LinkedIn Pods
Have You Heard About LinkedIn Pods?
If your target customers are other business owners, there is a good chance you are spending time on LinkedIn. And as you browse through your feed you have probably noticed some people seem to get lots of interaction on their posts, while others don’t. So how do they get people to notice, like, share, and talk about their content?
Of course, it starts with good content. But there’s lots of good content which is ignored in the rushing river of the news feed. You need a strategy to get the LinkedIn algorithm to pay attention to your content, serving it up in the news feed on a regular basis. That’s where LinkedIn Pods can add value to your social media strategy.
What are LinkedIn Pods?
Look closely at people whose posts regularly seem to show up with lots of engagement and you may notice the same people commenting, liking, and sharing. This is an example of a LinkedIn Pod. The concept is simple. It is essentially a group of people who agree to work together to like, share, and comment on each other’s stuff on a regular basis.
In a way, it is like moving your best referral circle or networking group online. It works best if the people in the pod share common audiences or interests so it makes sense to interact and engage. Initially it will make time on LinkedIn more interesting as you are actually interacting instead of mindlessly scrolling, but it has other value as well. The way LinkedIn works, your audience can see when you like, share, or comment on content of other members of your pod. This cross promotion helps each member reach more people, but the value extends beyond your communities.
Just like all the other social media platforms, LinkedIn uses an algorithm to identify content people are interested in. So as you like, share, or comment on content, the LinkedIn algorithm notices that a piece of content is getting a little more traction. As a result, it is more likely to be presented to a wider community, which then comments, likes, and interacts and the cycle begins again.
It may seem as if LinkedIn pods are gaming the system. And it is true some people will always find a way to abuse an idea to spam everyone else. People who join pods with no common interests just to push their content will end up randomly sharing irrelevant content. Eventually their audience will tune them out.
But if you join the right LinkedIn pods these groups will help you facilitate positive activity on LinkedIn. So the trick is to find (or create) a good pod and work it.
The Basics of Great LinkedIn Pods
As with all types of marketing activities, some people are better at it than others. Here are a few tips to make your pod experience productive:
- Group members must share something in common so the content is relevant to each other’s audiences.
- The ideal size is between 10 – 20 people. Less than that and there isn’t enough variety of content to share, or enough people to create critical mass. More than that, it is hard to keep up with everyone’s content.
- Agree on a schedule. Without one some members will share everyday, drowning out the content submitted by members who only post once a week.
- Create a sharing platform. While some people use Google docs to share links, the most common way seems to be a messaging thread right on LinkedIn. You can hop in daily and see what is new, but it can be a bit overwhelming if too many people are sharing at once. Another technique is to simply tag group members in the post or comments so they are alerted when you share new content.
- Set ground rules. Everyone in the group must agree to engage with content of other members. How often varies by group, but I would suggest a minimum of a 5:1 ratio. For everything you submit, you must interact with five pieces of content from other members.
Closing Thought
Not all pods are equal. If you end up in one which isn’t meeting your objectives, it is ok to move on and find a community which will support your LinkedIn Goals.
looking for more from LinkedIn?
If you are looking to be a part of an an engaged online community look for me on LInkedIn.
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