By Jennifer Henderson

When I began contributing blog posts to Clear Message Media, I decided it would be good to join a few social media marketing groups on LinkedIn. While LinkedIn groups have helped keep me up-to-date on the developments in social media, I have had a hard time keeping up with all of the information. It can be a bit overwhelming.

For instance, one of the groups I joined—Social Media Marketing—has over 595,000 members. Over the past month, group members posted over 7,000 discussions. PR Newswire says the Social Media Marketing group on LinkedIn is the third largest and fastest growing group on the networking site.

Marketing experts agree that LinkedIn groups are a great way to make contacts, grow businesses, and keep on top of the latest news and trends in your field. But, with so much information to sift through, how do you choose which groups to join? And how do you participate in a way that benefits both you and your business?

Don’t Get In Over Your Head

LinkedIn allows its users to join up to 50 groups. While it may be tempting to join every group that seems even remotely related to your business field, you may feel overwhelmed and unable to effectively participate.

Instead, judiciously choose LinkedIn groups that will benefit your business. That way, you can keep up with the group and not drown in messages and discussions that are irrelevant to your goals. When searching for a group in the directory on LinkedIn, type in keywords that are not too broad. For instance, when I searched for “Social Media Marketing,” I found the fastest-growing group on LinkedIn, which, as I already mentioned, is a bit unwieldy. When I entered in “Social Media Consulting,” however, I found a subgroup of “Social Media Marketing” that seems tailored to my needs. Instead of 595,000 members, the subgroup consists of just over 3,700 members, which is more manageable.

Engage with Members of LinkedIn Groups

Engaging with other social media participants is what really helps grow your business. So, once you join a LinkedIn group, you should become an active participant in that community.  LinkedIn provides tips on leveraging your group membership. The company encourages members to start or participate in a discussion or poll. Once you begin sharing your opinions and knowledge about certain topics, other group members will recognize you as an expert in your field.

In LinkedIn groups, you can also send a free message to a member, which is a terrific way to grow your network. Just make sure that the message you send is personalized and not LinkedIn’s automatic message, says John Jantsch, a social media blogger. Jantsch recommends reaching out to five connections each week with a personal message through LinkedIn. The messages can range from asking what the person has been working on to sharing helpful business information. “I’ve done this in the offline world with handwritten notes for years and the impact is dramatic and long lasting. I can’t tell you how often this simple, personal touch has led to business,” he writes.

Support Your Business Goals

As a reminder, as Carole wrote in an earlier blog post, your social media efforts should always support your business goals. If some of your goals include expanding your network and learning and sharing knowledge in your field, then joining and participating in LinkedIn groups is definitely worth the effort.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below about how you use LinkedIn groups. What do you like about the groups and how have you leveraged your membership in them?