JSchneier
08-10-2009, 05:03 PM
In May 2009, several web professional communities initiated open discussions on the role of forums in modern Internet marketing. Are forums obsolete and have they been usurped by Facebook and Twitter were the two biggest questions.
We believe that forums have a staying power. They have been around since the mid-nineties and have endured bubbles and busts. According to eMarketer, over 40% of Millenials use forums and message boards. That certainly doesn't sound like something that is going away.
One article that is especially worth highlighting was written by Toni Anicic of Inchoo. In his article Forums and Social Media Marketing (http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/forums-and-social-media-marketing) he lays out some of the fundamental differences between forums and other social media.
Check out the article at: http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/forums-and-social-media-marketing. In the meanwhile, two nuggets that we know you would enjoy are:
"Traffic value of links
When we’re comparing forums to the social networks in traffic point of view, both of them have really strong and different arguments on their sides. While social networks are winner in short term traffic benefit, forums totally win in the long run. If we look at the modern social networks you will see they are really fast. Once you post a link, you will get a few hours of benefit out of it and that’s as good as it gets. They have an advantage in general traffic volume potential so forums can’t compete with them in the short period of time. However, most of these networks are not even indexed by search engines and if they are they rank so purely, you shouldn’t expect to get any traffic from a link you posted last year on a social network, while forums have great potential to bring you low but long lasting traffic income.
Niche targeting
Forums have been here for a really long time. This is why there are lots of broad and targeted niche forum communities out there. Social networks on the other hand are still pretty green and new in the niche markets and most of the very targeted markets are still not covered by any social networks. While you can find great social networks in broad niches such as business, you won’t be able to find really targeted social networks with noticeable community volume."
We believe that forums have a staying power. They have been around since the mid-nineties and have endured bubbles and busts. According to eMarketer, over 40% of Millenials use forums and message boards. That certainly doesn't sound like something that is going away.
One article that is especially worth highlighting was written by Toni Anicic of Inchoo. In his article Forums and Social Media Marketing (http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/forums-and-social-media-marketing) he lays out some of the fundamental differences between forums and other social media.
Check out the article at: http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/forums-and-social-media-marketing. In the meanwhile, two nuggets that we know you would enjoy are:
"Traffic value of links
When we’re comparing forums to the social networks in traffic point of view, both of them have really strong and different arguments on their sides. While social networks are winner in short term traffic benefit, forums totally win in the long run. If we look at the modern social networks you will see they are really fast. Once you post a link, you will get a few hours of benefit out of it and that’s as good as it gets. They have an advantage in general traffic volume potential so forums can’t compete with them in the short period of time. However, most of these networks are not even indexed by search engines and if they are they rank so purely, you shouldn’t expect to get any traffic from a link you posted last year on a social network, while forums have great potential to bring you low but long lasting traffic income.
Niche targeting
Forums have been here for a really long time. This is why there are lots of broad and targeted niche forum communities out there. Social networks on the other hand are still pretty green and new in the niche markets and most of the very targeted markets are still not covered by any social networks. While you can find great social networks in broad niches such as business, you won’t be able to find really targeted social networks with noticeable community volume."