Last updated: October 22, 2025
Reddit is the closest thing the internet has to a global, always-on whiteboard. People post fresh, unpolished ideas there every minute - experiments, complaints, "I just shipped this" notes, niche reports and raw sentiment. For me, the value isn't in copying posts. It's in catching signals early and turning them into useful, context-rich content my LinkedIn network actually cares about.
That's where my LiGo + Zapier Reddit workflow comes in. It watches the subreddits I care about, turns promising threads into clean draft posts inside LiGo, optionally runs a quick AI polish, routes items for review, and then posts or schedules them to LinkedIn. It's automated market research, not theft - and it's the competitive edge that comes from being first to explain a niche trend to a professional audience.
Below is the full workflow: why it matters, who should use it, a step-by-step build, ethical guardrails, troubleshooting, and the exact prompts and Formatter rules I use. You can easily replicate it, tweak it, and make it your own.
Why Reddit Feels Like The World's Whiteboard (and Why That Matters For LinkedIn)
Reddit shows what people actually talk about - unfiltered, fast, and often very specific. Product teams post beta feedback. Engineers share failure postmortems. Customers list annoyances. Those threads are a goldmine of story ideas that read well on LinkedIn: they're timely, practical, and often have clear lessons.
When you're the first person in your network to explain "what this subreddit thread means for our industry," you don't just get engagement - you get DMs, invites to speak, and connection requests from the people who actually need your expertise.
The Promise - What The LiGo + Zapier + Reddit Workflow Actually Does
In one sentence: it watches subreddits for signals, pulls the content into LiGo as editable drafts, applies cleaning and optional AI polishing with ChatGPT-style steps in Zapier, routes a draft for a quick human review, and then schedules or publishes to LinkedIn.
Key benefits I look for:
- Speed: go from signal → draft in minutes.
- Consistency: a steady stream of idea prompts without manually checking threads.
- Context: LiGo lets me add POV and company context before publish.
- Ethics: the workflow encourages summarizing and attributing, not reposting verbatim.
Who Should Use This Workflow (and When Not To)
Who it's for:
- Product managers who want early user signals.
- Content leads who need consistent, timely content.
- Recruiters who want to surface industry chatter to candidates.
- Consultants and analysts who want to own commentary on emerging topics.
When to avoid:
- If the subreddit is private or posts are clearly proprietary.
- When the post is personal and sensitive (don't republish anything that could harm someone).
- When your goal is long-form research - this is for real-time signals and short-to-medium form pieces.
Overview: The Exact Zapier Flow I Use (High Level)
- Trigger (Reddit) - "New hot post in subreddit" with filters (upvotes, keywords).
- Formatter (Zapier Formatter) - clean text, strip links, extract top comment or TL;DR.
- Action (LiGo) - create draft or repurpose request via LiGo Zapier action (map fields).
- Optional Action (ChatGPT/AI) - polish tone or create short/long variants.
- Action (Slack or Email) - Notify reviewer or add to editorial queue.
- Action (Scheduler / Google Calendar Zapier) - optional: add publishing slot to Google Calendar or directly schedule to LinkedIn through LiGo.
Note: I often add a Google Calendar step so my team can see planned posts in a shared editorial calendar - it's a simple Zapier app integration that keeps timing visible.
See this guide on how to set up the Google Calendar workflow on Zapier with LiGo.
Step-by-Step Setup - Connect LiGo to Zapier and Authorize Reddit
What you need before you start
- The API key of a paid LiGo account with Zapier access.
- A Zapier account (free tier works for simple tests, paid for high volume).
- Reddit account (to create triggers; some subreddits require authentication).
- Optional: an OpenAI or ChatGPT integration if you want on-the-fly polishing.
How I connect LiGo & set the trigger
- In Zapier, choose Reddit as the trigger app → select "New Hot Post" or "New Post in Subreddit."
- Add the subreddit(s) you want to watch (r/productmanagement, r/marketing, etc.).
- Add filters: minimum upvotes (I use 10-20 as a start), keywords to include or exclude.
- Test so Zapier pulls a sample post.
Building the Zap: Field Mapping & Formatting Tricks I Always Use
Field mapping is crucial. The Reddit payload includes title, body, author, permalink, and comments. I map them into LiGo like this:
- Title → LiGo "source headline" (used for context)
- Body → LiGo "source content" (stripped of URLs)
- Top comment → LiGo "insight" field (if available)
- Permalink → LiGo "source link" for attribution
Formatter Tricks I Use
- Zapier Formatter (Text) to remove markdown formatting and URLs.
- Formatter to truncate long posts to a 280-400 character excerpt for a short LinkedIn variant.
- Regex step to pull quotes inside quotes (useful for callouts).
Variant Creation
I create three variants automatically:
- Short hook - 1-2 lines for quick LinkedIn hooks.
- Long post - 5-8 lines with a mini-analysis.
- Thread starter - bullet points someone can expand in comments.
Polishing Automatically: Where AI Fits In
I often add a ChatGPT step inside the Zap to turn a Reddit thread into a short LinkedIn hook plus two supporting bullets. My prompt pattern is simple and repeatable:
"You are a professional LinkedIn writer. Summarize the Reddit thread into: (1) a 1-sentence hook, (2) 2 short bullets that add context, and (3) a suggested CTA. Keep tone professional and first-person. Don't copy verbatim; summarize and credit the subreddit."
