community-forum
This skill guides promotion across forums and communities including Indie Hackers, Hacker News, Reddit, Discord, and vertical communities. Use it when planning community-led growth strategies, crafting forum posts, building community invitations, or optimizing self-hosted forums for SEO, as community acquisition typically costs 90% less than paid channels with significantly higher customer lifetime value.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills /tmp/community-forum && cp -r /tmp/community-forum/skills/channels/community/community-forum ~/.claude/skills/community-forumSKILL.md
# 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 lea
When the user wants to analyze Google Search Console data, use the GSC API, or interpret search performance. Also use when the user mentions "GSC," "Search Console," "indexing report," "Core Web Vitals," "Enhancements," "Insights report," "search performance," "search queries," "search performance report," "URL inspection," "impressions," "CTR," "average position," "index coverage," "GSC data analysis," "Search Console API," or "searchanalytics.query." When the user wants to rewrite title tags (not only report on them), use title-tag. For meta description rewrites, use meta-description.
When the user wants to build an SEO data analysis system, monitor indexing/traffic/keywords/backlinks, or set up benchmarks. Also use when the user mentions "SEO data analysis," "SEO monitoring," "article database," "traffic benchmark," "penalty recovery," "SEO work document," "SEO dashboard," "keyword tracking," "ranking monitoring," "indexing report," or "backlink monitoring." For GSC API, use google-search-console.
When the user wants to track AI search traffic in GA4 or GSC. Also use when the user mentions "AI traffic," "ChatGPT referral," "Perplexity traffic," "AI Overviews," "GA4 AI sources," "AI search analytics," "track AI referrals," "AI search traffic," "Claude traffic," or "how to track AI traffic." For AI SEO strategy, use generative-engine-optimization.
When the user wants to analyze website traffic sources, attribution, or dark traffic. Also use when the user mentions "traffic sources," "dark traffic," "direct traffic," "UTM parameters," "traffic attribution," "channel attribution," "attribution optimization," "channel analysis," "traffic analysis," "traffic diversification," "natural traffic benchmark," or "organic vs paid traffic." For GA4 setup, use analytics-tracking.
When the user wants to set up, audit, or optimize analytics tracking (GA4, events, conversions). Also use when the user mentions "Google Analytics," "GA4," "event tracking," "conversions," "attribution model," "gtag," "data layer," "GA4 setup," "conversion tracking," "event setup," "User ID tracking," or "CTA attribution." For traffic insights, use traffic-analysis.
When the user wants to submit a product or app to directories, curated lists, launch platforms, or app stores—and needs ready-to-paste copy per platform. Reads project-context.md when present. Also use when the user mentions "directory submission," "get listed," "app store listing," "submit to directories," "curated list," "best tools list," "Taaft," "Product Hunt," "directory ads," "newsletter feature," "directory campaign," "tailor description per platform," "Shopify App Store," "Chrome Web Store," "navigation site," or "product directory." For Product Hunt launch day tactics (hunter, first comment, timing), use product-hunt-launch. For full 0→1 channel planning, use cold-start-strategy.
When the user wants to launch on Product Hunt, prepare a PH submission, or plan launch day (hunter, first comment, timing, upvotes). Also use when the user mentions "Product Hunt," "launch on Product Hunt," "PH launch," "Product Hunt submission," "hunter," "Product of the Day," "upvotes," or "Product Hunt first comment." For multi-platform directory listings and paste-ready copy beyond PH, use directory-submission.
When the user wants to plan product distribution via marketplaces, app stores, or third-party platforms. Also use when the user mentions "distribution channels," "marketplace listing," "app store listing," "Figma plugin," "Chrome extension marketplace," "AWS Marketplace," "Shopify app," "GPTs store," "app distribution," or "third-party marketplace." For channel mix, use integrated-marketing.