Working Forums: Forum Marketing Dos and Don’ts
Forums are a great way to market your business, and if you’ve already been debating it, then by all means do it; it’s a good idea. Personally, I love using forums, and I know of people who have built huge businesses solely off of good forum marketing.
However, while forums are a great source of quality traffic, there is a trick to doing them. If you don’t do it right you could ruin your reputation, and damage your business before it even starts. So, allow me to send you on your way to success in your campaign with words of wisdom to keep easily made mistakes from happening:
Do join a related forum. If your targeted audience is people looking for SEO tips, you probably wouldn’t get many results from a video game forum…in fact, you’d probably be flamed…endlessly. Any internet marketing forum should be a good starting place. In the case of SEO, an SEO-centered forum would probably yield maximum results. In the case of MLM, an MLM-centered form, and so on…
Do join multiple forums. The more, the better. Of course, being a well-to-do member of a forum costs variable amounts of time. 5-10 forums is reasonable and should be within a reasonable timeframe. As stated before, they should all be as related as possible to suit your target audience.
Do make a captivating signature (sig for short). Your sig should be an eyecatcher, but not ridiculous. It also should reroute to something free that you offer (and mention just this). The word “free” is quite powerful, because it means that it will only cost a bit of time (of course this is an already known that doesn’t need mentioning in your sig). This also helps gain trust; it doesn’t seem like you’re just trying to get their money.
Don’t spam your sig as soon as you get it. I know you want to get your name out there, but spamming is absolutely the WRONG way to do it. Spamming is frowned upon and is repulsive in virtually all online communities. And no matter how professional a forum is, you’ll probably still be flamed for it, if not booted altogether. At the very least, you’ll suffer a rather painful blow to your reputation.
Do contribute to the community. Give help where you can. Spark a conversation that has the potential to grow out of control with replies. Just make sure it’s not a topic already discussed, which leads me to my next point…
Don’t go into a forum without researching its contents to at least a decent degree. This is mostly important for starting a forum discussion, so that you avoid repeating anyone. A question can be repeated, but you should research those as well just to make sure you’re not asking a question that was asked by about 25 different people.
Do be a relatively active member. This is the most important aspect to forum marketing. This is where you build your reputation and credibility. By actively giving advice to subscribers in a forum, you can virtually become a celebrity in that forum. You become a trusted source, and people will listen to you, and buy from you at will.
Can it be time consuming? Yes, but it’ll return your time to you in traffic. Posting about 5 times per week per forum will get you started. Make sure all your post are high quality, and very informative. If you can keep this going well, this should be the final step in securing an excellent start to excellent progress in the forums.
Also, make sure you only talk about things you know. If you’re not knowledgeable on it, then I would avoid giving advice until you are sure, as bad advice can get you flamed.
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Good article.
I would like to add to the 2nd point. Although quantity is good but make sure that the forum you are selecting, getting good traffic and people are actively participating in different discussions. Reputation of a forum is also an important point to consider while selecting a forum.
That’s absolutely right. thanks for the add on. You have to be absolutely sure that the forum is active, as some forums do not have an active moderator, and this can effect the overall performance of your post.