Forum Marketing

Getting Traffic With Forum Marketing

Introduction To Forum Marketing

Much like marketing with email signatures, in forum marketing we use our profile signatures to do the talking for us.

Forum marketing has to be a topic that individuals seem divided on. Some believe that it's a great place to market and can make thousands in the process yet others contend it is a complete waste of time. The same answer is not the right answer for everyone. You need to experiment and decide for yourself from the results you get.

The good part of it is that it does not cost any money out of pocket but it requires time. You don't necessarily have to spend your whole day or even hours of it. But if you do decide to make it as part of your strategy, then be sure to go in with a set time frame and not allow yourself to get side tracked from your objective (e.g by looking at the other hundreds of threads that seem exciting). This approach will not put you in the class of Richard Branson's wealth overnight but the traffic that you do get will build over time and will be for the most part be highly targeted (if you do it right).

Now be sure to choose a forum that relates to the product or service that you are attempting to market. No point heading to a webmaster's forum marketing your jewellery or to a dog enthusiast forum marketing your learn guitar products.

With that said, let's look at a list of tips you can really use to set you on the right track:

1) Google +"your keyword" +forum (see screenshot below) for a list of highly visible forums which you can use to contribute and market yourself. Be sure to have a look around the forum before registering to make sure that they allow signatures and the like. It helps to have a sense of urgency and a sharp eye for areas where you can actually market your products and services. Shouldn't take too long with this.

2) I hate repeating myself but copywriting is everything and that includes your forum/profile signature. It is VERY IMPORTANT to have a good looking and catchy benefit driven signature. It is generally a good idea to have a link to your website landing page and not just an affiliate link (although you can do that if you wish). Point is ... you don't wanna appear spammy. Got it?

3) Another point on signatures ... have a look around the forum to see what the other participants are doing. That way you get a very good picture of what is acceptable and what's not within that forum. Always better to err on the side of caution.

Bad Forum Signature:

Better Forum Signatures:

4) Be at the forum or community to contribute and participate and not just leech (yeah, like a blood-sucking leech). People will appreciate you for that and you can be sure that they will click on your link if they have the slightest interest in the subject matter that you have to offer. Be sure to to browse the forum to get a general feel for what's going on and who the main "players" are. Just like in the offline world, it is better to blend in when first starting out.

5) Ask questions (there are no silly questions but then again ...) and only answer questions when you actually know what you are talking about. Your ultimate goal is to build a good reputation and to become known as the go to person. Build trust. It is also important that nobody is a know-all. If you don't know the answer to a question you should be both honest enough, big enough and smart enough to admit it.

6) Become knowledgeable within your niche market and on the topic that concerns you. Until you build a reputation and people recognise you for who you are, you will be considered a nobody (or worse still, a spammer). Goes without saying that the better your reputation the more you can get away with marketing. Forums are communities so be willing to join the conversations.

7) While you're doing your forum marketing, you'll meet many other individuals. These people can open up doors of opportunities for you to arrange joint venture, exchange links, find future affiliates for your own products as well as gain insight into what is working for them.

8) Forums are truly an excellent place to help you stay ahead of the market, you will hear about what is up and coming. Having large gatherings of people also allows you to do some market research easily, find out what the majority are looking for and what is displeasing them. If there is a crappy product or service out there, you will definitely hear about it.

9) Forum Marketing really do work ... You can ask any affiliate marketers that make use of internet forums.

Forum Marketing In Conclusion
Forums are some of the busiest user-generated sites on the web and some have more than 100,000 members (enough to start a country btw), which translates into a huge amount of traffic on a daily basis. The biggest mistake marketers (many affiliate marketers) make is they are impatient and labeled a spammer and once that happens you have cut your own throat. Be patient and use some common sense. Diversify and participate in several big forums. Build your reputation because the relationships you build will generate traffic and income over the long haul. Oh and while you're at it, be sure to have lots of fun! =)