12 Keys to Successful Forum Marketing

Forum marketing is a great way to make your online business stand out from the c
rowd. Forum users are generally net savvy and open to making online purchases. M
any forum users are also respected experts and bloggers in the specific topics c
overed by the forum.
Forum marketing is a high ROI strategy because making a good impression in front
of this savvy and influential audience can help your marketing message spread f
ar and wide.
Follow this step-by-step guide to effectively use forum marketing as a part of y
our overall online marketing strategy and avoid some common mistakes.
Businessman using laptop in office - Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury/ Riser/ Getty Image
s
Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury/ Riser/ Getty Images
1. Find the right forums
Not all forums are worth your time. Successful forum marketing means finding the
right community for your business.
Look for popular forums that cover your niche topic. Start by asking your employ
ees, suppliers, and customers which online communities they hang out in. Also tr
y searching forum hub sites such as Board Reader, Big Boards, and Board Tracker
using niche-specific keywords.
Narrow your list to 5-10 forums that will be worth your time using the following
criteria:
Look for forums that have at least 1,000 members and 10,000 posts.
Make sure the forum gets at least ten to fifteen new posts on a daily basis.
Ignore forums that are overrun by spam.
Avoid forums hosted by your direct competitors.
2. Create an account as soon as possible
Seniority is important in forum communities. Users with older registration dates
are given more deference than newer users. Some forums even prevent new users f
rom posting for the first few days after their initial registration. Given the t
remendous advantage of early registration, you should create your forum accounts
as soon as possible.
Effective forum marketing means that it is part of your long-term strategy. Thin
k of forums as a permanent marketing channel for your business, instead of just
one of many targets to blast your hot new advertising campaign.
3. Check the user agreement and posting guidelines
During the registration process you will be asked to agree to the forum's user a
greement and posting guidelines. Read these rules and guidelines carefully. Ther
e is a lot of boilerplate legal language in these documents, so it is tempting t
o just skip over them and click yes without reading. However, many forums have u
nique guidelines that you need to pay attention to. Some of the most important i
ssues to look for include:
Are users allowed to place links in their posts?
Are users allowed to promote their own businesses?
Are users allowed to post commercial messages in their signatures?
Are users allowed to contact other members for commercial purposes?
What restrictions are placed on new users?
What special privileges are given to veteran users?
4. Pick a good user name and avatar
Your user name and avatar are the first things other users will notice about you
. Pick a user name that is easy to remember and pronounce. Using your real name
might be appropriate, especially if your name is closely identified with your br
and. Stay away from bizarre number combination or weird misspellings. Do not pic
k user names that only have meaning for you but would otherwise be nonsensical t
o everyone else (e.g. your favorite grade school teacher's initials).
Avatars are small pictures attached to all your posts. A good head shot of yours
elf or cute pictures of your kids or pets make the best avatars. Avoid using any
pictures that might be considered offensive or controversial.
5. Create a compelling profile
A good profile can help you establish credibility on the forum. Provide a solid
description of your expertise and experience. Feel free to add in a couple of pe
rsonal tidbits to humanize your profile. Information like your hometown, your pe
t's name, or your favorite sports team are good ways to break the ice. Stay away
from sharing potentially polarizing information such as political or religious
affiliation.
Provide contact information so other users can get in touch with you if they are
interested in learning more about your business. A lot of spammers and identity
thieves search through forums for personal information. Therefore, you should o
nly share information you wouldn't mind being made public, such as a throwaway w
ebmail address.
6. Introduce yourself
Many forums encourage new users to introduce themselves to the community by maki
ng an introductory post. This is usually done in threads especially designated f
or welcoming new members. These threads are usually called some variation of "Sa
y Hi Here," "How Did You Find Us," or " New Members Check In Here."
Your introductory post should include a brief description of your expertise and
an explanation of why you joined the forum. Let the other users know that your m
ain goal is to contribute to and learn from the community. Do not make any marke
ting pitches in your first post. If you try to sell anything in your first post
you will very likely get banned.
