How To Use LinkedIn For Sales Leads

Linkedin is a powerful tool that affords you the opportunity of building meaningful relationships with players in your industry, and this article will show you four tips on how to generate sales leads using LinkedIn.

Linkedin relationships can be leveraged profitably in more ways than one can imagine.

But a little word of admonition before we proceed into details on ways one can generate sales leads using Linkedin; don’t become obsessed with just closing sales. If the dollar sign keeps popping out of your eyeballs whenever you use LinkedIn, you might repel those who will make LinkedIn usage worth your while.

LinkedIn is for professionals, and if you know anything about professionals, you know they’re not dumb.

Linkedin, the professional social networking site, currently has over 760 million users, and over 260 million of these users are active monthly users. That’s an incredible piece of info right there.

You can only imagine the immense opportunities open to people who learn how to use LinkedIn for sales leads.

Here are 4 actionable tips on how to use LinkedIn for sales leads

The following tips will aid sales and lead generation efforts on LinkedIn but bear in mind that these are not magic bullets!

1. Know your Target Audience

This is an obvious tip, yet it’s just perplexing that a sizable number of people act in total disregard of it. One eloquent example of that is the lackadaisical manner in which some personal profiles and company pages are set up.

A critical study of your target audience will reveal what you should be doing with your profile. If certain things are absent, your model client will probably not trust you enough to reach out to you or accept your invitation to connect. Your current connections will probably feel reluctant to consult you on issues you’re capable of giving insights on. Keep up with your industry best practices by maintaining the right appearance.

Effective use of Linkedin also includes researching and understanding cold contacts before you send out requests to connect.

The same is valid for building relationships offline. You must have some things in common with the person you want to develop a relationship with. Before you send out a request to connect with a cold contact on LinkedIn, you must be sure something productive can be made of the potential relationship.

Just the way the cold contact will appraise your profile, antecedents, qualifications, to mention a few, before deciding to accept your request.

Checking out a potential contact’s profile on other social media platforms can reveal invaluable insights.

The information gleaned from researching the interests of a potential contact on LinkedIn will come in handy when you decide to craft and send the contact a message requesting a connection.

Now that it’s clear that potential contacts on LinkedIn care about the way your profile or company page is set up, we must discuss some ideas that, if implemented effectively, can make a positive difference.

You must fill out all the sections on your LinkedIn profile, and if you have a business, do the same for your LinkedIn Company Page. You know all there’s to know about first impressions. Great first impressions are priceless.

“For a personal profile, the description section is essential. The description section gives you the avenue to tell your story to concerned parties. You’re allowed to talk about both your past and current responsibilities together with your achievements. Good form is crucial here; the description section is a good place to use your industry-relevant keywords. The content of this section should easy to read; sentences should start with verbs, and specifics should be made to trump generalizations.”

A personal profile on LinkedIn also allows users to showcase

• awards,
• test scores
• certifications
• volunteer work
• publications, etc.

Taking the time to complete your LinkedIn profile will create a more human and personable appearance.

A personal profile on LinkedIn will benefit from the use of visual content. Images, infographics, videos, and SlideShare presentations can be deployed to make a profile appealing to a prospect.

Photo by Adam Jang on Unsplash

Again, when writing for LinkedIn, optimize your pages with keywords relevant to your expertise and industry. It makes it easier for the algorithm to pick up your content during a search. However, resist the urge to over punctuate your content with such keywords. It’s unnatural and revolting, in a professionals’ view.

If you have a LinkedIn Company Page, consider getting the ‘buy-in’ of your employees on a uniform LinkedIn Content Strategy.

If they all create LinkedIn accounts and list you as their employer, it reflects positively on your brand as a company, especially if you have a great company culture.

2. How to use LinkedIn for sales leads by posting USEFUL content for your Target Audience

You shouldn’t be surprised that professionals think highly of philosophical views on a social networking site for professionals.

On LinkedIn, one organic way of growing your following and reach is through the publication of relevant original thoughts.

In February of 2014, LinkedIn opened its publishing platform to users, allowing them to post articles reflected on a users’ profile. Fight the urge to post ‘sales’ content on your LinkedIn. It’s a giant red flag for potential connections.

Focus instead on writing about essential trends in your industry; content your current and potential connections will find useful.

This a sincere way of showcasing the quality of value your current and potential contacts can expect from you. To come across as informed, you have to be informed. No shortcuts. Make yourself familiar with LinkedIn tools, pay for, and master LinkedIn premium tools if you can. It has a way of keeping you on the cusp of your industry trends. Your understanding of LinkedIn tools will give you expert status in your industry.

So much has been said about LinkedIn Groups, but enough hasn’t been said.

Linkedin Groups are discussion platforms where members congregate to share ideas on problems or any other relevant issue. The discussion can be centered around services, products, industries, or a niche.

