Linkedin Marketing: 5 Secrets to Syndicating Your Articles on Linkedin Groups

One area of Linkedin Marketing and content syndication that I've overlooked until recently is sharing my content on the social networking platform, Linkedin. In all honesty, I've never been very active on Linkedin because I haven't really known how to connect there.  Now, I'm delving more and more into Linkedin and have discovered that it's probably the most useful social networking platform out there, much more so than Twitter or Facebook, even though those two mediums tend to get the bulk of the publicity.

One of the many ways to syndicate your content is via the groups you have joined on Linkedin.  However, this must be done carefully so that you come across as adding value, rather than coming across as solely promotional.  What are the secrets to syndicating your content on Linkedin to make it a useful and effective strategy to leverage your expertise and increase your online visibility?

Here are 5 secrets to expanding your Linkedin marketing by syndicating your articles on Linkedin groups:

1.  Pick the right groups.  So many people choose groups of their competitors rather than their target market when they join groups on Linkedin.  Sure, you want to hob-nob with colleagues, but your networking time is best spent in Linkedin groups where your target market hangs out.  Do a keyword search for groups containing your target market, and pick 10 that seem to fit the bill.  Then, focus on 5 groups as your starting point, so that you're not completely overwhelmed.  Track your progress in terms of your submissions and the reaction to your submissions.  If you're not engaging the group in discussion, try another strategy.  However, if the members of the groups are generally silent, cross this group off of your list and go to the next one on your list.  Do this slowly and soon you'll develop a great list of interactive groups on Linkedin that contain your target market.

2.  Know where you want to send the visitor.  When you link to your content, you need to decide if you want to send the visitor to your web site, your blog, or to a high traffic web site that published your article.  My personal preference is to send visitors to my blog, as I can customize my call to action there based on the content of the article.  I can do this via a cool little Wordpress plugin called WPSubscribers.

3.  Have a call to action on your content location.  What is it that you want visitors to do?  Subscribe to your  blog?  Get on your email list?  Opt in to a client attraction device? Visit a product or service page?  Have them sign up for a free consultation?  You can mix and match these calls to action most easily by sending the visitor to the copy of your article on your blog.

4.  Create interest in the article.  Rather than just copying and pasting your article into the discussion on Linkedin, try and engage the reader with a compelling subject line in your discussion.  For example, you might use "New Debate for Group" -- and ask your question.  Or, perhaps you use, "Do You Believe..."  where you insert a misconception and invite group members to check out their views on the common misconception.  Another way to engage members is to ask, "Are You Making These XX Mistakes in [topic name here]?" where you can explain what most people are doing incorrectly.

5.  Respond to discussion.  Don't forget to check back to respond to the discussion and questions posed as a result of your posting. Even if people disagree, acknowledge their point of view without becoming hostile or taking offense.  Take the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and bolster your point with a related blog post that explains the new point in more detail.

Make your content continue to work for you.  Syndicating your content to Linkedin groups as a Linkedin marketing strategy is a phenomenal way to get your name and expertise in front of more people than before!