Generating leads on Linkedin can be complicated if you don’t know how to do it correctly.
Sure you can send some InMails to your target audience, network a bit, maybe even pay for some ads.
But basic lead generation isn’t going to bring in substantial sales.
Some of our clients have spent thousands of dollars on Linkedin ads, or Linkedin content marketing and haven’t really seen much ROI.
If you’re in this position and need more high-quality leads, there are a few things to incorporate into your lead generation strategy, which we will outline below.
By following this approach (especially for b2b leads), you should receive 1 new lead a day.
(A number which we guarantee our clients.)
Once you know the strategy it’s not hard, the only problem is that it takes time. So if you don’t have the time to scale your Linkedin lead generation efforts, contact us here for a free 15-minute consultation call.
Update your Linkedin profile
Your Linkedin profile is your potential client’s first introduction to you or your business. If your profile isn’t professional, prospects won’t want to engage with you.
Try to use your Linkedin profile as a sales page.
Make sure your profile photo is professional; not a random selfie.
Also, make use of the Linkedin banners and don’t just use Linkedin as a resume. Your profile can tell clients a lot about your services and products. Use it to show off your skills as a thought leader, and add some testimonials.
Make your call to action clear, whether it’s to direct potential customers to your website, or book a call with you.
Here’s an example below:
Notice Dan Martel has used a professional photo, he has utilized his Linkedin banner and his contact info is clearly visible.
He also tells potential prospects exactly what he does.
See how his “About” section is used as a sales page and not a resume.
If you want more qualified leads from Linkedin, your page has to scream success.
If it doesn’t give it a bit of an update before you begin with any outreach or even Linkedin posts.
Build a profitable network
Next, don’t just accept everyone who sends you a connection request on Linkedin. Think about building a network of Linkedin users who would be your ideal target audience.
For example, if you would like to sell to saas founders, connect with them instead of let’s say SEO experts.
The video below explains in detail how to go from zero to 1000 profitable Linkedin connections within the next few months.
If you follow these 3 steps, then you’re well on your way to making your dream connections.
Step 1: Start small
Step 2: Go after “low-hanging fruit”
Step 3: Make your dream connections
Below we will go into more detail on how to send a Linkedin connection request that actually gets accepted.
Obsess about list building
Before starting any Linkedin lead gen strategy, you need to build a super-refined prospecting list. If your list is ultra-refined, your conversion rates will be greater.
That’s why at Salesbread we obsess about list building.
For example, some sales teams might ask you who you would like to target. You might reply by saying all SEO experts in Canada that have about 50+ employees.
This is a good start, but it’s not nearly as refined enough to actually get positive results from Linkedin.
At Salesbread we approach list building by looking at current buyers’ data.
What does this mean?
Well, we ask our clients:
“Which companies have purchased your product/service within the past 6 months?”
We then take that data and look for patterns.
What do all these buying companies have in common?
- Do they share the same demographics?
- Have they been recently funded?
- Do they all use the same social media platforms?
- Who are the main decision-makers? The CEO? The manager?
- How many employees do these companies have? More than 100?
- Which industry is mainly purchasing from you? Is it SEO? Or is it perhaps digital marketers who specialize in influencers?
- What’s the job title of those buying from you?
- Do they belong to certain Linkedin groups?
- Do they all use the same CRM or automation tools?
When you build these kinds of in-depth prospect lists that are based on data, the chances of targeting the right people who actually want to BUY from you will be so much greater.
Once you find patterns, it’s easy to build a look-alike list of potential leads.
The article below explains how to build prospecting lists in any industry. It’s worth a read if you’re interested in learning how to do list building the right way. 🙂
How to Build a Sales Prospecting List in Any Industry
It’s also important to invest in certain lead generation tools, like Linkedin Sales Navigator.
This article: 5 B2B Prospecting Tools You Can’t Live Without is a helpful resource for deciding which prospecting tools to use.
Go after low-hanging fruit first (filter through 2nd degree and recently posted.)
Once you have your list ready, you can then plug it into Linkedin Sales Navigator and filter your list by your second-degree network and recently posted.
(If you don’t have a sales nav account, you might have to do this manually, which can take some time. You could always test this strategy first before investing in lead gen tools. Take 100 prospects and send them super personalized messages. If more than 20% reply positively, you know that Linkedin outreach could be a great b2b lead generation strategy for your business.)
Why should you filter by your second-degree network first?
