In December, LinkedIn released its list of the 12 best company pages of 2012. According to a post on the official LinkedIn blog, the pages were chosen because they used a range of features to both enhance the company's brand and communicate with its audience in a meaningful way. Some winners include Adobe, HubsSpot and CNBC. You can see the complete slideshow on the LinkedIn blog.

LinkedIn has been actively promoting its company pages, releasing a new look and several upgrades toward the end of last year. The network, which is known predominantly as an arena for making b2b connections, is attempting to compete with other social media sites that have long been considered avenues for direct interaction between businesses and their target audiences. Company pages look to be a promising way of increasing LinkedIn's value to its members, but they contain many features that are still underutilized. Try using these to enhance your firm's page:

Company status updates. LinkedIn rolled out company status updates in October, providing firms with a way to share news, articles and other content. Like any social media platform, one key to building worthwhile relationships is frequent engagement. But do not just update your page for the sake of saying you have. Make sure you comment on items that those in need of your services will find relevant and useful.

Products and services. The products and services tab offers more useful features than may initially be apparent. It is perfect for highlighting your most popular practice areas, but it can also be used to show off ebooks, planning guides or other promotions – all of which help drive traffic back to your site. The products tab also provides a “Product and Service Spotlight” area, which can contain up to three clickable, scrolling banners showcasing your firm's services. These enable you to steer connections to specific pages within your site, depending on their needs.

Audience targeting. LinkedIn allows you to create multiple targeted landing pages within the products area. This means you can emphasize different services based on a set of parameters like industry or geography. Not every visitor will see the same information, allowing for very user-specific messaging. Depending on your firm's size, this feature could be helpful for generating need-based leads that are more likely to convert.

Prominent visual branding. Visuals matter on social media sites. LinkedIn's company pages encourage visual branding by providing a large banner space at the top of the page in which your firm can reinforce the visual message being conveyed by your website and print marketing materials. Thoughtful use of consistent visuals helps make your firm more memorable and accessible.

Recommendations. Getting clients and colleagues to endorse your services on your company page gives your firm more clout with those searching for legal services. The phenomenon, dubbed social proof, is real. People tend to do things that other people – particularly their friends – are doing. Showing evidence that people have hired your firm with positive results helps convince others to do the same.

Videos. A well-done video gives you the opportunity to show people in need of your services how you will help them. Videos are an effective way to introduce yourself to prospects and build some level of trust before they even call your firm. Videos can be incorporated into into the products and services area, but they must be hosted on YouTube.

LinkedIn already provides a useful venue for lead generation through recommendations and referrals from colleagues, which attorneys should be leveraging. The additional ability to communicate with potential clients only adds value to your firm's presence on the network.

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