Forums are one of the deep foundations of the internet, modeled after the great forums of the ancient days where people could have a frank and open conversation about a range of topics. The internet forum is a place for teenagers to gather to discuss video games, older people to discuss politics, and for a wide range of professionals to come together to discuss techniques that we can all share and therefore all profit more from. It is a place where people can say whatever the want and be wantonly disagreeable, or even openly immature, or randomly kind and wise. It is also a place that all marketers would love to use to grab some well deserved traffic and backlinks.
Forums are a great way to get highly targeted traffic to your website when used properly. There are forums for every niche, and if there aren’t then you can start one yourself and make a good buck. The problem is that most people that try to use these forums for their own advantage take it too far, and therefore hurt their own cause and that of their fellow marketers. Case in point, any forum that isn’t moderated will quickly be taken over by spam bots that simply rifle through the forum posting up their advertisements, actions such as these make it so that legitimate marketers cannot post links.
So, you are now wondering, how do I got about posting on a forum in such a way that I don’t draw the wrath of the moderators? It is quite simple really, if you read any post on blog commenting you will see that it is basically the exact same tactic except used on a wider range on a single site. The best way to teach you how to post is by first teaching you exactly how not to post:
- Posting a link to your website in your introductory post to a forum, this sets a very bad tone from the start.
- Constantly telling people to check your signature for further information when your signature is clearly all affiliate links.
- Starting the same thread in multiple parts of the forum because you want to get the word out.
- Pretending to be a customer of your own product so you can give it a good review.
- Using overtly promotional language in your posts, especially when mentioning your website.
- Posting about nothing simply to boost your post count.
- Creating a user name that lends itself to people believing you are a spammer, such as the name of your product.
- Making it obvious in even the slightest way that you are at that forum solely for your own benefit.
- Any other behavior that is related to these, in general this includes: spamming, self promotion, link dropping, trolling, or mass PM sending.
Things that you should do:
- Post threads that enhance the content of the forum in some fashion.
- Respond honestly to questions that people ask.
- Give in depth answers to questions because this will show that you are an expert within your field.
- Use your real name as your user name (I just started doing this myself).
- Post only when you have something you genuinely want to say.
- Give people relevant resources to help them with their problems that are not from your site.
Why do you need to do these things? Well it is quite simple, on the internet there is always going to be a savvy group of individuals that will pick up on your marketing tactics. By making it seem like you are marketing a product, people will call you out for and nobody will click on your links, etc. If on the other hand you never mention your site but you post great information, people will look for resources by you so that they can learn more about the topic. They will also be much more receptive to any products that you are promoting on your own website.
For this reason I also suggest using your real name as your forum name, this will cause people to be more trusting in what you have to say and to remember that name if they see it elsewhere. With the internet it is all abut name recognition, and your name is your most important brand. If you are well respected within a community, you will naturally garner high quality relevant backlinks and traffic.
In summary, using a forum to market yourself and your products is quite simple, do not mention your website or your product and you will be fine. Just give people good answers to their questions and watch as people within the forum naturally begin to talk about your website for you. Using a forum as starting point of a word of mouth trend for your site is an excellent way to market your site, and it will be far more valuable than the links from your signature or traffic from your self promotion. It is also a great way to jump start traffic to your blog for those of you with new blogs.
For more tips and tricks about marketing your website, blog, product, or yourself feel free to check out my free ebook and newsletter on the right sidebar.
great article, i always wondered why people posted things in forums that were way off topic(i should have known). Anyway i think your right, if managed correctly it can be a very effective marketing tool.