How many of us keep posting marketing content in social media groups, especially niche groups or professional groups, that we know lack engagement? Groups that have long turned into sales bulletin boards, and yet we keep on posting there. I call these groups "ghost groups". They're there, they have a great name that fits our targeted audience, in fact, our targeted audience is probably a part of that group since they too saw the name, and yet nothing. Still, we keep posting, because we have nothing to lose right?
I think we do have something to lose. Posting valuable content in "ghost groups" gives an illusion of boosting marketing efforts. We often feel that if we post on so many groups, then our marketing must be great. That it's a matter of statistics, post a lot and something will, sure enough, catch on. In fact, the number of groups we post in may even be part of our KPIs and so we've done a good job posting in 20 groups right? Wrong.
I came across so many "ghost groups" that emit a sense of desertedness. It seems as if the moderators themselves have deserted the group and no longer bother to initiate engagement, encourage participation, and support interactivity. The group has long deserted its initial goal and as a result is now open to anyone who wants to sell something, whether a webinar, a newly launched product, a book, or a service. At this point, nobody bothers to read what is posted and yet can't resist the temptation of posting something themselves, in the hope that their posts will be read, of course.
This circle of desertedness is not serving anyone, not the group owners, not the members, and certainly not our marketing efforts. Similar to our illusion of posting in 20 groups and feeling great about our marketing efforts, so do "ghost group" owners who are under the illusion that as long as people post in their group, the group is doing well. Well, guess what? It's not.
So, let's start by taking an inventory of all the groups we are members of and see how many of them are actually "ghost groups". Here are some content marketing best practices and questions for LinkedIn Groups few questions to ask yourselves in order to understand if a group is a "ghost group" or a group that is worth staying with:
1. Is there a high rate of engagement? Or any engagement at all?
2. Does it have a clear mission statement?
3. Does it have clear rules for posting a post?
4. Does it host online or on-site events?
5. Is moderation active? Does it encourage engagement?
6. When was the last post posted?
7. Does it have quality posts?
In summary, it's about quality vs. quantity and being realistic rather than under an illusion that our marketing efforts will eventually bring results from "ghost groups". It's also a request from moderators to leverage the greatest asset they have into a valuable platform that generates success for all stakeholders.
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