7. Spend some time lurking
Resist the urge to start posting right away. Forums are tight-knit communities t
hat tend to shun and haze newcomers. Spend some time reading the forum to get a
sense of the community's special quirks and cultural norms. Figure out who the i
nfluential users are and note which topics are perennial favorites. Learning thi
s information will help you fit in more quickly.
8. Make valuable contributions to the community
This is the key to successful forum marketing. Whenever anyone asks a question r
elated to your products or services, dazzle them with incredibly useful answers.
These situations are opportunities to demonstrate your expertise and to generat
e good will. Backup your advice with links to trusted sources, and respond to fo
llow up questions quickly.
Leave out your sales pitch in the beginning. Any hint of bias in your initial po
sts will erase all your hard work. By keeping your answers objective, the entire
community will start thinking of you as a trusted expert. They will soon start
asking you for your recommendations. When you get direct inquiries for recommend
ations you may then safely mention your business without appearing biased.
9. Put your website's address in your signature
Forum signatures are blocks of text or graphic that are attached to the end of a
ll your posts. Most people use signatures to display their favorite quotes or li
nks to their favorite websites. Some forums also allow users to use signatures t
o promote their own websites. If you are in a forum that allows self-promotional
signatures, make sure you take full advantage of this opportunity and create a
forum marketing signature that works.
Do not abuse this opportunity by putting flashy images or long advertising messa
ges in your signature. An accurate, short description of your business and a lin
k to your website is the best way to go.
10. Stay away from drama
Do not get drawn into heated arguments. It would be a shame to get banned just b
ecause you started arguing whether Han shot first with some 14-year-old kid from
Scranton. Here's how you can avoid the drama:
Constantly remind yourself that your mission here is to build good will for your
business.
Stay away from charged topics like politics or religion.
Resist the urge to respond to criticism. If you have to answer, at least give yo
urself a couple of hours to cool off before responding.
Use emoticons to indicate when you are being facetious.
End discussions the moment you sense that it is getting contentious. Just say yo
u agree to disagree and that you want to move on to other more pleasant topics.
11. Create win-win marketing campaigns
Once you have the respect of the users you can start more aggressive marketing c
ampaigns. Focus on marketing techniques that provide a benefit for the forum com
munity. For example, offer the forum members special discounts, free samples, or
fun contests. Be sure to get the permission of the forum's moderators before yo
u start these campaigns.
12. Be careful how you outsource forum marketing
Many marketing firms use bots or low-skilled foreign workers to spam forums. Thi
s is not the type of marketing you want. Forum spam may bring in a little tempor
ary traffic to your website, but in the long run these campaigns can seriously d
amage your reputation. When you hire a marketing firm, make sure they understand
that you will only accept ethical marketing practices that will enhance your im
age.
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8 Do's and Don'ts for Marketing on Online Forums and Message Boards
Online forums and message boards can be fertile grounds for finding new customer
s or gaining insights from those you already have. Marketers should take these p
latforms seriously, but not lightly. One misstep and the brand you represent cou
ld be tossed out.
Seventy percent of marketers are looking to expand their mix of social media, wi
th 33 percent now looking to Internet forums as a social platform to reach consu
mers, according to recent report from Awareness, a Burlington, Mass.-based provi
der of social-marketing management software.
One in five Americans use forums to discuss and recommend products, and 64 perce
nt of online women post product recommendations on message boards, according to
PostRelease, a content-marketing company based in Long Beach, Calif.
For the uninitiated, forums and message boards have a personality of their own.
They predate todays social media and social-networking sites and utilities. There
are millions of these sites, populated by users who are often highly opinionated
and influential about the forums subject matter. Thats why marketers interested in
using forums to connect with their target market must be careful about how they
spend their time in these sub-cultures of the online world.
Related: Why Forums May Be the Most Powerful Social Media Channel for Brands
Here are eight do's and donts for marketers from Sanjay Sabnani, CEO of CrowdGathe
r, a leading network of community forums.
