How buyer intent shows up on Reddit

Buyer intent on Reddit is not a keyword. It is a person, in public, trying to choose. The post asks what to use, what to replace, or what a category costs. A mention of your brand in a meme thread is a mention. The choosing post is the one worth a reply.

What the thread usually looks like

The useful posts are specific. Someone describes the job, the constraint, and the fact that they are stuck. "What are you using for X" is the pattern. So is "we outgrew Y" and "is Z worth it at our size." The writer is not browsing. They are about to pick, and they asked strangers because the search results were ads.

A weaker post names the category and then wanders. A tutorial, a rant with no question, or a changelog from a competitor can contain the same words and still not be a buying conversation. If you cannot point at the sentence where they ask for a solution, skip it.

Signals that are easy to fake

Upvotes are not intent. A funny complaint outranks a quiet "what should I buy" post almost every time. Follower counts and account age are not intent either. The text is the evidence: a problem, a short list of options, and a request for what people actually run.

The buyer intent analyzer scores one pasted post from that kind of language. It is a heuristic, not a purchase. Use it to decide whether the thread deserves ten minutes, then read the comments before you answer.

What to do with a real one

Answer the question that was asked. Name the tradeoff. Mention the product only where it is the honest example. Then leave. A second comment that restates the pitch reads as a follow-up ad, and the original asker has usually already moved on.

CollectIntent keeps these threads in one inbox and scores them so the choosing posts sit above the keyword noise. The draft is a starting point. You still post it yourself.