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$2000 budget. Need to market a forum

by AvusBlue
13 replies
So me and my partner are going to put in about $1k each initial investment for a forum that we launched. This $2k pot is being used strictly for marketing purposes, so I'm curious what techniques you would use?

Has anyone had success marketing forums? If so what methods did you use?

The forum itself is growing very well. July was the first full month it was operational. We are going to make about $30 in adsense and get 30k page views this month.
#budget #forum #market
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    The most important thing is having a very active forum. Advertising the forum is all good and well and so is the number of page views, but what really matters is how many posts are being made and how often. You need to make sure it is highly active to the point where posts are being made at least every hour.

    Paid forum posting is definitely a good way to do that. Just search Google as there are plenty of places that do it.
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    • Profile picture of the author AvusBlue
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      The most important thing is having a very active forum. Advertising the forum is all good and well and so is the number of page views, but what really matters is how many posts are being made and how often. You need to make sure it is highly active to the point where posts are being made at least every hour.

      Paid forum posting is definitely a good way to do that. Just search Google as there are plenty of places that do it.

      To be honest, the site is extremely active for how little members we have. We only have 50 members right now, but we have 3700 posts. All within about 45 days.

      I just don't know if we keep putting up unique content how to attract new users. We can't seem to grow the amount of members.
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by AvusBlue View Post

        To be honest, the site is extremely active for how little members we have. We only have 50 members right now, but we have 3700 posts. All within about 45 days.

        I just don't know if we keep putting up unique content how to attract new users. We can't seem to grow the amount of members.
        Sorry, but that's not really a very active forum.

        If I come to your forum right now and see 50 members only, I am out of there right away. That's your issue. It's the old catch 22. People need to see a LOT of members and activity if they are going to feel it's a community worth joining but obviously you need to get those members to create that activity.

        That is why paid forum posting is the best option for you. They will create as many new member accounts as you want and then start creating topics and posts about related content.

        Would you honestly be beating down the fence to join a forum with only 50 members? People want to feel part of something these days. They want to hang where all the other people are hanging. That is not on a forum with only 50 members.

        It is hard work starting a new forum but you will get there. Just keep it up and make sure you get some paid forum posting to help speed things up. You'll eventually get to that point where the forum just starts growing naturally all by itself.
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        • Profile picture of the author AvusBlue
          Originally Posted by WillR View Post

          Sorry, but that's not really a very active forum.

          If I come to your forum right now and see 50 members only, I am out of there right away. That's your issue. It's the old catch 22. People need to see a LOT of members and activity if they are going to feel it's a community worth joining but obviously you need to get those members to create that activity.

          That is why paid forum posting is the best option for you. They will create as many new member accounts as you want and then start creating topics and posts about related content.

          Would you honestly be beating down the fence to join a forum with only 50 members? People want to feel part of something these days. They want to hang where all the other people are hanging. That is not on a forum with only 50 members.

          It is hard work starting a new forum but you will get there. Just keep it up and make sure you get some paid forum posting to help speed things up. You'll eventually get to that point where the forum just starts growing naturally all by itself.
          I know its not active lol, but in 45 days, I think we have been doing a good job recruiting. For the forum posting though, they just inflate the numbers right? They're not "real " users that interact with the other members and PM eachother right?





          When it comes down to users, we really do want to pick quality over quantity so we can get the right people posting. Because of this, we have been recruiting people 1 by 1 from our network which is mind bogglingly slow.

          I think I might try the youtube route, and doing some banner ads though. Just to see who it attracts.
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  • Profile picture of the author datingworld
    Make some videos about your forum and put them on youtube; thats what I am doing right now. In 3 months time, I got 1230 members registrations [I know its not much but getting 1230 members from free traffic is a good number]
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    • Profile picture of the author AvusBlue
      Originally Posted by datingworld View Post

      Make some videos about your forum and put them on youtube; thats what I am doing right now. In 3 months time, I got 1230 members registrations [I know its not much but getting 1230 members from free traffic is a good number]
      Did you then market the videos? Or did you just put them on youtube and that was it?
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  • Profile picture of the author mediamarket
    My suggestion for that budget is just full on SEO plan, then market via media outlets on related forums and websites
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  • Profile picture of the author Malcolm Thomas
    Focus on getting the name of your forum out to other blogs in your niche, other forums in your niche, etc.

    Focus on perhaps advertising banner ads on relevant sites related to your forum niche.

    Do everything you can do to get the name of your forum out into the world.
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  • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
    I think 50 members, within 45 days is a great start! Keep on, bringing in new members and make sure your threads/topics remain active. The reason, why this forum is amazing, is because of the activity it has and the knowledge that is being shared.

    If you can have activity and good knowledge, then the sky is the limits!
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  • Profile picture of the author ReferralCandy
    The most important thing for forums or any sort of community (I built a Facebook group for pleasure to discuss politics and philosophy, and it took off beautifully) is to get the right sort of people on board. You want really thoughtful, intelligent folk having really good conversations there. These will be your "Power Users", and everybody else will be joining the forum just to participate in the discussions that stem off these main conversations.

    I think a time investment is more important than a money investment- unless you're busy with other things, and you need to pay people for their time- this is a longwinded way of saying "paid forum posts", but it's so important that the people posting are genuinely, truly passionate about what they're writing. That's the heart of everything. Once you've got that down pat, it practically grows by itself. People refer other people to this amazing forum where all the great conversations are happening.

    I've been thinking about starting an ecommerce forum, but I'm not going to do it until I'm absolutely certain that I can bring together a critical mass of really thoughtful, intelligent merchants.

    Incidentally, what's your forum about? If it's something interesting or compelling, you might get some Warriors interested in participating. Who knows.

    Cheers
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    • Profile picture of the author AvusBlue
      Originally Posted by ReferralCandy View Post

      The most important thing for forums or any sort of community (I built a Facebook group for pleasure to discuss politics and philosophy, and it took off beautifully) is to get the right sort of people on board. You want really thoughtful, intelligent folk having really good conversations there. These will be your "Power Users", and everybody else will be joining the forum just to participate in the discussions that stem off these main conversations.

      I think a time investment is more important than a money investment- unless you're busy with other things, and you need to pay people for their time- this is a longwinded way of saying "paid forum posts", but it's so important that the people posting are genuinely, truly passionate about what they're writing. That's the heart of everything. Once you've got that down pat, it practically grows by itself. People refer other people to this amazing forum where all the great conversations are happening.

      I've been thinking about starting an ecommerce forum, but I'm not going to do it until I'm absolutely certain that I can bring together a critical mass of really thoughtful, intelligent merchants.

      Incidentally, what's your forum about? If it's something interesting or compelling, you might get some Warriors interested in participating. Who knows.

      Cheers
      The forum is geared towards young entrepreneurs. www.novumdives.com is the main page, I don't want to link to the forum because that is probably against Warrior policy.
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  • Profile picture of the author The IM Factory
    To be honest, the site is extremely active for how little members we have. We only have 50 members right now, but we have 3700 posts. All within about 45 days.

    Those are great numbers! Maybe invest some of it in Social Media, find people with similar interest and start sharing the forum. Youtube videos like someone suggested, rank them, SEO
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