Talent Solutions

Create a Community with LinkedIn Groups April 9th 2013

LaurenFogarty

Employer Branding & Media Consultant

Quick Intro

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Agenda

Why groups?

The anatomy of a group

Insights on your group members

How to drive membership

Premium group options

Best practices

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Why groups?

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Groups: a Solution, not a Product

Client Goals or Challenges LinkedIn’s Solution

• Engaging Alumni

• Employer Branding

• Thought-Leadership

• Reduction in Force

• Talent Communities

Groups’ Functionality +

Customization Options

The groups platform can offer the flexibility to meet more advanced needs around engagement

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Why do members join groups?

Why do members join Groups?

• The topic, industry or function is of interest

• Participating in the Group can help them be successful at their job

• The Group offers them a way to keep in touch with connections

• Their colleagues are in the Group• People they respect or are

influential also belong to the Group

There are over 1.5M groups on LinkedIn

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The anatomy of a groupMember perspective

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The core of a Group – the discussionGroup Tabs

Members can contribute with a discussion or a poll

Carousel showcases recent or popular discussions

Discussion feeds

Most recent comments

Shared Article

All topic comments

Poll Topic

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The right rail of a group

Manager’s Choice (can be turned on or off)

Latest Updates

300x250 Ad Unit

Top Influencers

Group Statistics

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The Members Tab

Top Group Influencers

Members by relevance

Recent Activity

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The Jobs Tab

Moderator can create relevant job feeds

Jobs are searchable based on standard job-search

criteria

Jobs are posted by moderator or shared by

group members

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The Search Tab

Search group discussions or members

Search your own group activity

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More…

• Updates: List of all recent Group updates and activity

• Your Activity: List of a member’s recent Group activity

• Your Settings: Where a member can manage Group visibility and correspondence

• Subgroups: A member can view the subgroups associated with a Group

• Group Profile: Overview of the Group (owner, mission, members, website)

• Group Statistics: General stats about Group activity

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The anatomy of a groupOwner/ manager perspective

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Who does what?Roles and responsibilities related to Groups

Group Members contribute to the conversation

Moderators prioritize and delete discussions

Managers have all Moderator capabilities plus they control pre-display moderation and member administration

Owners have all Manager capabilities plus they can open the group to the public, terminate the group or change ownership

Group Members

Moderators

Managers

Owner

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Managing a GroupModerators, Managers and Owners will see a

“Manage Tab”

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Managing a Group – Owner View

Only a LinkedIn Member can own a group – Groups can’t be

owned by Companies

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Members-only Groups are private. Only members of the group can view group content and contribute to the conversation.

Do not open the group if subject matter is sensitive, or the goal is to limit the number who can view/contribute content

Group Visibility – First DecisionOpen vs. Members-only Groups

Open Groups are publically viewable and shareable by everyone online. This includes non-LinkedIn members.

Advantages of going public include increased visibility, expansion of the audience, increased participation

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Benefits of Open and Members-only GroupsBenefit Open Groups Members-Only

Discussion visibility Public and LinkedIn Only Group members

Indexing by search engines

Yes No

Social media sharing Yes No

Anyone on LinkedIn can contribute

Manager to decide No

Once a Group is open to the public, it cannot be reverted to members-only

Only Group owners can open the Group

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Group Settings manage access

Group Settings Navigation is home for most

moderation settings

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Organize where content appears in the Group

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Note: These are especially important settings for Open Groups

Control who may contribute to Group content

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Review the Submission QueueReview posts before they go live

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Review the Moderation QueueReview content flagged by members

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Manage requests to join

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Encourage repeat visits with Announcements

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Invite members to join the group

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Pre-approve individuals for membership

When “request to join” settings are enabled, this

feature allows managers to pre-approve list of individuals

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View members and roles

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Manage the details of your group

Logos

Summary , description, website

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Set group rules

Group Rules will appear on top of all Group

Pages

Group Rules are Optional

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Develop templates for communication

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View and manage existing sub-groups

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Change Group Owner

Only Owner can change a Manager

Only available for owners

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Create a Subgroup

Only available for managers and owners

Same template as group creation

Only Managers and Owners can create a subgroup

Only 20 subgroups allowed

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Available through the Search Tab

The top choice will appear in the module

Controlled by Owners, Managers, and Moderators

Feature discussions with Manager’s Choice

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Insights on your group members

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In-Group Statistics FYI - Group Statistics are visible to all viewers.

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Group Statistics

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Group Statistics

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How to drive membership

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Paid Media Viral Distribution Offsite / API

3 Ways to Drive Traffic to a Group

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Serve them engaging ‘Join Group’ Ads

Boost membership by reaching targeted professionals

Personalized to each viewer based on their network connections

Provide Group information and context

Requires minimum of 2 Featured Discussions

XYZco Group

Join Group

This is where you will type the description of the group that this ad is promoting. This is where you will type the description of the group that this ad is promoting.

XYZco Group

Featured Discussion: “What small to midsized companies are demonstrating excellence in social media strategy and leading by example?”

Ryan Roslansky and 4 other connections joined.

Join Group

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Drive Traffic to Your Group with InMail Messaging

InMail Best Practices

• Maintain clear call to action

• Be Personal

• Include example of discussions

• Tell members why they have been selected

• Tell members what they will gain by joining the group

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Grow your Group Members off LinkedIn

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Add one-click Join Groups buttons to your website/ intranet

https://developer.linkedin.com/plugins1)

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Premium group options

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Standard Group (free) – no branding

You can advertise to members of a group but there is no group branding

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Sponsored Group – own the ad real estate

Client can own the ad space (300x250) on the right hand side and customize

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Custom Group – entire right rail + custom development

You can fill the entire right rail with interactive advertising units – LinkedIn will assist in creative development

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Best practices for meaningful Groups

Identify the Audience

Set Objectives and Goals

Build Membership

Engage Members and Stay Relevant

“Building a community with intent; frequently and pointedly engaging talented people around the world, whether for jobs available today or anticipated tomorrow, will flourish.”

Chris HoytPepsiCo

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Strong Group Examples

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For more info on premium group options, please contact your LinkedIn Rep or me

(Lauren Fogarty: lfogarty@linkedin.com)

Help.linkedin.comKeyword: Groups