How to Create LinkedIn Groups
There are several ways to get qualified people to join social media groups (such as LinkedIn groups). These techniques range from inviting your existing contacts to join the group to renting lists to broadcast invitations to join the group.
The success of getting qualified members to join your group depends on the interests of your potential members and what you include in the join invitation message you send them. Using a few sample messages for each type of invite can dramatically speed up the number of invites you send (copy and paste the invite message) and improve the percentage of people who join your group.
Commercial social networks often limit messages to relatively short messages (a few hundred characters), so your message should be simple and clear.
Invite from existing contact list
People in your existing contact list are likely to be more receptive to your invitation message than other leads (people you don’t know). It is still important that you identify the key topics that your group covers. You should also tell them what specific benefits they receive for joining the group (cash payments are usually not necessary). An example of an invitation message to an existing contact:
“problem” is important to the success of “industry or service”. To help develop and share solutions to the “problem”, I set up a “my group”. Join in and share your solutions (good for the industry and good PR for you).
– “your name”, “your role”
Invite people to comment on your discussions in another group
A good way to identify people who have similar interests to you is to join groups related to your group’s topic and post discussions about your topic. When people comment on your discussion, they are likely to be good candidates to be invited to join your group. An example of a thread invitation message to comment:
Thank you for commenting on my discussion “discussion title” in “group”. To help develop and share solutions to the “problem”, I set up the group “my group”. Join, learn and share your solutions (good for the industry and good PR for you).
– “your name”, “your role”
Invite people from social networks who have an interest related to a key term
You can usually search for keywords (such as terms related to your group) in social media discussions and member lists. Once you’ve identified the people who commented or participated in that key topic, use this reference information in your invitation message. An example of an invitation message to a person who has a related interest:
I noticed that you are involved with “problem” of “profile or source of information”. To help develop and share solutions to the “problem”, I set up the group “my group”. Connect with me and join “my group” to learn and share your solutions (good for the industry and good PR for you).
– “your name”, “your role”
Invite people you’ve seen speak or post an article
Find people who have published an article or spoken at an event. Find something you can reference in your article so they know your interest is sincere. Use search engines to find articles or links to speaker sessions at trade shows. Look up their name on your social network to see if they are a member. If so, review their article or speech and send them an invitation message. An example of an invitation message to
I saw your presentation on “session” under “event”. You gave an excellent discussion on the “topic”. I hope you will connect with me and join “my group”. good free publicity
– “your name”, “your role”
Promote the group on websites and web portals
Post links to your group on related websites and web portals. It can be hard to find the link to post. On LinkedIn, you need to go to the group page, select invite, and the link will be at the bottom.
Broadcast invitations to qualified groups
It is possible to reach many people who may be qualified for your group by renting a list of qualified prospects and sending them a group invite message. For example, you might rent a listing from a magazine or trade show related to your group. The percentage of people who actually join may be a small percentage (less than 5%), but using large lists can lead to rapid growth in your social media pool.