Reddit Marketing Solution

How to Build Community From Scratch on Reddit

Create an engaged community around your product or brand

You want to build a community of users, fans, or customers, but starting from zero feels overwhelming. You do not know how to attract initial members or keep them engaged.

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Signs You Need to Build Community From Scratch

If any of these sound familiar, you are in the right place.

Empty community spaces

You created a Discord, Slack, or forum but it remains ghost-town quiet.

No one to seed initial discussions

Without active members, there is nothing for new people to engage with.

Users sign up but do not participate

People join but rarely post, comment, or interact.

Unclear community value proposition

You are not sure why someone would join your community over existing ones.

How to Build Community From Scratch on Reddit

Follow these steps to solve this problem using Reddit communities.

1

Study thriving communities in your space

Find subreddits, Discords, and forums where your target audience already engages. Understand what keeps them coming back.

Reddit Radar: Discover active communities in your niche
2

Identify gaps existing communities do not fill

Look for recurring complaints or requests in existing communities. These gaps become your community differentiator.

3

Recruit founding members from existing communities

Build relationships with active members in related subreddits. These people become your community seeders when you launch.

4

Contribute value before launching your community

Become known as a helpful presence in existing communities. When you launch your own, people already trust you.

Reddit Radar: Track your reputation building across communities
5

Cross-pollinate between Reddit and your community

Share valuable discussions from your community on Reddit. Bring interesting Reddit discussions into your community. Create a flywheel.

Key Success Factor

Consistency and authenticity matter more than tactics. Build genuine relationships in communities before expecting results.

Best Communities to Build Community From Scratch

These subreddits are where people actively discuss and solve this problem.

r/Entrepreneur
High Activity

Entrepreneurs discuss community-building as a business strategy

r/SaaS
High Activity

SaaS builders share how they built product communities

r/startups
High Activity

Founders discuss community as a growth and retention strategy

r/marketing
High Activity

Marketers share community marketing tactics and case studies

View all subreddit guides

What to Expect When You Build Community From Scratch

Realistic timeline for seeing results with this approach.

Month 1

30 days

Build presence in existing communities, identify founding member candidates

Month 2

30 days

Soft launch community with 10-20 founding members, establish initial culture

Month 3-6

90-180 days

Grow to 100+ active members, create self-sustaining discussion patterns

Results vary based on your niche, effort level, and community engagement. These are typical outcomes, not guarantees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about how to build community from scratch on Reddit

Quality beats quantity. 10-20 genuinely engaged founding members is enough to seed initial discussions. These people should commit to participating regularly for the first few months.
Start where your audience already hangs out. If they use Discord, go there. If they prefer Slack, use that. Reducing friction matters more than platform features early on.
Seed it with daily content and discussions for the first 90 days. Ask questions, share interesting finds, and respond to every post. Your energy sets the tone until the community becomes self-sustaining.
Find your angle. Maybe you serve a specific subset of users, focus on a particular use case, or provide a different culture. Existing communities often have gaps you can fill.
Build relationships first. Help people, answer questions, and become a recognized name. Then personally invite people who seem engaged and interested in deeper conversation. Never mass-DM strangers.
When members post and respond without your prompting, and new members are welcomed by existing ones. This typically takes 6-12 months of consistent effort.

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