LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs who know how to use it correctly. Unfortunately, most business owners fail to take full advantage of the site’s Groups feature.
Related: How to Get 60 Leads in 24 Hours With a Landing Page and a LinkedIn Group
Thanks to some fresh innovations, including a standalone app that lets you start discussions and provides new group recommendations via its algorithm, making the most of all that LinkedIn Groups has to offer has never been easier. The old rules still hold true, of course: Blatant sales pitches and low-effort comments remain unwelcome.
However, by taking the right approach, you can benefit by using LinkedIn Groups to establish new relationships, pick up valuable business tips and identify better prospects.
Right now is the right time.
From the outside, LinkedIn Groups might appear to be less popular than ever, as recent changes and new restrictions make groups seem smaller and less active. Yet, while at first these changes may seem a bad omen, they are not the result of a decline in the feature’s popularity. They actually reflect a substantial increase in LinkedIn Groups’ exclusivity. And that’s great for your sales.
Paradoxically, the illusion of a reduced population has led to a corresponding spike in perceived value. Groups are now split between “standard” and “unlisted.” Unlisted groups dodge search engines and require the group owner’s permission to add new members. Standard groups do appear in searches and only require the invitation of a current member to enter.
The key here is that people are more willing to share their strategies and talk at length about industry trends when their insights aren’t public. What’s more, LinkedIn Groups aren’t as crowded as they were a few years ago.
Less content appears, but the content that does get posted is more visible to the people who actually visit and engage with the groups. If you can offer them something of value, you’ll be publishing and stand out to to a more captivated audience.
Sharpen your focus to appeal to a smaller crowd.
All of these big changes mean that right now is an opportune time to leverage LinkedIn Groups.
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