Forum Marketing Tips and Guide
Forums can be a great way to increase the exposure of your offers, products, services, website or blog, and increase the traffic to your site as well.
Often many people will not use this valuable marketing method because they do not understand its benefits or even disregard it in favor of other marketing methods like social media marketing.
If done properly you can get great results from utilizing forum marketing but you just have to know the dos and don’ts and best practices of using this valuable marketing method. If done correctly you can yield some great results but if done incorrectly then it can be a big waste of your time.
We have compiled some key forum marketing tips, best practices and a guide to help you get the best results possible from your forum marketing efforts.
(Disclaimer: We may earn a commission from purchases made from some links.)
The first thing that you will need to do is find some forums that are in the niche that you are in or that you want to target. This is important towards the success of your forum marketing efforts because you will want to use forums that will have the right people using it that may be interested in what you are wanting to promote or market.
In order to find forums that are in the niche that you are targeting you will want to go to Google.com, bing.com or whatever search engine website is your favorite one to use and type in the keyword for the niche you are wanting to find and add the word “Forum” or “Message Board” (another name for forum).
After you have done your search you will want to go and check out the forums that show up in the search results. Go check to make sure any forums you find cover topics in your given niche.
Also check and see how many people are actively using the forum, and how many recent topics and replies there are. These are good indicators for finding out if you time would be well spent on this forum. If the forum does not look too active then disregard this forum for now.
Once you have found some forums that look like they might have your target audience (type of people you are seeking) then look the forum over and try to get a feel to see if it looks like a good place to engage people in.
After you have decided on joining a forum then sign-up so you can start posting on the forum. Make sure to read the rules of the forum before posting so that you do not violate any posting rules. Each forum can be different as far as their rules and regulations. Make sure you don’t skip over this point.
After you have signed up look around and see if anyone has posted a message looking for help to a problem or issue they have that you may be able to give them some assistance with.
Helping other members of a forum can get you a good reputation as being helpful and that can draw extra interest in you and what you might be looking to market. Making a good first impression is also important.
In the beginning try not to dive right in and start promoting what you are trying to market. If you do then people might start thinking that you are just there to promote your needs and you are not really interested in contributing to the community.
Try to post and be helpful and friendly as often as your time permits. Then after you build up a good reputation you can start to casually mention what you have to offer or market.
Many forums have a classified section for offers, so if what you are trying to market fits into one of the categories in the classifieds sections of the forums then this is something that you should think about and consider doing.
Most forums also have what is called a “Signature” section which shows up right below all of your posts and this is often a place that you can put links to what you are offering or trying to market. Often the forums what you to post a certain amount of posts before you are given signature privileges.
Based on my personal experience, it can be anywhere from 10 – 50 posts or more. Check the forum rules for more information on signatures. Forums do this so that people will try to contribute to the community and not just sign-up and start spamming what they are offering.
It is often best to avoid replying or posting anything controversial on these forums because there are always going to be people that disagree with you and some topics like politics, religious beliefs and things like that can get into heated discussions (one where people get angry or mad) and it can be easy to get people to start to get a negative opinion of you and that is bad if you are using forums for marketing.
It’s vital that no matter what is said or you see on the forum you are using, you always appear friendly, helpful and respectful. Remember, based on the fact that you are marketing something you will achieve your goals easier by making friends rather than enemies.
CONCLUSION
The most important thing to remember is that if the other members of the forum and the forum moderators (people who keep things organized and ensure the rules are being followed) and owner/s or management think you are a valuable member then your time will produce greater results for your marketing efforts.
While there may be other forms of marketing your products or services that are more effective, forum marketing can be a great was to supplement your efforts and without any monetary cost to you.
It only costs you your time and since it can be done at any time this is a marketing method that you can utilize in your spare time or between other tasks you are doing.
Good luck and may you reach the Apex in your Niche!