- 1. Maria Laura My Groups: White House (Official), KIVA, Green
Sandip My Groups: CIO Forum, Forrester Steve My Groups: Citi
Network, Social Media Mafia My Groups: Apple Users, Cornell Alumni
Alex My Groups: IBM, LegalNYC, Harvard ALumni Guide to Creating
Successful Communities LINKEDIN GROUPS
2. APPENDIX 2 3 What is a LinkedIn Group Why create a LinkedIn
Group 17Conclusion How to create a LinkedIn Group 4 6 10 12 14 16 1
Step 1. Make a Plan Step 2. Set Up Your Group Step 3. Enhance Your
Group Step 4. Open the Doors Step 5. Build Engagement Step 6.
Moderate Your Group CONTENTS 3. WHAT IS A LINKEDIN GROUP WHAT IS A
LINKEDIN GROUP inkedIn Groups are communities of like-minded
professionals who share a common experience, passion, interest,
affiliation, or goal. Groups provide members with a private and
focused space to discuss relevant topics, share news stories,
network, and collaborate with others. There are thousands of groups
on LinkedIn organized around a wide range of topics from
virtualization to entrepreneurship to sustainable design. Members
frequently belong to multiple groups that align with different
aspects of their professional life, such as university alumni
groups, trade groups, conference groups, and networking groups. L
4. WHY CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP WHY CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP inkedIn
Groups enable marketers to establish their own community within the
larger LinkedIn business network in a seamless and organic way.
Marketers can easily deliver relevant messages and efficiently
engage with their audience of potential customers LinkedIn Groups
are a great tool for brands to: Enable the conversation Members
join groups so they can engage with like-minded professionals
Create long-term interaction with customers and prospects Ongoing
discussions and collaboration produce a vital and lasting community
Generate viral, sustainable growth Groups are organically viral
creating growth opportunities for the long-run L 3 5. MAKE A PLAN
efore starting a group there are some key things youll want to
consider. Taking the time to think through your short and long term
strategy will go a long way towards making your group successful.
HOW TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP B 6. STEP 1. MAKE A PLAN Managing a
LinkedIn Group will require time to build engagement and moderate.
It is important to identify a primary contact either in or
affiliated with your company who will coordinate all activities for
your group. It is also helpful to enlist others in your company to
help build engagement in the early phase. Plan to ensure people at
your company can make time to do this for at least six months to
nurture and grow the group. Who will manage the group Your
objective will drive the rest of your decisions. What are you
trying to achieve with the group? What do you want to communicate?
Are you trying to build brand awareness? Do you want a venue for
customers to discuss your products? Are you trying to expose
non-customers to your product? What is your objective Your audience
will have a big impact on how you set up your group. Who are you
trying to reach? Customers, prospects, potential partners,
influencers, employees, etc. Who is your audience A topic-based
group (e.g., The IT Corner by Acme Computer) is a great way to
build broader engagement with your audience. Pick a topic related
to your brand that will allow for more diverse conversations and
draw participation from non-customers as well. What is your message
Set a clear objective Select your topic carefully Establish a
content team Commit to six months 5 TOP TIPS 7. 2ow that you have
determined the purpose of the Group and who will be managing it,
you can move on to the set up phase. SET UP YOUR GROUP HOW TO
CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP N OPEN VS CLOSED GROUP Logo Name
Description GROUP BRANDING 8. STEP 2. SETUP YOUR GROUP When
creating a group, you will be asked to set access controls. Open
groups automatically accept any member that wants to be part of the
group. Closed groups require the group owner to invite,
