Understanding how to generate leads from LinkedIn is vital for your business because it enables you to find quality leads to fuel your sales pipeline. Any company involved in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sales must engage prospects and customers on the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn. Generating leads on LinkedIn is an uncomplicated, reliable source of quality leads – one that you can tap into at any time.
Business owners and marketers learn how to generate leads on LinkedIn for many reasons. For one, the platform boasts over 310 million monthly active users and has over 55 million businesses registered. Additionally, LinkedIn lead gen is 277 percent more effective than Facebook or Twitter lead generation efforts. Moreover, countless businesses have enjoyed plenty of success from their LinkedIn lead generation campaigns, including NetBrain, which more than doubled its click-through rate (CTR) and saw 94 percent of its LinkedIn leads accepted by sales.
LinkedIn is a platform that’s primarily built for business. It’s also more than just a site where you can generate business to business leads, as almost everyone can benefit from having an expanded presence on LinkedIn.
Let’s unpack the importance of having a LinkedIn lead generation strategy. Specifically, let’s consider how to generate leads on LinkedIn by following best practices, such as using LinkedIn sponsored content for LinkedIn lead gen and leveraging LinkedIn lead generation software. We’ll also reveal some of the most common mistakes to avoid when implementing your LinkedIn lead generation strategy for generating B2C or B2B leads.
Why You Should Use LinkedIn for Sales Leads
Knowing how to use LinkedIn for sales leads acquisition should be a top priority for any business looking to grow their revenue. Studies have revealed that LinkedIn is the top paid and organic social channel for B2B sales leads. In fact, 82 percent of B2B marketers have reportedly found great success in acquiring B2B sales leads through the platform.
But what other benefits are there for choosing LinkedIn for sales leads for B2B brands?
• It’s a dedicated social media platform for professionals. That means 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn are corporate decision-makers in one way or another.
• You can easily target professionals at over 300,000 companies through LinkedIn sponsored content. Just go to Campaign Manager and set your audience.
• LinkedIn Ads may have a higher cost-per-click (CPC) than Google Ads, but they also have a 136 percent higher conversion rate.
• Generating B2B sales leads on LinkedIn is easier using a LinkedIn lead generation tool like the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
• Capturing user information from LinkedIn sponsored content is made simple with LinkedIn lead gen forms.
Meanwhile, B2C companies have been crushing it on LinkedIn, as well. By leveraging quality content, driving engagement, creating discussions and sharing customer success stories, B2C brands can also leverage the professional network to gain access to high-quality leads.
How To Generate Leads on LinkedIn: Best Practices
Suppose you’re looking to implement a LinkedIn lead generation strategy. In your search for a solution, you will most likely come across marketers or a LinkedIn lead generation service advertising how to get leads on LinkedIn “the right way.”
Here’s a secret: There’s no silver bullet when it comes to attracting LinkedIn leads. There are, however, best practices you can follow, such as optimizing your profile and expanding your presence, so it becomes easier to get in front of your prospects. Here are some tips on how to use LinkedIn for sales leads.
1. Build a Strong Personal Brand
The first step in learning how to get leads on LinkedIn: start with your personal brand. Build out your personal LinkedIn profile to make it more credible and authoritative. Complete your personal information, share valuable content, connect with others in your industry and interact with them. The goal here is to boost your credibility, ensuring you have a strong presence online.
Next is to create a LinkedIn page for your business and improve your company’s presence. You will want to keep the information on your page accurate and up to date. But the most important thing you have to do is keep your page active. That means sharing content consistently, whether it comes internally or is curated from other sources. Make sure that you establish thought leadership in your industry to attract LinkedIn leads to your business.
2. Join LinkedIn Groups Where Potential Clients May Reside
LinkedIn is still a social platform – and social platforms are built so people can interact. LinkedIn groups create a channel where people from the same industry or who are interested in the same topics relevant to them can interact with one another. These are the places where you want to find prospects and gain access to quality business to business leads.
Post content relevant to the group and its members, create discussions around a particular topic or respond to other people’s queries in a topic you’re an expert at.
“LinkedIn lead generation is all about building relationships,” said Thrive LinkedIn lead generation strategist Jess Chambers. “Connect [with prospects] and comment [on their content], get involved in online discussions and deliver your marketing message at the right time.”
The best thing you can do as a member is stay active in discussions, so others know they can derive value from you – your biggest selling point as you reach out to them for LinkedIn lead gen. Outreach, after all, is the lifeblood of LinkedIn lead gen.
3. Use the Search Function to Your Advantage
When you’re looking to find business to business leads, LinkedIn’s native search function is a powerful tool that you can use to identify decision-makers you would want to connect with. With the tool, you can easily find the people you want by searching for specific roles in a company or the name of the company if you’re casually browsing. Once you’ve found the people you’re looking for, you can send them a connection request.
4. Leverage LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms When Using Sponsored Content
Do you want to know how to generate leads from LinkedIn consistently? You can leverage paid lead gen solutions like LinkedIn Sponsored Content to put your messaging in front of your target audience. Additionally, you can attach LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to those ads to automate your lead generation process.
