Yes, you can create a LinkedIn page for a group. LinkedIn provides the option to create company pages, showcase pages as well as group pages. Groups on LinkedIn allow professionals in similar industries or with similar interests to connect, have discussions, and share content. Creating a LinkedIn group page can be beneficial for promoting a business, brand, organization, or common interest.
What is a LinkedIn group?
A LinkedIn group is an online community where LinkedIn members can gather based on shared professional interests or affiliations. Groups can be created around companies, industries, professional associations, alumni networks, common interests, etc. As a group admin or manager, you can create a customized LinkedIn group page to represent your group identity and engage with your target audience.
Some key things to know about LinkedIn groups:
- Allow members to share content, discuss industry news, post job openings, network, etc.
- Can be open to all LinkedIn members or restricted through membership approval
- Offer dedicated messaging and discussion forums
- Allow managers to analyze group statistics and member demographics
- Can be discovered via search so potential members can request to join
- Group pages have their own URL and appear separately in profile
- Managers can customize with images, descriptions, rules, and settings
In summary, a LinkedIn group allows professionals to gather around a shared interest or affiliation, enabling engaging discussions, content sharing, networking and more. A LinkedIn group page represents that community with customized branding and messaging.
Benefits of creating a LinkedIn group page
There are several potential benefits for brands, businesses and organizations that create a LinkedIn group page:
Promote your brand or organization
A LinkedIn group serves as a showcase for your company, products, services, mission and people. You can attract new customers and talent by promoting your brand identity through the group page.
Establish yourself as an industry thought leader
By sharing valuable insights, content and discussions through your group, you can position yourself or key staff as trusted experts in your field.
Engage with your target audience
The group provides a platform to directly interact with your ideal customers or clients and build ongoing relationships.
Expand reach and visibility
A LinkedIn group increases discoverability and awareness for your brand or organization to the LinkedIn community.
Generate leads and sales
Groups allow you to educate prospects and generate interest in solutions you offer to turn group members into customers.
Recruit prospective employees
You can attract and connect with top talent in your industry by leveraging your LinkedIn group.
Gather feedback and insights
Engage group members in market research, surveys, or product feedback to guide your business or organization.
Build a support community
Groups foster an ecosystem of loyal brand advocates who support and believe in your mission.
In summary, a LinkedIn group allows brands, businesses and organization to achieve visibility, lead generation, audience engagement, recruitment, market research and community building objectives.
How to create a LinkedIn group page
Here is an overview of how to create a LinkedIn group page for your company, brand, organization or common interest:
Step 1 – Create your LinkedIn group
– Go to LinkedIn and from the ‘Work’ menu select ‘Groups’
– Click the ‘+ Create group’ button
– Enter your group name, description and privacy settings
– Customize your group with a photo, rules and settings
– Click ‘Create group’
Step 2 – Build out your group page
– Go to your new group page
– Add a compelling hero image and headline
– Expand the description to share your purpose, goals, topics, etc.
– Customize the URL if desired
– Select applicable categories so people can find your group
Step 3 – Engage and manage your group
– Invite targeted connections to join the group
– Share valuable discussions, polls, events and jobs
– Post regularly to keep members engaged
– Monitor group insights and moderation queues
– Add managers to help oversee group activity
– Continuously optimize based on performance
Step 4 – Promote your group
– Share your group page URL across channels
– Highlight the group in your LinkedIn company/showcase pages
– Encourage employees to join and participate in the group
– Leverage social media and email marketing to boost awareness
– Consider sponsoring posts to expand reach to more members
By following these steps, you can create an optimized LinkedIn group page that engages your members and promotes your brand or organization. Be sure to provide value to members through exclusive content and discussions so your group gains traction.
Best practices for managing your LinkedIn group
Here are some top best practices for administering your LinkedIn group over time:
- Post consistently – Share at least 1-2x per week to keep members engaged.
- Vary post types – Include discussions, articles, images, polls, events, jobs, etc.
- Moderate actively – Check queues daily to ensure quality discussions.
- Send notifications – Alert members of new posts, events, etc via email.
- Add managers – Bring on additional admins to help manage activity.
- Promote selectively – Advertise only relevant opportunities or offers.
- Highlight influencers – Feature insights from respected group members.
- Foster dialogue – Pose questions to encourage two-way conversations.
- Measure performance – Track growth, engagement, clicks, follows, etc.
- Gather feedback – Conduct polls or surveys to improve the group.
- Segment audiences – Target students, professionals, subgroups, etc.
Maintaining an active, engaging presence and listening to your members will help your LinkedIn group thrive as a valuable community. Avoid overt self-promotion and provide a forum for sharing credible knowledge.
Tips for driving engagement on your LinkedIn group
Here are some proven tips to help drive more active engagement among members of your LinkedIn group:
Welcome and onboard new members
When someone joins, send them a message introducing the group and key information. Make them feel welcomed.
Highlight active participants
Recognize active contributors by featuring them in a “Member Spotlight” or thanking them publicly for their participation.
Share multimedia content
Posts with images, infographics, videos and slide decks tend to spark increased engagement vs plain text.
Leverage LinkedIn’s native post types
Utilize options like polls, events, jobs and special announcements to encourage responses.
Incentivize engagement
Offer exclusive discounts, content access or giveaways only for group participants.