“There are open (standard) and unlisted groups. Anyone can access an open group but to join an unlisted group, the approval of the group manager has to be secured. Members of a standard group can invite others to join.

When utilized effectively, a Group can be a game-changer. Participating in Group discussions showcases your expertise in front of the right crowd while simultaneously bringing other industry mavericks to your attention. As an individual, consider participating in Groups relevant to your industry.”

It’s critical to note that the sanctity of LinkedIn Groups has suffered from the onslaught of some aggressive ‘marketers,’ turning many groups to “spam centers” with little in terms of actual value.

If you can invest time in scouting out relevant unlisted groups and getting the Group Manager to add you, it will be worth your while.

Depending on your competencies, you may be better served to create your Group.

If you’re willing to invest the time necessary to nurture the Group, why not? Bear in mind that launching the Group is the easiest part.

Building the reach of your Group will require intense strategy sessions and team coordination over the long term.

Target a niche audience with content curated specifically for them.

There’s more to starting a Group on LinkedIn, but this isn’t the time or the place.

3. How to use LinkedIn for sales leads by spotting and interacting with current and potential connections

The following steps will help in your interaction with current and potential connections:

• Respond to messages promptly.
• Use LinkedIn Search and Advanced Search functions.
• Pick up clues about possible connections on other social media platforms.
• Browse through your newsfeed regularly and drop comments and well-considered questions on articles relevant to your industry

Invitations will be sent to you. It’s only pragmatic that you filter these applications and accept only invitations from qualified contacts, depending on the services or products you offer or sell as an individual or a business.

“Follow up your acceptance with a message introducing yourself and requesting the other party to reciprocate the gesture. You want to start building those bridges as early as possible.”

It won’t cost you a thing to celebrate birthdays and other work anniversaries of your current connections. Such gestures highlight your human warmth, and the recipients may be motivated to appreciate your thoughtfulness.

The payback can assume the form of an endorsement or a recommendation. Such a tiny gesture can go a long way.

Many LinkedIn users feel giddy when they see the volume of likes and comments their posts manage to trigger.

Make someone happy by liking a post and registering a useful thought in the comment section.

You won’t want to publish an article that garners no likes or comments.

Don’t forget to also check on your current connections from time to time. A thoughtful message can place you in a privileged position in a connection’s life. We’re all emotional creatures, after all.

“You should also consider writing sincere recommendations for colleagues and asking them to reciprocate the gesture.

Here’s why it’s in your best interest to write recommendations and ask colleagues to write you earned recommendations too.”

A LinkedIn recommendation is the online equivalent of recommendation letters one receives from former employers or tutors.

It’s a form of review from fellow professional users on LinkedIn, testifying a person’s competence.

Interestingly, LinkedIn recommendations reflect well on both the recipient and the person who wrote it.

The person writing the recommendation is allowed to showcase the recommendations on their profile, just like the recipient.

An individual who pens strong recommendations is technically advertising his strong connections within his professional circles.

The value recommendations add to a LinkedIn profile are immeasurable because recommendations are the only way to prove your LinkedIn profile is genuine. Think about that.

You can write to someone or ask someone to write you a recommendation after accomplishing something extraordinary, in your professional capacity, with the person.

4. How to use LinkedIn for sales leads using Paid Advertisement and Data Tools

As noted earlier in the article, LinkedIn is a social networking site for savvy professionals. As far as paid advertisements on LinkedIn are concerned, these professionals have no problem with ads adequately labeled. They usually find distasteful because of some people’s unprofessional tendencies to turn all communication pathways into advertisements.

There are six advertising options available for anyone who wants to know how to use LinkedIn for sales leads and to generate engagement and revenue using paid ads on LinkedIn.

These options include:

■ Text Ads

■ Dynamic Ads

■ Feed Ads

■ Message Ads

■ Display Ads

■ Elevate

“Going into specifics on LinkedIn Paid Ads will only prove to be an academic exercise because the standards are always evolving.

A Google search will reveal updated information to you. LinkedIn users interested in generating more leads will discover that Linkedin provides various lead generating tools that help monitor LinkedIn ad campaigns. “

As stated earlier, the LinkedIn advertising platform is susceptible to fast evolution, and as such, a detailed analysis will be obsolete in a snap of the finger.

You will, however, find the latest updates on LinkedIn’s marketing solutions page. 

Wrap up

The unique appeal of LinkedIn as a networking platform is that it implicitly highlights poor salesmanship. The platform respects professionals with a strong content marketing strategy.

A strong content marketing strategy is about delivering value to current connections and reaching out to potential links with valuable information that builds an enduring professional relationship.

We hope you found this detailed guide on how to use LinkedIn for sales leads useful. If you’re ready to take the next step with Social Selling you can find our great free tools here. You can also read some of our other guides here including the 21 Best Sales Tips And Tricks You Must Master.

Main Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash