Paid advertising is an effective way to get LinkedIn leads but if you don’t have the budget or a boss who sees that value in it yet, you can still identify and nurture leads organically on LinkedIn by getting a little creative and making a plan. See how LinkedIn can act as a sales funnel and several steps you can take to develop and nurture leads through LinkedIn, all without paying for ads.
How LinkedIn Can Fit Into Your Sales Funnel
LinkedIn has the potential to be a lead generating machine but it’s an underutilized platform for sales people and marketers. Here are some reasons why LinkedIn can be a great source for lead generation:
- There are 610 million users from around the world and across industries
- It has powerful search and targeting features to find businesses and leads more easily
- Provides detailed background information on businesses and users
- Native content has exceptional reach thanks to its algorithm
While there are many benefits of using LinkedIn for leads, there can be several drawbacks such as low engagement rates for cold InMail messages, cold connection requests can go unnoticed or ignored, and return on investment (ROI) can be harder to measure. Despite these challenges, many sales people and marketers are able to find success on the platform. Our tips below will help you see how you can too!
1. Create a prospects list.
LinkedIn’s search feature is a powerful tool to identify prospects (note: there is a search limit but you can remove that by upgrading to Premium or Sales Navigator). Here are some tips for using LinkedIn to create a prospects list:
- Use a variety of job titles and keywords in LinkedIn’s search to find a bigger pool of prospects
- Search for companies by industry to discover new opportunities
- Look through the company’s employees to find a point of contact
- Check out your shared connections (and perhaps get an introduction)
LinkedIn users get a lot of cold InMail so it’s important to separate yourself by being personable and making the conversation seem more organic. Basically, don’t come off as spammy to see better engagement rates.
2. Start nurturing LinkedIn leads.
After finding your prospects, you will need to nurture your LinkedIn leads in order to build profitable relationships. Here are some examples of lead nurturing activities you can do on LinkedIn:
- Request connections with engaged prospects
- Engage with prospects such as liking or commenting on their updates
- Leverage the “Stephen viewed your profile” notification as a subtle reminder a few months after contacting prospects
- Demonstrate expertise by sharing or posting original content
While these lead nurturing activities are more passive than direct, each interaction will give a small boost to the relationship you’ve begun to form with a prospect.
3. Be active on LinkedIn to increase engagement.
Most sales people and marketers don’t go much beyond than simply adding LinkedIn connections and sending sporadic follow-up messages. By being active on the platform, you’ll be much more effective at getting and nurturing LinkedIn leads. Below are some ways you can increase engagement with prospects and current clients on LinkedIn.
- Tag your prospect to congratulate them on a recent accomplishment
- Interview current a client on your blog, video, podcast, etc. and tag them when you share the content
- Announce a new product or project launch and tag the client you partnered with
- Share a quote, study, insight, etc. from a client and tag them
Whatever content you post or share, make sure that it doesn’t come off as spam. Prospects are constantly being sold to so it’s imperative that you create conversations with your LinkedIn activity rather than give sales pitches that will be tuned out.
Lead Generating Social Media Marketing
Successful LinkedIn lead generation is all about the value of consistency and the power of original content. Every interaction adds up which is why you should strive to make each one a positive experience for your prospects. Our social media experts at Sales & Marketing Technologies work with businesses from a variety of industries to generate more leads and increase their ROI.
Let us help you create a
social media marketing plan that will support and enhance your sales team. Call us today at (407) 682-2222 to schedule a free strategy session.