Feedback on New Advertising Opportunity

[jsteele]

We are considering introducing "DCUM Sponsorships" as a form of low-cost advertising aimed strictly at the local DC metropolitan market. The idea is not fully fleshed out yet, but I wanted to solicit feedback. Here are the broad outlines:

1) A new "Sponsors" forum will be created in which only "sponsors" can post;
2) "Sponsorship" will be relatively low-cost. I'm thinking of perhaps $100 per month;
3) Sponsors will be able to post special offers, notices of events, or other advertising in the forum. Users will be able to reply to posts with clarifying questions (but bashing the sponsors won't be allowed in the sponsors forum -- outside the forum, normal rules apply);
4) Obviously, sponsors will have to be registered users, but accounts can be created solely for posting in the sponsors forum;
5) Posts in the sponsors forum will show up in Recent Topics and, on the off chance the posts are popular, in the Hottest Topics list; and
6) Registered users will be able to "watch" the forum and get emails of new topics.

Please provide feedback about this idea. Also, if you are associated with a local business that might want to be a sponsor, use the "contact" link in the upper right corner of the home page to send me a note letting me know about your interest. Understanding whether there is a market for this will be a big factor in whether we go forward with the idea.

[Anonymous]

You are now in this for income - charge more than $100 to the larger sponsors. I see no issue for it if it is a separate forum. Better than those who do free advertising - you might as well make some money off of it.

[Anonymous]

I stick mostly to Recent Topics and would not like to see it cluttered with lots and lots of ads. A few, ok, I suppose. I guess if people aren't commenting or asking questions, they'd move through the queue rather quickly, but I think it would be something you'd need to keep an eye on.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I stick mostly to Recent Topics and would not like to see it cluttered with lots and lots of ads. A few, ok, I suppose. I guess if people aren't commenting or asking questions, they'd move through the queue rather quickly, but I think it would be something you'd need to keep an eye on.

Yeah, the whole "reply" thing is something we need to think about because we wouldn't want the sponsors to keep "bumping" their posts. We might be able to program Recent Topics to ignore replies and only list the initial posts for that forum.

[Anonymous]

I am a regular poster, but I do not use the recent topics function (I was actually surprised to learn that so many people did). I also own a local business the name of which many posters would know and many have used.

I am trying to wrap my head around how posting on a sponsor forum would be seen absent recent topics. Would anyone actual browse through a sponsor forum?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I am a regular poster, but I do not use the recent topics function (I was actually surprised to learn that so many people did). I also own a local business the name of which many posters would know and many have used.

I am trying to wrap my head around how posting on a sponsor forum would be seen absent recent topics. Would anyone actual browse through a sponsor forum?

I think the forum could attract browsers and even folks who "watch" the forum if the content makes it worth their while. What I would hope is that the forum would be used in a manner mutually beneficial to both the sponsors and the users. A purely hypothetical example would be a local restaurant that has a particular evening that is very slow. They could post a message advertising a special "family night" that evening in which some sort of deal was offered (free desert for children or something).

But, let me turn things around and pose questions to you. Given that you own a business that some of our posters use, do you have an interest in advertising to our users? If so, what would work best for you? What ideas would you suggest that would meet your needs, if any?

[Anonymous]

I have no problem with this Jeff. If it's a way for this to be a money making venture for you, without jeopardizing the forums maintaining a largely ad free nature, I'm all for it.

I don't know that I'd seek out a sponsorship forum, but I might glance at it on occasion.

I think this is real work to manage/moderate but if it generates enough revenue to make the endless hassles of it worth it for you go for it.

[Anonymous]

Another frequent user. I'd be fine with it.

Would it be possible to split the "Recent" screen into two - the top part being what it is now and maybe the bottom quarter being "Recent Sponsor Posts"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I stick mostly to Recent Topics and would not like to see it cluttered with lots and lots of ads. A few, ok, I suppose. I guess if people aren't commenting or asking questions, they'd move through the queue rather quickly, but I think it would be something you'd need to keep an eye on.

+1

I like the pp's suggestion for splitting the recent topics into regular posts and then ads.

[jsteele]

Bumping this in hope of additional feedback.

[Anonymous]

I like it. I think you could also use this as a helpful way to weed out some of what is actually advertising currently in the forums. In particular I'm thinking of the daycare forum, and the fun Goddard school poster from a few weeks ago.
I also like learning about things like family night at restaurants. (For that matter I also like to know about daycare openings- just not when they are done as fake reviews.)

[Anonymous]

I have no problem with this and may use it.

[Anonymous]

I think I would browse such a forum. In particular, it would actually be great to see some local products that I would actually want to buy, rather than random ads which, as you know I block, sorry Thanks for brainstorming a less annoying way for us to do some online shopping--which we would do anyway--and make some revenue without a soul-sucking middle-man who would destroy the character of the site. Win-win, I say.

[Anonymous]

I think it sounds like a fine idea. I'd likely browse a sponsor's forum before ransom googling for a local service/product.

[Anonymous]

What would be most useful is to have it become a place where people could go to find: things to do (low cost/ theater, etc), where to shop for something (fresh vegetables/ fruit) , etc. so it becomes a resource that people will use when they know there is something they want to find in town. So, it will need to have headings to make the topic easily findable - groceries, activities, sales, etc.