If today’s social media platforms were a family, LinkedIn is the attention-starved middle child waiting for its long due validation.
While marketers consistently praise social networks like Instagram, and audiences flock towards the “cooler” platforms like Snapchat, LinkedIn doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves.
However, it’s time you rethink the way you use LinkedIn. And first things first, let’s take a step back to evaluate how LinkedIn is a goldmine of leads.
We all are already familiar with LinkedIn being the world’s largest database of business professionals. Break the numbers down and the opportunities become clearer.
This states:
- 500 million business professionals use the platform
- 100 million of those are active daily users
- 40 million are in the decision making positions of their organisation
That’s 40 million potential targets who make business and buying decisions aka they are your POTENTIAL LEADS!
This leaves no doubt that there is a large audience which presents great business opportunities to generate business through LinkedIn.
There is more encouraging news for you!
Marketers today have a lot more touchpoints to target their potential customers, and at the forefront is social media.
And when it’s about generating quality leads, LinkedIn is the clear winner!
It’s a bit surprising, we know! You must have expected a giant like Facebook or Instagram to lead the pack. But not in this case.
More than 80% of B2B social media leads come from LinkedIn, showing us the power of this platform.
Here’s the sad part though: many people fail to use LinkedIn for lead generation.
Some don’t pay much attention to it, and some are spending too much time in the process. It’s a frustrating problem to have, and we’ll show you how to fix it.
Here’s how you can generate leads on LinkedIn:
1. Optimise your Profile
First things first and this may seem basic, but the way your profile looks matters a lot. It’s the first impression that counts.
There will be times when you would want to connect to a complete stranger on LinkedIn. This is why you need to make sure that your profile is optimized as much as possible and has all the necessary details, or else you could be marked as a spammer.
Since these people have no idea who you are, they’ll want to learn more about you and this is where they will start scrolling through your profile for the details.
Write out your full name and for the picture – get a professional headshot done.
If you can’t do that, find a white wall, put on a suit and have someone take your picture with a smartphone.
Your title: LinkedIn calls it your “professional headline.” It is basically your current designation, interest or job profile. Before you fill that up, take a second, think about the kind of people you’ll be connecting with and write it down accordingly.
Rounding out your profile: Write a kick-ass in-first person bio for yourself. This should cover your professional journey so far, your interests, maybe a fun story about you and the things you are looking forward to in your career.
There’s nothing fancy you need to do to make people accept your invitations. Just make sure your profile is completely filled out with all your past work experiences and achievements.
In addition, ask your colleagues to rate your skills and leave a review on your profile. This gives you the additional brownie points to attract in leads.
2. Run a sponsored InMail campaign
Sponsored InMail campaigns help you cut through all the noise and reach the inboxes of people who matter to your business. Use this service to send out rich and compelling content and offers to your targeted prospects.
When Utah State wanted to fill their graduate program with highly qualified candidates, they used Sponsored InMails to target their audience and get their attention.
Here’s what it looked like:
The result?
- 20 to 1 ROI
- 71% requests for more information
- A 27.5% open rate for InMail.
3. Be a part of LinkedIn Groups
Join multiple groups on LinkedIn.
The trick here is to not just join the obvious groups that relate to your industry, but also the ones outside your industry that can help you grow your business. When you stretch out your paradigm, you’re expanding your reach, which is always good for a business and helps in lead generation.
For example, if you’re an accountant, don’t just target accounting groups, but also join groups for Entrepreneurs, SMB Owners, Businessmen and other groups outside of your circle, to look for new business opportunities.
4. Keep the mobile app handy
Yes, LinkedIn has a mobile application, and if you haven’t downloaded it in your smartphone yet, please go to your app store and download it for free.
The mobile app comes best in use when you’re at an event and making one-on-one contacts. After a conversation with a prospect, immediately search them on LinkedIn, add them to your profile and stay in touch for future use. No exchange of business cards, no delays, just instant connection … and a lead!
5. Experiment With LinkedIn Direct Ads
LinkedIn helps you run ads that can be used to drive new prospects to your landing page, LinkedIn group, and other destinations like your website.
These ads work the same way as Google paid search ads do. You write a headline, add somebody, and give a destination link. Then bid on how much you’ll pay to LinkedIn every time someone clicks on your ad.
For example, if you pay INR 50 to LinkedIn for every click on your ad and it takes 50 clicks to convert a customer, you’ve spent INR 2500 on 1 customer. If your product sells for INR 25000 each, investing INR 2500 to generate INR 25000 is not a bad return on investment.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is hands down the best platform for lead generation for your B2B business. If you know how to work it out and implement the right strategies, you can end up with some quality prospects. And these are just a handful of the great ways we have shared to generate leads using LinkedIn.
There is much more, and we’ll be discussing all of that in our upcoming workshop this Saturday – ‘Linkedin Advertising – Lead Generation for StartUps’ with Nitin P. Raghani.
To register, click on the link here.
0 Comments