What Is The Future Of Forums in Internet Marketing?

All social media platforms that includes forums . Will block any attempts at free promotion .

Meaning if they make money from advertisers paying to advertise. they are not going to allow people to advertise for free .

The main problem for forums is they are kind off anoyying to go through on a cell phone . And if I didn't know how to set the forum to classic view . I would have given up on the forum three months ago when I shifted to using my smart phone.

You can promote yourself on forums as you can promote yourself on social media. But like any online community, you need to participate and give something to others before trying to advertise yourself.

Spamming it's not working regardless of the platform.

It sounds more to me like they are hammering the final nail in your coffin.

Forums were never intended to be places to market to people. They were set up so that people with common interests could share experiences and help one another out. The fact that so many people decided they would be excellent places to spam does not mean it should ever have been part of a marketing plan. Many people are idiots who ruin things for the rest of the world out of their own self-interests.

Use forums the right way ... help people, share your knowledge, develop a reputation for being helpful and an authority. Add a signature link to your main site, if allowed. People from the forum will find you and seek your services if they respect you in the community.

Well i am thinking that trying to add as much value it will help a lot

Forums are a great place to learn from geeks here ,share knowledge and help other which give us ultimate satisfaction.

Nope.

To be active and viable, forums needs members who interact with others - who do more than target forum members for their purposes.

In the past five days you have posted about 50 times - mostly 1-2 line posts. That's fine - there's no limit on posting as long you are posting within the forum rules. That's 50 times you could have been advertising your service or your site in a signature. Why wouldn't you spend $5 to do that?


You have a bigger problem here -

You are not required to list a location in your profile - listing a false location gives the appearance of deception. Moderators like myself watch for stuff like that.

So - when you list a location of 'las vegas' and you are posting from Kenya...you might want to rethink your approach.

Forums are still a good, even excellent, MARKETING (not self-promoting) tool!

Now, the question is WHAT do you expect from forums as a "marketing tool"?

What's different today than "a few years ago", that used to be such "good" tool that is not anymore?

Do you have any real clue of what PART of marketing a forum can be used for? (besides of advertising, promoting yourself, or selling whatever)

Your two questions:
1. Bright! If you do things right! But, that depends on if you understand HOW forums really work, and their number one purpose. And, how marketers can take advantage of this (again, it's not selling nor advertising at all).

2. What strategy are you talking about? As you've already been told forums aren't meant for marketers, self-promoters, and spammers. Not even a MARKETING FORUM as this one. So, as a "marketer" what would be YOUR strategy to use this in your marketing plan? Answering this might help you understand more, plus a few more insights here above from other fellows.

Yep, read, reply, ask questions, be part of the conversation, participate and LEARN... Unfortunately, THAT is almost already in the "coffins" ...

Regards,
Andy

I think well established forums will remain alive for a long time ... however, starting a new one is going to be very difficult ... next to impossible unless you have a huge budget for marketing and content creation.

When used as intended, forums can be an extremely powerful marketing platform. It's interesting to know that the art of conversation is still a much favored way of attracting loyal customers to your business.

In my not so humble opinion, forum marketing should be an integral part of any business marketing strategy. There are viable forums for just about every niche imaginable.

It's all about quality strategy on forums and how to build your brand and site authority by connecting with the people/members who may be your future customers.

Your contributions and longevity on targeted forums are perhaps the most critical factors in maximizing this huge leveraging potential for driving quality traffic.

Combining forum marketing for example with article syndication, blogs, social media, email, SEO, and offline promotions synergestically provides a formidable advantage in even the most hotly competitive niches.

I do believe forums should change their strategy towards the marketers I just asked a question regarding my website and they removed my post.

And the irony is it was not ever a link.

A key forum marketing strategy is your posts should never have even the appearance of being self-serving. And, never ask marketing questions; post succinct, authoritative answers/comments. You can certainly learn by asking questions but for marketing purposes, consistency in providing useful answers and content is where the money is.

I use forums like this one and reddit to cut through any bullshit out there.

They'll definitely be around for a while.

I deleted that post for two reasons....

1. in that (first) post...
Not ever a link? Just the url?

2. Very general question of how to get traffic to a site not even a month old....and you were advised to use forum search to find threads on traffic generation.

This forum is full of good info threads about advertising and optimizing your site - about getting links and generating traffic.... but the information won't help you if you don't use search to find what you need.

Balance is the key, as long as it is maintained all is good.
I personally find the links useful most of the times since they usually lead you to some content or website. Now if it is relevant then all is good, but sometime marketers do not know the difference between spamming and creating useful links. In my opinion if done right the content that gets share on forums, blogs or comments can actually get you relevant traffic.

