I have started a new forum. I Want to promote it. I tried PTC, i got 500 members but none of the visitor has registered my forum. I am really disappointed. If u are having forums with good number of members, then please say me the steps which you have taken to promote. It will really help me.
if you make software and web scripts like i do then you could give away a free copy with your password and post it on a number of sites. all depends on your neche, for my proxy sites i put the links in my sig and on myspace ect.
My primary form of marketing is making videos and posting them youtube. Youtube is also my 4th highest source of traffic, right next to yahoo. So take that into consideration, youtube sends my site as much traffic as yahoo. The conversion rate from guest to member is about 20X higher for youtube traffic as compared to google organic search results traffic. For an example, here is a link to my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/survivalistboards Its take about a year and a half to build up 318 videos. My videos have been viewed around 2 million times and receive about 10,000 - 15,000 views daily. Which results in a steady stream of traffic to my forum. And then, I have taken this same approach and applying it to my promote my sons computer gaming forum. Here is a link to his youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/fortresstraining My sons site is only a few months old, and his youtube account is only a little over a month old. And already youtube is the 4th or 5th highest source of traffic to his site.
It's really good method for promotion ~kev~... asholar, PTC traffic is equal to zero, because people in these programs only want few cents, they don't care about sites where they are going when clicking. Better spend money to take some users who would write for you for money, it is more useful I think.
Yes, they probably wont be active users after you'll stop paying, but there still is a chance that some of them would stay for longer time. And there would some content left in your forum after them, and what could left after PTC traffic? I think the basic benefit of paid posters is that they create an active atmosphere in you forum and visitors who came from search engines on any other sites will registering more then at empty forum. Sorry for my bad English, I'm not good English-speaker...
One thing I do is contact the admin(s) of the site(s) and see if they are willing to trade links. You be surprised how many are willing to offer the exchange. Youtube.com works like a charm too. I added some video sample from "The conduit" and my hits went through the roof. Word of mouth.. time and time again this works best. The list goes on.. you just need to try different methods and see what will work for you niche.
Youtube may not work for most forum sites. And it takes them a while to click the actual forum, instead of just continuing looking at videos. You're better off with social marketing. Some sites youtube can work very well. But if it's a programming forum, lol youtube is not for you. If it's a 2D graphic design forum, youtube won't work well for you. If it's a web development or SEO forum, youtube won't work at all for you.
I had a magician's forum about 3 years ago. I hit up all the local magic shops and put flyers up. Try some offline marketing.
First question is, what is your post count on your forum?? I would just keep posting away 10+ times a day...wait for the serps to pick up some things and the people will start coming in. Keep it in your sig link and go to other forums like yours...
I'm starting with movies forum now and think I'll try youtube method, but the problem is that my forum isn't in English, so it will be harder to collect lots of new visitors with youtube. And you should have lots of video uploaded to see the result I think, so this is "long term investment"...
Is there a number formula for forum marketing? Anything that people discover thru experience: Like: After ~250 members, you'll start getting new active members daily, if it doesn't then the category sucks.
I have given a lot of advice about forums on here and have created around 3-4 very active and successful ones. Here is what you need to do to get it started with a lot of members. 1. Find a core group of people who are very interested in the topic (friends, or from relevant message boards, etc) 2. Start out by running a few giveaways and promotions here and there. 3. Be the most active on your board, start a few threads daily, PM new members who have posted to introduce yourself and thank them for joining. It is rough starting off but once it really gets going it is a great way to have income that you don't have to work that hard for.