Forum marketing has more advantages than what you might think it has. If you learn what these advantages are you will have a better business in the end. If you have not been marketing in forums then you might have missed some good business opportunities. It is so obvious that you may have overlooked them.
It is assumed that you want to learn about forum marketing. Do not hang out in forums that do not like marketing. There are many forums that do not want marketing done in them. The forum owner probably wouldn't have a problem with selling you ad space, if he is pushing ads. Determine which forums allow it and which ones do not. But there are so many forums it really does not matter.
What you need to do in any forum is mix things up which means a combination of posts and threads you start yourself. It's quite common to feel a little bit shy about going out there and starting threads of your own. Begin by thinking of information you have that can be valuable to the community and share it. Invite others to contribute and/or ask questions.
A great way to get comments is to make a controversial statement. Just be wary of too much controversy or coming across in a negative light. No matter what, you should never take your threads off topic or into the realm of the absurd.
Don't even think about networking on a forum until you know who the 'top dog' on the forum is, so to speak. There may be a few contenders for top spot. The membership numbers will also influence this. Forums with long histories and large memberships will have more influence bringers than smaller forums. It isn't always easy to guess, from the outside, who will have the most influence. It's usually easy to recognize the people who are 'leaders' on the forum as they are the ones others are trying to click over here get the attention of. Once you know who these people are, then you can work to build a rapport with them.
So, understand that social marketing and forum marketing are somewhat alike. And it's no browse around these guys surprise that forum marketing is a form of social marketing. They are both tied into relationship marketing, which you should learn about.