mini-series on moving communities: the mental model of a Linked-in member

We’ve been developing methods to move micro-communities, like those that may exist as Linked-in “groups”, to other communities.  We’ve developed a number of communities on Linked-in and have refined our methods to move these “micro-communities” to communities outside of Linked-In groups.  This post will begin to cover some of the mental model highlights we’ve analyzed  to refine our methods.   Social marketers should understand the typical Linked-In member’s mental model before attempting to move them from a Linked-In group community to an outside community.

Its critical to understand the mental model of a Linked-In user. For most Linked-In members, Linked-In is a reflection of their living professional career.  They also perceive Linked-In as one of their primary communication conduits to other professionals and recruiters.  These facts should be considered in the development of any strategy to move a Linked-In group community.

Moves that involve Professional Thought Leadership

Lets say you want to create an industry specific community (for the sake of this article, we’ll call it the “Designer Community”).  You’ve creating profiles, blogs, communities of interest, etc, social bookmarking and all the other social stuff.  We also know that there are multiple groups on Linked-In who are perfect target prospects to bring to our new community.  Is it possible to move a Linked-In micro-community to the new Designer Community?  The answer is absolutely yes, but you’ll need a proven strategy.

Before we talk about a Linked-In member’s mental model, lets explore the negative consequences of executing the wrong strategy.  Linked-in micro communities are smart, well connected, and have a LONG memory.   They are very quick to hang you if they sense you have an atelier motive.  So, be careful and have a well thought out strategy.. otherwise you may not have a second chance.

When developing a strategy to populate the “Designer Community” most people would make the initial mistake of  attempting to get Linked-in members  to participate in their blog.  It’s important to understand that Linked-In members are predisposed to make their comments on Linked-In as opposed to an outside community, especially a new or unknown community.  We’ve run multiple tests to prove this theory.  Why?  To understand the reason, we need to go back to the member’s mental model. Linked-In users members believe their contributions to a Linked-In group discussion add value to their professional credibility by making their Linked-In profile more valuable.   In simpler words, they want “extra credit” for their work.  Credit that is visible and adds value to their professional career (Linked-in profile).

This theory holds true *until* the outside community has some sort of “thought leadership critical mass” (# of members in the outside community)– thereby providing the perception of “extra credit” they will get for their work.  Even if the outside community has critical mass, some Linked-In users will create identical posts in the outside community as well as in the group on Linked-In.   The key take away is that Linked-In Extra Credit users are difficult to build any sense of loyalty with and may create obstacles for attracting other Linked-In members to interact in the outside community. Dual identical posts can create a negative value perception of the outside community for other new Linked-in users we are targeting.

More on the mental model of Linked-In group communities coming soon.

Technorati Tags: social media,linked-in,communities

Advertisement