Is Paid Advertising the Only Way to Grow a Forum in 2024 and beyond?

[Shawn Gossman]

Can forums still grow organically through SEO, word-of-mouth, and content marketing, or is paid advertising now a necessity?

Is relying on social media (like Facebook or Twitter) to promote forums a smart strategy or a losing battle?

Has the golden era of forum marketing ended, or are there untapped strategies we aren’t using?

For those who’ve run paid ads (Google Ads, Facebook, etc.), was the ROI worth it?

Are giveaways, referral contests, and incentives outdated, or do they still work to attract members?

Is the rise of niche communities (on platforms like Discord or Reddit) making traditional forums irrelevant for new users?

 

[Cpvr]

Forums can still grow organically via the use of SEO and word of mouth along with social media, but it takes a lot more effort to do it than it did in the past.

Relying on social media to grow your forum is a smart strategy and more forum owners should do it. We have to tap in the social media market and try to gain their users. There’s always a potential to lure their members onto our forums.

Discord has put a dent in forums along with Reddit, but there’s still untapped potential.

Especially if you launch a paid advertising campaign instead of promoting on Reddit daily or weekly.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Relying on social media to grow your forum is a smart strategy and more forum owners should do it. We have to tap in the social media market and try to gain their users. There’s always a potential to lure their members onto our forums.

I agree that social media can be a big traffic and membership booster.

I just thing people go about it the wrong way. They just promote and the algorithms are always going to work against them. Instead of just promoting, you have to build up a community. You have to create a loyal fan base. That's done through native posting and engagement.

90% native, 10% promotional = that's my formula and it works.