Normally I find it some what easy to market a forum... but most of the time I am starting a niche forum which means I know where I can get the targeted traffic.. My problem is I am starting a VERY general forum so I'm curious what the best way to market it is without using to much $$$... Any tips are helpful besides: Adwords & paid posting
maybe other forums? I guess your target audience is people who like to post in forums. other than that, maybe payper click is all I can think of.
join other general forums and add a link in your sig offer paid to post to get some activity going most people will only join a forum with good activity
A very general forum has to look busy otherwise it can be difficult to get traffic and members. Its much easier with niche forums because people know instantly what to look for.
My suggestion will be: 1) Invit several groups and offer them something unique 2) Don't use paid per post, else your forum may end up with spam 3) Focus on link building.
in my opinion, people do not like to join empty forums . you must fill the forum before people to join your community . because of this , you must add some useful content to your forum
- Add useful content even doing it yourself so the forum can attract users when you are first starting out - Offer incentives to join i.e user chat, access to freebies page/download page - Post on other forums [any forum since its general ] and stick the sig in your link - Yahoo Answers = reply to peoples answers and link back to your forum - Yahoo/Google Groups = participate in them and link back to your forum - Submit to directories - Focus on link building [very important] Is just what i came up with off the top of my head. However if i got thinking about it a little longer (over 5 mins) i would come up with others like article submitting (write articles submit to articles sites with a link back to your forum) for instance. Hope this helps.
Well the best alternate would be to register on different forums and start posting replies with your signature in it.
More suggestions for you man. 1) Specify your board. Don't over generalize. 2) Custom content and design, don't leave the default up! They'll just run away. 3) Be friendly! Welcome your members! 4) Be active everyday and POST and reply to anything you can. 5) Patience is key Good luck.
Buy signatures on other big forum communities. That's the best way in my opinion and won't cost you that much.
I have a general forum too. What I have done has come from experience. I try to listen to my members and give them what they want. Make it feel like it's their forum too and keep them involved in it's evolution. I keep active on it, and have never used alt-aliases or paid forum posting services. I think you can kinda tell they are fake a mile off. It might be handy for a little boost sometime though, but as of yet I haven't needed them. Have links to your forum in signatures etc too. This atleast gets your name "out there" even if someone doesn't click it. I have mine in my sigs on a couple of forums I post on. Spam techniques will just make you look bad. Other than that, tell friends about it, people who are interested in the topic, and just try to be nice to them and supportive. If you seem a nice person, people will get on with you and post actively. good luck!!
Generally there are too many general forums, but that's just a generalization. You can have a general forum but you should favor some topic. Also what works is having a niche subject and broadning it later
Need some investment of money in order to get better formal promotion effect. eg design a professional logo for a site, hardcore promotion on newspaper or magazine and TV media one is most expensive but having good results for a new product or site.
What is your forum? If it is general, then such mundane tactics may work, if you can get people in your area to check it out. I agree with all the points but would like to add: 1) Even a generalized board needs a few specifics. Without something "special" there are 1,000 boards just like yours. Add a niche or two, even if just sub-forums. 2) Whatever forum platform you have up, someone offers free skins for it. While you may wish to keep the default one (as some do like it) offer a few additional skins, and make the best of them the default. (Get input from your members to figure out which they like as sometimes your opinion is not the right one ) 3) I send a custom message via vBulletin. I used the 'translator' to make the current welcome email personalized asking newbies to post in intros, gave a link to the rules, and pointed out the main categories. I've gotten several replies from it from fresh members thinking it was not a form letter 4) While an admin should be a post whore, don't belittle your site with pointless posts. Everything you say should be worth reading, or at the very least seem like it's worth reading. Reiterate previous posts, and be wordy, but not overly so. 5) Patience is key
ok thanks for your tips your right though I do believe i need something that will keep the members active just not sure what.. lol
If you have usergroups, you can sell "gold status" which could unlock a few bonus forums with relaxed rules, give larger avatars, bigger sigs, larger inboxes, etc. You could then have contests and give away gold memeberships.