Client Magnets Official Blog

An important goal in creating a solid business is to grow your “house list” of people you can contact many times successfully with your products. One interesting way to grow that house list is to research and interact with online groups that might be interested in your products. Here are some ideas for making online groups a part of your marketing strategy.

Step 1: Where Does Your Target Market Congregate?
Once you’ve narrowed down exactly who your target market is, what they like and how they live, it’s time to find out where they’re hanging out online. Chances are they’re already involved in an online discussion group or forum.

There are some great tools built into search engines that can help you locate those online groups. Google, for example, includes a “Groups” button on their home page you can click once you type in a search term. It will take you to the search results for forums built around that topic.

Filter through those groups to build a list of forums likely to appeal to your target audience. Once you have your list made, it’s time for some direct contact.

Step 2: Making Contact Productively
This is the time to employ productive marketing strategy without blatantly advertising your services. Your next step is to go onto these forums and read the questions being asked and the solutions being offered.

If you know your audience well, you’re already targeting a hungry crowd. These are the people hungry for the solutions you have to offer. So, if we agree that posting ads brashly on the forums will probably get you banned from them, how can you offer your solutions successfully?

One way is to offer useful information. Respond to questions with legitimate information that fills a need. This is your time to shine, to establish yourself as an expert in your field, someone worth listening to. If you’ve done your research well, the questions you answer will align themselves with the seminar, product or service you’re preparing to market.

By giving forum participants information they can use, you gain the right to mention, at the end of your posts, something else you can offer them free of charge.  For example – your free e-book, recording, or some other information of value to them.  When they raise their hands and ask for more, you can add them to your house list.

Being on these forums not only lets you add to your list, it also gives you valuable information about current topics, terminology and troubles your target market shares. What better market research than to be right in thick of the discussion as the tides change?

Step 3: Keep the Momentum Going
When forum members begin to respond to your offers to assist them, honor that trust by following up. Give them the information they request, and make sure they’re a part of your future marketing campaigns. You’ve established they’re a part of your target audience, and they obviously have needs you can serve. Staying in contact with them, by participating in forum discussions and through your own marketing, gives you a chance to be of greater service.

Online forums and discussion groups are a rich source of new prospects with a natural need for your products. Respect each forum’s rules and offer useful information that answers other participants’ questions. Over time, you’ll find your customer base growing and your knowledge of your target audience increasing, as well.

Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com

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