Don't Forget to be Social on Social Media Join a Group!

It is no secret that social networking can take your business to the next level and increase brand awareness with your target market. Every day millions of people gather to find friends and even search for information by specific topic while on social networks. Sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook have thousands of groups with members that are there to share and find information that is important to them. By joining a group related to your industry and niche you can expose yourself to the many resources available to you. These resources include new blogs to follow, articles that you can comment on, and many links to the unlimited amount of information available to you on the web.

You should join and participate in groups so that you can establish yourself as an expert in your industry. There are many benefits that come along once you start actively participating. A group can provide a way for you to reach out to consumers and share what you do and how you can help. Besides connecting with your target market you may also meet a business mentor or find a new partner for an upcoming joint venture project.

You can search Facebook and Linkedin for all the groups they have available directly from the built-in search forms on the sites. Just like a Google search, you should search using keywords. It is great that Facebook recently updated their search function. The new Facebook Graph Search allows users to search using very specific and targeted phrases. The Facebook Graph Search now allows business owners to dig deep into their demographics to reveal valuable and useable data. To learn more about how to implement the new Facebook Graph Search into your business plan check out my post here.

How to Search for Groups on LinkedIn

1. Log in to your account
2. In the white search bar type in a keyword for the type of group you want to join
3. To the left of the search bar, drop down the options and select Groups
4. Click the blue search magnify glass
5. Review your search results by clicking on view to decide if you want to join that group

How to Search for Groups on Facebook

1. Make sure you are using Facebook as your personal profile

2. Type in your keywords for the type of group you are looking to join we used "Social Media"

      3. Scroll down and select "see more results"

4. You will be directed to the All Results which include results from people, pages, places, groups,    apps, and events

5. At the top narrow the results down by selecting groups

6. Review the results and request to join any groups that catch your eye!

Make sure you contribute your expertise to the group so that you can capitalize on all the benefits of joining a group.

It does not matter what your target market's interests are, you can use the search functions in any social networking site to find out where they gather so that you can begin building an online following.