1. Do register. Look for a "Welcome" or Introductions" sub-forum to introduce yo
urself. Be honest and ask how advertising and sponsorship works on the site.
2. Dont post marketing messages right away. You could be banned, and your product
or service could be maligned on a site that ranks high on search engines.
3. Do contact the site admin. Send a private message to the sites owner or head ad
min, explaining your product and ask about becoming a paid sponsor.
4. Dont pretend. Portraying yourself as a regular member when your only interest i
s commercial in nature is likely land you hot water sooner or later.
5. Do consider advertising. You might want to look into promoting your product t
hrough a combination of banner advertising and sponsored posts. Many forums have
"sticky" threads that they sell to sponsors. These discussion posts are stuck atop
the forum index to gain maximum visibility.
6. Dont push it. Incessantly bringing up your product or service when its not relate
d to the topic at hand could get you banned. Make sure your message is on topic
and engaging. Forums are a hybrid of communication, entertainment, and education
. Tailor your message accordingly.
7. Do contribute. Become a valued contributor to the site. Use your account to t
alk to other members, reply to questions, or to ask your own questions. This way
you become a known entity and marketing opportunities become available to you.
8. Dont ignore criticism. Immediately respond to complaints and criticism. Dont make
it personal. Attack the arguments not the person.
Remember: Internet forums and message board posts are archived and searchable, m
aking this the promotion that keeps on giving. Take advantage of that.
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8 Step Guide For Forum Marketing Success
There are so many social media outlets to utilise in a marketing plan, almost to
o many, it can become overwhelming!
If you do some background research on a few competitors, youll see them on Faceboo
k, Twitter, LinkedIn Pinterest, Orkut, Ning, not to mention multiple forums. Do
some more research and youll see that they are using none or only the minority of
these platforms effectively.
If you are going to do something, do it properly. Dont feel like you have to be in
volved with a social networking website, just for the sake of it.
Forums have been a successful part of our marketing plan, right from the start.
Unlike many of the other social networking websites, forums have and still are a
place where people participate daily. A well maintained forum can give you help
, advice and extra revenue. People ask real questions, because they want a real
answer, not just because they want people to see their signature link below.
Its free, all you need, is some time!
Surely, you could just save yourself time and effort, by paying for forum banner
s, right? Wrong! Forum banners are nowhere near as effective as actively partici
pating in a forum. We have tried banners on multiple forums. Whilst some brought
in new clients, most of our forum related clients come directly from our partic
ipation with that forum rather than banner advertisements.
#1 Selecting Forums And Signing Up
Finding forums is not a problem. Assuming you are looking for business forums:
Type business forums into Google. By default, the first 4-5 forums will be the ones
with the highest traffic.
Check through posts to see if the replies are high quality. Some forums that are
high in the search results have millions of posts, but they are spammy and low
quality; avoid!
Sign up to just 1 forum for the time being.
#2 Filling Out Your Profile & Signature
If you use forum marketing the right way, youll start to rack up profile and signa
ture views. You need to ensure that both are filled out.
Profile
Your name should be your business name.
Include URL and social media links.
Explain what your business does in a few sentences.
Fill out a blog post every now and then, if that is one of the forum options.
Signature
Make it to the point, using anchor text to shorten where possible.
Make it stand out with bold/different coloured text.
Link to an exclusive offer if possible, to catch the eye of forum users.
#3 The Introduction
Dont just lurk around the forums; forum marketing is about getting involved. Most
forums will have an Introductions section, which is designed for this very purpose.
Dont just say Hi!, give it a bit of thought. Explain why you are using the forum (netw
orking with other business owners, give/receive advice and so on) and explain yo
ur business (no need to be spammy).
#4 Adding Value
This is where most people fail with forum marketing; they dont add value. If you d
ont think you can add any value to a post, dont post. A lot of forum members will po
st, simply to get their links out there; fail!
You need people to notice you. If they notice your links, it builds trust, they
will notice your links. After you have created a great, informative topic or ins
ightful reply, you will see your profile count grow and your signature URL click
s follow. Establish yourself as someone that is there to improve the community,
not to destroy it.
