So...

I have owned a couple of forums, mostly smaller(around 4,500) in size. I have a few newer ideas, one specifically that I plan to develop as I think there is a definate need and a good sized niche there.

My question is...

I have approached a friend and colleague about the idea, and he loves it so much he wants to invest.

In the past, for my other 3 forums I had used gorilla marketing as I had really no money of my own to dump into advertising. That worked quite well but, I think this idea has the potential to blow my other sites out of the water if done properly.

So what are some good options or ideas for paid advertising and marketing for building up a memberbase for a new forum fairly quickly?

I will probably have a 400 dollar budget to start with(vb license and logo design). Then if that goes well I can probably ask for 1-2k. I know its not much, but I think I could stretch it out maybe for:

a. pageviews on a relevant site
b. google adwords clicks on relevant keywords
c. paying high post-count members of similar or related forums to insert a link in their sig?

So what have you done in terms of paid advertising, how did it work out, what did you find worked the best?

P.S. - As I said the budget is still fairly limited, so I dont have the kind of cash Lee has to drop 10Gs or more on contests.

I like option c because that is highly targeted in the sense that you are advertising to others who know what a forum is and how to use one.

So...im suprised at the lack of knowledge on this topic. I know you guys have ideas. I'd like to hear what has worked BEST for you!

I can say for me:

I built a 4800 member gaming forum simply by posting comments in the relevant class articles on ONE website. That was it, the rest was word of mouth.

But thats free guerilla advertising. I may have some money to spend soon, so would like to know what works best if you have cash to spend to promote your forum.

I don't think ppc is a very good idea when trying to get a forum off the ground.

What about CPM, or banner ads on a relevant site? or related forum?

I'd do c, but also post yourself in other forums with a link in the sig.

What worked best for me?, Well all of my sites are new and small, so I don't have all that much experiance, but post a lot in other forums and use adwords a little.

I just started a history forum a little over 1 month ago and have about 200 members. I am no forum expert by any means... but I can tell you what has worked for me, and that is Myspace. I know everyone is probably sick of hearing it... but I joined all the history related myspace groups and just posted messages in their forums. I think 90% of my members have come from there. Plus it's free.

I also ran an adwords campaign for $100 from a free voucher I had. I set it at $4.00/day but theres no telling how many of my members came from that.

Nice tip, Lithman. I'm not too familiar with MySpace... do you then post the link to your forum in your sig? or profile?

I'll second the posting of a link in sig.s idea. It is much better to target an audience that knows how to use a forum and is actively using one.

In my opinion, the type of marketing depends greatly on the topic. Option a and option c are both good, though.

Originally Posted by Lpspider

In my opinion, the type of marketing depends greatly on the topic. Option a and option c are both good, though.

Good point. Thats how ive been thinking when approaching my latest project. Cant say much about it at the moment as its still baking in the oven. I think i will really try and hit the few related forums hard. Gonna try and hire a high post count user to place a link in their sig too.

As for the myspace idea. Interesting. Hadnt thought of tapping myspace. I mean i dont think i would get much out of it for this specific forum concept as its more geared towards adults and foreigners. However, future projects I will definately hit myspace. Especially if they are game related.

Adsense.

Care to elaborate? Maybe give us a quick success story? What keywords youve had the best luck with? etc?