Well it refines your list even further, and because someone is already in your second-degree network, it means that they accepted someone like you in the past, so the chances of them accepting your connection request invite will be pretty good.
And when you filter by recently posted, it means that you will be reaching out to prospects who are active on Linkedin.
There’s no point in sending perfectly written messages to people who aren’t active on this social network. Prospects won’t see your messages.
If they aren’t frequent users of Linkedin, you could always add them to a cold email campaign.
Start with reaching out to your 1st and 2nd-degree network, and then branch out to your 3rd-degree. You can also use InMails to supplement your Linkedin lead generation strategy, but we have found that direct messaging works better than InMails.
Use specific personalization
Which message would you rather reply to:
Option 1:
Or:
Option 2:
You would probably connect and read the second option.
Why?
Because it’s personalized and not salesy.
When writing personalized messages on Linkedin, you have to go beyond using a company name, or the prospect’s name. (And stay away from sleazy sales pitches.)
At Salesbread we use a method called CCQ that helps us write thousands of personalized outreach messages.
CCQ stands for:
- Compliment
- Commonalities
- Questions
This means that you need to do some research.
Have a look at your prospect’s Linkedin page and find something to compliment them on, ask a question or mention a commonality.
Here are some examples:
Compliment:
“Hey, I loved your webinar on XYZ. Would love to connect here.”
Commonality
“Jack, I saw that we are both in the b2b marketing space. Would love to know how you handle (pain point). For background, my company does (solution).”
Question
Michaela noticed that you’re using (XYZ products) for SEO. How are you finding that specific tool? I’m asking because of XYZ…
When you personalize messages in this way, prospects respond.
Here are our average metrics for Linkedin:
%
Connection Request Acceptance Rate
%
Positive Reply Rate
Sales Qualified Leads Per Day
The reason for our success is because we obsess about list building, and use ultra personalization.
Here are some replies that we have received from prospects:
If you would like similar replies, we have compiled 60 connection request messages for inspiration.
Pro Tip:
Linkedin helps people build relationships in the business world. If you use Linkedin the way it’s supposed to be used, people will engage with you. At Salesbread we just start conversations to get a foot in the door, for further chats.
Follow up consistently
Once you have sent out your connection requests and prospects have accepted you, you need to follow up.
At Salesbread we follow up between 3 and 6 times, every 3 days. If a prospect doesn’t respond, we will then take them off our list, and add them to an SMS or cold email campaign.
When following up, add more personalization and follow the 90/10 rule. This means talking about the prospect 90% of the time and only 10% about yourself for context.
Don’t be afraid to ask for a meeting
If you want more leads, ask for a meeting. Don’t sell in your messages, but rather ask for a booked sales call. (If that’s your end goal.)
You could also ask if the prospect would be interested in a quick demo, or read a blog post. Depending on what you would like your prospect to do, use that as your CTA.
At Salesbread we always ask for a quick call.
Here is what that could sound like:
- “Would a quick 10-minute call work for you?”
- “Send me your calendar link and I’ll book a slot.”
- “Would next week suit you for a quick chat?”
- “Worth a quick call?”
Keep the “ask” very simple and easy to follow through with. Don’t ask the prospect to join a 2-hour webinar. People just don’t have the time. Keep it simple and quick.
How about using Linkedin Ads & Content marketing instead of outreach?
We don’t make use of Linkedin ads or posting in our Linkedin marketing strategies.
The reason is, we have had many clients tell us that they made use of Linkedin advertising and even after spending thousands of dollars, they never received 1 lead.
This isn’t to say that it doesn’t work; it might work for your company, but if you do choose to test out Linkedin ads, don’t spend too much time on it if it doesn’t work.
Ask yourself, when was the last time you clicked on a Linkedin ad? Chances are ages ago.
Posting on Linkedin also takes time. If you’re in it for the long haul and have a rather large professional network, it can work. But don’t expect results overnight.
If you need immediate leads, Linkedin outreach is the way to go. 98% of our clients receive their first lead within 48 hours after launching their lead generation campaign.
Read these articles for more info on Linkedin advertising and posting.
Need more leads?
If you need more leads on Linkedin, test the above strategy.
It has helped us generate close to 7000 qualified sales leads in the last 24 months for our clients.
If you notice that it’s working and would like to scale on your lead generation efforts, get in touch with us.
Salesbread guarantees 20+ qualified sales leads per month or your money back.