I noticed that a lot of companies with something new to promote will hire a team of posters to artificially generate word of mouth about their new offerings. One method they use is to join various forums pretending to be a potential customer wanting to know if anyone has heard about their product or service. They then get other posters to respond to the thread pretending to be interested. If done properly, this thread will usually attract the attention of other members of the forum which could lead to sales. If you have something unique and catchy to promote, what ideas can you think of that could artificially generate word of mouth?
Lol those threads stick out like a sore thumb it's obvious the seller is getting someone to post a question about their company.
That just gives the company a bad name, they crop up here regularly and like @dcristo say's they stick out like a sore thumb, I assume the the people that do this are just massively retarded to be honest.
It is a con and can usually be seen as such. Why do some assume that all potential clientele are stupid or unsophisticated? Starting off by assuming customers are stupid and trying to con them is not a good business model/philosophy.
Obviously, nobody here seems to like this idea so I'll make a note to stay away from it. I'm not going to start a huge argument, but I have seen many examples where this method was done in a very natural way and did not stand out like a sore thumb. I think getting other established members to join along on your thread and not seeming so biased is the key to getting this to work.
There are plenty of people who fake it until they make it. It works for some and doesn't work for others. I knew a guy who became a well known Sales Trainer who started by paying for spots in magazines and writing about himself. He then trained clients for free in exchange for a testimonial and milked the marketing dry until he had enough real clients and a following. After some time no one remembered the guy who faked it... they only knew the guy who made it. It can be done... Take a look at MVMT watches. These guys were bought for millions by the Movado watch company. MVMT had a story which was greatly exaggerated and marketed on social media to achieve success. They are known for paying influencers on YouTube and Instagram to wear and promote their products. Their goal (or scam?) was to trick the average guy in to thinking MVMT watches were luxury watches sold for less. Reality is they rebrand cheap $10 Chinese watches on alibaba and resell for $200. Are they scammers? Every owner of a luxury timepiece will say so but the average bloke seems to be happy with their shitty watches. You can have people engage on forums and mention your brand. I would be very careful and not to create fake profiles and interact with one another. Typically your forum regular will spot a spammer immediately. Generally people don't register then their first post is to ask about a product that no one heard of. I would say you could participate for a bit before presenting such a question. However, the time and money invested may not be any kind of substantial return. But it could be YOUR start...