When you’re looking to do forum marketing you need to be aware that not every single forum out there allows you to use it in that manner. Some forums may exclusively ban marketing or it may just not be appropriate for you to market on that forum.
In this article I’m going to tell you how you can quickly check in three steps whether it’s appropriate for you to use a Forum for marketing.
The very first thing you should do when you load up a new forum – you’ll want to investigate it – is to spend some time reading the rules. There will generally be a prominent link somewhere near the top of the page or perhaps in the page footer giving you a set of rules for that forum. Sometimes even the individual sub boards within a forum can have their own rules and you’ll need to look at those carefully as well. Have a close study. Do they allow your signature link to promote your own products? Are you allowed to give links to other websites? What kinds of charges are involved to market? By studying the rules you’ll soon find out whether it’s appropriate for you to spend time on that forum.
The second thing to do is to look directly if an advertising forum – the good news about an advertising forum is that it shows that there is already business going on and by its very nature there is a market there for you. It may well be that there is a charge involved for advertising. But this can be appropriate if it drives appropriate traffic directly to your offer page. So go ahead and look on the forum for a commercial section. If so, it’s clear marketing is allowed.
The final thing you should do is to open up some of the posts, particularly any which look like they may have a commercial implication, and see if there is any advertising within them. If people are happy to post links to their own sites then you to will be able to get away with this and to market your business directly in that manner, perhaps picking up back links in the process. There may of course be conditions attached. For instance, you may have to have been a member for a certain length of time or you may have to have a certain postal account or a certain respectability within the community before you’re allowed to post links. But if other people are advertising inside posts and it may well be worth you getting that level of recognition in this forum to do the same.
You should always check if you can market on a forum before you spend any time posting to it and trying to build up a profile. After all, forum marketing is incredibly powerful if done right. Spend some time to check the rules and see if they explicitly prohibit or allow marketing. Look inside the Forum itself to see if there’s an advertising section or even if advertising is done within individual posts. If so, this may well be a good forum for you to focus in on during your marketing efforts.