Are you a member of a LinkedIn
Group? Do you spend time networking in LinkedIn Groups? LinkedIn Groups are great way to build credibility and make
new connections that can ultimately help grow your business.
With over 1.5 million LinkedIn Groups, it can be difficult to find
relevant Groups and determine which ones might be the best for you to
join. It’s also important to find Groups that are well-managed.
Unfortunately there are many
LinkedIn Groups that are not well-managed, which makes the experience within
these Groups less than optimal.
You are sure
to find a LinkedIn Group of interest to you.
Not to worry, I’m going to give you
some insights on how to find the quality groups you can leverage most
for your LinkedIn strategy!
How many groups should you
join?
You can join up to 50 LinkedIn
Groups. However, it’s difficult to gain traction in 50 Groups as well as find
the time to participate in that many.
I recommend that you go ahead and
join up to 50 Groups, but select 5-10 Groups to spend your time on
in order to get the most benefit out of your participation.
Below are 5 tips for
maximizing your LinkedIn Groups experience.
#1: Use LinkedIn Search to Find Relevant Groups to Join
In case you haven’t noticed, LinkedIn
search has been significantly enhanced. This includes the ability to search
for relevant Groups (based on your network) and search for
discussion topics within open Groups!
Now you can
search for discussion topics within “open” LinkedIn Groups
To start, search for Groups
using keywords that would be a natural fit for you, based on your
geographic location, industry, prospects, education history, community/charity
organizations, hobbies and interests.
Try searching LinkedIn Groups with
the keywords that actually describe your natural affinities. For example, type in
the name of the college you attended to find potential alumni groups that exist
on LinkedIn.
You can also take advantage
of Boolean
search operators for smarter searches on LinkedIn. I recently
discovered this Tip Sheet on Boolean Search from LinkedIn Corporate
Solutions.
To locate a LinkedIn Group that was
in my geographic location and my industry, I searched LinkedIn Groups using the
Boolean Search Operator “AND” for the keywords social media AND Dallas.
LinkedIn showed me 25 results for
Groups based in Dallas AND focused on social media!
Get more
specific with your Group searches using Boolean search operators
Another interesting finding was
when I typed the word “hiking” into LinkedIn Group search. I found a group with
over 1000 members who share this passion. There is no better way to start
relationships than connecting around a common passion or interest!
Search for
LinkedIn Groups using your passions, hobbies and interests as keywords
For each LinkedIn Group displayed
in search results, you have the option to view members in your network
who belong to the Group, as well as “similar Groups.”
See which of
your connections are members of Groups and find similar Groups
You can even reach out to your LinkedIn connections and ask them what they think about the
Groups that they belong to. This gives you a solid reason to reach out and
connect with your network.
LinkedIn Group search is extremely
powerful to discover the right Groups to join!
#2: Review the “Groups You May Like” Suggestions From LinkedIn
The easiest way to navigate to the Groups
You May Like feature is through your navigation menu bar under Groups.
There you will see these options. (The Groups Directory option is the primary
search area for LinkedIn Groups.)
The Groups
You May Like feature
When you click on the Groups You
May Like feature, LinkedIn will list suggested Groups for you to check out,
based on your network connections, profile information, skills and expertise
and existing Group memberships. You may also notice some Groups (or subgroups)
on this list that you already belong to.
#3: Evaluate the Quality of a LinkedIn Group
How do you know if the LinkedIn
Groups you are interested in joining are going to be well-run and high-quality?
In some cases, you may just have to
join the Group and spend some time there to make that
determination. However, here are a few ways to evaluate the Group for
quality:
- Who are the Group managers, and are they engaged and visible?
- What are the Group rules? (Hint: if the Group rules don’t exist or they are not well-written, chances are the Group is not well-managed.)
- Do a good majority of the discussions involve questions and dialogue?
- Are there lots of promotional links or an abundance of “self-promotional” updates?
- Are the top influencers in the Group credible?
- Is the Group manager among the top influencers?
In a well-managed Group, you
are going to most likely see a manager who is visible throughout the
discussions, and a strong set of rules.
The Intuit
Small Business Group manager is highly visible
The quantity of membership and the
activity level of a Group aren’t always correlated to whether the group is
high-quality. I’ve seen some very large Groups that are very well-managed and
some very small Groups that aren’t managed at all!
Be sure to evaluate the
stats of the LinkedIn Group you are interested in as well. There you
can learn more about member demographics, activity, how long the Group
has been around and more.
Evaluate
LinkedIn Group stats
#4: Consider Joining Corporate-Sponsored Groups
There are a number of
corporate-sponsored Groups popping up on LinkedIn. This is where LinkedIn has
officially partnered with brands or corporations to help them build robust
Groups. Within each of these Groups, the organization can drive member visits
and discussion participation while also controlling the ad display space within
the Group site.
Examples of these corporate
LinkedIn Groups include Intuit (Small Business Group), Citi (Professional Women’s Network), Staples (Small Business Network) and Capital One (Business Traveler Network).
Intuit has a
corporate-sponsored LinkedIn Group that caters to small business owners
What I love about
corporate-sponsored Groups on LinkedIn is that they are very well-managed. The
discussions tend to be in-depth with rich dialogue among members. These
brands/corporations have a vested interest in making their Groups successful,
and in every case there are dedicated Group managers in place who facilitate
the dialogue and keep the Group spam-free.
I have found as a member of several
of the Groups listed above that the discussion questions submitted weekly (and
delivered via email) by these Group managers are intriguing and enticing. They
make you want to jump right in and give your own insights and opinions!
If you run your own LinkedIn Group
or you’re thinking about starting one, you could learn some terrific
strategies as a member of these corporate-sponsored Groups.
#5: Adhere to LinkedIn Group Participation Best Practices
In order to make LinkedIn Groups
serve as authentic forums for discussions and dialogue, we can all do our part
to maintain the integrity of the Groups we belong to. This
will make the LinkedIn Group experience better for everyone.
Additionally, LinkedIn is doing its part by helping Group managers fight
promotional posts. If you are thinking about posting a discussion that contains
the words me, my or I, don’t count on it showing up. Most likely it will end up
under the Promotions tab, where it’s highly unlikely that anyone will see it.
In order to successfully build
influence in LinkedIn Groups, your best bet is to authentically engage in discussions and contribute value-added insights.
Below are some best
practices to remember as you find the right Groups to join and start
engaging with members:
- Don’t just drop into Groups and promote your products or services.
- Don’t auto-post your blog articles into LinkedIn Groups. Instead, provide links to reputable sources of information within the context of discussions that can help members. This can include your blog articles if they truly serve that purpose.
- Ask questions and provide thoughtful answers.
- Contribute to ongoing discussions and new discussions consistently.
- Share meaningful, helpful, interesting and reputable content.
- Send invites to connect with mutual Group members only after you’ve spent some time participating in the Group. The best time to send the invitation is when you’ve interacted with members in a discussion.
Closing thoughts…
I hope that these tips will help
you make the most of your LinkedIn Groups experience. LinkedIn
Groups provide an amazing opportunity to position yourself as a thought
leader and an influencer. If you lead by example with your
participation, others will follow.
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