Marketing on Forums: Guide to the Dos and Dont's of Forum Marketing

Today we are at the apex of two marketing generations. One half of Internet marketers have been around long enough to respect forums and the other half have no idea what a forum is. Facebook is not a forum. Twitter is not a forum and Myspace is definitely not a forum. Forums are places where people join together for conversations without applications, themes, fans, followers, or privacy rules and regulations. Simply put, forums are where people ask questions and get answers.

Forum Marketing - A Thing of the Past?

Yes, forum marketing is a thing of the past, but as is the case with all past trends, it will come back into popularity at some point in time. This includes all forum posting and marketing. But, as is the case with any tried and true trend, there are some that never lost popularity at all. They simply changed the rules to make it harder for fly by night Internet marketers to use them.

Let's revert back to a physical example. Laborers have been wearing Dickies pants for generations. The strong construction is what makes them popular with people who have very physical jobs that demand quality from their clothing. A few years ago, Dickies sprung up as a teen fashion choice and popularity instantly skyrocketed. Those same laborers never stopped wearing Dickies, but now the brand could be seen on T-shirts, handbags, belts, and more. Soon, as is the case with many trends, teens moved on to a different brand, but the laborer steadily supported their Dickie pants.

In forum marketing, the same flow of popularity can be seen. Some Internet marketers get wind of forums as the ideal place to market, but the laborers who have trusted forums all along, have made it a bit more difficult to pick up on the trend. Two popular forums for marketing that come to mind are Warrior Forum and Digital Point and each chose a different means of weeding out the fly by night marketers.

Warrior Forum chooses to charge marketers for a post on the forum. Currently, the fee is $20 per post and there are hundreds of posts listed every day. Digital Point, on the other hand, is a bit more strict. While there is no cost involved, Internet forum marketers have to be dedicated for a longer period of time to earn the right to post in certain areas of the forum at all. With a set number of active days and forum posts is regulation free sections of the website required before Internet forum marketers can post signature links, products, and services - the hop in, hop out marketer will soon lose interest and only the strong and dedicated survive.

What is the Future of Forum Marketing?

There is money to be made in forum marketing. The strict rules and up-front fees are enough to deter those who want an instant means of pushing products onto readers. These same rules and fees, weed out the competition, so when readers see links on these forums, they understand the time and dedication required and respect the Internet marketer for their efforts leading to clout and quality traffic.

Tips for Forum Marketing

Do use the forum for more than spreading links.
Do communicate with other forum members.
Do actively participate in forum discussions.
Do stick in there for the long haul.

Don't SPAM forum users with tons of links.
Don't join a forum just to advertise.
Don't lie about products or services.
Don't break the rules.