Microsoft just announced plans to purchase Linkedin for 26 billion dollars. If you haven’t already taken advantage of this powerful networking tool, now is the time. LinkedIn is the largest social media network for business, offering an excellent opportunity to connect with your audience, establish authority in your industry, and yes, grow your revenue. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, there’s no better way to leverage your business contacts, connect with potential employees, and perform market research. Here are a few strategies you can implement to discover more qualified leads AND build a stronger team.

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Post Industry-Specific Content As Often As Possible:

The time-old rule of all social media networks applies here as well: publish or perish. The more you can engage your existing contacts, the better your potential to form new connections on the platform. Posting regularly, especially relevant content, can keep you top-of-mind with old clients, forgotten prospects, past colleagues, and even old classmates, which could lead to valuable repeat or referral business later down the line.

Research And Contact Prospects:

LinkedIn gives businesses a unique opportunity to connect with anyone that works behind-the-scenes at a different organization. Their in-app messaging feature, InMail, makes it possible to pitch your idea to virtually anyone that comes up in search. The search feature lets you browse everything from a prospect's past positions to their current interests– making it a lot easier to identify the unique needs and pain points that your service might alleviate. After all, it’s a lot easier to prepare the perfect sales pitch when you know exactly who you’re talking to, especially when you’re looking to establish a partnership with another business owner.

Take Advantage Of Groups:

Maybe direct mail is not your thing. Luckily, LinkedIn has a wide range of solutions for networking that go beyond one-on-one contact. There are thousands of LinkedIn groups that you can join and participate in. It’s a great way to start a conversation with related businesses, and an especially great way to develop authority. Joining a group of designers, contractors, or architects may put you in a unique position to make recommendations and answer questions. You can even host webinars or start Google Hangouts with the people in your group, making it easy to move potential clients down your marketing funnel. This kind of “freemium” information takes virtually no time, but can prove highly profitable with the right audience.

Find Skilled Candidates:

Forming and keeping a great team is essential to building a great business, and the aforementioned search and targeting features on LinkedIn make it easier than ever to discover candidates with the right skillset for your team. You can quickly and efficiently find jobseekers that already know how to use your software, for example, to minimize training time. The advanced search feature is extremely comprehensive, allowing you to search for multiple skills at once, and even set up automatic notifications whenever someone new fits your desired skillset.

If you aren’t taking advantage of the largest B2B networking site in the world, you’re missing out on a lucrative new way to attract customers, perform market research, grow your lists, and increase sales.

LinkedIn is only the beginning. Browse our site to learn more about developing your inbound marketing strategy, or boosting your content marketing efforts.