| name | reddit-writing |
| description | Write authentic, human-sounding Reddit posts and comments for product marketing. Covers 4 post types (Questions, Listicles, Direct Recommendations, UGC) with comprehensive AI-slop avoidance rules sourced from real Reddit community feedback. |
Reddit Writing — Authentic Product Marketing Posts
Purpose
Write Reddit posts and comments that promote a product naturally, avoiding all AI detection and marketing-speak patterns that Reddit communities aggressively downvote.
Core Philosophy
Reddit is the most hostile platform for marketing content. Users WILL call out anything that smells like:
- AI-generated text
- Corporate marketing copy
- Astroturfing / fake user-generated content
The only way to succeed: write like a real person who genuinely uses and likes the product, not like a marketer.
The 4 Post Types
Type 1: Question Posts
Format: Ask a genuine question where the product is a natural answer.
Template:
Title: [Genuine question about a problem the product solves]
Body: [1-2 paragraphs of personal context. Include specific details about your situation. Mention what you've tried. Ask for recommendations.]
Rules:
- Never mention the product in the original post
- Reply to your own post after 2-3 other comments with a "discovery" of the product
- Include real pain points, not manufactured ones
- Reference specific subreddit culture
Example:
Title: Anyone found a good way to automate LinkedIn outreach without sounding like a robot?
Body: I run a small B2B agency (7 people) and we've been doing LinkedIn outreach manually. It's eating like 2 hours a day per person. Tried a couple tools but they all send these cookie-cutter messages that get ignored. Looking for something that can actually personalize at scale without the "Hi {FirstName}, I noticed we're both in {Industry}" energy. Budget is maybe $50-100/mo. What's working for you guys?
Type 2: Listicle / Roundup Posts
Format: Share a curated list of tools/resources where the product is included among competitors.
Template:
Title: [X tools/resources I've tested for Y — here's what actually works]
Body: [Brief intro with credibility]. Here's what I found:
1. [Competitor 1] — [honest assessment, include cons]
2. [Your product] — [honest assessment, include minor cons too]
3. [Competitor 2] — [honest assessment]
...
[Conclusion with personal preference, not hard sell]
Rules:
- Include 4-7 tools minimum (product should NOT be #1 in the list)
- Give genuine pros AND cons for your product
- Praise competitors honestly where they're better
- Position your product as best for a specific use case, not overall best
- Include pricing for all tools
Type 3: Direct Recommendation / Reply
Format: Reply to someone else's question with a genuine recommendation.
Template:
[Acknowledge their specific problem]. I had a similar issue with [specific personal detail].
[Mention what you tried first that didn't work].
I ended up using [product] and it [specific result]. Not perfect — [honest limitation] — but for [their specific use case] it's solid.
[Optional: specific feature that helped + how long you've used it]
Rules:
- Match the energy and vocabulary of the subreddit
- Include at least one honest negative about the product
- Reference the OP's specific situation, not generic benefits
- Never use words like "game-changer", "revolutionary", "seamless"
- Keep it concise — 3-5 sentences max for most replies
Type 4: UGC / Experience Posts
Format: Share a personal experience or achievement that naturally involves the product.
Template:
Title: [Achievement or result] — [timeframe] — here's what I did
Body: [Story format. What you were doing, why, what happened. Mention the product naturally as part of the process, not the hero of the story. Focus on the result and process, not the tool.]