Promote hashtags and keywords
Using common hashtags and keywords makes it easier to organize relevant discussions.
Collaborate with partners
Work with complimentary brands or influencers to cross-promote content and co-host events.
Analyze and experiment
Monitor post analytics to double down on what sparks conversation and engagements.
Go mobile
Encourage members to turn on mobile notifications so they stay updated on-the-go.
Driving member participation takes strategy and consistency. Evaluate what resonates with your audience and offer exclusive value to make your group a “must-join” community.
Common LinkedIn group management mistakes
When managing a LinkedIn group, there are some common mistakes that could hinder your group’s success:
- Not posting regularly – Keep a consistent cadence of valuable posts flowing.
- Over-promoting – Avoid using it as just an advertising channel.
- Ignoring member requests – Respond promptly to join requests and questions.
- Lax moderation – Monitor for spam posts, irrelevant content, etc.
- Micromanaging – Allow for open discussions vs censoring heavily.
- Letting stagnate – Don’t neglect the group for long periods.
- Impersonal tone – Take a genuine, human approach in communications.
- Lacking variety – Mix up post formats, topics, authors, etc.
- Not leveraging data – Use LinkedIn’s analytics to optimize efforts.
- Spam invites – Only invite those interested, avoid mass invites.
Avoiding these missteps helps maintain a high-quality, trusted environment that satisfies your group members. Active, hands-on group management is essential.
LinkedIn group rules and settings
Here are key settings and rules to configure for your LinkedIn group:
Membership approval
– Open vs closed group
– Pre-approve vs auto-approve
– Restrict by geography, industry, seniority
User roles
– Admin – Full group access
– Manager – Helps manage posts and members
– Member – Can post and comment
Post moderation
– Pre-approve posts
– Block specific keywords
– Profanity filter strength
Membership requests
– Auto-approve after question response
– Manually approve requests
– Decline requests
Announcements
– Post welcome message
– Highlight new members
– Send digest emails
Advertising
– Allow sponsored posts
– Prohibit external advertising
Analytics
– Access group metrics
– Monitor member demographics
Configuring your group rules and settings allows you to maintain your desired environment, engagement and exclusivity.
Integrating a LinkedIn group with other channels
To maximize exposure, consider integrating your LinkedIn group with other marketing channels:
Company website
– Embed a LinkedIn follow widget
– Link to your group in website navigation
Email newsletters
– Promote your group in email campaigns
– Share key group discussions
Social media
– Cross-post content on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
– Coordinate hashtag campaigns
Paid ads
– Run sponsored posts promoting group
– Retarget website visitors with group ads
Live events
– Host events exclusive for group members
– Provide discounts for in-person events
Offline materials
– Print LinkedIn/URL on business cards
– Include in presentations, tradeshow booths, etc.
SEO
– Optimize group page with keywords
– Land website links pointing to group
Integrated campaigns, exclusives and incentives help attract an engaged group audience to complement your other marketing efforts.
LinkedIn group usage statistics and trends
Group member demographics
According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workforce Report, group members tend to be:
– Senior level (41%)
– Director level (28%)
– Manager level (23%)
– Entry level (8%)
Most popular group topics
The top interest categories for LinkedIn groups based on members are:
Category | Members |
---|---|
Technology | 130M |
Education | 95M |
Business Services | 85M |
Entrepreneurship | 65M |
Jobs | 55M |
LinkedIn group growth
– There are over 2 million LinkedIn groups
– The average group size is 2,500+ members
– LinkedIn groups are growing at 15%+ annually
– 92% of group members engage monthly
Company representation
– 57% of LinkedIn groups represent companies
– 43% focus on common interests/professions
– 30M+ members are in Amazon groups
The growth, seniority and engagement of LinkedIn group participants presents major opportunities for brands and organizations to connect.
Examples of popular LinkedIn groups
Here are some real examples of successful, highly-engaged LinkedIn Groups:
HubSpot Group
– 790K members
– Daily posts by HubSpot employees
– Discussions on inbound marketing
Copywriting Clinic
– 160K members
– Advice from professional copywriters
– Work samples, critiques, Q&A
Entrepreneurs With ADHD
– 48K members
– Focused on entrepreneur challenges
– Peer support and advice
Amazon Web Services
– 180K members
– AWS experts share insights
– Cloud computing news and tips
These demonstrate the variety of professional networks, brand advocates, and niche communities that can be built around specific topics and common interests via LinkedIn groups.
Conclusion
In summary, creating a LinkedIn group provides brands, businesses and organization an opportunity to establish a professional community, showcase expertise, generate leads and increase visibility.
With 2 million+ groups, it is a popular platform for companies, affinity networks, alumni, special interests and industry professionals to connect. Successful LinkedIn groups are actively managed, deliver value to members through exclusive content and discussions, and integrate seamlessly with other marketing channels.
While group creation is simple, driving ongoing engagement requires consistency, listening to your audience, leveraging data and giving members reasons to keep participating. Avoid common pitfalls like inconsistent posting, irrelevance and lack of moderation.
Configuring rules and settings allows you to maintain your desired group environment and exclusivity. Take full advantage of LinkedIn groups for business development, thought leadership and audience engagement by providing a forum focused on your niche.