LinkedIn is the biggest professional social platform, and it is one of the most powerful channels of acquisition that we have today.
However, marketing and selling on LinkedIn can be daunting because it doesn’t function like a regular old social media platform. More so, many are still not aware of how to effectively optimize LinkedIn considering that many businesses nowadays, like lead generation services providers, are leveraging on this platform.
In today’s article, we take a look at the rules you must follow to become effective at finding prospects, generating leads, and winning customers off of this platform.
Rule 1. Optimize Your Profile
Before you can even reach out to another person, you have to make sure that your profile is optimized, and we’re not just talking about putting all your achievements on it.
Your profile is where potential clients will judge you and your company by. To a certain degree, you are carrying the image of your organization.
Quick tips to optimize your profile:
- Smile in your profile photo and use clothes that you would typically wear to a quick meeting. Everyone’s sick and tired of the standard formal picture; they want to get a glimpse of how they will meet you in person.
- Your profile headline should summarize what you do, forget fancy titles; you need to tell people looking at you what it is exactly you do and how you solve their problems.
- Your summary has to be convincing. Don’t bore your reader.
- Clean up your professional experience.
- Your cover photo has to be you in action.
- Make sure you have links on your profile to your landing page!
Now you can proceed and not be apprehensive if a contact you’re speaking to decides to check out your profile.
Related: Update your LinkedIn Profile for a Better Lead Generation
Rule 2. Connect then Connect Some More!
Make sure you are friends with a lot of people because the more connections under your belt, the more powerful and engaging your posts will be and the more people will trust you. Invest in a tool that automatically connects you with people or engages them with a message; this will be powerful in the long run. You can opt to message them manually, too, if you want to go after a customized approach.
Related: How to Generate Leads Faster with this Proven Outbound Workflow
Rule 3. Publish Engaging Content
Want to get noticed without having to message everyone individually? Then, make sure you’re publishing content that everyone likes. By being able to establish yourself as an industry leader, you get to have the ear – or rather the eyes – of the people, and this is useful for building goodwill. It also shows that you are an active contributor.
Rule 4. Check Out Who Else They’re Viewing
Fancy connecting with someone that could be a prospect for sales? Then, double it up, by checking out the “People Also Viewed” bar to the right. This is where you can find other prospects that are similar to the prospect that you are checking out, and just like you can add more leads to your pipeline!
Rule 5. Check Out What Your Competitors Are Doing
Good marketing and salespeople know who their rivals are and you can always go find a competitor and check out who they have in their network. This is great for two reasons: first, it gives you a view of the playing field and to what extent they are using the network to scout for prospects, the second is something else entirely.
Here’s what.
Remember that it is harder and more expensive to sell a completely new customer? The same theory applies here, your competitor’s prospects are now laid down for you, and you can now connect with them, given that they already know what your product or service is. This makes your job easier.
Related: Competitive Analysis: How Competitors Can Get You New Leads and Clients
Rule 6. Use Targeted Searches When You Are Adding Connections
Did you know that you can use Boolean searches on LinkedIn? This means that you can combine several keywords and phrases, find specific phrases, limit your search, and refine results quickly. This allows you plenty of room to find people that you want to connect with.
Now instead of looking for people from the purchasing department only, you can combine that with people who are in purchasing that went to a specific school.
The possibilities are endless.
Rule 7. Use the LinkedIn Sales Navigator
If you have the resources for it, the LinkedIn Sales Navigator tool is worth taking a look at. It can help you with the way you prospect for new prospects for your pipeline. However, it does cost money, and some may argue that you can manage without it, but given the fact that it was built by the platform itself, it is still pretty indispensable.
By combing LinkedIn prospecting with the other tools in your arsenal, you can create a multidimensional sales experience that combines different channels of acquisition. You can even nurture leads using LinkedIn. Supercharge your pipeline today with these great tips and put your lead generation strategy on the next level!
