Case study

Reddit went from risky channel to 11.2% of revenue.

Reddit went from "risky channel" to their second-largest revenue source

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11.2%of total revenue now Reddit-attributed

Reddit-attributed monthly revenue (indexed)

Client: D2C sleep products brand · India
Engagement: Reddit Marketing · Community-led growth
Timeframe: 6 months
Led by: Prithvi Jadwani

The outcome

Where it started. Where it is now.

MeasureBeforeAfter

Presence on RedditZero, plus two old “overpriced” threads2.4Morganic impressions in 6 months

Share of total revenueSeen as a risky channel11.2%

Acquisition costMeta CPMs doubled in a year31%cheaper than paid social

The situation

The ads were paying for doubt. Reddit was answering it.

Meta CPMs had doubled in a year and every ad comment section was full of "is this a scam?". Their buyers were researching on Reddit, where the brand had zero presence and two old threads calling them overpriced.

What we found

01
Meta CPMs had doubled in a year, and every ad comment section filled up with “is this a scam?”.
02
Buyers were checking Reddit before they bought. The brand had no presence there.
03
The only threads that existed were two old ones calling the products overpriced.

Paid social · sponsored postDoubt in comments

yyourbrandSponsored

Meera is this a scam?

Rahul Seen this ad all week. Has anyone actually bought one?

Sana Looks like every other pillow ad. Checking Reddit first.

Reddit search2 results

yourbrand

r/[sleep advice] · old thread

Is yourbrand worth it or just overpriced?

Overpriced

r/[home and bedding] · old thread

yourbrand vs cheaper options. Paying for the ads?

Overpriced

Replies from yourbrand0brand presence

Illustration · names, comments and threads are placeholders

The strategy

Earn the trust first. The mentions follow.

Reddit punishes anything that looks like an ad, so the strategy had to be slow on purpose. Instead of posting about the brand, we made it the most useful voice in the threads where buyers ask for advice, for six months. By the time the brand came up, the community already knew who was talking. Those same threads then got picked up by Google and by AI answers, which turned one channel into three.

Starting point
The ads were paying for doubt.
1
Move 01 · Map
Rank subreddits by purchase intent, not size
- 23 subreddits mapped
- Ranked by buying questions asked
- Subscriber count ignored
2
Move 02 · Participate
Nine useful answers for every one mention
- 9:1 helpful to brand
- Six months, no shortcuts
- Every mention disclosed
3
Move 03 · Show the work
Put the founder in front of the community
- Two founder AMAs
- Real teardown data
- Both hit the weekly top 5
4
Move 04 · Multiply
Seed honest comparisons, then let search carry them
- Honest comparison threads
- Page one for 41 commercial keywords
- Quoted in AI answers
Outcome
11.2%
of total revenue now Reddit-attributed

Execution

What we did, move by move.

Each move below is a piece of the strategy above, with a drawing of the work as it ran.

Move 01 · Map

Rank subreddits by purchase intent, not size

We mapped 23 subreddits where people ask what to buy for better sleep. A small community full of buying questions beat a huge one full of memes, so intent set the order, not subscriber count.

23 subreddits mapped
Ranked by buying questions asked
Subscriber count ignored

Subreddit map · sleep category23 mapped

Purchase intentSubscribers, small to large

Picked · high buying intent

r/[sleep advice]r/[pillow buying]r/[back pain help]r/[home decor]r/[memes]

Picked SkippedDot size = subscriber count

Positions and names are illustrative · the count of 23 is real

Move 02 · Participate

Nine useful answers for every one mention

For six months we ran a strict 9:1 rule: nine genuinely helpful answers with no brand in them for every one disclosed mention. That ratio is what keeps a brand account from being removed and starts to earn it standing.

9:1 helpful to brand
Six months, no shortcuts
Every mention disclosed

Participation ledger · yourbrand accountRule 9:1

Month 1

9:1

Month 2

9:1

Month 3

9:1

Month 4

9:1

Month 5

9:1

Month 6

9:1

9 helpful answers, no brand 1 disclosed mention

Helpful

If you sleep hot, look at the cover fabric before the fill. Most heat complaints start there.

Disclosed

Disclosure: I work at yourbrand. Ours is one option. Here is where a cheaper one does the job just as well.

Illustration · block counts show the ratio, not real volumes

Move 03 · Show the work

Put the founder in front of the community

The founder ran two AMAs and brought real teardown data instead of talking points. Both reached the subreddit’s weekly top 5, in the same community where the old threads had called the brand overpriced.

