Forum Posting As a Marketing Stategy

Just like the social networks that are Facebook and Twitter, forums create communities bonded by common interests and are fertile ground for marketing activities.
Online forums emerged out of the need for people to freely exchange information that benefits everyone.
Members are supposed to act in the interests of the community and self promotion is frowned upon.
To become an expert, you need to share valuable information by posting consistently, either in answering questions or initiating new lines of discussion.
In fact, one's status within the community is a barometer of how successful he can market to it.
To find the forum relevant to your niche, search using the keyword phrase "your niche + forum" and check the results.
Then, narrow down the list by picking only forums that have at least 1,000 members and 10,000 posts.
Create a profile using your business name and include your URL and social media links.
Describe your business in a few sentences.
Your signature should not be cluttered with too many links.
It only needs to contain your name, website url and a link in anchor text.
A common tactic for some is to buy signature space from top forum posters.
Putting their links there improves the chances of it being clicked.
Before doing this, please ensure you are not violating the rules of your forum.
Use your first post to introduce yourself, without being condescending.
Mention how you hope to contribute to the forum and your expectations.
When you post, make sure you are sharing useful information and not just trying to meet a numerical target.
If quality and quantity are both present, your profile count will improve with more people clicking on your signature URL.
Be careful about using the services that build profile links, signature links and the likes, without understanding how it works.
They may be engaged in spamming which will damage your clout.
When answering questions,provide links to supporting material when possible.
This instills more faith in your answer and shows that you do a fair amount of research.
Make it a point to gather feedback on your transactions.
This will place you in a positive light and definitely give you an edge over others with no feedback history.
If you are pitching a product, give the members an exclusive discount.
Or give away lesser value items for free.
The payoff will come in the form of new contacts, feedback and a few long term clients.
As with all other endeavors, consistency is key to success.
Expecting results after posting an offer is not realistic.
Be flexible and modify your offers while continuing to post 2 to 3 times weekly.