#5 Avoiding Spam
Although this has been mentioned, dont get involved with posting for the sake of s
ignature link clicks. Most likely, the clicks you are getting from the Admin, wh
o is about to ban you. Of course, you can reply to some posts, to say thanks, or
to agree, but dont make a habit of posting unless you are involving yourself in t
he conversation in a value-added way.
On the spam note, do not employ any kind of service that offers to build profile
links, signature links and the likes, without speaking to them first. Most like
ly, their forum marketing campaigns will consist of spamming forums, on your behalf.
Worst of all, youll be paying for them to ruin your image. That said some SEO com
panies will build profile links and the likes in a natural and organic way.
#6 Building Up Feedback
Most business forums will have a feedback system. Like eBay, Amazon and similar
sites, when you sell or buy, you can give/receive feedback. Dont let an opportunit
y pass. If you get involved in a deal, ask for feedback and provide the same. It
helps to establish your business as a reputable member of the forum. Better sti
ll, if someone is looking for services that you offer, they will come to you, ov
er a new member with no reputation.
#7 Offer Something Spectacular
We wrote a post recently on Search Engine People C Freebie Marketing. You can see
what we did there. Yes, it was a loss leader, but it worked. We got new contact
s, feedback and a few long term clients from a simplistic offer that offered peo
ple value.
#8 Keep In Touch
Dont log onto a forum, post an offer, and then stop posting just because you havent
been successful. The key to successful forum marketing is to keep involved.
Regularly post, think up new offers, build up your feedback and reputation; beco
me a forum marketing pro!
If you try and aim to post at least 2-3 times per week, this should start to bui
ld up your overall credibility.
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How To Use Forum Marketing The Right Way
I hear it all the time C I tried forum marketing and it doesnt work!. The truth is that
it actually does work and is a great way of generating free traffic, but the on
ly catch is you need to do it right.
Mindlessly spamming your links in every forum you can find is going to get you n
owhere. In a lot of cases, you will simply be banned by the forum moderators.
So what is the right way to use forum marketing?
Its actually quite simple. Instead of focusing on how you can get your links seen
and which threads you can put them in and encouraging people to click your link,
focus instead on helping people. Instead of asking people to click your link, p
osition yourself in a way that they will want to click your link.
So this means spending a little bit of time going through the forums and providi
ng useful and helpful information to others that seek it. By doing this, you are
positioning yourself in a way that people will see you as knowledgable and help
ful and therefore they will be much more inclined to click your link. Your link
only needs to appear in one place, and that is in your signature. Putting it in
the body of your posts tends to make people think you are selling something, and
therefore less inclined to click your link.
Here is an example from the warrior forum. In this particular case, I did not ha
ve a link in my signature at all, I was just genuinely helping people. If I did
have a link, I can almost guarantee it would have gotten plenty of clicks becaus
e I showed people that I am knowledgable and helpful, and people want to follow
someone like that or find out more about them.
The thread was actually a sales thread for someone who had a mobile cpa product.
Someone posted on the thread seeking advice, so I jumped straight in as you can
see below
As you can see, I made absolutely no attempt to sell or promote anything to anyo
ne. But given that I provided a clear and helpful answer to this persons problem
, not only are they likely to check out any link I have in my signature, but any
one else who reads the thread as well. People read it and think this guy knows wha
t he is talking about, I want to learn more about him. This is actually a form of
attraction marketing, which is one of the most successful marketing strategies I
know of.

Heres a few quick tips on how you should go about forum marketing
*Always read the rules. Take 5-10 minutes to read what is allowed and what is no
t allowed so that you can stay within the rules and not end up having your accou
nt banned.
*When you put your link in your signature, try to use anchor text that entices t
he viewer to click. Something like my online income strategy is not very enticing, b
ut my proven strategy to make an easy $50 per day is quite enticing. Obviously you n
eed to stay within the boundaries of truth, so if you do put an income figure th
ere it needs to be proven.