A lead gen form is a specialized LinkedIn lead generation tool that lets you add a clickable call-to-action (CTA) to your ads. With this LinkedIn lead generation tool, you can easily ask users to perform the action you want them to take, whether it’s to sign up to a masterclass, download an eBook or schedule a call with you. They will then be taken to a signup sheet (you can add custom fields for user input) and be redirected to a thank you page once they confirm their email address.
When using LinkedIn lead gen forms, always remember to:
• Add a compelling headline and description
• Don’t use too many form fields
• Limit the number of fields that require manual input
• Use the “Thank You” screen to divert users to your website
• A/B test your forms continuously
5. Maintain a Consistent Presence
One of the most helpful tips marketers share on how to get leads on LinkedIn is maintaining a consistent presence on the platform. The keyword here is consistency.
“Businesses can boost their lead generating potential when they expand their online presence,” said Chambers. “Use LinkedIn to highlight important events and share behind-the-scenes details. [Those] details will build an impression of authenticity and bring you closer to your audience.”
Posting content once a week or liking someone’s post once in a while isn’t going to help with your online presence. Instead, you should establish a meaningful relationship with your audience by providing constant updates and engaging them in conversation.
Mistakes To Avoid When Generating Leads on LinkedIn
One of the fastest ways to learn how to generate leads from LinkedIn is to learn from others’ mistakes. So, we’re taking this opportunity to teach you how to use LinkedIn for sales leads by showing you some of the costly mistakes others have made. To avoid errors that impede your lead generation efforts, consider using a LinkedIn lead generation service or working with a LinkedIn marketing agency to save on time, money and resources.
1. Your LinkedIn Profile Isn’t Optimized
Did you know that the strength of your LinkedIn profile can affect your success in generating leads on LinkedIn? Your profile can be judged according to its level of optimization. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is having a weak profile, as it speaks to the level of attention you’re giving your profile.
Start your campaigns the right way by optimizing your profile. Add a professional profile photo that’s 250 x 250 px in size, a customized banner and an attention-grabbing headline. Additionally, your profile summary, experience, recommendations and skills sections must be filled out in detail.
2. Not Having a Defined Content Strategy
It’s crucial that you publish content regularly to establish thought leadership. However, it’s also important to define your content strategy early on, as inconsistency and incongruence can hurt your lead gen prospects more than anything else.
Publish content that is relevant to your audience and offers value. Keep the topic as close to your niche as possible to attract the attention of your target audience. Moreover, create a content calendar that defines how often you will upload new content and what topics to discuss at certain times, and dedicate time for engaging with people who engage with you.
3. Focusing on Promotions and Not on Building Relationships
When Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016, many laughed at the prospect of the tech giant buying such a platform for $26 billion. Industry heavyweights were skeptical about the sale, citing the website as overly promotional – and they were not wrong. People using LinkedIn at the time were constantly following up with an offer or promo, which led to it being labeled as “the new spam folder.” And yet, it’s still a common practice on LinkedIn today and one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
Instead, focus your efforts on engaging others in conversation. Be helpful when they’re asking a question and polite when you’re communicating with them. If you’re helpful 80 percent of the time and only being promotional for 20, you’ll see that your promotions will get more impact.
4. Failing To Nurture Leads
But what about if you connect with warmer prospects? Should you leave the communication to them and just wait for their response? Any LinkedIn lead generation service knows it’s a mistake to not sufficiently nurture leads. After all, some prospects require more touch points than others.
First, connect with your prospects through LinkedIn messenger and offer them your assistance with something. Provide samples of helpful content if the opportunity arises. Engage them in conversation and give a simple nudge without looking too eager.
5. Not Maximizing LinkedIn Lead Generation Software
LinkedIn has provided its users with various LinkedIn lead generation software to maximize their potential for attracting prospects. A LinkedIn Premium Account, for example, is helpful for any individual or LinkedIn marketing company using the platform as its primary lead generation channel. You can also use tools like the LinkedIn Sales Navigator to segment and connect with potential leads.
Maximize Your Lead Gen Potential
Using LinkedIn as a primary lead generation channel offers many benefits for B2B and B2C companies. With access to specialized tools and audiences with purchasing power, expanding your influence on LinkedIn gives your business a steady supply of leads and unlocks unlimited opportunities to grow your business.
But being on LinkedIn isn’t a guarantee that you have access to these B2B leads. It requires great effort and a robust strategy. Half-hearted execution of both can end up with you wasting resources on campaigns that don’t produce results. If you’re not confident you can pull it off, you can invest in a LinkedIn marketing agency that knows what it’s doing. Work with Thrive.
Thrive is a LinkedIn marketing company that specializes in implementing LinkedIn lead generation strategies that maximize your investment. Our LinkedIn marketing company helps you create quality content and run target sponsored content to put you in front of your target audience and attract quality B2B leads. Give our LinkedIn marketing agency a call today or contact us through this form to get started.
