Just because they’re shinier, Twitter and Facebook often grab all of the media attention for being social networking powerhouses, which for B2C marketing they are!

However, with more than 55 million users (in over 200 countries, representing 170 industries) LinkedIn is the world’s largest online business social network. From a B2B financial marketing perspective, having a presence on LinkedIn can prove instrumental in building valuable contacts and influencing your target audiences – from prospects and potential employees to industry peers.

Here are just a few practical ways you can use the rich functionality of LinkedIn for your business:

Complete your profile. Include previous jobs, education history and upload a photo of yourself. Use your industry keywords throughout – so search engines can pick up on them.

Upload your existing contact list. This will tell you which people in your contact database are already members. These are the first people to connect with.

Find contacts who are already on LinkedIn. Create a mindmap on paper of the previous companies you have worked for, clients that you knew well but have lost touch with and key partners. Then write down the names of key people under those headings and invite them to connect.

Target specific companies. Search for contacts by industry, interest group, job function, or location.

Use the ‘get introduced through a connection’ feature. Ask your first-level contacts for relevant introductions to their first-level contacts. People are much more likely to trust you when you come with an endorsement from someone they already trust.

Research your prospects before meeting them. You can learn a great deal by reading individual profiles. This can give you great hooks for dialogue.

Give and solicit recommendations within your network. Ask your clients to write a recommendation that will appear on your profile and on theirs. Write recommendations for other people, even if they haven’t requested it.

Find or create Groups. You can find key contacts within your targeted industry by using LinkedIn’s Search Groups function. Taking an active part in forums will increase your networking opportunities and enable you to build your contact base and your authority within the group.

Pose questions and answer others’ questions in the Answers section.
Gain immediate views from experts within a sector. Identify if there are industry experts you need to connect with. Also, providing full and helpful answers also positions you as an authority.

Use the special applications. Integrate blogs, Twitter updates, slideshare and even undertake surveys with your groups.

Update your status. Keep top of mind by linking out to upcoming events, blog posts, or your site. Always include something new that you’re doing. This will appear on your various Groups’ emails.