*When you first join a forum, dont put a signature in your link. People are always
wary of first time posters who have links in their signature and will question
the motives of why you joined. I suggest you put out 10-20 good and helpful post
s before editing your signature.
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how-to-engage-in-online-forums-for-your-brand
I regularly find myself in the position of having to defend online forums, witho
ut actually wanting to be put into that position.
Its kind of awkward and strange because forums dont need defending. They dont need me.
They dont need anyone. Forums were around before you got into social (professionally)
and theyll be around after you make your exit.
Yet, I regularly run across people who compartmentalize them in a way that is od
d and unfair. It usually goes something along the lines of: forums are old, dyin
g, outdated, no one uses them and they never evolve. These thoughts are incorrec
t. When these comments are made, most of the time, the person just doesnt understa
nd forums and needs to make a bold statement to appear confident.
For some reason, some people choose to look at different tools and different pla
tforms in an adversarial way. As if convincing themselves that it is Facebook vs.
Forums makes their lives easier or more manageable. I dont understand this.
I started in social (or, as I like to call it, online community management) in 2000.
For a year or two before that, I had done some forum moderation. If you could s
ee the tools we had at our disposal 12 years ago and compare them to the tools t
hat we have now, you wouldnt be thinking in an adversarial way. Youd be thinking in
a grateful way, amazed and appreciative of the choices that we now have availabl
e to us, when it comes to all of the tools and platforms.
I may have written a book about managing online forums, but I use and love Faceb
ook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, SlideShare and other platforms. It is
never an either/or scenario. It is a matter of choice and using what will work b
est for you. In this post, Ill be discussing how you can get the most out of a for
um you dont own or operate, as a brand representative of some sort, whether that b
e agency or in-house.
The Power of Forums
When you type a question into Google, there is a fair chance that you will end u
p at a forum. And I literally mean a question about anything. Electronics, cooki
ng, car repair, vacations, taxes C anything. Why is this? Is it because forums ga
me the search engines better than anyone else?
No, actually, its sort of the opposite. Search engines are finding where real know
ledge is shared and exchanged and it is bubbling to the top of their results.
Pick a topic. It doesnt matter what. There are online forums dedicated to that top
ic where people are engaging in a meaningful, passionate way right at this secon
d. In many cases, this also extends to products, companies, celebrities and more
. If you are trying to reach people interested in that topic, this is the place
you need to be.
What is true of most generic platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, is t
hat people use them to share their thoughts on anything and to engage with indiv
iduals. If you want to check up on your friend from college, you use Facebook. I
f you want to share a random thought that popped into your head, you use Faceboo
k or Twitter. But, if you want to discuss the martial arts with other passionate
martial artists, you go to a martial arts forum.
In the entire social web, generally speaking and with plenty of exceptions, foru
ms are where the deepest, most engaging conversation around specific topics and
interests occurs.
When Jason told me that 90% of the discussions occurring online around banks and
bank products were in forums, I was a little surprised. Not because I didnt think
that a lot of it occurred there, but just because I thought there might be a br
oader mix. But, it makes sense. If you want to ask questions about banks and dis
cuss bank products, where do you go? To your Facebook friends? Or to an online c
ommunity dedicated to finance, banking and/or investment? (And yes, if you have
a friend who is uniquely qualified to offer expertise, youd probably go to them, a
s well).
Forums Are a Different Beast
I run into people who use Facebook and Twitter and then are perplexed that they
werent allowed to post a link on a forum. They think they should be able to do wha
t they do on Twitter on my forums and when they cant, they think that I am being d
ifficult. When, in reality, they are guilty of thinking they are entitled to som
ething, which is ugly.
You have to consider the nature of online forums and structured online communiti
es. On Twitter, I have to opt-in to you. I have to click the Follow button to see wh
at you say. The same is true on Facebook. You dont enter my stream unless I explic
itly opt-in. These are your profiles. This is not the case on forums where every
one can see everything. It is a community space and not your space. As such, the
guidelines for the forum must be respected at all times.