Everybody thinks forums will lose their mojo in this new era but i don't think that's ever gonna happen, forums are great for getting educational data, and good place for promotion, i'm positive that forums will remain important part of digital marketing in future

Topical forums will never die as people always have questions about different kinds of things. But there is no place for Internet Marketing on forums any more. So many sites are created right now and even more links are posted to promote them. It is called spam.

It would seem the OP has his answer ... forums aren't going anywhere, they serve a definite need and they can be used for intelligent, non-spammy marketing of your brand. In other words, there isn't a single nail in the coffin, let alone a final one.

Forums and Internet Marketing? Well, you seem to think a forum should be for public to put up anything they want. Even the bulletin boards at the grocery store are monitored, or say they are, some are for not for profit only. Who owns the forum, the guy who pays should get to make the rules, and if you don't like his rules, don't use his forum, pretty simple, eh?

Speaking of Bulletin Boards, I go back to 300 baud modems and BBS. Right before the www (what you call the Internet) there was an active ONline community, thousands of people COMMUNICATED on one of the thousands of BBS communities. The earliest commerce, or marketing, was mostly computer parts, pieces and some simple software.

That all changed in 1994. And the gold rush was on.

Here is the thing about forums, many of them from 20 years ago are dead, defunct or ghost towns, because the COMMUNICATION and interaction was lost as more and more wanted to make a buck.

A decent forum, with a long track record creates an exchange of information, now a blog can be similar, albeit, a blog mostly puts forth the blogger's thoughts, and the comments allow (or don't) allow for the interaction.

Message boards from the 80's, forums in the 90's, blogs, and then social media...the common thread is: communication. And whenever it becomes mostly marketing, with everyone shouting as if in a Bangkok open market BUY THIS, LOOK AT THIS, etc. then the purpose is lost.

A forum which respects its members and doesn't cave to the would be, wanna bee make a buck Marketers will become self sustaining and continue as long as it is visited.

Same with a blog, a Facebook Group, or any social media. I would prefer to keep guys like you as far away from my forum as I possibly can. Thank god for the WF, where they let anyone have a say. YOU should thank them too.

I'll help you out: (copy and paste to admins)... Dear WF, Thanks for letting goofballs of all shapes and sizes into your "community", we really appreciate, by the way, please allow us to spam." then sign your name to it.

GordonJ

Wrong....you can share your details....you just can't do it for free.

$5 for a signature - which allows you 3 lines to promote your site

$60 for a larger signature to use an image to promote your product/service

$20 or so to place a qualified classifed ads, or run a Warrior Special Offer ....or post offering your services to members here.

Respect is earned - by what you post, how you address others, how helpful are, and how open to advice you seem to be.

You did not respond to my advice above - so let me be CLEAR. Listing a false location is not acceptable on this forum. You need to either change to your TRUE location or remove that information completely.

kay

I think we should rather border on how to add value to people's lives. The problem is not lack of resources but been resourceful. In conclusion
Give value to people in the group and other things will follow, know that we are here to help each other. Thanks

More interactivity which leads to the fruitful symbiosis of all parties involved (like video chat rooms, push notifications and the whole shebang.)

very great future. forums have socialize platform to engage with people.

Forums are the great platform to share your views, ideas and participate in an important discussion. Well, to prevent from spamming all the forum admin take such steps to not add link or company name in the post.

Firstly you need to become an active member of the forum and also need to participate in every discussion. After that just try to market yourself.

Though, ads are inevitable, I see forums as an ads-free space, like a private, intimate one. Usually, threads are already have too many words and information and not enough space for reasonable ads. So, there should be another way to get money from forums other than put heavy display ads between messeges.

Forums are here to stay and they are way better than fb groups where people are just blatantly spamming the hell out of their services.

Not just IM but other niches as well...

It's not really any different than it used to be. The only difference that comes to mind is that forum posting is completely pointless now for SEO / link building, whereas before there was a tiny benefit from it.

Anyway...

By acting as a valued and participating member in the community, you'll have the opportunity to become known, brand yourself, and if the forum allows for it, to direct attention to an offer, page, website or company that you want to promote.

Traditional forums may not be used to the same extent or in the same way that they were in the past, but there is still a lot of activity going on in forums as a whole - and in certain markets where anonymity is particularly important, forums are doing just as well as they have always been.

Forum Posting will be a big thing in coming days. As per the latest link attribute update, Google will give more weightage to Forums, postings and backlinks from forum postings. Jan 2020 here I come

Your question clearly says you see forums as promotion, though they are meant for helping people get the answer of their queries. Actually, forums have not gone commercial, rather we have commercialized even knowledgeable platform to promotional. If we actually start putting on our queries or start answering others without OUR promotion in mind, things are going to work. That's the reason why Wikipedia keeps a watch on promotion.