This step saves time, but I always send the AI output to a human editor in Slack for quick approval. Automation should speed the start of the thought process - not replace judgement.
Practical Example Workflow - From r/productmanagement to LinkedIn in Minutes
Example (anonymized):
A r/productmanagement thread reports a surprising user workaround for a popular SaaS tool. My Zap triggers. Formatter pulls the top comment (explains why people do the workaround). LiGo draft is created with the excerpt, top comment, and permalink. ChatGPT suggests a hook: "Users are bending X tool to do Y - here's what that tells me about product priorities." I review, add my point of view, credit the subreddit, and schedule via Google Calendar or publish.
When I posted within an hour vs a day later, the early post got 3x the engagement and sparked a meaningful conversation with product leads - that ripple effect is the whole point.
Ethics, Attribution & Reddit Rules - How I Stay Respectful & Legal
I follow simple rules:
- Summarize, don't republish. I paraphrase and credit the subreddit.
- No screenshots of personal info. Never publish names or dox.
- Follow subreddit rules. If a community forbids republishing, I don't use it.
- Ask when in doubt. If a post is a detailed how-to someone built, I ask permission or link back and clearly attribute.
Attribution is simple and polite: "based on a thread in r/productmanagement" with a permalink in the draft. That transparency builds trust.
Testing, Monitoring & Troubleshooting Your Zap
Testing
- Use Zapier's sample data to validate each step.
- Run a few manual triggers (create a test post or use historical posts) to check mapping.
Common Errors & Fixes
- 401/unauthorized: re-authenticate LiGo or Reddit connection.
- No sample data: make sure subreddit restrictions aren't blocking the sample; temporarily set filter looseners.
- Rate limits: slow down polling frequency or reduce subreddits watched.
Security & Rate Limits - API Keys, Key Rotation and Responsible Polling
- Store your LiGo API key securely in Zapier's connection manager or a secrets manager.
- Rotate keys if someone leaves the team.
- Don't hammer Reddit APIs; set sensible polling intervals (e.g., 5-15 minutes depending on volume).
- If you need calendar visibility, use the Google Calendar Zapier step to add publishing times instead of querying too often.
Measuring Value - Metrics That Matter
I track:
- Speed-to-post: time from Reddit trigger → publish.
- Engagement lift: difference between similar posts posted later.
- Impressions & clicks: does this type of content drive profile visits or leads?
- Inbound conversations/DMs: real business inquiries that started because of a post.
If a Reddit-sourced post leads to a discovery call or a new client, that's measurable ROI.
Advanced Tips: Make the Workflow Work for Teams
- Add a Slack approval step: Slack message with post preview + approve button.
- Use a LiGo staging folder: drafts accumulate until an editor moves them to "ready."
- Prioritize subreddits: create a scoring rule (upvotes + keyword match) to decide what gets auto-drafted versus only flagged for manual review.
Templates & Ready-to-Use Zaps (copy/paste prompts & settings)
Zap template #1 - Hot Post → LiGo Draft → Slack for Approval → Add to Google Calendar (publish slot).
Zap template #2 - Hot Post → LiGo Draft → ChatGPT Polish → LiGo Draft → Auto-schedule (after manual approval).
Formatter rules I use:
- Remove links: https?://\S+
- Strip markdown headers: ^#{1,6}\s*
- Extract top comment: pull comments[0].body or use a simple heuristic for highest score comment.
Common Objections - My Answers
"Won't this make me sound robotic?"
No - the automation creates a starting point. You add POV, company context, and human edits before publish.
"Isn't that just reposting other people's ideas?"
If you republish verbatim, yes; but the goal is to contextualize and credit. That's what thought leadership is: taking raw signals and explaining their meaning.
"What about Reddit's TOS?"
Summarizing and attributing is generally fine. Don't reproduce copyrighted content or personal data.
"Does this scale without noise?"
Yes if you add filters, scoring, and a human review step. Automation should surface signals, not force-publish everything.
Best Practices Checklist - What I do before I Hit "Publish"
- Confirm attribution (subreddit link)
- Add a short company/author POV line
- Remove any personal or sensitive info
- Add CTA or next step for readers
- Check timing in Google Calendar and adjust for audience time zones
A 30-minute Playbook to Launch Your First Reddit→LiGo Zap
0-10 min: pick 3 subreddits and set up a simple Zapier Reddit trigger.
10-20 min: map fields to LiGo and add a Formatter step.
20-25 min: add optional ChatGPT polish and Slack approval.
25-30 min: run tests, review a generated draft, schedule a publish slot with Google Calendar Zapier step.
Final Takeaway - Treat Reddit as your team's fast R&D, not a copying machine
Reddit is the world's whiteboard. The LiGo + Zapier Reddit workflow is how I turn that messy, real-time R&D into clear, responsible thought leadership on LinkedIn. When you connect the signal to a clean editorial process - filter, summarize, polish, attribute, publish - you win two things: speed, and credibility. Speed gets you the conversation first. Credibility keeps you in it.
Related Resources
- LiGo Integrations Overview - explore all available LiGo integrations and what each one connects with.
- LiGo + Zapier Integration Page - full details, setup instructions, and support for connecting LiGo with Zapier.
- How to Publish LinkedIn Posts Instantly from ChatGPT Using LiGo - a walkthrough on using LiGo with ChatGPT for instant publishing.
- How to Post on LinkedIn Directly from Claude (Step-by-Step Guide 2025) - learn how to set up LinkedIn posting automations using Claude and LiGo.