Rules:
- The product should occupy max 10-15% of the post
- The story/result is the star, not the product
- Include other tools, methods, and strategies you used
- Never link to the product unless someone asks
- Include setbacks and failures in the story
AI-Slop Avoidance Rules
NEVER USE These Words/Phrases
These are instant red flags that trigger Reddit's AI-detection instincts:
Adjectives/Adverbs:
- seamless, seamlessly
- robust, comprehensive
- cutting-edge, state-of-the-art
- game-changer, game-changing
- revolutionary, innovative
- intuitive, user-friendly
- streamline, streamlined
- leverage, leveraging
- empower, empowering
- delve, delve into
- landscape (as in "the AI landscape")
- holistic, synergy
- elevate, elevating
- resonate, resonates
- arguably
- notably
- essentially
Phrases:
- "I can't recommend X enough"
- "Look no further"
- "Hands down the best"
- "Worth every penny"
- "Take your X to the next level"
- "In today's fast-paced world"
- "Whether you're a beginner or expert"
- "Full disclosure" (unless actually disclosing affiliation)
- "I have no affiliation" (ironically makes you look affiliated)
- "TL;DR" at the end of a short post
Structural patterns to avoid:
- Starting with "So," followed by a question
- Bullet points that all start with the same word
- Perfect grammar with no contractions
- Paragraph-per-point formatting (too organized for Reddit)
- Emoji-heavy posts (1-2 max, use sparingly)
DO USE These Patterns
- Contractions everywhere (I've, can't, doesn't, it's)
- Minor typos (intentional: "teh" → too obvious. Natural: forgetting a comma, run-on sentence)
- Slang appropriate to the subreddit
- Parenthetical asides (like this one)
- Sentence fragments. Like this.
- Starting sentences with "But" or "And"
- Swearing (light, context-appropriate): "damn", "honestly kind of a pain in the ass"
- Self-deprecating humor
- Specific numbers over round numbers ($47/mo not $50/mo, 23 not "about 20")
Subreddit-Specific Customization
Before writing for ANY subreddit:
- Read the top 10 posts from the past month
- Note the writing style, vocabulary, and humor patterns
- Check the rules sidebar for any specific formatting requirements
- Identify common complaints and inside jokes
- Note what gets downvoted (check controversial/removed posts)
Common Subreddit Cultures:
- r/SaaS, r/startups: Founder energy, metrics-focused, tolerate some self-promo if valuable
- r/marketing: Skeptical, wants data, hates fluff
- r/Entrepreneur: Mixed quality, more tolerant of personal stories
- r/smallbusiness: Practical, budget-conscious, anti-enterprise
- r/freelance: Burned by tools before, needs social proof from peers
Quality Checklist Before Posting
Run every draft through this checklist:
-
The "read it aloud" test: Does it sound like a real person talking? Would you say this to a friend?
-
The "marketer smell" test: Remove every sentence that sounds like it came from a landing page. If you remove more than 1 sentence, rewrite.
-
The "search your post for banned words" test: Ctrl+F every word from the NEVER USE list.
-
The "account age" test: Does your posting history support this post? (Don't post about an AI tool from an account that only posts about AI tools)
-
The "downvote prediction" test: What would the top comment be if this post was called out as marketing? If you can imagine it easily, rewrite.
-
The "specificity" test: Replace every generic statement with a specific one. "It saved me time" → "Cut my LinkedIn outreach from 2hrs to about 20 minutes"
-
The "competitor respect" test: Do you mention at least one thing a competitor does better? If not, add it.
Comment Strategy
For Type 3 (Direct Recommendation) replies, follow this engagement pattern:
- First reply: Answer the question naturally, mention the product
- Follow-up reply (if asked for details): Provide specific setup/usage details
- Reply to skeptic (if challenged): Acknowledge their point, share your specific experience without being defensive
Reply to Skeptics Template:
Fair point. [Tool they suggested] is solid for [specific use case]. I used it for [time period] actually before switching.
The thing that got me was [specific limitation of competitor relevant to OP's use case]. But yeah, if [OP's specific need matches competitor better], that's probably the move.
Workflow Per Post
-
Choose the post type (1-4) based on the target subreddit and goal.
-
Research the subreddit: Read 10 recent posts, note tone and vocabulary.
-
Write the draft: Follow the template for the chosen type.
-
Run the quality checklist: All 7 tests must pass.
-
Prepare comments (if Type 1 or Type 3): Write the follow-up comments in advance (first comment, reply to question, reply to skeptic).
-
Final review: Read the draft as a skeptical Redditor. Would you upvote this? Would you suspect it's AI? Would you suspect it's marketing?