Just to add my two cents here....

One of my favorite quotes is from Earl Nightingale:

"We will receive not what we idly wish for, but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service." - Earl Nightingale

Now I know many who use forums as a spammy way to promote their own products without providing any real value to those asking questions in the forum.

On the other hand, there are many who provide good, solid, valuable information. I truly believe that those who do will be rewarded with a good reputation and interest in their paid services.

One thing that this particular forum provides is the ability to insert your signature. You can both provide top quality information and promote your services.

But don't think that people are going to flock to your signature if you're not providing the highest quality of information in your responses on the forum.

It has ALWAYS been this way. This has not changed in the history of forums.

So, the simple answer is, provide quality information and be a genuine, honest, giving, caring person of integrity on any forum and the benefits will also come your way.

All the best,

Pat

Those rules arose buddy because marketers got too much space to begin with. Forum marketing has never been better. Honestly. Oodles of value gets shared daily. Little spam. People police sites better than ever. You get what you see. Scanning posts, using the search feature, dynamite, in-depth answers exist. Also understand you will always get the best content by paying pros for their courses, eBooks and services. Like free food versus food you pay for; the freebies serve as nice samples but you need to pay up for a full meal.

I think Forums have a great feature as a part of a marketer's and site owners' assets. People are heavily invested in Facebook groups right now - just wait till Facebook makes it easy to advertise to a specific group. So you spend years building your community, and a marketer can just swoop in and advertise to your hard-built and super-targeted community for just a few bucks.

Facebook groups are also more like a flowing stream of consciousness. No real organization to the content. No separate threads, side-discussions - everything's one big, continuously flowing feed. Just like a Slack group.

That's why really good forum platforms will win out in the end, at least for those who put in the time, money and effort to build a community outside of Facebook, on their own platform, and build something that can grow and thrive over they years, and be their own asset that can add tremendous value to their own online business, especially if you have any intentions of selling your business some day.

Just imagine how much the Warrior Forum sold for. There's no way you're getting that kind of a value selling a Facebook group (if you ever sell it off as part of your business).

[promotional links removed by moderator]


Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Forums are still integral.

Links to be posted depend on what kind of link you're trying to post, and if it's a setup for a promotion or purely informational. Heck, even if you're a member of a Facebook Group and try to post unrelated links there is a chance the group admin will also delete said link.

Forums will be around. People will always share opinions and experiences. It's really up to so called marketer's to do their marketing right using platforms.

Forum must be given some space to the marketers so that they advertise their products at least some extent. No doubt, forums make money from the paid advertisements but they must be given some reliability to the others who are unpaid.

Marketers should participate in the forum discussion and share some valuable information besides advertising their own products.

There is a small part of me that figures IM forums featurin' Moi will thrive, whereas forums lacking my presence will wither an' die -- like baby spider eggs cast into the void beyond Plooto.

The future of forums is great as now the best are going to be listened. Yes, unlike past when forums were struggling to get traffic, today the scenario is exactly opposite. Now, the users are not allowed to promote themselves, they are required to follow the rules and pass on only the relevant information.

All this is going to take the standard of forums to the next level. I guess, forums are going to be the most preferred source to get known to like minded people.

forum is the place in which different states of people are connected and speak what they want for that topic share there knowledge and experience about the topic. They can share a new idea to promote all social digital business views. That's why fourms future is very vast in the internet marketing

thank you for that information

there is no future of forums in internet marketing. it's not working a long time its just a waste of time.

With introduction of Social Media they are alowly dieing , All forums I am member of ( Including paid, free and this one ) are dieing a slow death...

I see forums as a place to learn and share. The more you participate, the more you are also advertising your brand through the signature file. Blatant advertising on forums has never been allowed.

In the future, it will be possible to replace many people who are now analyzing the target audience, competitors, drawing up a brand promotion strategy, optimizing the site for search engines, creating content and so on. All this will replace the neural network.

Everyone is dying for traffic because there are plenty of blogs online, and the traffic has been divided among them. This is the reason that it takes too much time for a blog to get decent traffic and returning visitors. Forums can fulfil this need because if you are active in the forums and helping people all the day then some people will come to your blog to see what actually you are doing and some of them will be turned into loyal readers. Being active on forums will give you reputation identity.
Forums will have a great influence on internet marketing and boost up the traffic.

I feel like most forums are very toxic and have many trolls/flaming making them a very uninviting advertising avenue.

If you're not self promoting, then you have nothing to worry about!