When it comes to sex worker marketing, Reddit often feels like an inhospitable jungle. It’s a huge hub for NSFW content, but subreddits are often run by non-sex-worker moderators who are harsh judges of what is allowed in their space. After more than eight years of using Reddit for adult marketing, I’ve witnessed — and made — many mistakes. By sharing these, I hope you can avoid some of the pitfalls I’ve experienced and find your own success with this platform. So, here are nine of the most common errors that models seem to make, and tips for avoiding them.
1 • Ignoring Stats
Posting the same photo into 20-plus subreddits all at the same time is a quick and easy way to farm karma, but a terrible way to build an engaged, long-term following on Reddit.
Tracking the progress of your account/subreddit and tracking the ROI of your efforts can be difficult, but it’s important for emerging and established SWs alike. Adult content platforms may offer tracking links, but these can sometimes be unreliable. I recommend making a new one every month, as I’ve found they stop tracking after a certain amount of time. You can also create custom links to use in your Reddit bio and set up Google Analytics on them to get some real detail. Tracking your subscriptions from Reddit helps you decide how much time to invest in it, and tracking your success on Reddit itself — karma and followers — lets you know which subreddits have the highest engagement or like your posts the most. With that info, you can optimize your posting and prioritize the higher-engagement subreddits. Plus, if you’re a nerd like me, the numbers are fun to track.
2 • Not Claiming Any Existing Subreddits in Your Name
Those of you who are more established performers with strong name recognition will find subreddits created by your fans. I strongly recommend reaching out to the moderators of those subreddits and asking for moderator access. They will often be totally fine with you posting and it’s a great way to reach a captive audience of fans that have already gathered on Reddit. For example, one of my established clients got access to a subreddit in her name with 150,000 subscribers, and it’s her largest source of karma across the site.
3 • Not Whitelisting Legit Posts
Many creators have DMCA takedown services in place to reduce piracy of leaked content. Reddit has really been cracking down on spam/piracy recently, so if you use a service, it’s important to note that sometimes it will flag legitimate posts. You don’t want to risk subreddit or account suspension by your DMCA service sending reports to Reddit about content that is actually approved by you. Make sure to reach out to your service to whitelist all of the subreddits and accounts you actively use.
4 • Forgoing Having Your Own Subreddit
This one might be a little obvious with all the subreddit drama going on, but having your own subreddit or subreddits is the perfect way to protect yourself from unruly moderators and subreddit shutdowns. Many of the most popular Reddit creators have built subreddits for their body type or passions as well. It’s a great way to farm karma and have more control over your presence on the platform. Fair warning: It does take a lot of extra time. Building up a new subreddit is time-consuming and difficult, and moderating an NSFW subreddit means dealing with verifications, spam and bots.
5 • Ignoring DMs
Direct messages on Reddit always seem like a waste of time, but I’ve found that responding with a mass message/generic copy-paste with your links can sometimes result in a sale. Don’t spend too much time on them, as the majority of people who DM on Reddit are time wasters, but don’t completely ignore them either. Some of them will appreciate a response so much that they become a super fan.
6 • Ignoring Comments
This common mistake is similar to ignoring DMs, but actually even more important to avoid. Many subreddits require accounts to have a certain minimum amount of karma in order to post. Most require comment karma, which is more difficult to generate than post karma. If you respond to and upvote every comment on your own posts, you’re likely to get at least one karma from each interaction, sometimes more. Do that 100 times and you’re good to go.
7 • Spam-Posting Your Pics
Posting the same photo into 20-plus subreddits all at the same time is a quick and easy way to farm karma, but a terrible way to build an engaged, long-term following on Reddit. Many subreddits will not verify you or allow you to post in their subreddit if you spam-post. It’s perfectly fine to post a photo in multiple subreddits; I just recommend spreading out the posts and limiting yourself to 3-5 subreddits for the same photo. That way, your user page looks legitimate and showcases multiple types of content to interested followers. Even better, building a following on your page also helps your posts hit the front page in other subreddits.
8 • Using Only Pro Photos
As much as I love showing off the photos from my professional photo shoots, I’ve found that most subreddits prefer candid, self-taken photos and videos. Reddit users do prefer high-quality media — HD, brightly lit, lots of detail — but not to the point of it looking like professional photography. I know that many models like to schedule their shoots and content creation for efficiency and use a backdrop or get dressed up for all of their content. Photos like these can do well, but more casual, seemingly “low effort” photos and videos perform much better. Think mirror selfies, videos in bed with lots of light, videos coming out of the shower, etc.
9 • Not Reading The Rules!
This may seem obvious, but as someone who’s made this mistake many times, I have to emphasize it. Super-strict subreddits have the longest list of rules known to man, but it is extremely important that you read all of them, because every subreddit has different rules. Some will only remove posts that don’t follow the rules, while some will issue immediate permanent bans, so it’s always good to stay on the safe side and follow every listed rule. If you do have something removed or get banned and you’re sure you didn’t break any rules, message the mods. Sometimes new mods or bots will make mistakes and they’ll reinstate your access. No guarantees, though.
Reddit can be a great and stable source of subscribers and customers, but it can also be very intimidating, especially if you’re unfamiliar with it. However, keep these tips in mind and your chances for success are much greater.
Suki Jade is the social media director for PS: Group, a marketing agency for the adult entertainment industry. She is also a content creator, former cam model and dancer. She can be found on Reddit at reddit.com/u/bittercupbea or at WeArePSGroup.com.
