Find clients on Reddit, X and Threads · Updated October 2026

How to get clients as a social media manager

Quick answer: the fastest way for social media managers to get clients is to answer people who are already asking. They post in r/socialmediamarketing, r/socialmedia, r/smallbusiness every day and ask their followers the same thing on X. Watch those places, spot the posts with buying intent, and reply within the first hour with a useful answer.

Right now the 6 subreddits below have 12.3M members and about 106 new posts a day between them. Leadhoot data, refreshed hourly.

Subreddits to watch

What a buyer post looks like

  • r/socialmediamarketing · example

    We post daily on Instagram and get no customers from it. Is hiring someone worth it?

    High buyer intent

  • X · example

    Hiring a social media manager for a DTC skincare brand, 10 hrs a week. Recs?

    High buyer intent

  • Threads · example

    need someone to run our instagram, I can't keep up with posting and replies

    High buyer intent

Illustrative examples of the kind of post to look for.

Phrases that mean someone is ready to hire

  • “need someone to run our Instagram”
  • “social media manager cost”
  • “posting but no engagement”
  • “outsource social”

How to reply without getting removed

No-results posts are the opening. Explain what is probably wrong with their approach before suggesting help.

  1. 1Reply within the first hour. Early answers get read; the 40th comment does not.
  2. 2Answer the actual question in the thread before mentioning what you do.
  3. 3Disclose that you offer the service. Hidden promotion is what gets accounts banned.
  4. 4Never cold-DM. Let them message you after reading your answer.

Get these posts the minute they go up

Leadhoot watches r/socialmediamarketing, r/socialmedia, r/smallbusiness and searches X and Threads for your phrases, scores every post for buyer intent, and alerts you by email, or Slack on Agency.

Find my first client

Common questions

The fastest channel is answering people who are already asking. Every day, people post in r/socialmediamarketing, r/socialmedia, r/smallbusiness and on X asking who to hire. Reply within the first hour with a specific answer and say what you do. Right now the 6 subreddits below have 12.3M members and about 106 new posts a day between them. No-results posts are the opening. Explain what is probably wrong with their approach before suggesting help.

Yes. People post in r/socialmediamarketing, r/socialmedia, r/smallbusiness and similar subreddits asking for exactly this kind of help. The ones who reply first with a useful answer win the work.

Start with r/socialmediamarketing, r/socialmedia, r/smallbusiness, r/marketing, r/Entrepreneur, r/DigitalMarketing. Keep the ones where posts regularly ask for recommendations or quotes.

Yes. The same requests show up on X and Threads, usually from founders and small business owners asking their followers for a recommendation, like "Hiring a social media manager for a DTC skincare brand, 10 hrs a week. Recs?" Search for the phrases above, sort by latest, and reply publicly the same day.

F5Bot is free and emails you every keyword match. AI-scored tools filter out the noise: Leadhoot (from $39 a month) scores every post 0–100 for buyer intent and also covers X and Threads. A full comparison is in our guide to the best Reddit tools for freelancers.

You will if you post ads or send unsolicited DMs. Answer the question in public, be specific, and mention what you do only when it is relevant. Read each subreddit's rules first.

Reply within the first hour while the thread has few comments. Leadhoot watches the subreddits for you, scores every new post 0–100 for buyer intent and alerts you by email (Slack on Agency) within a minute.

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