Marketing on LinkedIn: Building Groups (Cont.)
As we discussed last week, building a network on LinkedIn is only the beginning of a successful LinkedIn marketing plan. Once you have firmly established your place on this social networking giant, it is time to push it a step further with the Groups feature. There are two sides of this feature – creating groups and joining groups. We discussed joining groups last week. This week we will cover creating groups.
Create a Group
Once you are familiar (and comfortable) with the Groups on LinkedIn, you will be able to take your marketing plan even further by building your own Group. Doing so will help to increase your own social network dramatically. It will also allow you to build a stronger reputation in your own industry or market.
Keep in mind that simply having a LinkedIn Group is not necessarily enough. You need to be the “face†of your group. Stay actively involved in the discussions, post credible and reliable information, and don’t just make it about your own product. Make the people in your network feel that they are important because they belong to something.
As your LinkedIn Group grows, you will be able to add Group Managers to help you moderate the discussions and activities. What many people don’t realize is that a lot of social network users really want to feel involved in something important; therefore, they will be willing to moderate a group for no compensation at all.
Use the Manager’s Choice (Featured Discussions) feature to highlight your own articles or marketing pieces for yourself. Don’t forget to feature discussions from other users as well – again, so you don’t appear to be too zealous with your own marketing plugs.
As you spend more time with your newly formed LinkedIn Group, you will find yourself growing more and more accustomed to the features and how to use them to your advantage. Take the time to familiarize yourself with what you can and cannot do as you steadily build the number of members in your Group. Of course, remember to take time to actually get to know your most active participants and keep yourself available to everyone in your LinkedIn Group as a potential mentor or for networking opportunities.
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About The Author
Rita Cartwright
After graduating with a degree in marketing, Rita knew she wanted a career in the marketing industry. However, she took a detour and worked for Sears as a retail manager. When that didn't work out, Rita decided to launch her own business offering word processing services. These services eventually morphed into digital marketing services. Her desire to be a provider of professional digital marketing services led her to earn an Internet Marketing certificate from Art Institute, which reinforces her marketing degree from Arizona State University. Twenty two years later by the grace of Father God, Rita is still in business assisting her clients with their digital marketing. She also shares ideas and advises them on digital marketing, social media marketing and business operations.
Some great tips listed here, Although joining a group and marketing yourself is fairly easy it is very hard to maintain a group, especially if it starts to get popular. One good side is you are less likely to be bothered by spammer in LinkedIn.