Forum marketing is often treated lightly as socializing, but the results indicate that it offers richer dividends than content marketing or other online traffic generating methods and can produce massive traffic.
Online marketing of any business enterprise should now include forum marketing in its plans and I will explain why business owners should join forum discussions to tap into different sources of traffic.
How To Use Forum Marketing Effectively
Many people have read about forum marketing but do not really know how to use it .
Here are a few steps on how to use forum marketing effectively for selling a product or service or driving free traffic to your website.
Identify forums that are directly or indirectly related to the product or service you are promoting and join them
It takes time, but traffic generation with forum marketing is also easy once you know traffic generation strategies.
What you have to do is find relevant forums, watch for is to search for thread titles of recent conversations from the forum posts and join active forum discussions on matters that interest you.
Many forums no longer receive visitors because the members might have joined new forums, or new technology has made the product or service obsolete.
You would need about 2 or more forums. Good online forums would have achieved membership of 1000 members or so, and there would be 10,000 or so posts there indicating the activity level.
To confirm whether the forum is still active, ensure that 10 new posts are being added to it every day.
This can be done by studying the record of immediately preceding one month.
Get familiar with rules before joining the forum
Many forums are up there for promoting specific products. So what should you be watching out for?
- Is this forum going to allow me to use links in my posts?”
- Will I be able to contact other members of the forum for any commercial purposes?”
- How does the site treat new members ?”
- Is the site open to business promotion by other members, or not?”
- Will I be allowed to insert some commercial logo or verbiage with my signature on this forum?”
It`s more like you`d check out any facebook groups before joining.That`s how you check out a forum community.
Most forum members do follow rules and any violation of the rules can get you into their wrong books. You don’t want to be in that place.
• Introduce yourself
This is not for marketing. It is to meet other members and experience how the forum feels and to start building relationships.
• Have a human personality
Internet users relate better to human beings rather than any business enterprise as they expect some sales pitch sooner or later from the business enterprise.
In general, people feel business enterprises would hide the negatives about the product, so you don’t want what you say to be taken with a pinch of salt.
You should also include information as asked in profile as it makes your human personality more authentic. This means including a photograph would help though not mandatory.
Similarly, adopt a signature for the forum. Try to be brief in that signature, if the site allows, you to include a link, you do not want to appear to be pushy ,include your URL not affiliate links in your forum signature .
• Move with the flow
Some people are desperate to sell and that can irritate the members of the forum. Be sure to offer information about the product where needed and not hard sell the product.
Focus on sharing high quality facts, important features, and relevant information in the forum instead of offering irrelevant data.
In general, spend a few months learning how others are interacting in specific topics and follow that as the culture of the forum.
• Engage in solving problems
You obviously are knowledgeable in the subject.
It would benefit you to answer questions and solve problems even if the interaction on the thread does not exactly offer any opening for you to sell any of your products or services.
If it`s something that need demonstration, a short video content with ultimate guides can also be included.
Video is an effective way of reaching those who prefer to watch you do it.So use it wisely for brand awareness and add social share buttons.
Such interactions make you and your opinions valuable and that rubs off on your product or service.
• Your interaction is the key
For a long time, SEO experts have been harping on content. On forums, it is important how you interact and your social skills come into play.
As a marketer, you already have them in real life. Now you have to take them up there, interact in a polite, and entertaining way rather than somebody trying to push a product down others gullet.(if you know warrior forum affiliate marketing then you know what im talking about)
The more interesting your interactions on the subjects in a particular topic, the greater are the chances that your link under your post will be clicked and the person arriving on your website, or blog is likely to become your customer.
Note that interesting interaction or entertaining interaction does not mean dramatic or overly humorous.
In-depth discussions and valuable insights should be more about building yourselves up. Arguments are to be avoided as much as curt or rude interaction else you get kicked out from a great platform.
Any explosive conversation or topics such as religion or politics should also not be stretched even if the forum rules do not ban them,this is not a forum posting niche for a marketer looking for website traffic.
