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Remember the excitement of jamming with fellow fans in Facebook groups and sharing your passion with people all over the world?
Well, imagine a similar space but for growing your career or accomplishing your small business objectives!
LinkedIn Groups are like the ultimate online hangout for entrepreneurs!
So, without any spoilers, let me guide you through how LinkedIn groups will change your Networking and LinkedIn marketing strategies.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What Are LinkedIn Groups?
- How To Find LinkedIn Groups?
- How To Join LinkedIn Groups?
- 5 LinkedIn Groups Best Practices
- How To Start A New LinkedIn Group?
- How To Use LinkedIn Groups Effectively?
- Where To Find My Groups On LinkedIn?
- Which LinkedIn Groups To Join?
Wow, it’s gonna be hot here!
Let’s get into it.
What are LinkedIn Groups?
LinkedIn Groups are like the ultimate online hangout for professionals.
There are thousands of LinkedIn groups, gathering business owners around different topics, and it’s a really convenient way to find like-minded people.
It’s for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share insights and experiences, ask for advice, make valuable connections and watch your business network grow.
How to Find Groups on LinkedIn?
Looking for the right group, is like searching for the right lead’s LinkedIn profile.
- Write keywords in the search bar
- Click on “Groups” tab
- Scroll the list of groups LinkedIn is showing you and choose
Once you click on the “Group” tab, LinkedIn will show you groups whose title contains your keywords.
How To Join Groups On LinkedIn?
After you find the LinkedIn group you want to join, just follow these 3 steps:
- Open the group page
- Click on “Join”
- Wait for the group admin to accept your request
If your request doesn’t get accepted after a while, you can send a message to the admin or to the moderator to follow-up on your request and get it accepted.
Usually, it takes less than a minute to become a group member. So go ahead, and hit that Join button!
6 LinkedIn Groups Best Practices
If you want to reach your goal by joining a LinkedIn group, then follow these 6 best practices :
- Bring value before asking anything
- Follow the group rules
- Engage in ongoing conversations
- Ask questions
- Keep it professional
- Don’t be spammy
1. Bring value before asking anything
After you join a new group, you need to warm up your spot first.
Before asking questions and trying to solve your own problems from the community, try to prove your worth.
Don’t ask anything from the community during the first month.
If LinkedIn members see you are only here to get value without giving anything back, that won’t work.
Effective communities operate on reciprocity. People give to each other because they know that everyone would do the same for them.
2. Follow the group rules
If you don’t want to be excluded from the group right away, then never forget about the group rules.
They are defined by the admin and the owner, based on their fortunate and unfortunate experiences, and for each group they might be different.
3. Engage in ongoing conversations
You are probably joining a group that exist for a while now.
There are for sure plenty of conversations you can participate in and bring value.
When you join a LinkedIn group, scroll down previous posts and see if you can post some relevant content or comments there.
4. Ask questions
People love sharing their expertise. Each time you ask a question, two things are happening:
- You get free advice.
- You build relationships with people.
So if your business is currently facing some problems you think the community can solve, do not hesitate to share them in the LinkedIn group.
5. Keep a professional tone
You are exchanging with people you don’t know, and you don’t have a second chance to make a good first impression.
Always make sure to keep a professional and friendly tone when you are posting or commenting on a LinkedIn group.
6. Don’t be spammy
People hate spammers.
Don’t flood the LinkedIn group with links to your product or service.
If you act like that, your messages will quickly be reported as spam by the group members, and you will end up being banned from the group.
How To Start A New LinkedIn Group?
You can start your LinkedIn group in 4 steps:
- Click on “Groups” in the left sidebar
- Click on “create group”
- Define group setting
- Invite your connections
Once you click on Groups, you will be redirected to this page. The list will be empty if this is the first group you are creating.
Next step to set up your group. You need to define:
- Logo
- Cover Image
- Name
- Description
- Industry
- Location
- Rules
- Discoverability
- Permissions
If you want to grow your group faster, it’s better to allow members to invite new members.
If you want to avoid spam and have 100% control and what is posted on your group, you can require new post to be reviewed by admin.
However, this will add friction and impact user experience. Your choice to make.
Once the setup is done, you can click on “create group” and you will be able to invite members to your brand-new LinkedIn group.
How To Use LinkedIn Groups?
You can leverage LinkedIn Groups for various purposes.
I have separated 5 of them:
- Lead Generation
- Community Building
- Recruiting
- Networking
- Finding a Job
1. Lead Generation
A LinkedIn group can be a good prospecting tool if used correctly.
Whether you are a group member or admin, there are several things that you can do to leverage LinkedIn groups to general leads on LinkedIn.
The most obvious one is by starting conversations and engaging with people posting messages.
