Blogs are probably the most well-known and popular of social media. However, discussion boards can’t be far behind. (Regarding the headline, yes, I know there are different types of social media.)
Discussion boards are good for getting the pulse of a subject or industry, surveying and getting direct feedback from members, and interacting with members in other ways.
Some boards, by gollly, even have forums to post news releases. It can’t get much easier than that! But, few do offer that blatant of an PR opportunity.
Like in blogging and other forms of interaction, focus on building relationships, being active, involved and contributing, and helping — not overtly pitching.
I’ve been involved in a few boards of late, and listed them below. I also found many more just by doing a search for “discussion boards.”
Homebrewing. Gosh, there are three that I found: BrewBoard, RealBeer and HomeBrewTalk.
Plastics: Injection Molding Magazine’s Network Forum
Community forums like Toledo, Ohio’s ToledoTalk, and one by the “Honolulu Advertiser” newpaper.
If you want to reach the narrow-minded, bigoted white pride people demographic, then register at the Stormfront White Nationalist Community.
If you looking to reach a literary audience, there’s the African-American Literature and Book Club board.
What about those interested in Pregnancy & Parenting? Or, a broad range of online communities?
For the utility industry, there’s TheMeterGuy (see the Tailboard link).
Of course, there are many automotive-related boards and chat rooms.
If the video gaming market or demographic is your target, check out the Neoseeker Forums.
And, finally, we can’t forget about the violin demographic.
As you can see, there is a discussion board for nearly every interest, topic and subject. When using social media for your company or clients, there’s an entire universe of discussion boards. If you don’t find yours, start one.
– Mike
Technorati tags: discussion boards, social media
