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Personal Profile: join and be active in LinkedIn Groups
This is a biggie. Whatever your industry, get involved in Groups related to your
industry as a way to connect with others, discuss and learn new ideas, and - more
subtly - as a way to connect with key partners and find out what your target
market is interested in. Being actively involved in one or several LinkedIn
Groups can have many benefits for businesses, including:
- Building more awareness about you within your target markets.
- Positioning your company (or you as an individual) as an industry thought
leader
- Nurturing valuable industry relationships.
- A showcase for your great industry-leading content and products.
- Generation of interest and inquiries for your business.
- Converting Group members to subscribers and advocates for your brand.
- Using the ideas you find - from popular discussions, statuses with the most
likes and comments,
etc.
- to help you work on ideas and topics to feature in
your company's status updates.
As with much of social media, leaping into a LinkedIn Group only to self-
promote will not go down well. Instead, use Groups as an opportunity to share
posts on a topic of interest to other members, and to engage in conversations in
order to highlights your expertise. When starting your own discussion (whatever
it may be about) draft a compelling title to encourage views and end your
message with an open-ended question or a call to action to get people to reply.
The more popular your post and the more active it is, the more visibility you will
receive. As a result, people will see that you have important and meaningful
insights into your area of business, and may then decide to follow or connect in
order to build a relationship.
To help you discover new LinkedIn Groups, select Interests" from the menu at
the top of your LinkedIn homepage, then click "Groups." You can also use this
landing page to manage all future group participation. Selecting local groups
with less members may also be beneficial, since their members are more likely
to read your posts and there's a higher chance to make relevant, local
connections. If you are already in a group, securing a spot in the Manager’s
Choice carousel (a selection of featured topics chosen by the group owner and
displayed at the top of the group’s Discussions page) can be a way to showcase
yourself as an authority figure and attract others to you through "follows" and
potential opportunities to connect. Regular positive interaction, like posting and
commenting thoughtful topics and responses will raise your standing in the
group, while promotional, spam, negative or inappropriate content will damage
it.
If a group you intend to join is already well established, you can easily view and
search for popular topics within it to see what type of questions and issues are
drawing the most engagement and whether these are of interest to you and your
business. Most easy is to simply click the "Popular" tab at the top of the group
for a general overview. For a more thorough search:
1. Visit a group where your target market is active and click on the Search tab.
Notice a box on the left-hand side which allows you can search for posts by post
type.
2. Use the search function to find the most engaging content on a given topic.
3. Create a log of the types of topics, questions and challenges which are being
discussed by your target market.
Start your own LinkedIn Group
If you can't find a Group that's right for you, why not start your own? To create a
LinkedIn Group, choose "Groups" from the "Interests" menu and click the
"Create A Group" button on page that appears. Fill in as much detail on the
Group creation page as possible.
LinkedIn Group title, Summary, and description
The right LinkedIn Group name is critical to attracting the right members, so
include a simple and specific title that instantly tells people what the Group is
about. Tying your Group name to a location,
e.g.
"Toronto Entrepreneurs,"
or an
industry,
e.g.
"Hotel Industry Professionals,"
works well. Add a succinct and
keyword-rich Summary (which will appear in, and help your Group be found, in
search results. Around 140 characters of your Group description will appear in
search before being cut off, so make them count!). Lastly, add a more detailed
description, which will appear on your Group's profile page. Thinking about the
Group description, use specific words and phrases that will encourage people to
join, and differentiate you from the competition.
Draft LinkedIn Group rules
LinkedIn allows Group owners to draft a policy that contains the rules that they
want the Group to follow. It is important to create Group rules that are firm and
clear, so as to keep an air of professionalism and make the Group as good as it
can be. Reiterate the rules to anyone who violates them and hint at them in your
welcome email.
Bonus Tip: Use your welcome email to push information about your websites,
blog, other social media profiles,
etc.
Pre-approve LinkedIn Group members
LinkedIn allows Group owners to pre-approve every member who attempts to
join your Group. While it does take extra time and effort, it is a great way to
ensure the ongoing quality of your Group community. If you require certain
criteria for members, make this clear in your welcome email.
Use LinkedIn Group announcements
LinkedIn Group Announcements is a feature that allows you to send one
announcement per week directly to the email inboxes of all your members. This
is the perfect opportunity to share new content, encourage people to visit your
website and blog, invite them to an event or webinar, or anything else you think
will benefit them and foster more brand loyalty. Do remember to craft a
compelling subject line, to make sure your email is opened amongst all of the
other LinkedIn notifications and other emails people receive every day.
Be active in leading the LinkedIn Group
As the owner of a LinkedIn Group, it is important that you maintain an active
role in discussions and position yourself as its thought leader. Do not expect the
Group to lead itself. Tips for keeping things ticking over nicely include posting a
weekly discussion or question (with a LinkedIn Poll, perhaps), commenting on
existing discussions, and encouraging engagement through questions and
feedback requests.
Direct your Group members to reputable sources of information that are relevant
to them and to specific discussions in order to build relationships and credibility.
Don't ever use LinkedIn Groups to blatantly pitch for sales, as you run the risk of
turning away potential prospects. LinkedIn, like other social networks, doesn't fit
well with direct, hard selling.
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