EP #020: How to use targeted outreach to increase your audience

Executive Summary

• Importance of Precision: Precision in goals, communication, and audience targeting leads to faster company growth. A precise audience of Ideal Client Personas is more valuable than a large, generic following.
• Content Authority: Speaking with authority on topics relevant to your target audience will naturally attract the right followers.
• Targeted Outreach Strategy: (1) Make a List: Use LinkedIn filters (location, past company, school, industry, title) to create a precise list of your target audience. (2) Craft a Basic Message: Develop a non-sales-y, tailored connection request message (within LinkedIn’s 300-character limit). (3) Daily Routine: Send out 20 connection requests daily to build a relevant audience consistently.
• Long-Term Engagement: Focus on building trust and credibility over time rather than seeking quick sales. Make targeted outreach a regular part of your routine to gradually increase engagement with relevant followers.
• Value-Driven Content: The core of your LinkedIn strategy should remain focused on adding value through high-quality content, supplemented by targeted outreach to grow a precise and engaged audience.

Deep Dive

Precision is a tool that benefits every executive I know. When they are more precise - in their goals, communication, and thinking - their company grows faster.

The same is true of growing an audience on LinkedIn: precision matters. Personally, I would rather have 100 of my Ideal Client Persona reading my posts than 10,000 random followers.

So, how do you cultivate a precise audience of the people who you want to see your content each day?

The first way is in your content: if you speak (with authority) about a topic relevant to your target audience, it will attract that audience to you.

But there is a second, often overlooked tactic you can employ: targeted outreach.

What is targeted outreach?

If you’re like me, you get FAR too many cold sales messages on LinkedIn. It’s pretty easy to spot these: they’re generic and they’re nearly always irrelevant.

However, this ubiquitous use of InMail for sales provides an opportunity for you to stand out: be overtly non-sales-y.

Here’s an example.

I often sell to CEOs who are also Stanford Business School alumni. I would benefit from more of these types of Ideal Client Personas reading my content on LinkedIn. I’m willing to play the long game - I don’t need a quick sale. I’m comfortable building up trust and credibility over time and having them come to me when they’re ready.

To get more Stanford Business School CEOs viewing my content, I make a concerted effort to connect with more of them through targeted outreach.

This consists of:

1. Making a list of the Target Audience
2. Crafting a basic message to them (300 characters isn’t a lot of room!)
3. Making outreach part of my daily routine

#1: Make a list of your Target Audience

If you have Sales Navigator, you can get infinitely more precise on this approach. However, to make this more broadly applicable, I’ll use a standard LinkedIn account, which still gets the job done.

I start by going to the LinkedIn search bar, clicking enter (with no info in the search bar), and then clicking on “All Filters” in the top right.

Next, I enter in the relevant search criteria. Here are the fields I use most often:

• Location: I’m currently focused on US-based executives, so I’ll typically use US. If you have more detail (e.g. Chicago), you can get more precise.
• Past Company: As a military Veteran, I will often enter in a past company of US Navy, US Air Force, US Army, and US Marine Corps. This quickly gets me a list of US Veterans. If you’re an alumni of a large organization, this approach can be very helpful.
• School: I often use my undergrad and grad schools to find other alumni. Having a common background is an easy way to make a connection.
• Industry: If your target audience is in a specific industry (or industries) this is an easy way to be much more precise.
• Title: You can target specific levels (eg. Vice President) or specific roles (eg. Global Communications Manager).

This step is by far the most important - the more precise you can be in building your list, the more precise you can make your message, and the greater the chance you’ll gain a new connection.

Here’s an example of what you’ll see once you’ve entered your filter criteria and completed your LinkedIn search (the search criteria I used here is Location = US, School = Stanford Graduate School of Business, Title = CEO):

#2: Crafting a basic message

Now that you have your list, you can create a template connection request message. Remember, the goal here is to be overtly non-sales-y!

Here’s an example:

James - it looks like we’re both GSB alumni who are CEOs. I’d love to be connected here on LinkedIn (and promise not to send sales requests your way). For context, after the GSB I started Executive Presence, where I help leaders become thought leaders. I look forward to following what you're up to!

This clocks in at 299 characters, with one character to spare under LinkedIn’s 300 character limit. That’s not a lot of space!

I like to treat this as the jumping off point. As I move on to step #3, I will tailor the message whenever I can to be more precise. However, it saves me time to have a starting point from which to iterate, especially given the space constraints.

#3: Making this part of your daily routine

While we don’t know for certain, most experts recommend you limit your connection requests to 20 per day. The conventional wisdom is that if you consistently exceed this number each day, you increase your chance of being suspended on LinkedIn.

I’ve never tested this hypothesis, but I stick to it: 20 connection requests per day.

As I learned in Atomic Habits, the best results come from rules we consistenly apply in our life. That’s why I’ve made it part of my daily routine to send out 20 connection requests. It takes 5-10 minutes, and it adds a few relevant eyeballs to my LinkedIn posts daily.

Where to go from here

Targeted Outreach is just one minor tactic in the grander scheme of adding value to a large, precise audience. The core of your LinkedIn strategy should still be adding value through high quality content.

As always, if you have questions, feel free to respond to this email. And if you’re an executive looking to utilize LinkedIn to benefit your company, reach out - we’d love to explore working with you.