Forum marketing is one of the easiest and most productive methods online marketers have of promoting their businesses. This is something practically anyone can do for almost any niche. Some products or services will have better forum representation but most will have some.
Some business owners also prefer to skip this option in pursuit of other 'high value' methods of marketing. Be that as it may, you can accomplish many goals it you're a niche marketer.
Most forum members act according to their personality. Others will be more extrovert or even introvert. So, unless you are a rude person, just be yourself. If you are the shy type, you don't have to start contributing right away. This is something called lurking that most forum members do at the very beginning. It can feel a little daunting to make your first post, and it's a lot like being in a new city or town and going to a new school. Begin by talking in other threads and providing useful information. Forum marketing has rules that more helpful hints you have to follow, but the main one is to give value to the community via your posts. If you do this you will help others. The reasons for why other forum members do not like you could be obvious. One might be because you think that you know everything. Basically it depends on how you talk about your topic. Sure, you might know what you are talking about, but you have to be cautious about your reputation. If other members do not feel warm and fuzzy when it comes to you then it will be hard in the long run. If its bad enough, then it won't matter how much of an expert you are because people will basically think negatively of you.
Just provide value in a relaxed way that people can relate to. Going to forums will give you the chance to form relationships with others. Some will naturally seem like condescending people. There will be members to like to complain. A majority of member will ignore these people, which will make them drop out of sight. These are the unwritten rules of social and forum etiquette and they're very real. So, you have to be concerned about how these rules will affect you and their importance. If you want forum marketing to work for get more you, then make the necessary changes.
So compare social marketing to forum marketing. And it is easy to see that forum marketing is just another type of social marketing. They are both deeply rooted in relationship marketing, which you should thoroughly understand.