LinkedIn continues to grow as the strongest business-oriented social network and the latest enhancements are focused on groups. Recent changes announced by LinkedIn add tot he reasons that communicators should be using this tool as part of communication strategy.

First, the Changes

LinkedIn announced the following upcoming changes to groups features that will be released in the next couple of weeks.

• All Groups will be members only
• Content moderation tools will be added
• Content filtering will be improved
• The promotions tab and subgroups will be removed
• Images can be added to conversations
• Users can mention other users in conversations

Best Practices for Using LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups help build brand awareness and engagement.

Find and join the best groups. You need to post to the right groups. Consider both the group size, the number of target connections who are members, and posting frequency when developing your list of target groups. test your choices by becoming a member and monitoring the discussions. You want to find the largest, most relevant, and most active groups related to your content.

Participate before you initiate. Begin by liking or leaving comments on posts. This will give you a feel for information that resonates with and engages members. Only after you have spent some time interacting with others’ posts should you consider starting a discussion of your own.

Get your messaging right. Take note of any group rules. In general, it is best to be personable and not too corporate in your posts. Offer your point of view or ask a question. Sharing relevant articles is a good entry point. Then you can move on to posting self-authored and branded posts.

Illustrate. Visual content performs well. Be sure to use images, infographics, and videos when you have relevant assets.

Post judiciously. Don’t try to dominate the group discussions. A general guideline is to post once a month; modulate from there depending on the frequency of posts to the group.

Make each post unique. Do not post the same article or question to multiple groups. Use different angles tailored to each group for each post.

Make it social. Thank anyone who comments on your post. Respond to comments and answer questions as they come in. Like and comment on the posts of others. When you interact with someone, send them an invitation to connect. It’s all about networking, after all.

[Related: The Ugly Consequences of an Outdated LinkedIn Profile]