From social media marketing to digital marketing, pay per click and cost per click advertising, there are so many digital channels available online for a business owner or marketing manager to expand their retail or service business. Out of all these channels, forums tend to be the most underutilized aspect of SEO, and you’re about to learn why.
Engagement is the name of the game today. Posting ads or using SEO or off-line channels will get you a target group of people, remarketing to people that visited your website and left is also important to get them back to your website in the future, but in order to retain long term customers – keeping them engaged and interested in your brand means you have customers who will not only enjoy your product/brand and everything related to it, but will also spread the word to other people.
Aside from most digital channels available to you, forums by nature consist of that elusive trait you need from customers – engagement. You find like-minded people who can discuss hobbies, collectibles, topics of debate, products, services and much more. This is a niche where you can carve yourself out a market of people by partaking in discussion groups.
On specific forums, you’re free to leave a brand signature with your website and get people clicking through to your site – and clicks will grow as you build the trust on said forum. If you write well and bring solid content/discussion topics to the table, people will view you as an authority source, thereby increasing the likelihood that people come to your website and purchase from you; for businesses this type of targeted community involvement is an invaluable tool to build your business for free, all it takes is time and effort.
I regularly participate in forums, and have seen people discuss our retail products from militaryaccessory.com, this allowed me to directly approach clients and speak to them and offer them promotions and incentives to go back and visit our website again. I myself have purchased services from other parties who were trusted members of the forum, because I was able to get direct communication with them and see what other members said about their service before I bought into it. Forums are a free market in a sense, but you’re able to gauge very quickly what you can or can’t trust due to the instant feedback from its members, and vice versa for your products and services.
So in short – get forum-ing!
