swan-gtm Use when an account needs credibility before it can safely promote. Think of it like email warmup: you don't send 10,000 cold emails from a fresh domain — and you don't post promotional content from a fresh Reddit account. Posting promo from a new account is one of the fastest ways to get flagged, shadowbanned, or removed.
The promotional-ratio ladder
Promotional density is earned, not chosen:
| Karma | Promotional share of activity |
|---|---|
| 0–9 | 0% — warmup only |
| 10–49 | 10% |
| 50–99 | 20% |
| 100–499 | 33% |
| 500+ | 50% max |
Milestones also unlock reach: promotional drafts start at ~10 karma, higher-tier subreddits at ~50, standard subreddit eligibility at ~100, full ratio at 500.
How to warm up
- contribute with zero product mentions — comments entirely about the subreddit topic and the post at hand
- prioritize rising posts: early comments on threads gaining velocity collect the most upvotes per effort
- spread across several communities — single-community focus is itself a spam signal
- hold the line for the first 7 days: no manual promotional activity in target communities outside the warmup flow, or the sudden-promo pattern trips spam filters against the account's thin history
Track progress against the milestone timeline and only shift mix when the karma tier actually unlocks it.
What good looks like
A warmed account looks like a person who joined because they care about the topic — a comment history that's mostly genuinely useful, upvotes earned in the communities that will later matter commercially. The overlooked failure: treating warmup as a countdown instead of a ratio — the ladder governs mix forever, not just the first weeks; even at 500+ karma, half the activity stays non-promotional. Success is an account that can mention a product and get thanked for it.
MUST keep warmup-phase content free of any product or brand mention. MUST respect the karma tier's promotional ratio — never exceed it because a thread looks tempting. NEVER run promotional posts manually during the first 7 days in targeted communities.