With LinkedIn as one of the top three social platforms for business (the other two being Facebook and Twitter), professionals of any industry can use this network to promote their online identity and get ahead in their Internet marketing.

In order to do that, you need to have a social media business plan with the objective of growing your email list, brand awareness, market reach, customer share, leads, and event participation, all of which will lead to an increase in sales.

What strategies work with your goals

You need to determine strategies that will help you accomplish your goals. Next, create an ROI measurement sheet for these strategies. Each week, set aside six to ten hours to carry out your strategies and measure the results. Based on the measurements, develop your long term social media plan.

Some strategies that you can implement on LinkedIn are posting status updates (also known as network updates), sending direct messages, and creating content (can be articles and/or videos) then distributing these through LinkedIn. Subsequently, measure these strategies through inquiries and web traffic.

The promotional mindset

Additionally, you can give away something of value to acquire people’s information and email addresses and grow your online community. Some items that you can offer for free are case studies, white papers, ebooks, articles, and video tips. You can house these materials on your own landing page where people can download them, or on a free service such as Wordpress or Box.net.

Use Aweber or Constant Contact to automate the process. Once someone signs up for your email list, they’ll receive the link to your document or video right away. To get people to opt-in, promote your free resource via status updates, emails, direct messages, and active group involvement.

When it comes to status updates, keep in mind that they have to be attention getting, relevant to your industry, on topic, and to the point. They also need to be timely, so consider what time of the day and what days of the week your target audience are most likely online.