You have to think of each forum like its own country. One forum will have totall
y different guidelines and social norms from another. Many countries subscribe t
o similar standards of law, but even in those cases, there can be local laws and
slight differences than what you are used to.
Failing to understand this can lead to backlash and can end up with you being ri
ghtfully tarred as a spammer. Do you think that it is easier to ask for permissi
on, than forgiveness? Not on forums. Its hard to ask for forgiveness when youve alre
ady been banned. Initially, joining in a forum may seem scary. But, its really not
that bad once you have the proper handle on it.
Understanding How to Engage on Forums
It is easy enough to locate a forum that has an audience youd like to reach. Perha
ps they are already talking about your company or product. Or you did a Google s
earch for <insert your topic here> forums or <topic> community (without the quotes) an
found a forum that you can identify with. Generally speaking, you only want to j
oin forums where the level of conversation is one that you and your company can
comfortably be associated with.
When you join a forum, you are joining to contribute to that forum. Not to take
advantage of it and not to siphon people off to your website. I recently had som
eone join a forum that I manage and they started a thread to link people to a bl
og post they had written. This was removed and I sent the member a nice, polite
message to let them know. In his response, the member said that he didnt have time
to post replies on my forums or any forums, only to link to his blog, because lif
e is too short.
Thats great. Just dont expect to be welcome on many forums. You have to want to be t
here. If you dont, it shows and people will pick up on it. If you are actually int
erested in contributing, lets talk about how you can get started on the right foot
. An individual forum may allow you to go further than what I describe below, bu
t to understand that, you must become better acquainted with the community and,
perhaps, talk with the staff. What I lay out here will give you a good foundatio
nal basis for that.
The Guidelines Are Your Friend
Pretty much every forum worth engaging in has posted policies of some kind. Read
these closely. Some brand representatives see this and think they are the enemy
and that your job is to find a way around them to push a message or advertise s
omething. This is a bad way to look at them.
The guidelines are actually your best friend. They serve as a vision statement f
or the community, discussing what is allowed, what isnt and what sort of people wi
ll be attracted to the forums. For you, they are a cheat sheet. They give you a
leg up on what you can expect.
You should always respect the guidelines. Never bend them, let alone break them.
Observe the Norms
Before you jump in, take a look around. See how others contribute and how top po
sters and especially staff members share. Like the guidelines, this will help yo
u to feel comfortable and to participate in a manner that respects the community
. Get the lay of the land, like you would in any environment that you are new to
.
Your Signature is Where You Link and Identify Yourself
If the community allows you to have a signature and include links in it (check t
hose guidelines), that is where you can include a link to your stuff.
Just as important, depending on whom you are and who you work for, is the need t
o identify yourself, in the interests of full disclosure. It is vital that peopl
e know of the relationships that you may have to companies and interests discuss
ed on the forum so that they can view your words accordingly and trust your pers
pective.
To try to hide these affiliations is ethically and, perhaps, legally wrong. If y
ou share thoughts that relate to the company you represent and people find out t
hat you are affiliated with them, you are dead. If you share thoughts that relat
e to competitors of your company and people learn of your affiliation, you are d
ead. If you comment on interests and initiatives that may, in some way, help or
harm your company and people learn of your affiliation, again, you are dead. Alw
ays, always disclose.
If you are stupid and slimy enough not to disclose, you better be lucky enough t
o get away with it because a small enough company can be killed by the resulting
attention. Many of the people who try to deceive members of a community are eve
ntually caught because they did it for too long and got too greedy. It just take
s one minor detail and then you are exposed and your name is dirt.
One last note on signatures and identification. On a forum, a person posts C not
a company. For example, Social Media Explorer doesnt create posts. Instead, Jason Fall
s, the CEO of Social Media Explorer is the one who posts and this is clearly ide
ntified. A person at the company contributes to a forum, not the company itself.
Its a small, but important distinction.
Contribute ON the Community
You participate in a forum to contribute to the forum. Not to send people elsewh
ere. The one exception to this might be the case of, for example, a software com
pany that has a substantial knowledgebase and FAQ. If you join a forum you dont ru
n and answer questions by simply linking to your FAQ over and over again, that m
ight come across as a bit spammy.
Instead, your job is to add value to the forums themselves, not to send people i
n a million different directions. Even if it means copying and pasting answers f
rom your own FAQ, rather than linking to it. It may be OK for you to link to an
FAQ conservatively, but run that by the staff first.
That sort of example aside, answer questions in the forums and provide answers i
n the forums themselves. Not as links to articles or blog posts that youve written
. When you provide value and when you provide good answers, that is where you se
e the real value of forums. People respect your knowledge and look to you for yo
ur expertise. They look at your signature, visit your website and you are top of
mind for them when they think of that particular topic. Forums are a tremendous
way to demonstrate genuine expertise.
This is tricky because it isnt the cleanest thing to measure and the people who th
ink you can measure everything will be disappointed. As my friend Ted Sindzinski
said recently in an article on social ROI, as good as metrics are, they only tell
you the story of how to grow those metrics and that isnt always a part of the gre
ater tale of whats making you succeed.
Contribute Good Stuff
Its important to contribute good stuff for the reasons we just discussed, but also
because posts on forums can live on forever. You need to be aware of what you contr
ibute and ensure that you are adding value and representing yourself and your br
and in a positive manner. Many large forums have outlived many of the buzz socia
l media platforms that have come, gone and are no longer accessible.
When you make a post, count on it being accessible for a very long time. On foru
ms, you cant just delete a message or close an account, like you might delete a tw
eet or close your Twitter account. When you contribute to a forum, your contribu
tion is linked to the contributions of others and removing those contributions d
amages what others have added by removing the context. For this very good reason
, many forums will not allow for the mass removal of posts.
Dont (Be the First) to Mention Your Stuff!
A great guideline to follow is to never be the first to mention your company, pr
oduct or services. Dont be the first to introduce your commercial interests into a
thread. If someone brings it up, excellent, you can probably thank them or answ
er their questions on the forum.
But, you dont want to start a thread to say hey, my company exists! You dont want to b
the first person to mention your new product. You dont (obviously, I hope) want to
post press releases. You are here to offer value, not mention your company. I s
uspect that some of you reading this may say, well, then Ill just befriend a veteran
member and persuade/pay him or her to mention my stuff. No. Stop. Dont do that, eit
her. That falls into the whole disclosure issue I described and, frankly, is sad
. Youll get caught and youll pay for it. As someone who has caught people and made t
hem pay, trust me when I say you will pay.
There may be dedicated sections in a forum where it is OK to mention your stuff.
Make sure that you understand the particular guidelines for participating in th
ose sections and that you participate in an exemplary manner.
If You Are Ever in Doubt, Ask the Staff
Finally, if you ever have any question as to whether or not something is OK, ask
a staff member. Usually you can do so privately, which is ideal, but sometimes
you might have to do it in a dedicated forum. Its amazing to me how many people mi
ss this step and assume it is OK to post that message advertising something that
I then have to remove. By then, theyve already got a strike against them and we h
ave a negative relationship.
When you ask a staff member, you are giving yourself complete confidence in post
ing. Generally speaking, the staff will appreciate that you asked first, rather
than doing something that was inappropriate and led to them having to spend time
cleaning it up. Plus, you will also be building a respectful relationship with
them, which can help you down the road if you have any ideas for a partnership o
r more traditional advertising campaign.
Conclusion
The social web is a big place. Its always funny to me when I meet people who think
it primarily consists of Facebook and Twitter. If you believe that, you really
are missing a majority of the social web. Its a lot bigger and more diverse than t
hat.
Forums and structured, focused communities offer a great deal of value, represen
ting a concentrated audience of the people that you probably want to reach. They
are engaging now, around your company, your products and your industry. Im not sa
ying everyone should join a forum and start contributing, just that you should b
e aware of them as a legitimate, powerful platform. Engaging with individual for
ums should be a strategic option you consider, right alongside engaging with peo
ple on Facebook and Twitter. They are worth your consideration.
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