pre-approve, or individually approve members before they are
allowed to participate. Open groups are popular for brands because
they remove barriers to join and tend to grow faster. Closed groups
give you more control over who is in the group but take more time
to manage and as a result can ramp up slowly. Open vs Closed Group
The name and description of your group will help people identify
and find you. To highlight your brand, include your company name in
the Group name. Choose a logo that quickly conveys the topic of
your group, and keep in mind its small size on-screen. Avoid too
much text and opt for simple, large, images that can have instant
impact. Create a detailed description of your group outlining why
people should join. Include the focus area of the group, the types
of topics that will be discussed, and who will benefit from
joining. Group Branding 7 The Jobs tab is an optional feature that
creates a space for members to post job openings. Managers and
other members can move job-related posts out of the general area
into the Jobs tab, helping keep your main discussion focused on
core topics. Jobs Tab 9. JOBS TAB SUBGROUPS TAB GROUP BRANDING
MANAGE TEMPLATES HOW TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP 10. STEP 2. SETUP
YOUR GROUP Before launching your group you will want to set up
email templates. This is a standard feature that allows you to
automatically send emails based on one of four actions: acknowledge
a request to join, welcome a new member, decline a request to join,
or block a request to join. The content of the email is text-based
and can be customized by the group owner. Sending a welcome email
is a great opportunity to reinforce the purpose of the group and
outline posting guidelines. Manage Templates 9 Include your brand
in group name Design a custom group logo Write email templates
Create a detailed group description TOP TIPS Subgroups is a feature
that enables you to break out a broader group topic into more
refined categories. For example, a technology group might have
subgroups for laptops, desktops, and printers. One drawback to
creating subgroups when you are just starting out, however, is that
your conversations become spread across multiple sections making it
difficult to get critical mass. Subgroups are a great feature to
activate once your overall group has momentum. Subgroups 11. Post a
welcome video Stream in a relevant blog Encourage discussion with
polls Leverage third-party content You can also use your customized
space to distribute valuable information to your members by
promoting white paper assets. Relevant, free content will be
greatly appreciated by members of your group. It is important to
keep content in your Group fresh. Plan on developing an editorial
programming calendar and share your plan with members. Theyll be
sure to check back often to get new information, watch new videos
and download the latest white paper. HOW TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP
3 TOP TIPS Custom Groups have unique messaging features that help
you build and sustain a relationship with your customers. A custom
content module enables you to surface any content that can be
distributed via an RSS feed. Typical RSS content may include blog
posts, Twitter feeds and photography. You do not have to limit
yourself to your own content, however. Include feeds from other
sources that are relevant and of interest to your group. You can
also add a stand-alone video module to your Custom Group. This
module pulls in specific videos that you have posted to YouTube.
Starting your group with a video introduction is a great way to
jump start engagement. Be sure to regularly rotate in other videos,
such as interviews, presentations, and event coverage, to keep your
members engaged. Want to source feedback from the crowd and spark
healthy debate? Custom Group owners can use one of their messaging
slots to run an interactive poll. Ask members any variety of
questions and receive real-time feedback and insights. ENHANCE YOUR
GROUP 12. STEP 3. ENHANCE YOUR GROUP11 POST VIDEO ADD RSS FEEDS 13.
4ow that your group is ready to go, its time to get the word out.
