How to Get a Negative Reddit Thread Removed, the Right Way...
Reddit ranks for the majority of branded queries, and those tend to be very negative threads... What should businesses do?
Most businesses are struggling with negative sentiment on Reddit because their branded search results look something like this:
The problem is, this is the bottom-of-the-funnel searches, meaning that people searching for [brand name reviews] already know the business. They are interested enough to research you. You have already spent money on them getting to know you (ads, SEO, etc.)
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These search results are leaking your warmest leads. It can be devastating for a business’s well-being.
So the most common question is, “How do we get rid of this thread?”
Well, you are likely looking at this the wrong way.
We have a client with mixed reviews on Reddit (which is natural), but there was one thread that included “HORRIBLE” in the title, which was ranking everywhere, for just about any branded query, even the main one, and consequently showed up in most branded prompts as well.
When that client came to us, they asked for a Reddit thread removal service. I immediately told them that we don’t recommend Reddit thread removal as the main strategy. We don’t chase negative threads to remove them (this can backfire big time as mods get very angry about removal requests).
Reddit thread removal can never be your main focus
Reddit cannot be taken by storm because it can backfire!
Our specialty is to build the brand’s presence to a point where:
Old negative threads are not as visible.
There’s a noticeable decline in negativity on Reddit because the brand sentiment has shifted
The client agreed.
So here is what we did:
We set up an official Reddit account and built up its Karma, focusing on relevant authority-driven content
We set up the official subreddit, focusing on addressing and explaining common pain points, and posting interesting and engaging content
We set up a workflow for their customers to share real, detailed reviews, product pictures, etc.
After more than 6 months of work, we saw great results: more positive threads from the branded subreddit started showing up for a variety of branded queries.
And yet, that “horrible” thread persisted in visibility.
The thing is, those “horrible” and “scam” threads are hard to compete with because of their huge clickability. Google knows people will choose to click them.
So we assessed the situation:
The thread was very old and outdated
The discussed pain points were long addressed and fixed
Instead of bothering the mods, we reached out to the user and asked if they wanted to try the product again and see if they would change their opinion. At that point, we had already built a solid official brand Reddit account that was trustworthy enough for the customer to be impressed to see it in their DMs.
So the customer was open to it, got the free product, loved it, and removed their old thread.
The rankings took another week or so to shuffle, and the branded search immediately became much better balanced (and fresher).
The key takeaways:
👉 On Reddit, don’t attack the problem right away. You need time to build trust before you can get proactive with your old & outdated footprint
👉 It is hard work, and it takes time, but it fixes your problem forever
If you need help fixing your Reddit reputation, reach out!