My clients loved it too.

Then we looked closer.

The engagement wasn’t turning into conversions.

That’s when the lesson clicked.

Engagement isn’t necessarily the same thing as results.

If your goal is brand awareness, upvotes matter.

If your goal is conversions, you need to look deeper.

Upvotes mean something is working.

They’re just not the end goal.

Every Reddit account has a Karma score.

It’s calculated from upvotes and downvotes and acts as Reddit’s reputation system.

So while upvotes might not matter for marketing performance, they do matter for building Karma.

And Karma affects how people perceive you.

The exact number isn’t important.

What matters is simply that you have some history.

This is where many brands hit a wall.

They create a brand-new account with zero Karma and immediately start promoting something.

To Reddit, that looks like spam.

You have to build a presence first.

“Use a branded account, own your name with pride
Don't sneak into threads with nowhere left to hide
Reddit loves transparency, it's built into the code
Be u/alex_SAMSUNG and just carry the load”

— me

(That was the last rap line. I promise.)

Reddit loves transparency.

The brands that win here aren’t running the illest campaigns.

They’re the ones showing up as themselves, answering real questions, and letting the community decide if they’re worth trusting.

I’ve seen every shortcut:

You can always tell.

And so can Reddit.

Account history never lies.

The simple approach nobody talks about enough is this:

Just use a branded account and be helpful.

If you’re u/alex_SAMSUNG (I made this up, btw) answering real questions about phones, tech, and everyday problems — without pitching or pushing — people will respect it.

They won’t see you as spam.

They’ll see you as part of the community.

Own your name.

Essentially, be your (best) self.

Reddit doesn’t owe you anything.

You earn your place here the same way everyone else does:

by giving more than you take.

The brands that understand this win.

The ones that treat Reddit like a growth hack usually disappear.

Editors note:

As I was looking for an image, I found this one.

Gotta support my fellow artist with this banger.

(FULL Disclaimer): I make no money on anything he does, I just love what the artist does.