With hundreds of thousands of groups in the LinkedIn Groups
directory, it is crucial for you to be proactive in making your
group more discoverable. Think about quality, not quantity of
members in the beginning to ensure that you are building a valuable
and focused group. The easiest way to build membership in your
group is by reaching out to those who already have a proven
affinity for using LinkedIn tools that is, your target audience on
LinkedIn. With rich ad targeting capabilities, you can easily and
quickly raise awareness of your group. Tap into your content teams
individual networks to start spreading the word on LinkedIn. Use
network status messages on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to
broadcast interesting discussions from your group. Include links to
your group in email signature lines, on your website, in offline
advertising and in collateral. OPEN THE DOORS Get the Word Out HOW
TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP N 14. Use targeted ads to build
membership Promote your group in your traditional marketing Ask
members to introduce themselves Decline members that are not a good
fit TOP TIPS If you have set up a closed group, you will need to
accept, decline or block each request to join. Criteria for group
membership should be defined by readily available information in
the LinkedIn Profile. If its not, consider making the group open or
invite-only. STEP 4. OPEN THE DOORS Who to Accept How to Decline 13
Dont simply ignore a request if the applicant is not a good fit. 1)
Someone else on your team may not realize that the request is being
ignored and may inadvertently accept it, and 2) It is bad for your
brand image if a member feels like you are ignoring them. Blocking
members is a last resort. You should block members that have been
declined several times, repeatedly ignored the posting guidelines,
or have been abusive to other members or staff. When to Block Start
with Introductions Ask group members to introduce themselves. Have
them to share their name, where they are from, their profession,
something interesting about themselves, and what they hope to gain
from the group. This is a great way to get them used to posting and
commenting in discussions. 15. 5here are many things you can do to
help foster engagement in your group. In the early days of your
group, staff participation will be key. As your group grows, staff
involvement can be reduced as members pick up the ball and run with
it. BUILD ENGAGEMENT HOW TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP T FEATURED
DISCUSSION CREATE DISCUSSIONS 16. Recognize both those that create
discussions and those that comment on them. Comment on posts and
give out prizes for the most active participants. The prizes dont
need to be big to get the desired response branded t-shirts, hats,
mugs, or even just simple recognition such as announcing prize
winners in a featured post. Comments are crucial for creating an
engaging forum, so give separate awards and recognition to those
that regularly comment. Acknowledge Contributors Start a question
of the week campaign to drive new discussions. Use different staff
members to post the questions so it doesnt look like all content is
coming from one person. Pick topics that will provoke discussion,
and keep the question brief and to the point. You can always
provide more detail in the Additional Details section. Post a
Question STEP 5. BUILD ENGAGEMENT15 Use the announcement feature to
keep your group top-of-mind. You can send one announcement per week
to your group members. Use this announcement to communicate the
question of the week, list winners of contests or alert members to
related upcoming events. Send Announcements Feature interesting
posts Acknowledge active contributors Pose a question of the week
Send weekly announcements Highlight announcements or interesting
posts by tagging those discussions featured. Featured discussions
are denoted by a small pin icon and always appear at the top of the
discussion board. Limit the number of featured discussions to two
or three at a time (ideally from different authors). Feature
Discussions TOP TIPS 17. 6 HOW TO CREATE A LINKEDIN GROUP MODERATE
YOUR GROUP A Establish posting guidelines Be consistent with
enforcement Aggressively manage spam Block inappropriate members
Moderating 101 ctive moderation is important to maintaining a
vibrant, welcoming group. It is crucial that you and your team set
the tone for discussions by establishing and communicating posting
guidelines. You can use the welcome email template as well as
featured discussions to inform new members of your guidelines. In
addition to the group guidelines, you should also have an internal
enforcement guideline what actions to take for different types of
infractions. This will ensure that all team members are on the same
page. Moderation needs to be done on a daily basis, which is why it
is important to spread the work across a team of people. The group
owner and other group managers can take turns reviewing requests to
join, deleting spam and removing inappropriate content. If a
discussion is off topic, or violates the user guidelines, delete
the post and send a note to the author asking them to adhere to the
guidelines. If a member repeats the offence, remove (and block)
them from the group. It is up to you to determine how many warnings
you want to give a member before removing them from the group. If a
discussion is spam or abuse, delete it and remove (and block) the
member from the group. On the flip side, be sure to acknowledge
members that post quality content to the group. Moderating is not
just about removing bad content, but about encouraging and
rewarding good behavior as well. 18. CONCLUSION17 CONCLUSION
inkedIn Groups provide a unique and powerful way for brands to join
the professional conversation on LinkedIn. Over 50 million
influential and motivated members are actively looking to connect
and network with others around topics of mutual interest, and
marketers have a great opportunity to help them. By following the
basic roadmap outlined in this guide, you demonstrate to your
audience that youre serious about building a substantive, long-term
relationship with them. Be prepared to invest time and resources
and strike the right note from the beginning. Create a well-thought
out community, whose topic is targeted to the right audience and
whose discussions are well moderated and curated. Your thoughtful
planning up front and commitment to adding value will go a long way
towards attracting the right audience on LinkedIn and help you lay
a foundation for deeper relationships with your customers. L 19.
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