Experienced forum marketers never get involved in religion discussions unless you are in a religion right forums.
Whatever your niche is, there are forums for it out there, a simple search on google is all it takes just as you`d do for article directories.
No matter how specific your niche is, look for different forums and find the ones you like best. Niche-specific forums have more potential customers and target audience, so create great content, your online presence will pay off.
Conclusion:
Forum marketing traffic will not be much unlike social media marketing. It will also take a while for it to start pouring in.
But the quality of traffic would be high, and the efforts will have long-lasting effects.Read an earlier post where different qualities of traffic are explained.
If you master how to use forum marketing effectively, you can ensure some knowledgeable clientele becoming lifetime clients.
Those people who value your client`s opinions such as their friends and relatives too would be buying your products.
Remember, not to use forum marketing as a sales tool by overdoing sales pitches.Instead use it as a new traffic generation strategy for your internet marketing.
Instead, respect the members as people who know what they are talking about and offer only the information they seek. Article marketing marketing is not always about promoting products.
Hi Sarganser,
I haven’t used forum marketing before as I’m in my early days running a website but I relish the prospect of receiving an increased number of visitors however I understand this will only come through trust.
I currently use Social Media followers to try and attract visitors but like you mention in order to accomplish increasing your traffic count it’s imperative to associate yourself with people who have similar interests and wish to read about your promotions rather than have Social Media’s high percentage of uninterested followers.
I agree with you regarding sharing other people’s links. I currently find when people share my links on the Google+ platform, Google also shares those links on their search results page however people only reciprocate the favour if you share theirs. Powerful stuff.
Other than the main Social Media platforms, where would you recommend finding a forum or if you only concentrate on the main Social Media forums, which platform do you find the most powerful?
Looking forward to your reply,
Simon.
Hello Simon
Quora for example is a very responsive place to promote your content,but like with any promotion u have to give readers a reason to trust you, help first before you sell.
I do not know your niche, but finding the right forum to promote your content is easy, go to google and type your niche+ forum.Example if you are in let`s see……… “dog grooming” you`ll go to google and type pets+ forum,dogs+forum etc then you`ll get to see the many forums out there you can join.
Like you already know, sharing is not always only your content, share other people`s content and they will “help you” share yours.You can not do it alone but keep going, im sure you`ll do very well.
Forum marketing is one of the techniques to generate traffic that people do not as the last years.
The reason is that it does not have SEO benefits anymore.
But I agree with you if make it properly you can get targeted traffic.
To be honest I do not use that method too. Do you think that it is better to put an effort in forum marketing instead another free traffic source like social media marketing?
Compared to social media, I prefer forum marketing, im useless in social media.Another reason is that is social media, your post soon gets buried deep down.With forum marketing if you participate in the forums, your content is still there maybe not at the top but does not get buried too fast like in social media.
Hi there,
Well done on a great tutorial on how to build a relationship withour customers.
This is a great idea and I am sure you are going down the right track.
I realize it’s about getting to know our customers first and foremost, then we build a relationship and most importantly of all, we build trust.
That’s the proper way to market, as you rightly pointed out
I am confident that you will be very successful,
Thanks again for the great review and advise,
Cheers Phil Browne.
Thanks for stopping by,glad you liked my article about forum marketing
Great article on traffic generation with forum marketing.
I think this is a very underutilized method of getting some free traffic to your site and business.
Like anything social, it takes some time and effort in building up relationships and trust, but as you mentioned, the quality of traffic is high, so it’s well worth the effort.
You have given some great tips on how to use forums to generate traffic and leads!
Thanks 🙂
Thanks John, personally, I prefer forum marketing, social media traffic is a hands on work while forums takes time but works better in my opinion.
Well said and know I know better about forum marketing. When I started my online career I was confused with online marketing, content marketing as forum marketing. After reading your explanation I got a better idea.