Two founder AMAs
Real teardown data
Both hit the weekly top 5

r/[sleep advice] · AMAAMA 1 of 2

u/yourbrand_founderFounder

I’m the founder of yourbrand. Ask me anything, teardown data inside.

Teardown: what is inside, three price points

	Budget	Mid	yourbrand
Cover	Polyester	Cotton blend	Cooling knit
Fill	Fibre	Shredded foam	Shredded latex
Zip-off fill	No	No	Yes

u/side_sleeper_q

Straight question: why do you cost more than the ones in the old threads?

u/yourbrand_founderFounder

Fair. The table above is the full teardown. The latex fill is most of the difference. If you sleep cool, the cheaper pick is fine.

Illustration · thread and teardown rows are placeholders

Move 04 · Multiply

Seed honest comparisons, then let search carry them

We started honest comparison threads and let them rank. Reddit is among the most-cited domains in Google and in ChatGPT, so the same threads now sit on page one for 41 commercial keywords and get quoted in AI answers.

Honest comparison threads
Page one for 41 commercial keywords
Quoted in AI answers

Comparison thread · r/[sleep advice]

Honest comparison: three cooling pillows, tested side by side

Seeded and answered in the open

1Reddit

r/[sleep advice] · comparison

Three cooling pillows, tested

Buyers compare in the replies, with yourbrand answering on the record.

2Google

reddit.com › r/[sleep advice]

Honest comparison: three cooling pillows

Page one

3AI answer

“A Reddit comparison thread notes yourbrand uses a latex fill and suits people who sleep hot…”

Source: reddit.com

41commercial keywords where threads like this sit on page one

Illustration · thread, result and answer text are placeholders

How it ran

The engagement, in order.

1
Phase 1
Listen
23 subreddits mapped and ranked by purchase intent. Rules and moderators read.
2
Phase 2
Be useful
The 9:1 rule starts. Helpful answers build an account the community recognises.
3
Phase 3
Go on the record
Two founder AMAs with teardown data. Both reach the weekly top 5.
4
Phase 4
Spread
Comparison threads rank on Google and get quoted by AI. Reddit becomes 11.2% of revenue.

The evidence

Reddit revenue built slowly, then kept building.

Monthly Reddit-attributed revenue, indexed so the latest month is 100. The early months are the 9:1 rule doing its quiet work.

Reddit-attributed monthly revenue (indexed)

Latest month = 100

0255075100

100

M1M2M3M4M5M6

organic Reddit impressions in 6 months: 2.4M
of total revenue now Reddit-attributed: 11.2%
cheaper acquisition vs paid social: 31%

What carries over

Three things to take into your own business.

01
Patience is the strategy
The months with almost no revenue are what made the later months possible. Skipping them gets an account banned.
02
Answer the doubt where it is asked
Doubt about a brand gets settled in the threads buyers read, by someone accountable, with real data. Not in an ad.
03
One thread can work on three surfaces
A good Reddit thread ranks on Google and gets quoted by assistants. Plan threads as search assets.

The service behind this

Reddit marketing

See how we run this as a repeatable engagement, not a one-off.

View the service

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Who led it

Prithvi runs this kind of work.

Co-founder · Organic growth

Prithvi Jadwani

Runs the organic division: SEO, AI search visibility, Reddit and community marketing, and conversion. Six years of working out where buying decisions actually start.

What happens next

Answer a few quick questions about your business. About two minutes.
Pick a time that suits you for a free 30-minute call with a founder.
We study your site before the call, so you leave with a plan, not a pitch.

Book your free strategy call

Free, no obligation. Your answers save as you go, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.

Reddit went from risky channel to 11.2% of revenue.

Where it started. Where it is now.

The ads were paying for doubt. Reddit was answering it.

Earn the trust first. The mentions follow.

The ads were paying for doubt.

Rank subreddits by purchase intent, not size

Nine useful answers for every one mention

Put the founder in front of the community

Seed honest comparisons, then let search carry them

What we did, move by move.

Rank subreddits by purchase intent, not size

Nine useful answers for every one mention

Put the founder in front of the community

I’m the founder of yourbrand. Ask me anything, teardown data inside.

Seed honest comparisons, then let search carry them

The engagement, in order.

Listen

Be useful

Go on the record

Spread

Reddit revenue built slowly, then kept building.

Three things to take into your own business.

Patience is the strategy

Answer the doubt where it is asked

One thread can work on three surfaces

Reddit marketing

Ads never worked for them. The map pack did.

Prithvi runs this kind of work.

Prithvi Jadwani