It Takes 6 Months to Build Reddit Authority. It Takes 1 Mistake to Lose It All.

Reddit banned your account. Six months of work, gone.

I’ve seen this happen to companies who were genuinely trying to do Reddit right. They made small mistakes that triggered automated systems or moderator suspicion.

Authority on Reddit is fragile. Building it safely requires understanding exactly where the landmines are and avoiding common mistakes from the start.

The Authority Formula

Reddit authority has four components:

1. Account age: Older accounts are more trusted
2. Karma: More karma indicates community value
3. Participation diversity: Activity across multiple communities
4. Reputation: Whether you’re known in specific communities

All four matter. Gaming any single component while ignoring others creates detectable patterns. Understanding how karma works for brand accounts is a good starting point.

The Safe Timeline

This timeline minimizes ban risk while building genuine authority:

Month 1: Foundation

Actions:

• Create account with a human-sounding username (not brand names)
• Subscribe to 10-15 subreddits, mix of personal and professional interests
• Lurk only. Read posts. Understand culture. No posting.

Goal: Account exists. Learning community norms.

Month 2: First Comments

Actions:

• Leave 2-3 thoughtful comments per week
• Focus on subreddits you genuinely understand
• No promotional content whatsoever
• Engage with replies naturally

Goal: 50-100 karma. First participation history.

Month 3: Expand Participation

Actions:

• Increase to 5-7 comments per week
• Expand to new subreddits
• Start upvoting/downvoting (builds site engagement signals)
• Still no promotional content

Goal: 200-500 karma. Diverse participation.

Month 4: First Posts

Actions:

• Submit first posts (interesting links, questions, observations)
• Continue comment activity
• Join discussions naturally in professional subreddits

Goal: 500-1000 karma. Established posting history.

Month 5-6: Professional Participation

Actions:

• Begin commenting in industry subreddits
• Provide helpful answers without mentioning your product
• Build reputation as knowledgeable contributor

Goal: 1000+ karma. Known in target communities.

Month 6+: Occasional Product Context

Actions:

• When directly relevant, you can mention your work
• Always disclose affiliation
• Maintain 10:1 ratio of helpful to promotional content

Goal: Authority earned. Can participate professionally without suspicion.

What Gets You Banned

The 10:1 Rule in Practice

This means:

• 10 comments helping people with their problems
• 10 comments sharing knowledge unrelated to your product
• 10 comments engaging in off-topic communities
• 1 comment where you mention your product with full disclosure

Even that 1 mention should be genuinely helpful, not a sales pitch.

Building Authority in Specific Communities

Different subreddits require different approaches:

Large Subreddits (100K+ subscribers)

• Competition for visibility is high
• Comment early on rising posts
• Quality matters more than quantity
• Karma easier to build but reputation harder

Medium Subreddits (10K-100K subscribers)

• Sweet spot for most B2B marketers
• Regular contributors become recognized
• Easier to build reputation
• Often more tolerant of professional participation

Small Subreddits (<10K subscribers)

• Tight communities with strong norms
• New contributors are noticed
• Reputation builds quickly (good or bad)
• More direct relationship building possible

Handling Mistakes

You’ll make mistakes. Here’s how to recover:

If a post gets downvoted: Don’t delete it (looks weak). Don’t argue. Either leave it or gracefully acknowledge feedback.

If called out for promotion: Apologize genuinely. Explain your intent wasn’t promotional. Demonstrate value going forward.

If temporarily banned from a subreddit: Wait out the ban. When it expires, return with more careful participation. Don’t create new accounts to evade.

If shadowbanned: Appeal at reddit.com/appeals. Be honest. If unsuccessful, start fresh with lessons learned. We cover the full recovery process in our Reddit shadowban recovery guide.

Team Coordination

If multiple people manage Reddit presence:

Don’t:

• Have multiple people promoting the same product
• Coordinate votes or engagement
• Pile onto the same threads

Do:

• Divide by subreddit (each person owns different communities)
• Maintain individual authentic voices
• Use personal accounts rather than shared ones