Like what you said, forum marketing has it’s own rules to follow and they not allow people spamming around trying to sell stuff. They need people that interactive with the community/member to give people solution. I got it now.
Hello Maxx
Thanks for stopping by, forum marketing is easy once you understand how it works,it`s only people who try to spam forums that say forum marketing does not work,this is because most forums will ban them or take away their writing rights and without interacting in forums, you can not market your product there, and to be able to market in forums, you must be ready to help.
In my experience, promoting on forums can be rather risky! I’ve had both positive and negative experiences, where in some cases I’ve even gotten banned after just my first post. I think my issue (after reading here) is that my interaction wasn’t strong enough. I probably brought out the promotions too early in my relationship with my audience, resulting in hurtful outcomes.
Thank you for this information!!!
Hi Jackson
It takes trial and error to succeed in forum marketing but the golden rule is to not start promoting right away,they are quick to ban spammers.Yes I too have been banned from forums before,there is a forum im even banned for life lol.
To succeed in forum marketing, you have to be patient,socialize, be helpful to other members.It may seem too much work and slow moving but in time, the traffic picks up.
Hi There,
Enjoyed your post, Traffic Generation With Forum Marketing. I am one of those people who didn’t know very much about forum marketing but after reading your excellent article, I am ready to give it a try. I would think interacting with others that have similar niches would be beneficial to everyone. Thank you for all the good information.
Joyce
Yore welcome Joyce, forum marketing is easy really it`s mixing up with people with the same interest, answering someone who may have a question and you`re done.
Many thanks for this tips. It’s one that I’ve never done before, and I’ll really look into doing it in future. I’m involved in a niche which has a few active forums (I’ve encountered them while doing research for the niche). Your warning about the rules are very useful too. I’ll be sure to check whether the forums allow nye to link to my content or not.
On another matter, will links from forums count as backlinks to our site? If yes, then this will be a great boon for us too=)
Hello Isaac, forum marketing is free and it does not even have to take too much of your time, you can spend about 30 minutes of your time on forums, leaving helpful comments, trying to be helpful and with time, you`ll see results starting to come in.
Thank you for all the great information. I did not know that there was so much opportunity to boost your SEO and traffic through a forum. I had no idea that old software would affect your visitors, I will keep that in mind. Does the new software that’s out on WordPress help any? Great advice, Gary
Interacting through a forum related to your niche is a great solution to accomplish generating traffic into your website as you are surrounded by people specifically interested in your passion resulting in visitors reading your articles and achieving conversions.
Having the right approach as you say is crucial in gaining trust. Coming across with a pushy sales mentality puts people off straight away. Political and religious comments will only cause upset leaving you with a negative presence whilst posting articles continuously all day long as I regularly see becomes very annoying.
It’s all about conducting yourself naturally and coming across helpful, this is the solution to gaining traffic and trust.
Where do you find is a great source for finding forums related to your niche?
Thanks for your post,
Simon.
Hi Simon, I think Google is just the place to find a forum in your niche unless you have a very narrow niche,all forums are there somewhere online.
Regarding people posting religious comments in non-religious forums, I find this to be a no-no,and such kind of discussion always lead to very heated discussions.
Hello there,
Thank you for the thorough explanation about the benefits of the forum marketing.
This can be a powerful tool if used wisely and with an attention.
I say that because it is easy to get banned if you spam around.
Often forum marketing leads to great results when it comes to traffic increase.
I find that not all forums have the option to edit your signiture which makes our task a bit more difficult.
True,some forums do not allow leaving your URL in your signature but then again in some forums,you can have signature after some posts so all is not lost.
It sounds like interacting on a forum very similar to interacting with members of a club or organization in real life.
As people begin to recognize you as an expert in an area, it becomes natural to turn to you for assistance or advice when they have a problem in that area.
But if you try to establish a relationship based on your desire to sell someone a product or service it never works out.
Well said chazz, anyone who joins forums and try pushing things soon realise it does not work that way.Forum marketing takes time as people have to trust you first but woth it in the end.