Group Hug Time

A good social media group, community, list, or e-group, depending on the network of choice for your business, promotes users adding comments, links, pictures, videos and more that are based on that groups particular interests. They promote interaction, networking and education with their members. They want their users to grow from the group experience… in turn developing the group.

Social media groups are an excellent place to get new ideas, work out problems or issues or connect with other businesses. They are definitely a great tool the HAS NOT BEEN UTILIZED ENOUGH by most businesses to their potential.

Social media groups could offer a wealth of knowledge and connections, and all you have to do is participate. No matter what you’re into, chances are good there is a group out there for your business… heck, create one! That can be just as rewarding, if not more.

Starting a group or a conversation within a group is an effective way for your brand to be the facilitator of engaging conversation that could promote your industry and impact your customer base. Think about it, you could be bouncing ideas, products and projects off of others that may view things differently and give feedback in ways you may not have imagined. The possibilities of communication are endless.

Big Groups Benefits

• Network with potential clients and like-minded businesses.
• Educate and learn about the latest news in the field of interest.
• Share your business and business knowledge.

WARNING — Danger Danger

Participation is key, but how you participate is also key. It is not a platform for constant advertising or spamming members. This has been an epidemic in some of the different social media groups. That is not why people bring their business there. This kind of activity will get you banned from the group on most networks. Keep in mind social media groups are a place to engage, learn, and share your knowledge and experiences with others of the same niche. Groups are also a great way to increase followers and interaction on your own business pages. Used appropriately, you will reap the many benefits.

There’s A Group Platform for All Your Needs

Facebook has features that help groups control who sees what. Depending on your business you can create or be part of a SECRET GROUP that only its members can find and see. A CLOSED GROUP allows anyone to find and see who is in it, but only its members can see the posts. Then there are OPEN GROUPS where its members and posts can be seen by anyone. Depending on the group, you may need to be invited, put a request in to join, or simply just join. Facebook are beginning to take off.

Google+ launched COMMUNITIES in December of 2012 and they grew like wild fire. A Google+ community can be developed by a business, an individual, or a group of individuals based on any topic of their liking. They can be private or public. You can participate in these communities using your personal profile or your business page. Most groups and businesses love to share photos so Google+ has added a new feature where groups can store and view photos shared within their community. All photos shared within a community can be found in one place. Great for product shots, photography, charts, concept boards… you name it!

Meetup is similar to the other networks and also very different. They are ALL ABOUT GROUPS THAT ACTUALLY MEET IN PERSON. Participants meet and join groups online that cover every interest under the sun. The group plans activities based on those common interests and then they meet in person. Meetup helps you organize, plan and find groups based on your zip code. It also helps you plan and promote the activities for the group. Each group does have their own chat areas on walls to promote what’s going on and even areas to upload images from their activities. Check out one of my recent blogs all about Meetup here … http://www.sourballpython.com/blog/meetup-com-commercial-to-follow/.

Twitter does not have groups but they do have LISTS. Not quite the same thing because they are for reading tweets from a certain list of users that may or may not have common interest. They are trying. You can see and read the tweets list’s stream, but you cannot send or direct a tweet to a member of the list for only those members to see. It’s a start. The little blue bird is working on this one I bet. Sourballpython will be watching to see how this pans out.

Pinterest is in the running for becoming one of the top social networks, and they are getting there by “Keeping up with the Joneses.” They too have groups… aka SHARED BOARDS, CONTRIBUTOR BOARDS, COMMUNITY BOARDS, and COLLABORATIVE BOARDS. Apparently they are all the rage. Pinterest’s group boards work just like a regular Pinterest board except that — along with the board creator, other people can pin to the same board, but you have to be invited. It’s a great tool for sharing ideas… wink wink you creative minds out there.

We are talking business groups so I left the biggest business network for last but not the least…

LinkedIn boasts 300 million members with two new members every second. The difference between LinkedIn and the above mentioned networks is that they are ALL ABOUT BUSINESS. So if you are looking for groups for your business go no further. Much the same as Facebook, LinkedIn has OPEN GROUPS that can be seen by anyone on the web and can be shared on other social networking platforms, and they have MEMBERS-ONLY GROUPS where discussions can only be seen by the group members. You can also create sub groups from the original group. Oh my! Currently these subgroups cannot be open groups but that is an option they are considering for the future. Unfortunately, LinkedIn did get a bad rap for their SPAMMY GROUPS recently. No good.

There are so many social media group options out there for every business niche. And as we say about the social media platforms, you just can’t afford not to get involved in these social media groups. Just imagine the possibilities, or better yet, start a COLLABORATIVE Pinterest board and plot out the possibilities. Maybe start a Meetup to brainstorm business group strategies. Oh wait! Build a Google+ Community to post topics on the concept!

Does your business get involved in social media groups? If so, which ones and how do you contribute? We would love to know…