Forum Marketing vs. Social Network Marketing?

[Steve32]

I found that forum marketing is really effective to promote your brand and drive visitors to your site but using social media also is a channel that you could not miss. I want to hear your opinion guys here on which marketing method is better, forum marketing or social marketing?

 

[samimnoorzaitgc]

Depends. Which one works better for you? Where do you get most of your traffic?

In my opinion, keep up with them both. When promoting your website, do not hesitate of any positive action in different ways.

I get most of my traffic from forums and I have zero social media traffic.

 

[hynds]

You should use both. Forum is good for traffic, SEO strategies, Social is better for engagement and branding. If you have your own business, you should have 1 website, 1 or more social channels for advertising. you need to combine both in order to achieve your goals (lead, traffic, revenue, conversion,...)

 

[Samm]

I think you can meet people that can help your online business in both social media like Twitter and Facebook groups, as well as in forums like Webmastersun. I even met someone on a failed Flippa auction, which became a lucrative conversation for us both! I encourage you to strike up conversation, friendly and good natured, and help each other if you have something you can give.

For example, if you're strong in keyword research and you see someone on Twitter struggling with their blog... help out. You may find that they have some missing link of information you needed, or you can simply build a good relationship online with the type of people that will later become customers for you.

Hope this helps.

---------------

PS: samimnoorzaitgc is right, social media traffic can be slight initially...but it does grow in time if you add on steadily and slowly.

Here's an example of social media traffic on a starter branded Twitter account linking back to a website:


2% of traffic is coming from Twitter for this site. It may not mean much, but if those visitors later purchase a product - then it was well worth it reaching out via social media.

 

[Rob Whisonant]

Why not use both? Both methods of marketing work very well.

 

[QueenMaa]

I have seen traffic coming from forums when I look at my sites stats. I do utilize social media too though.

 

[Steve32]

I get most of my traffic from forums and I have zero social media traffic.

Perhaps you applies wrong strategies or you don't know how to promote on social networks

You should use both. Forum is good for traffic, SEO strategies, Social is better for engagement and branding. If you have your own business, you should have 1 website, 1 or more social channels for advertising. you need to combine both in order to achieve your goals (lead, traffic, revenue, conversion,...)

Exactly I have to admit that forums are great source for backlinks and SEO strategies. Of course I am combining both methods to get the best result.

For example, if you're strong in keyword research and you see someone on Twitter struggling with their blog... help out. You may find that they have some missing link of information you needed, or you can simply build a good relationship online with the type of people that will later become customers for you.

I have not thought to this before, it's a good idea to go, would you mind elaborating this with some images or better examples.

Why not use both? Both methods of marketing work very well.

Of course is I used both methods but just curious how everyone used them and what the results are.

I have seen traffic coming from forums when I look at my sites stats. I do utilize social media too though.

Same to me, I have traffic and backlinks from forums to my sites in Google webmaster tool, it's reason why I chose forum is better.

 

[Rob Whisonant]

Rob Whisonant

Social traffic seems to give me bursts of traffic that die off quickly. Forum traffic usually does not have a big burst of traffic but has consistent traffic over a long period of time.

Is that more what you are looking for?

 

[Ron Killian]

Obviously it depends on what you put in to either. Both could be a flop, both could be a success.

I don't claim to be an expert, not at all, but I see a lot more potential with social media. There are much greater numbers, better chance of your content getting shared or going viral. With a forum your pretty much limited to just that forum, they usually don't have as much of a reach.

Also, many marketers don't seem to realize that, there are other worthwhile social types sites besides just the big ones like twitter, facebook, ect.

But on the other hand, forums can be a better place to network and make connections.

Course just my opinion

 

[crzyoverlord]

I use Twitter drive traffic to my website. If I can get at least a 1000 followers, that's about 100 visitors a day, targeting my niche. I can make sells. Forum marketing works if there is a lot of traffic on that site and you're targeting the right niche.

 

[hoangvu]

hoangvu

I am surprised when you can estimate this amount base on number of followers of an account "If I can get at least a 1000 followers, that about 100 visitors a day". how can you do that? and how to get 100 visitors a day from 1000 followers?

 

[Ron Killian]

Ron Killian

I have to agree, your talking about a 10% conversion. Pretty unlikely

Or your phishing.

 

[Muzzamil]

I found that forum marketing is really effective to promote your brand and drive visitors to your site but using social media also is a channel that you could not miss. I want to hear your opinion guys here on which marketing method is better, forum marketing or social marketing?

Forum marketing is good but Social Media Marketing is better. Plus you can see faster results on Social Media. Through Social Media, you can scale up your marketing a lot more. You can almost keep getting infinite amount of visitors through social media if you can create a effective ad. That's just what I have experienced.

 

[vishwa]

According to me, Both have the same potential to drive huge traffic. you can use both simultaneously. Both Forum and Social Media sites is a great place to connect with people and increase your networking.

 

[ivanab]

Here is my experience.

with Social media, I don't get to interact as much with my audience as I do on the forum.

Forum tends to build trust a lot faster. However, numbers can be a lot bigger when using social media as it has a tendency to reach more people fast...

With forums it is also steady traffic for a while, social media (if using free methods) spike in traffic, and slows down.

So as everybody else said... use both!

 

[Ron Killian]

Although, one benefit of social marketing is that at least some of it can be automated. Not what some people like to hear, but we only have so much time in the day.

 

[Lothian]

I think both are important for traffic. I used social media marketing effectively, but as some noted earlier. Traffic from social media tends to fade quickly. Forums on the other hand, are older than social media and has been here for a longer time. So I'm trying to do forum marketing because I need more traffic, and will do whatever it takes. As long as it is ethical and legal, of course. Just my two piasters.

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

It's probably not about either or but for what purpose of each. Forums are higher quality for niche networking. But Facebook is great for consumer broadcasting and larger audiences. You need both.

 

[kurtramirez]

It seems to me that.Both of them are very important for your website.But most of the people choose forum sites.
This is very unique option to provide your website.
Thank you.

 

[mantra]

I think both options are great. It depends on what you're selling.

Forum would be for attracting a niche audience in most cases. You're addressing an audience that is highly interested in that specific subject matter.
Social would be if you're product/service can benefit from exposure at a more general level. Sure, you can advertise to a niche through social as well, but I think if you have a service/product can be utilized by many, than social would be preferred in my opinion.