There are many social media platforms that one can use to generate leads for their business. However, LinkedIn has been known to generate the most amount of “quality” leads. There are more than 400 million users on LinkedIn; these people are professionals trying to further their careers or looking for B2B customers. All in all, LinkedIn is the best platform for B2B needs.
LinkedIn B2B Lead Generation comes down to finding the right balance between communicating, sharing information, and solving problems. You want people to get to know you and build up trust with you and your product or service. It could take a person seeing your post or read your follow up message multiple times before they agree to schedule a phone call with you or to take a look at more information about your business product or service.
Six Lead Generation Techniques
Here are six effective lead generation techniques to use for LinkedIn to get a steady flow of leads:
- Profile Optimization
- Networking
- Referrals
- Advertising
- Posting Relevant Content
- Follow Up Messages
Consistency is key to keep the sales pipeline flowing. Creating consistency requires a customer-centric, cohesive and sustainable lead generation platform like LinkedIn.
- Profile Optimization– The first thing a person does before accepting your connection, is to look at your profile. They want to see who you are, what you look like, what you do for work. You’ll want to make sure your profile is professionally optimized so that it doesn’t look like you are a spammer. It’s important to provide as much information as possible on your profile including anything valuable your potential prospect can take away with, possibly a free giveaway of some kind. Make sure your picture looks professional and that your title and tagline stand out and grab attention.
- Networking– Networking can be done outside of LinkedIn as well. Make sure you are connecting with the right people on LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s built-in search function and make sure you are using the advanced link to the side of the search bar. The Advanced search will allow you to get more specific with your search and target market. By networking and finding the right people, you have the opportunity to help find ways to achieve their goals, and after some time, those people are going to remember you when you need help, they will be more prone to help you out. Plan to network with as many people as possible and find a reason to meet them outside of LinkedIn or try to schedule a phone call with them to discuss further opportunities.
- Referrals– Reach out to your family and friends and ask them if they will help you out by referring you to their friends and family. Every time you connect with the cold prospects, make sure you are sending a message thanking them for connecting and asking if they would keep you in mind should they come across someone who needs your products or services. It’s also good to let them know that you can be of help referring them to anyone in your network if they see fit.
- Advertising– As with any advertising, you must know who your target market is. What is your audience looking for, what do they need? Try not to create ads where you are selling your products or services right off the bat, instead, provide valuable information they are looking for and if you have any giveaways like a webinar, coupons, blog post tips, etc. it’s very important to show that to them. Providing value will develop like and trust with your ideal prospect, and it will make it very easy for them to remember you and buy from you at a later date.
- Posting Relevant Content– If you have a LinkedIn group, it’s very helpful to consistently post articles of value, webinars, blog posts, etc. on there as well as on your profile newsfeed. Like I said above, giving relevant information builds strong relationships with your target audience. It’s best to post at least 3-4 times a week, so this helps people get to know you and your business.
- Follow Up Message– Follow up messages are a must! You always want to follow up until you get a response. Thank them for connecting and invite them to your group in the first message. Send them an article or a webinar in the second message. Dive in and ask for that first call in the third message. Find a post in your group that may be relevant to them and send that as your fourth message. Send another follow up as your fifth message but don’t stop there. Did you know that 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact? That means by following up with people 5-12 times, you are increasing your chances by 80% to get them to buy your product or service.
These are just a few of the many ways to gain leads. It’s very important to get people off social media and on to a phone call or a meet up for coffee so you can hear each other’s voices. A phone call or personal meeting will likely bump up your conversion rate and get you quicker sales. There is too much spam on the internet for people to be able to trust you right away and make a purchase.
Unless you get very lucky, getting quality leads will not be a quick process. It takes time for someone to build up their trust in you. You don’t want to sound pushy. You’ll need the patience to wait as well as to continue to follow up and not give up! If you can do this, it will all pay off in the end.
