Online forums, where consumers discuss, give and receive product advice, can be a great way for businesses to drive traffic to their products and generate business leads. But care must be taken not to misuse these platforms. Here are some tips.

Savvy internet users go to online forums to discuss and comment on anything (especially products), so many consumers turn to such forums to get product advice. That’s why having a presence, as a useful and engaging source of information, can be a great branding exercise for businesses, and could even turn some forum users into customers.

But before you dive into the world of forum marketing, there are some important things you need to know.

First, these spaces are all about being helpful and definitely not the place for a hard sell.

Select the right community

Before you give any advice, start by selecting the right community for your business.

Choose popular forums that your product is relevant to. Make sure the forum has a decent number of members who are visiting and posting on a daily basis. Read through posts and make sure the responses are of high quality. Avoid spammy and low quality posts. If you have identified multiple forums that are relevant to your business, try engaging one or two forums first and see the community's response.

Learn and follow the rules

Once you’ve selected the right forums, spend time familiarising yourself with its rules and regulations. While you are trying to promote your business, you don’t want to constantly be pushing the hard sell – in most cases, forums won’t allow this. Email the forum admin if you’re unsure about the rules when it comes to promotion. Generally, the best promotion is to be a helpful, contributing member to the forum.

Your user profile is important

Create a captivating profile. Include a detailed description of your expertise and experience. You can be open about whether you're related to a product, brand or company. Honesty adds to credibility. 

After becoming a member and understanding how to operate within the forum, start establishing relationships with the community and build credibility for your profile. You might want to ask your own questions and interact with the other members by participating in active discussions.

Add value and win users’ trust

Avoid posting marketing messages right away.

Instead, if anyone asks a question related to your products or services, impress them with helpful answers that might not be promoting your products at all. These are great opportunities to become a known and trusted expert, which could lead to potential marketing opportunities. For example, when you’re asked for recommendations you could safely mention your product without appearing like a pushy sales representative. Your connections to the product have been stated in your profile so you're not hiding anything from people on the forum.

Don’t spam or argue

Don’t spam or become involved in any emotional or controversial online arguments. Remember that your mission on these forums is to build relationships and credibility for your business.

Once you have the respect of the users, you can dedicate more (human) resources to your forum marketing efforts. Continue to focus on marketing techniques that provide a benefit for the forum community, such as offering special discounts or free samples.

Double-check when outsourcing

Be cautious when outsourcing your forum marketing. Do not use bots (computer programmed messenger apps developed to simulate conversation with people), or organisations that use low-skilled, untrained workers that offer to build profile links without getting to know them first.

They may spam the forum on your behalf and damage your reputation. If you decide to hire a social media marketing expert, make sure the person understands your product and marketing practices.

Summary

• Select the right forum for your business.
• Spend time to familiarise yourself with its rules or regulations, and follow them.
• Create a captivating profile.
• Avoid posting marketing messages right away. Add value and win forum users’ trust.
• Don’t spam or become involved in any online argument.
• Be cautious when outsourcing your forum marketing.