Building a Reddit Scout: Automated Market Research Tool for Product Development

Market research is a critical component of product development, but manually scanning through Reddit posts can be time-consuming and inefficient. A custom-built automation tool, dubbed ‘Reddit Scout,’ can streamline this process by automatically identifying relevant discussions, summarizing content, and even drafting helpful responses.

What Reddit Scout Does

Reddit Scout is an automation workflow that performs several key functions:

Scans specified subreddits for rising posts
Filters posts based on engagement metrics (e.g., more than 10 upvotes)
Summarizes each post to identify the target market, pain points, and solutions sought
Evaluates whether each post is worth engaging with
Drafts organic-sounding, helpful comments
Stores all information in a structured Airtable database

Real-World Applications

This tool is particularly valuable for entrepreneurs and product developers who are:

Searching for product-market fit
Conducting market research
Identifying common pain points in specific niches
Looking for opportunities to engage with potential customers

Building Your Own Reddit Scout

The automation is built using n8n, an open-source workflow automation tool that can be installed locally or used as a cloud service. Here’s how to create your own Reddit Scout:

Step 1: Set Up the Reddit Node

Begin by adding a Reddit node configured to retrieve posts:

Select ‘Get Many Posts’ as the operation
Specify your target subreddit (e.g., /SaaS or /smallbusiness)
Set a limit (20-50 posts recommended)
Choose a category (rising, hot, new, or top)

You’ll need to connect your Reddit account by creating an application in Reddit’s developer portal and setting up the appropriate redirect URL.

Step 2: Create a Filter Node

Add a filter node to exclude irrelevant content:

Set conditions like ‘upvotes greater than 10’
Additional filters can be added based on other post attributes

Step 3: Add AI Processing Nodes

The workflow uses three AI agent nodes:

Summary and Vibe Node: Analyzes posts to extract the target market, pain points, and solutions sought
Worth Checking Node: Determines if the post deserves a response (yes/no)
Comment Drafting Node: Creates a helpful, natural-sounding response

Each node uses Gemini 2.0 Flash as the AI model, which is both fast and free for this purpose.

Step 4: Connect to Airtable

The final step is storing results in an Airtable base:

Create an Airtable API token with appropriate permissions
Configure the Airtable node to create records in your designated base
Map each data point (link, summary, post ID, reply option, and comment) to the appropriate column

Step 5: Automate the Workflow

Instead of manually triggering the workflow, set up a scheduled trigger to run at specified intervals, such as every morning. This ensures you have fresh insights waiting for you to review at your convenience.

Benefits of Automated Reddit Research

This automation offers several advantages over manual research:

Efficiency: Process dozens of posts in minutes
Consistency: Apply the same evaluation criteria to all posts
Organization: Store all insights in a structured database
Time-saving: Focus only on the most relevant discussions
Engagement: Prepare thoughtful responses to potential customers

By implementing a Reddit Scout automation, product developers and entrepreneurs can gain valuable market insights, identify emerging needs, and engage with potential customers more effectively – all while saving significant time and effort.