When you talk about social media, Facebook and Twitter tend to get most of the buzz. But many financial advisors might not realize that another network may generate better results: LinkedIn.

The business-oriented social networking site that launched in 2003 is mainly used for professional networking. At the beginning of 2011, LinkedIn reported having more than 90 million registered users in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Some advisors are experimenting on LinkedIn, aware that the site has potential but not sure what that potential is. Others may be plowing ahead, uncertain how LinkedIn interacts with the rest of their marketing plans. By better understanding your business goals and the uses of LinkedIn, you can enhance your marketing to build your practice.

BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

Depending on your goals, you may find there are several worthwhile ways to use LinkedIn in your marketing:

* Building relationships. Stay in touch with existing contacts by reviewing their activity and sending short, personal notes.

* Understanding prospects. Investigate prospective clients to identify their fit in your practice and their specific interests.

* Handpicking specific prospects. Seek out potential clients in your target market - meeting them through existing contacts.

* Listening to concerns. Uncover your clients' needs and their perception of your services.

* Attracting prospects to a brand. Project a consistent and positive image of your practice and its capabilities.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

We meet new colleagues and prospects all the time. Some stay in our network, but many drift away. Inviting people to connect on LinkedIn is an easy way to reinforce that acquaintance and tell contacts they're important to you.

Once you're connected, you can see changes in their profile, their recommendations and connections and other activity. (Your LinkedIn homepage will stream activity by your connections.) Periodically, these changes may call for a note, such as congratulating your contact on a promotion, acknowledging a shared interest or requesting help.

If you have not seen a noteworthy update on your homepage but want to connect with a contact, review the contact's profile for ideas. The profile may show recent activity you missed or reveal an interest that you share.

Personal notes allow you to show your contacts you're thinking of them. Your objective is to acknowledge the contact as an individual. LinkedIn is a resource to identify relevant topics for notes and, since the contact specified the topic, you know they are relevant.

UNDERSTAND PROSPECTS

Get in the habit of searching LinkedIn before you meet with prospective clients. With 90 million participants, LinkedIn is rich with data that can support a new relationship. Although profiles are sometimes cryptic, they are usually a trove of information, and the information is accurate since it is provided by the contact.

The prospect's profile shows his or her job responsibilities, providing information about the prospect's likely income and influence. The profile lists the prospect's employment history and education, providing possible matches to your background and relationships. It may list interests and hobbies, potentially providing you with talking points to build rapport. If you find common interests, that knowledge can boost your confidence going into the meeting.

In his book Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling, Sam Richter says, "If you practice sales intelligence, you will close twice as much business versus those who wing it." Learning how to find information before a meeting will help you connect.

HANDPICK PROSPECTS

LinkedIn can also help you find more prospects. A target market has a common communication system, and that system can be searched on LinkedIn. You can find specific prospects by location, company, industry, title, school or keyword. Of course, you can also use these search terms in combination.

For example, if you search for Microsoft in the company field, you will come up with almost 102,000 people. (If you put Microsoft in the keywords field, you'd come up with about 834,000 people.) Add "VP" in the title field and you reduce the result to 6,525 people. Restrict your search to within 10 miles of Microsoft headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. (Zip code 98007), and you reduce the number to 2,222.

Within this group, LinkedIn will tell you a name if you are connected through one connection, a connection of a connection or through a group. If LinkedIn tells you the name, the network will also tell you how you are connected to the prospect. It's usually best to contact prospects through your connections.