Word of Mouth (Best Form of Advertising?)

[awriterwrites]

Read a few of the posts about getting people to stay on your site. Same deal here. I get people reading, but no one comments on what they've read. That stinks. There are days when I feel like I'm talking/writing to myself. But you know, sometimes, if your site is for writers, that's what you have to do. Just keep going. Do what YOU want to do and, on other sites, post your URL to the page and invite people to join and/or comment on your work.

Bizarre, but sometimes, people will only reply if they REALLY love or HATE something. Sad.

[``D.uecalione]

For me, Word of mouth isn't quite the best form, unless it's over the internet with people in other states. The people in my school think that anything to do with my genre, or even role-playing is immature and stupid. That's what happens when you live down here with the cowboys, generally. There are a few interested, but even then, they're too dang scared of what others would think. So for me, the best form of advertising is by PM (when the person posts a "looking for" post), or by straight up advertising boards. And bumping ads. That's where I get most of my peeps. =) But for others, word of mouth can be the best. I think it actually depends on where you live, who your friends are, and what genre your forum is. It may not be an RP.So yeah, my 2 cents worth. ^^

[cyhh2002]

My board is two months old now and I still haven't been able to get any new members. What should I do?

[Dillon]

I just made mine and am having trouble getting people there. What place can I go on the internet to get them?

[femaleuser]

I find word of mouth takes a lot of courage for some people (like me). Word of mouth means admitting you roleplay, and if you go to a school, or are even just telling a co-worker, it may feel embarrassing as a lot of people consider roleplay an immature hobby.

Personally I love roleplay, but being shy as I am, I have to find out that they roleplay too before ever telling them about my favorite site.

[Former Member]

Word of mouth works two ways.
It can help or cannot not help.

Constantly advertising may not help.
After awhile some people may get tired of seeing your advertisement.

[Former Member]

What IS the best form of advertising?

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

IMO, the best form of advertising is identifying your target audience and advertising in venues they frequent. Once a forum goes off target and starts to try to become everything to everybody, it becomes very difficult for anyone to figure out who and what their target audience and purpose is. When an admin opens a board, they should have a specific audience in mind, with content to attract that target.

If someone merely opens a board without a purpose ~ merely hoping to attract members because they exist ~ it won't bode well for the outcome.

If I'm still in school, I would ask my friends what they're interested in, if they're interested in joining forums, etc.

As adults, we can ask friends, neighbors, business acquaintances, etc. 

If you have interested folks before you even create a board, you're already ahead of the pack.  

If those in your peer group have little interest, it can be telling about how things may turn out. 

[Former Member]

Yeah I reckon. Though I am not the one to go out and speak to friends or even neighbours about forums that I run. In fact I doubt anyone I talk to knows about my online life. I find it's better that way though, my personal life stays out of online topics.

But yeah, I mean word of mouth really isn't my thing - unless it's on other forums or threads etc.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

@silenced , if you know what sites your friends visit, etc., you can advertise and still remain anonymous. Or put up flyers in permissible areas, etc. You can remain anonymous (which I do understand) and still advertise in pertinent venues.

I'm anonymous as well. Everyone on our forum is. Now, some of us have reached out to one another in real life since we've been together for so long, but that's strictly up to each individual.  Heck, the vast majority of my members choose to be invisible and that's fine with me. We do, absolutely, value our privacy. That's understandable. You're not alone there. 

[Mixed]

I think I've just spent the last half an hour to an hour reading this thread. I find it very interesting traveling through time like this. Much remains the same - the need to advertise, the use of Word of Mouth, talking to friends, getting members, and keeping members - but there are other things that quite bring the change time inflicts to mind - myspace... There were others, but that one hit me the hardest.

I do believe in the power of Word of Mouth but have seen little affect thus far for my own forum. Two people I know IRL joined but neither have really stayed. Also two people I know from a previous rendition of the forum have come. They've been good in that while they aren't online every day, they still stop by to post. This may change once the forum grows to become more active outside of my own activity there.

Now, I am not blaming my friends. I cannot expect people to stay when little to nothing is happening. Still, I haven't booted them figuring once the forum content picks up, I can message them a gentle reminder that we're still here.

