What is 90/10 Rule (Reddit)?
The 90/10 rule for Reddit marketing states that 90% of your activity should be genuinely helpful contributions and only 10% can mention your product. It is a practical guideline for participating in communities without coming across as a spammer.
The principle reflects how trust works on Reddit and similar platforms. By contributing far more value than you extract, you earn standing in the community, so that on the rare occasions you mention your product, it reads as a helpful recommendation rather than an ad.
Many subreddits enforce a version of this informally, and moderators are quick to ban accounts that violate it. The ratio is a reminder that community marketing is a long game built on reputation, not a quick traffic hack.
Why it matters
Founders new to community marketing routinely get banned for promoting too early and too often, wasting the account and the goodwill. The 90/10 rule keeps you on the right side of community norms.
It also reframes the work productively: most of your effort goes into being useful, which compounds into genuine authority and trust that make the occasional product mention far more effective.
How Distro helps
Distro structures your community missions around the 90/10 principle, prompting helpful contributions far more often than promotion so you build trust safely. See your community plan in your free growth report.
Related terms
Reddit Marketing
Reddit marketing is the practice of engaging in Reddit communities to build brand awareness and drive traffic by providing genuine value in relevant discussions.
Community-Led Growth
Community-led growth is a strategy where a business builds and engages a community of users or prospects who become advocates and drive organic acquisition.