How to Use LinkedIn Groups to Develop Business and Generate Marketing Ideas

Using and participating in LinkedIn Groups is a creative way to build and authenticate your business and your brand.

Using LinkedIn Groups has the potential to be a stimulating business generator if managed well. As social media morphs into a much different, stronger audience-builder than it has in the past, participating in and contributing to LI Groups may be an excellent avenue for revving up new business or jumpstarting existing customers.

Meaningful, informative content is in demand while self-promotion and spam are falling away in popularity. Here are some relevant suggestions on how to use LinkedIn Groups to not only help develop your business, but to also generate fresh marketing ideas.

1. Comment on existing posts when relevant and appropriate. If possible, share a blog link that relates to the post.

• Share blog links once a week with a relevant note for that particular group. Note that groups tend to get email alerts for posts, so doing this more often than weekly can be too much.

• When possible, pose questions to the group. Ask about their pain points, challenges, things about which they may have issues or concerns. Some of these things might bring up valid ideas to write about.

• Take notice of the group’s audience, regardless of the title of the group. Are they mostly sales people, women, men, older or more senior? Any of these clues may help to hone the message and tone.

• Ask for feedback on ideas. Evaluate the views that have been assumed to get some validation or, even better, examples of real life experiences. For instance, are people feeling anxious about job security? Is it harder to plan for retirement nowadays? What job skills are most in demand and why?

LinkedIn usage is growing with a steadily rising user base of more than 500 million members. This makes LinkedIn Groups an attractive way to bring customers together and especially good for B2B companies.

LinkedIn Groups also have influential community management features not available on other social media platforms. LinkedIn sends a daily or weekly digest of all activities in the group to your members to keep them updated and engaged. You can also send an admin announcement email to your members once a week.

Whether you’re an active participant in a LinkedIn Group or have an active Group of your own, engagement on this platform will extend your brand reputation. In addition, it will also help you connect with like-minded people, your customers, and more. It’s a great way to stay in touch with people outside of your immediate circle of business associates, friends, and customers.

A successful LI Group can strengthen a brand by creating a forum for customers and potential customers to connect, discuss topics, ask questions and such. Industry professionals can establish authentic relationships that contribute to building their business.   Witmer Group recommends LinkedIn Groups as a compliment to your existing social media management efforts as a proven way to generate interest in your business while providing the opportunity to share reliable information with customers and other business groups. We enjoy the collaboration and new ideas that can be found through honest sharing, unbiased influence, and expert leadership.