How to Use LinkedIn to Generate Leads

Without some of us even noticing, LinkedIn developed into a helpful publishing platform and lead-generation tool for marketers and salespeople.

Generating leads on LinkedIn is simple, as long as you’re willing to spend some time showcasing your expertise by being helpful to others.

As referral selling expert, Joanne Black writes in a post:

The goal of social media is not to sell; it is to begin conversations and ultimately build relationships. Hopefully, many of those relationships will yield sales or referrals. But when you start making sales pitches on LinkedIn,you don’t attract clients. You just annoy people.

Ten Ways to generate leads on LinkedIn

1. Create a polished and personally branded profile on LinkedIn.

If you haven’t already, spend some time perfecting your profile to make sure it is clear what you do and what your strengths are. Focus on your headline and summary. It should be compelling.

Your headline will automatically be displayed as your last job unless you manually change it. Sales expert and author Jill Konrath put together a great video on four steps to writing your LinkedIn headline and summary. I’ve applied her lessons to my profile. You can access Jill’s free how-to-learn LinkedIn rapid learning mini-course here.

You can also check out how you rate on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index. The tool can help recommend ways to get better. For example, my results indicated that I could improve in “engaging with insights.”

2. Connect, Reconnect, and help — marketing at its best.

Help first. Start connecting with your current and past contacts, focusing on relationships where trust already exists. It’s easy to search LinkedIn to find individuals you’ve lost touch with. Then reach out to them and offer help in some way.

When you get a new business card from someone you meet, look them up via LinkedIn and invite them to connect with you. If you’re starting as a LinkedIn user, you can import your contacts from Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, or AOL. Be sure to include your distinct URL in your email signature, your traditional resume, your blog, your website, and your business card so that others can connect with you quickly.

3. Reach out to former clients.

You can track what your previous customers have been doing since you last saw them — with no awkwardness. Instead of sending a me-first message, contacting a former client makes a positive comment about something they’ve done. Ask questions about their new projects. And again, look for ways to help.

4. Join LinkedIn Groups where your clients/customers gather.

Groups can be potent to your brand. Use Advanced Search to find practitioners within your firm and the industry. You can learn a lot about your industry through these groups by tuning into the conversations. You may discover new industry-wide pain points and learn about options to solve those pain points. Learning more about your industry by watching from afar will give you real, everyday insight into ways you can help and connect.

5. Post relevant content on groups (if that’s their approach) and answer targeted questions

First, figure out the rules of the group. Then, if they allow content sharing, start building your credibility in the group by sharing relevant content that fits the group’s interests. This content includes relevant blog posts, links to articles you have written, posts that quote you, and event notices for webinars. Be sure to stay sensitive to the dynamics of your group — don’t ever try to dominate the conversation. Your materials should be a helpful resource, not a sales pitch for you.

6. Answer targeted questions in areas of your expertise.

Many group members use LinkedIn as a discussion board, and many questions are posted on any given day. Take time each day to answer a few or to post a few discussions yourself. Respond to questions relevant to your expertise or something important to you.

If you find a question you can answer well from someone you want to do business with who’s relatively senior in a company, write a detailed, high-value response. You never know who’s reading the information. Many members gain a foot in the door because of their expertise in a discussion.

7. Check out individual profiles

Find out if your potential customers contribute to blogs. Learn what events they are attending and even the books they are reading. This utility is the beauty of LinkedIn. How many will other sources surface before work history? This aspect helps you be more intentional and have more clues about how you could potentially help.

8. No more cold calls. Use the information to do warm outreach.

An introduction via LinkedIn is much warmer than a cold call because it comes with trust. You’re not the stranger trying to upsell something; you come with a recommendation from a person to whom the receiver has a connection, or you share a joint membership in a professional group.

Even if you can’t find a path to connect to someone, sending a direct message via LinkedIn is better than sending a cold email because LinkedIn implies a business context. So when you are checking out a potential customer, you can review their profile, discover their interest and determine if you have something in common to help warm up your call with them.

9. Search with Advanced Filters and use messaging, aka InMail.

One of the best features of having a LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator account is using Advanced Filters in a search. Not only can you search by company and relationship, but Premium advanced search on LinkedIn allows you to search by function, location, seniority level, and group size. Pair that with Messages (aka InMail), and now you can contact prospects directly without a referral.

I almost always respond when I write relevant personal emails using InMail with the research I get via LinkedIn.

9. Create your LinkedIn group

Starting a group gives you control over its content and reach. You can choose to open the group only to people you know or open it up to a much larger audience. The goal is to engage your audience and leverage your thought leadership to make a difference with your group members.

LinkedIn offers tips for consultants using the channel to build their business, demonstrate areas of expertise, and leverage their network.

Check out the B2B Lead Roundtable Group on LinkedIn. I started this group, and it’s all about sharing ideas that focus on the many aspects of B2B lead generation. The group has 20,000+ members, but I’m even more excited about what’s not happening. I’m learning a ton from members because our rules for the group are that it’s 100% discussion only. If you will do this, be ready for the time commitment this will need to be a successful group.

10. Post regular updates.

Spend a minute posting an “Update” or “What’s on your mind?” to your LinkedIn network daily. You can use updates to share a link to an article, blog post, or video relevant to your potential customers and network. Or use the “Pulse” feature on your LinkedIn dashboard.

When you post an update, what you post gets displayed in the feed of all the people connected to your network. Your updates aren’t the place to sell. However, don’t be afraid to share significant announcements or news either. Add value with each update.

The updating process will spark conversations about opportunities for you and your contacts. In these conversations, ideas will arise about prospective clients, possible partnerships, and other revenue-generating projects.

Conclusion

Implementing these tips into your daily routine will require a time commitment, but it’s easy to join the conversation for a few minutes each day and check in with various groups. Also, LinkedIn is constantly evolving, so keep an eye on it. People will find new and smarter ways to utilize it as it continues to grow. So you’ll want to be there, ready to dive in and generate leads.

You might also like

Tips on how to use LinkedIn for Better Lead Generation

Better Social Selling, an Interview with Jill Rowley

Forbes: 4 Best Practices For Generating More Leads On LinkedIn

Jill Konrath Research the #1 Facet of LinkedIn Headline and Summary

HubSpot Blog: LinkedIn 277% More Effective for Lead Generation Than Facebook & Twitter [New Data]

Small Business Trends: 13 Creative Ways to Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation