community-forum

What this skill does

# Channels: Community & Forum Promotion

Guides forum promotion, community invitation, and vertical community marketing. Community-led growth (CLG) costs ~90% less than paid acquisition with ~3.2x higher customer LTV. Indie Hackers delivers ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; HN and Reddit require sustained engagement. For cold start planning (first users, launch channels), see **cold-start-strategy**. For indie hacker strategy (first 100 users, Build in Public content framework, Indie Hackers tactics), see **indie-hacker-strategy**.

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1-2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Initial Assessment

**Check for project context first:** If `.claude/project-context.md` or `.cursor/project-context.md` exists, read it for product, audience, and brand voice.

Identify:
1. **Goal**: Leads, community growth, brand awareness
2. **Platform fit**: Indie Hacker, HN, Reddit, Discord, vertical forums
3. **Timeline**: One-time launch vs sustained (4-6 months for Indie Hackers)

## Forum Types

| Platform | Audience | Use |
|----------|----------|-----|
| **Indie Hacker** | Indie makers, founders | Sustained engagement; authentic journey posts; ~23% conversion vs PH 3% |
| **Hacker News** | Tech, startups | Show HN launch; ~1,300 posts/day; front page = luck + timing |
| **Hackernoon** | Dev, tech readers | Content distribution |
| **Industry forums** | Niche verticals | Discount codes for leads; search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion; see **discount-marketing-strategy** for code strategy |
| **Reddit** | Subreddit-specific | See **reddit-posts**; 90/10 rule; 29+ posts for traction |
| **Discourse (self-hosted forum)** | Community-specific | Owned forum; full SEO/GEO control; see Discourse SEO section below |

## Discourse (Self-Hosted Forum) SEO

If you run a Discourse forum (or similar self-hosted forum), SEO/GEO considerations differ from posting on third-party platforms:

| Practice | Guideline |
|----------|-----------|
| **Guest access** | Allow anonymous reading for categories meant to attract traffic; login-only mode severely limits indexed pages |
| **Topic structure** | First post carries SEO weight; write clear titles and substantive opening posts; avoid fragmented short topics |
| **Sitemap & robots** | Discourse generates sitemaps automatically; monitor in GSC as a separate property (subdomain or subdirectory) |
| **Content quality** | Merge duplicates, mark resolved threads, surface FAQ topics—forum-level quality signals affect crawl and citation |
| **GEO** | Structured topic titles and well-formed opening posts are extractable by AI tools; forum format with timelines and accepted answers lends credibility |
| **Subdomain vs subdirectory** | Discourse recommends subdomain for operational reasons; search engines do not inherently favor either for ranking—choose based on infrastructure, not SEO alone |

## Hacker News Launch

| Practice | Guideline |
|----------|-----------|
| **Title** | "Show HN: [Product] - [specific problem solved]"; honest, no clickbait |
| **Timing** | Tue-Thu; peak US hours; avoid weekends, Mon, Fri |
| **First comment** | Invitation to engage; product status (beta/MVP); differentiated solution; try-it link |
| **Assets** | Live demo, GIFs, screenshots, 30-60s demo video |
| **Expectation** | Traffic spike, not sustained growth; partly luck-dependent |

## Indie Hackers Best Practices

- **Sustained engagement**: 4–6 months; not a one-time launch
- **Content**: Authentic journey posts; product "sprinkled within"; avoid heavy promotion
- **Result**: ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; organic traffic from authentic sharing

For full Indie Hackers tactics, Build in Public content framework (40/30/20/10), first 100 users → **indie-hacker-strategy**.

## Community Invitation Tactics

| Channel | Method |
|---------|--------|
| **Welcome email** | Post-signup automation; 4x open, 5x CTR vs regular campaigns |
| **Homepage CTA** | Button, popup, banner; above-the-fold upgrade CTA |
| **In-site placement** | High-visibility areas; user-focused sections (e.g. dashboard, settings) |
| **Banner** | Homepage, carousel below hero |
| **Registration emails** | Success/confirmation email with community link |
| **EDM campaign** | Newsletter + banner, interview-for-membership |
| **Discord** | Post event/community info; founder engagement 2-3h/day |
| **Vertical forums** | Search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion |
| **Post-login form** | In-app signup form shown after login; high-intent placement |

**Welcome email best practices**: One clear CTA per email; front-load value in subject; personalize (signup source, interests); link to best content, events; ask questions (~75% reply rate). Automated 2-4 email sequence.

## Vertical Community Channels

| Principle | Guideline |
|-----------|-----------|
| **Target** | Find channels where target audience gathers |
| **Niche over broad** | Industry-specific subgroups; avoid mass posting |
| **Caution** | Mass posting risks removal; match community tone; choose wording carefully |
| **Examples** | Reddit subreddits, Discord servers, Quora, X, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, niche B2B communities |
| **Regional** | Large communities by locale—event/activity promotion; target vertical channels within each; see **localization-strategy** |

**Community-led growth**: Engage before promoting; build trust; contribute value first.

## Natural Traffic (Complementary)

| Channel | Use |
|---------|-----|
| **Hashtags** | Social tag optimization |
| **Facebook groups** | Indirect referral |
| **Giveaways** | Attention and conversion |

## Brand Basics (Encyclopedia, Q&A)

| Platform | Use |
|----------|-----|
| **Wikipedia** | Global; neutral, cited content; brand credibility |
| **Quora** | Q&A; brand discussion, thought leadership, long-term SEO |
| **Stack Overflow** | Tech/dev; expertise signals, backlinks |
| **Regional** | Local encyclopedias and Q&A by locale; verified credentials; see **localization-strategy** |

**Wikipedia**: Neutral language, credible references, no promotional content. Regional platforms require verified credentials; prioritize local search share. Free and sustainable; supports long-term conversion while search habits persist.

## Output Format

- **Forum** selection and approach (HN vs IH vs industry)
- **Community invitation** plan (welcome email, CTA, banner, EDM, Discord)
- **Vertical channel** targeting
- **Content** strategy (authentic vs promotional mix)
- **Timeline** (launch vs sustained)

## Related Skills

- **reddit-posts**: Reddit post copy, subreddit rules
- **cold-start-strategy**: Cold start orchestrates Product Hunt, Reddit, Indie Hackers, directories; this skill handles forum/community tactics
- **indie-hacker-strategy**: Indie hacker first 100 users; Build in Public; Indie Hackers tactics; this skill = forum/community tactics; indie-hacker = strategy + context
- **directory-submission**: Product Hunt, Taaft; different from forum community
- **affiliate-marketing**: Communities as recruitment channel
- **top-banner-generator, popup-generator**: Homepage CTA, banner
- **newsletter-signup-generator**: EDM, welcome email
- **localization-strategy**: Regional markets (local platforms by locale)