Especially if they ask questions and you have to answer it. That is a great way to start a Sales conversation.
The second one is by extracting LinkedIn group members into an Excel file.
Belonging to a group can be a buying intent.
Let’s say someone is part of a LinkedIn group named “Sales Best Practices”.
If you sell Sales trainings or Sales tools, that is the perfect place to engage with people who could be potential customers of your Solution.
If you are using Evaboot, you can easily extract them and find their emails to start your outreach.
Plus, the fact that your prospects are part of a group gives you a nice icebreaker for your prospecting messages.
This can be a great opportunity to send a personalized message like this:
Message Template
Hello <first name>,
I just joined the <group_name> LinkedIn group, and I’m reaching out to members to exchange about <topic>
Are you still interested in this topic?
Best, JB
It’s important to ask if they are still interested in the topic because people often forget the LinkedIn groups they are part of.
2. Community Building
If you have a product or a service, and you want to build a community around, LinkedIn groups can be a perfect way to gather all the LinkedIn users or clients.
There are really few examples of successful LinkedIn groups, though. People tend to prefer Facebook groups to create business communities.
It’s usually better to post directly from your profile to try becoming an influencer on LinkedIn, or a thought leader.
This way you can share your insights, expertise and do self-promotion too.
But who knows?
Maybe it will work for your niche.
3. Networking
If your goal is simply to network, you can use LinkedIn groups as well.
The best way to start networking on LinkedIn is to join alumni LinkedIn groups.
Alumni networks are often underestimated, and you can find plenty of people on LinkedIn trying to leverage that.
Launching a LinkedIn prospecting campaign on alumni is always a good idea.
4. Recruiting
LinkedIn Groups can be a perfect place to find talents.
There are plenty of LinkedIn groups gathering experts around specific topics.
You can even find groups full of people open to work and dedicated to specific domains like sales.
5. Finding a Job
Obviously if you are a job seeker you can also join these LinkedIn groups to connect with recruiters and why not other job seekers.
There a job seekers LinkedIn groups focused on location or job type.
Go join what you think are the most relevant for your situation.
Where To Find My Groups On LinkedIn?
You can find your LinkedIn groups in the left sidebar of the LinkedIn homepage, just above the Event and Hashtag section.
If you click on “Groups” you can access to the complete list of LinkedIn groups you are part of.
If you click on the “Requested” tab, you can see all your pending LinkedIn groups request that are waiting for group admins to be approved.
In case you make up your mind, you can always withdraw your request and leave the group whenever you want.
Best Groups to Join on LinkedIn
The best LinkedIn groups to join for you heavily depends on your business and the problem you need to solve at the moment.
You need to search for LinkedIn group using the search engine and build your own curated list of LinkedIn groups.
My personal preferences are about SEO, Social media platforms, digital marketing, and other industries connected to them.
There won’t be a “magic LinkedIn group” with the best people solving all your problems.
Like everything, work by iteration, and you will end up being part of the best LinkedIn groups for your business within weeks.
Conclusion
Now you know why LinkedIn Groups are a powerful tool for professional development.
Whether you’re looking to expand your network, generate leads, or stay on top of industry trends, these groups offer valuable opportunities.
By following best practices and engaging in meaningful ways, you can make the most of what LinkedIn Groups have to offer.
FAQ
What ara the LinkedIn Groups limits?
| LinkedIn Group Entities | Limits |
| Number of groups a member can create in one day | 5 |
| Number of groups a member can delete in one day | 30 |
| Number of members a group can have | 3 million |
| Number of owners a group can have | 10 |
| Number of managers a group can have | 20 |
| Number of groups a member can manage | 30 |
| Number of groups a member can be part of | 100 |
| Number of groups with pending request to join | 20 |
| Character limit for group posts | 3000 |
| Number of mentions in one conversation | 20 |
| Character limit for comments | 1250 |
| Number of messages group admins can send to non-1st degree connections in their group in one day | 50 |
Who are LinekdIn group owners and managers?
LinkedIn group admins/administrators include group owners and managers.
They handle group activity, member requests, and post approvals.
However, owners and managers have different levels of access and roles, like deleting a group, inviting members, pining group posts, reviewing and approving posts, etc.
Are LinkedIn groups any good?
LinkedIn Groups are a great way to find and nurture business opportunities. You can spot trends, understand industry pain points, and identify potential customers or partners by monitoring discussions.
Lately, LinkedIn Groups are making a comeback. More brands and creators are joining from X, leading to increased success in LinkedIn Groups.
What are the benefits of LinkedIn groups?
The benefits of LinkedIn groups include:
- Networking opportunities
- Establishing thought leadership
- Reaching targeted audiences
- Sharing content
- Conducting market research
- Optimizing your profile
- Finding relevant groups
- Engaging in discussions
