Your Brand's Reddit Account Has 47 Karma. Nobody Sees Your Posts. Here's the Fix.

TL;DR

Reddit karma is social proof that matters. Low-karma accounts get ignored, filtered, and flagged as spam. Building karma for brand accounts requires genuine participation across diverse subreddits over months. This guide covers legitimate tactics that won’t get you banned.

You created a Reddit account for your company. You posted helpful comments. Nobody engaged. Your posts might even be getting removed automatically.

Welcome to Reddit’s karma problem.

Reddit uses karma as a trust signal. Low-karma accounts are assumed to be spammers, bots, or throwaway accounts. Many subreddits have minimum karma requirements just to post.

For B2B marketers trying to build Reddit presence, this creates a chicken-and-egg problem: you need karma to participate, but you need to participate to get karma. Understanding the full authority-building timeline helps you plan for this.

Why Reddit Karma Matters for B2B

Reddit Karma

Points accumulated from upvotes on your posts and comments. Karma serves as a measure of account trustworthiness and community contribution. It comes in two types: post karma (from submitted posts) and comment karma (from comments).

Karma affects your Reddit marketing in three ways:

1. Posting Restrictions

Many subreddits have karma thresholds. r/entrepreneur requires 10 comment karma to post. r/startups has minimum requirements. Without meeting these thresholds, your content simply won’t appear.

2. Credibility

Reddit users check profiles before engaging. An account with 50 karma that’s 2 weeks old looks like a shill. An account with 5,000 karma over 2 years looks legitimate.

3. Spam Filter Behavior

Reddit’s spam filters weight account age and karma. Low-karma accounts posting links get flagged more aggressively. Even helpful content might be automatically removed.

73% of Reddit users (Reddit User Survey 2025)

check account age and karma before taking advice from unknown commenters.

The Right Way to Build Karma

Building karma takes time and genuine participation. Here’s what actually works:

Karma Building

How to build Reddit karma legitimately for marketing purposes

Choose Your Participation Subreddits

Pick 5-10 subreddits where you (or your employee managing the account) have genuine interest. These should NOT all be business-related. r/AskReddit, r/mildlyinteresting, hobby subreddits, local subreddits. Diversity signals authenticity.

Lurk Before Posting

Spend a week just reading each subreddit. Understand what gets upvoted. Learn the culture and unwritten rules. Every subreddit is different.

Start with Comments

Comment karma is easier to build than post karma. Leave helpful, thoughtful comments on posts that are gaining traction. Don’t just say “great post!” Add value or insight. Our guide on writing Reddit comments that don’t get downvoted covers exactly how to do this.

Time Your Comments

Comments on rising posts get more visibility than comments on posts that already have 1,000 upvotes. Sort by “rising” or “new” and be early with good contributions.

Share Original Content Gradually

Once you have 500+ karma from comments, start posting original content. Share interesting articles (not your own), ask questions, contribute to discussions.

Karma-Building Tactics That Work

The AskReddit Method

r/AskReddit is a karma goldmine. It’s one of the largest subreddits, and thoughtful answers to popular questions can earn hundreds of karma points. Find questions you have genuine expertise or experience to answer.

The Help Method

Find subreddits where people ask questions you can answer. r/techsupport, r/excel, r/marketing, r/entrepreneur. Provide genuinely helpful answers. This builds karma while establishing you as knowledgeable.

The Story Method

Reddit loves stories. Personal experiences, lessons learned, interesting observations. Subreddits like r/TalesFromTechSupport, r/antiwork, or r/startups love narrative posts that share real experiences.

The Early Bird Method

Sort popular subreddits by “new” and comment early on posts that look promising. If that post takes off, your early comment rises with it.

What NOT to Do

These tactics might seem tempting but will destroy your account:

Buying karma or upvotes: Against Reddit TOS. Sophisticated detection. Accounts get banned and the negative reputation follows your brand. If this happens, you’ll need our shadowban recovery guide.

Using multiple accounts to upvote: Vote manipulation is taken extremely seriously. All associated accounts get banned.

Karma farming subreddits: Subreddits that exist purely to exchange upvotes. Participation here flags your account to spam filters.

Reposting popular content: Reddit users hate reposts and will call you out. Karma from reposts comes with reputational damage.

AI-generated comments at scale: Getting easier to detect. Accounts that clearly use AI for bulk commenting get flagged.

The Timeline

Realistic karma building timeline for a new account:

Week 1-2: Lurking. Understanding subreddit cultures. Zero posting.

Week 3-4: First comments. Stick to 2-3 subreddits you understand well. Aim for 50-100 karma.

Month 2: Expand commenting to more subreddits. Start occasional posts. Target 200-500 karma.

Month 3-4: Regular participation. Original content. Target 500-1,000 karma.

Month 5-6: Account looks legitimate. 1,000+ karma. Ready for professional subreddit participation.

Month 6+: Begin occasional industry-relevant comments. Still maintain 10:1 helpful-to-promotional ratio.

For Companies and Teams

If you’re managing Reddit presence for a company:

Personal vs. Brand Accounts

Personal accounts (real employees with disclosed affiliations) perform better than obviously branded accounts. “u/JohnFromStartupXYZ” beats “u/StartupXYZ_Official”.

Account Ownership

Whoever owns the account should genuinely use Reddit for personal interests too. An account that only posts about work looks fake because it is fake.

Long-Term Investment

Consider hiring or assigning someone who already uses Reddit to handle company presence. Their existing account has built-in credibility.

Agency Considerations

Reddit marketing agencies with established accounts can accelerate timelines significantly. Their accounts have years of history and diverse participation. This is legitimate as long as participation remains authentic. We break down the full agency vs. in-house decision in a separate guide.

How much karma do I need for most subreddits?

500-1,000 comment karma covers most requirements. Some stricter subreddits want 1,000-2,000. A few require 5,000+. Check each subreddit’s rules before relying on it for your strategy.

Does karma decay over time?

No, karma doesn’t decay. But account age matters too. 5,000 karma on a 1-month-old account looks suspicious. 5,000 karma on a 2-year-old account looks natural.

Can I build karma faster with posts than comments?

A viral post can generate thousands of karma quickly, but it’s unpredictable. Comments are more reliable. Most Reddit marketing accounts build karma primarily through comments.

What if I'm starting from an existing personal account?

Perfect. An existing personal account with history and karma is the ideal starting point. Just be thoughtful about how you transition to occasionally discussing work-related topics.

Key Takeaways

Reddit karma is a trust signal that affects posting ability and credibility
Many subreddits have karma thresholds for participation
Build karma through genuine participation across diverse subreddits
Comment karma is more reliable to build than post karma
Avoid karma manipulation tactics that will get accounts banned
Timeline is typically 4-6 months to build a credible account
Personal accounts from real employees outperform brand accounts