Salesbread has been in the business of lead generation for over a decade.
Over the years we have tested different methods and have found what works on Linkedin.
Some of the tips in this article might seem controversial, but when applied, works.
In the past 24 months, we have generated close to 7000 sales-qualified leads for our clients, and guarantee 1 lead per day, or your money back.
If you’re interested in applying these tips to your own Linkedin outreach strategies, keep reading.
(Or if you would like to hop on a free 15-minute strategy call, please reach out to us. Our done-for-you service has helped many of our clients generate leads, even in really tough industries. (Like lawyers interested in podcasting.) We would love to help your business find new leads that convert to sales.)
Tip 1: Avoid a couple of time-wasting activities on Linkedin
Over the past 5 years, we keep on hearing about what’s NOT producing results on Linkedin.
The first one is:
A.) Paid Ads
This might seem pretty controversial, but what our clients have told us, is that they have spent thousands of dollars in the past on Linkedin advertising, and didn’t even receive 1 lead.
It’s not to say that there aren’t great Linkedin marketing agencies out there, there are.
But what clients are telling us, who have used Linkedin ads in the past, say that the ROI from Linkedin advertising is difficult, due to the high ad cost and low conversions.
And just ask yourself, when was the last time that you actually clicked an ad on Linkedin?
Feel free to test ads, but don’t spend too much time on it.
It’s not to say that it won’t work for your business, but we had a client tell us that they spent $7000 on Linkedin ads across two and a half months, and got ZERO leads from it.
So be careful.
Another thing that’s a time waster on Linkedin is:
B.) Posting on the platform. (Or Linkedin content marketing.)
Yes, it might work… But for 98% of us who don’t have the time, and who aren’t ready for the long-term commitment, it’s just going to be a waste of time.
It only really works for companies who are ready to do very long-term branding efforts.
Don’t expect posts on Linkedin to bring you many quality leads within the next 6 to 9 months.
Linkedin content marketing is a strategy like SEO that takes time. In some cases, it could even be a year or 2 to start paying off.
And for many of us, there is a temptation to want to become a thought leader in your industry on Linkedin, but this takes time.
So if you want high-quality leads as soon as possible, Linkedin content marketing shouldn’t be part of your immediate lead generation strategy; Unless you have 3000 plus connections that are highly relevant.
If not, don’t waste your time posting.
Tip 2: Use direct outreach for b2b lead gen
If you want immediate results and to up your conversion rates, use direct outreach on Linkedin.
This is how we generate sales leads for our clients, and normally, for most of our clients, they receive their first leads within 48 hours after launching their lead-generation campaign.
BUT…. There’s a caveat here.
In order for Linkedin outreach to be successful, don’t do it like every other salesperson on the platform.
You probably have a ton of spammy messages in your Linkedin inbox that you ignore.
The trick is to be different.
And you do this by not sending spammy sales messages.
The rest of the article will show you how to do your own Linkedin sales outreach…Before you have to pay a consultant money. You could probably do it yourself first and see if it works for you.
And if it does, hire a b2b lead generation agency like Salesbread to scale your growth.
Tip 4: Start by reaching out to your first-degree connections
Reach out to your low-hanging fruit first.
This means that you should send messages to those in your first degree, then your sending degree and so on.
You know that there are probably people who are already in your network that you should be doing business with.
Reach out to people who you already know, or reconnect with decision-makers who might have great potential as future clients.
Some other options are:
- Current clients
- Referral sources
- Potential partners
- People that you met at tradeshows
This will bring in the fastest results.
Specifically, find 20 people that you have met either in person or on a phone call. Maybe you think there’s something there, but you forgot to follow up.
Then reach out to them and say just that…
“Hey, it’s been a while. I would like to hear what you’re working on, in case there’s any way we could be of mutual benefit to each other. Let’s set up a call.”
That’s it.
Linkedin is all about building relationships and furthering people’s careers.
If you use the social media platform in the way it’s intended to be used, people will connect and engage with you.
Tip 5: As soon as you do gain traction… stop.
This is probably also seemingly controversial, but once you know what works, you need to be mindful that you’re probably not doing outreach 100% correctly just yet.
Even if you did manage to get a few good leads in your first-degree, or even second-degree connections, make sure that you have a professional look over your Linkedin lead gen strategy.
They should check your copywriting and make sure that you’re sending personalized messages, and also check that you have a super refined list of your ideal target audience.
This is where you might want to hire a consultant, someone who only does Linkedin outreach, to check your strategy and make sure that everything is perfect.
They can help you follow best practices and make sure that you don’t burn through your market.
Tip 6: Personalize your messages or fail
If you don’t take the time to personalize your Linkedin outreach messages, so that your prospects think that they are receiving a unique message just for them, don’t bother…
The channel isn’t for you.
If you don’t use personalized messages, prospects are going to ignore you.
Your message is going to be viewed as spam.
At Salesbread we research each prospect on our list and write a specific personalized message just for them.
We do this by either having a look at their Linkedin profile or Googling their names.
Often we find interesting information… Like:
- They hosted a webinar
- Perhaps they are influencers and shared a post about something that resonated with you.
- Maybe they wrote a blog that was featured in a high-profile magazine.
- Or do they share the same connections as you?
We usually ask the prospect a question, compliment them, or mention a commonality.
This usually piques their interest.
Have a look at the video below that chats about our CCQ method or read this article for some personalized connection request examples.
Personalized messages bring in twice as many replies.
(This article shares some Linkedin metrics that we are currently seeing.)
Tip 7: Asked for a booked sales call
We have also noticed that some salespeople are nervous to ask for a booked meeting. But as we mentioned earlier, it can be as simple as just asking for a quick 15-minute call at a convenient time for your prospect.
If you have built the perfect list of your ideal prospects, and you know that this group of people need your services, the chances of them agreeing to a meeting will be a lot higher.
So don’t be afraid to use a CTA that asks for a booked call.
Here are some examples to use in your marketing strategy.
Give these tips a try and get in touch
We would love to hear your thoughts on whether or not these pointers have helped you.
If you notice that these methods are working, and you would like to scale your growth, let’s chat.
Our Linkedin lead generation service guarantees 1 qualified sales lead per day. Meaning that you will have 20+ new clients each month.
Or feel free to hop on a consultation call, and let’s see how we can help.
