We’re toasting Citi now that their Connect: Professional Women’s Network group on LinkedIn won the Shorty Award for Best Use of Social Media for Financial Services. Citi’s LinkedIn group had some tough competition in the category and was up against Bankrate and PNC – so we’re delighted that the Shorty Award judges recognized the Connect group as a worthy social media innovator. Here’s our team celebrating with Citi at Monday night’s award ceremony:
We’re not surprised that Connect won the Shorty, given the value the Connect group contributes to its members and to Citi. More than 115,000 people have joined the group since it launched just a year ago, and they’ve discovered an engaged community for women to exchange insights, advice, and support one another as they navigate their careers. In fact, Connect is the fast-growing group on LinkedIn, with some of the highest numbers of discussion threads, comments, likes and shares. Its members are twice as likely to comment on discussions and share content – sure signs that they get tremendous value from the group.
Women are the primary financial decision makers in more than half of all households, and the Connect group gives Citi a place to engage with them in a meaningful way. Citi employees actively participate, learning from members along the way. This enables the company to serve Connect members with content that helps them make smart decisions throughout their careers, wherever their professional journeys may take them.
If you haven’t yet checked out the Connect group for yourself, now’s a good time to find out why more than 115,000 people have joined to share career insights with their peers. As the Shorty Awards team realized, timely content and highly engaged participants are the best recipe for online community building. For an inside look at how the Connect group was launched and developed, read more about Citi's LinkedIn story.