Beyond Word of Mouth IRL, my primary attempt at finding people was returning to an OLD dead board, which I still consider Word of Mouth. You see, my RP is a reboot of that one. I thought that by reaching out to a community that has been scattered, even if contacting them had little chance with emails that are 5 years old, if I could get a hold of them though, I may be able to bring them back through a sense of nostalgia and the memory of what we had. So far, I've only heard back from 3 of our 100-ish members, but I have hope that I may just find a few more hidden in the RP community of the world-wide net.

And in response to femaleuser's comment on being shy vs word of mouth, I am with you there. It takes a lot of courage to look someone in the eye and say "I have a forum. I invite you to check it out and join if you like it." Not only does shyness get in the way, but I also feel guilt for what feels like self-promotion (I was never good at selling Girl Scout cookies either). But I can say, it's worth the leap of faith and the worse they can say is "No" (preferably "no thanks"). As a plus, it should get easier with practice, especially as self-confidence builds.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

Mixed , I can relate to visiting old boards, or other sites you may be a part of and letting them know about your forum.  But to be clear, I'm not speaking of going to other Proboards' sites and joining simply for the purpose of PMing members about your board. That's not cool. But going to other communities to let them know there is another great place to visit is exactly how we got started. We never wanted to (and made clear that we did not) take members from communities ~ we just wanted them to be aware of the new option. In places where communities had already scattered for one reason or another, they were thrilled to be able to get together again.

[Mixed]

Jan 12, 2016 16:04:41 GMT -8 ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥ said:

Mixed , I can relate to visiting old boards, or other sites you may be a part of and letting them know about your forum.  But to be clear, I'm not speaking of going to other Proboards' sites and joining simply for the purpose of PMing members about your board. That's not cool. But going to other communities to let them know there is another great place to visit is exactly how we got started. We never wanted to (and made clear that we did not) take members from communities ~ we just wanted them to be aware of the new option. In places where communities had already scattered for one reason or another, they were thrilled to be able to get together again.

Oh, no! Definitely not! I have not gone to any forum, old or new, simply to promote my forum. The forum in my example was what my forum is based off of after the admin left and the forum faded. I have always checked in. As staff there, I can at least keep the boards clean of spam. Also, I went as a staff member to let them know we now had a reboot only after asking the original admin about it. I am definitely not for stealing members from other forums.

I am glad it worked out for you. Sometimes after a community fades, members are glad to get back together. One just has to hope the membership can still be contacted.

But then what you did to start up your community: Would that be word of mouth or advertising?

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

I never once thought you would do anything unethical and promote your forum at the expense of others, Mixed . So no worries there. And I sincerely hope it did not appear that I did.

I'd say it was both word of mouth and advertising. In the communities that allowed links, we posted them. In those that were already scattering and folks were openly looking for alternatives, we supplied that. We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Many were simply disgusted with changes on current boards and were looking for another place to meet. Sometimes, it's just as simple as that . . .  the right timing and taking advantage of that. The worst thing is missing opportunities when they are presented to you. 


EDIT: All communities were non-ProBoard communities. Many were message boards that were in the process of closing; others were larger venues where folks were looking for something smaller and more personal.

[Mixed]

Thank you, ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥. I'm glad that I have a better reputation than my mind was considering when I wrote that previous post. It was about 2am my time so maybe I panicked that my previous previous post had come off as something not so good. But I'm glad things are straightened out.

The worst thing would be missing the opportunities when they are presented, agreed. However, I think the hardest thing is finding those opportunities. Even then, it's recognizing the opportunity as such without thinking you are perhaps jumping the gun. The opportunity for my forum has yet to present itself. I hope this isn't because I'm too shy or naive to recognize it.

On another point that you brought up, I think I as a member would jump at the chance to meet with some of my old community members. But I guess you could figure that considering how much I've tried to find them again. Even considering throwing a thread out there just asking.

I guess the line between Word of Mouth and Advertising is not so solid. After all, when you tell someone about your forum, even in subtle fashion, you are still advertising your forum. I mean, now that I think about it, Word of Mouth is a form of Advertising rather than something completely different, no?