Reddit marketing for indie apps and games: get into the 'what should I use' threads
Small teams can't outspend anyone. They can be the honest answer in r/productivity, r/iosgaming or r/androidapps — if the answer comes from a member. What to brief, what it costs, how to start this week.
Every app category has a thread that gets asked weekly: “best habit tracker?”, “good offline RPG for iOS?”, “note app that isn't Notion?” The answers are written by the same twenty regulars. Being in those answers is the entire marketing plan for a lot of successful indie apps — and it's cheaper than a week of ads.
Why you can't just answer them yourself
A developer account recommending its own app in a “best X” thread is the pattern moderators are trained on. Even disclosed, it reads as a pitch. A regular saying “I switched to this in March, here's what it does better and what annoys me” reads as an answer. Same information, different author, opposite result.
What to brief
- Comments, mostly. For apps, the recurring “what should I use” threads matter more than a standalone post. Brief 10–20 comments over a month in threads the creator judges relevant.
- One honest post if there's something to say: a “switched from X, three months in” write-up with real screenshots.
- What it's bad at. Give the creator the caveats. An answer with a caveat gets upvoted; a flawless one gets called an ad.
Start this week
- Find your two threads (search the sub for your category + “best” / “recommend”).
- Post a job: category (Mobile Apps, Productivity, Mobile Gaming…), the subreddits, 10 comments + 1 post, one month, a budget range.
- Verify the applicants' Reddit accounts, pick one, talk on X, hire.
Free to post, anonymous until someone's interested, 0% cut on what you pay them. The thread you want to be in already exists — post the job and let a member answer it.
Questions people ask
- Can I post my own app in r/androidapps or r/iosgaming?
- Many app subs have a developer self-promo rule — a flair, a specific day, a ratio. Follow it exactly and expect modest results; that's the announcement. Sustained visibility comes from members recommending it in threads you didn't start.
- How much should an indie budget?
- Enough for one creator post plus a week of replies. Creators price their own offers; the live low/median/high is on the home page. Post a job with a range and see who's interested before deciding.
- Do I need a marketing person?
- Not for this. The job post is the brief; the creator does the writing. Most indie founders run it themselves in an hour a week.