One of the cornerstones of inbound marketing is the ability for you to publicly demonstrate, as a brand, your knowledge and expertise. Some people find it a challenge to do this, but LinkedIn Groups are one of the easiest ways to start building credibility today.
We’ve talked about the advantages of LinkedIn groups before on our blog, but today we’re only going to examine the benefits of being a top contributor for a LinkedIn Group. Top contributors on LinkedIn Groups have their message and brand reach many more users than would otherwise be possible, and also position themselves as thought leaders.
The one thing you can be guaranteed of as a top contributor in a LinkedIn Group is a large reach. First of all, your name and profile picture will be showcased on the right-hand side of the LinkedIn Group affixed with a top contributor title. Your post that got you to your top contributor status will also be shown in the rotating banner at the top of the LinkedIn page. That same post will also most likely be up above the fold on the page so it’s almost impossible for users to avoid seeing you and your post.
LinkedIn Groups also send out emails to their members. Individuals can customize their email settings but by default they should be getting updates at least once a week. Posts from top contributors are featured on these updates that go out. It’s reasonable for your post in a decent-sized group to be featured in an email that goes out to 60,000+ people. Oh, and by the way that’s free to you. As a top contributor you’re basically introduced to many more people than you could reach by just posting from your profile.
Profile views are important if you’re trying to increase awareness of your brand. You should make it loud and clear on your personal profile that you work for “X” Company so users can navigate to your brand’s page and learn more about it.
Just participating in a LinkedIn Group and occasionally commenting on discussions will give you a few more profile views each week. There are plenty of lurkers within LinkedIn Groups who just bounce around looking at the profiles of active members.
As a top contributor you have a good chance of getting 5-10 times more profile views than you would get just by participating in a group. I can tell you firsthand that you’ll want a LinkedIn Premium subscription in order to see all of the views you get, especially if your role includes business development for your brand.
Getting “street cred” on the internet is difficult. Unless you’re Sir Richard Branson, people might not think you’re the most credible source right away. What may take months of blogging and posting online to accomplish might only take a few days or a week if you become a LinkedIn Top Contributor within a group.
Top contributors are usually up there for a reason: they know what they’re doing and have some great insights the group finds valuable. The longer you keep your top contributor status the more credibility you’ll get. Also, users will start to recognize you and mentally earmark your posts as coming from a great source.
Now you know what the benefits of being a top contributor on LinkedIn are, so the only thing left for you to do is start contributing. There isn’t a science to it, just be genuine with your posts and don’t solely promote yourself or your brand. Just contribute to the group with great content and discussions. You’ll start seeing the results before you know it. Also, keep an eye on your discussions. Users will probably ask you questions so you should be ready to answer them and further solidify your credibility.
Topics: Social Media
