In an effort to add some value back to LinkedIn groups, group owners and managers can now share top content with group members using what they call recommended group posts.
If you have been an owner or manager for a LinkedIn group for a while, you know that LinkedIn took away the messaging feature leaving us unable to message group members which reduced the value to owning a group. They did this because of the complaints about too much spam in groups. Personally, I think it is up to the group owner and manager to monitor the groups content and not LinkedIn.
Recognizing that groups have been ghost towns, LinkedIn is giving a small amount of authority back to group owners or manager with this new feature, recommended group posts which they launched with the idea of keeping members informed about the latest conversations and important news in the community.
Steps to Recommend a Group Post
- Navigate to the Groups homepage.
- Click the More icon at the top of the post you want to recommend.
- Click Recommend this post.
- Click Recommend to confirm your selection.
- You’ll receive an error message if you:
- Recommend a post that has already been recommended
- Recommend a post too early (only one post can be recommended per group every seven days).
- Group members will be notified about the recommended post.
There Are Restrictions to Prevent Spam
Here’s the fine print that you should be aware of before getting too excited about this feature.
LinkedIn is only giving you a small amount of authority meaning they still will control who within the group will actually receive the notification of your recommended post!
- To prevent spam and unwanted notifications, the number of members receiving notifications will vary. Member’s will receive notifications dependent on LinkedIn’s proprietary algorithm that are specific to each member’s notification frequency and whether they have chosen to opt out of these types of notifications.
This means, do NOT expect everyone in your group will see the notification message.
I’ve written about LinkedIn’s most important settings for gaining visibility, in addition you should be aware of where to find and update your group notification settings. Go to the ME icon (your photo) on the top navigation bar. Access the drop-down menu, under account select ‘Privacy & Settings.’ Now click on the communications tab.
- Only one post can be recommended per group every seven days. This obviously is LinkedIn’s way to stop what they deem as too many messages being sent to group members.
- This is the best one: We encourage all group engagement to be professional and polite. As a result, all posts are subject to the terms of the LinkedIn User Agreement and Professional Community Policies.
Suggestions for Making Your One Post Count
- Create a new post with highlights of several other posts in the group that week. In other words, you could call it “Top Posts of the Week” or something similar. I would then add the names of the posts and create a big graphic that says Top Weekly Posts drawing people to that post.
- Highlight a group member for their key contribution to the group or the business community in general.
- Share news or important information about the group or an event.
- Share a trending industry article that the group members would find value in
Conclusion
Delivering value to the group members and engaging them in the group discussion is what builds a group. Encouraging members to come to the group for specific value is why the role of the group owner should be. I encourage group owners and managers to give recommended posts a try!
