How to Use LinkedIn for Sales Leads

Social media marketing means more than advertising on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. LinkedIn is now one of the best tools for sales professionals to develop relationships and generate sales leads.

LinkedIn has become one of the largest career networking websites in the world. Although users typically utilize LinkedIn to share their career trajectory and find jobs, professionals have started using LinkedIn for sales leads. With the right strategy, you can advertise your business, network with important decision-makers, and reach b2b buyers more easily with LinkedIn.

Selling yourself as a sales process

On Merged Media's marketing podcast, Career sales and marketing executive Scott D. Clary said that social selling is one of the best ways to generate leads for your business. Social selling, as defined by Clary, is about building your personal brand and using social media to sell your products or service. Because b2b selling is very impersonal, he recommends that everyone should focus on selling themselves as a knowledgeable professional. After all, marketing is about being able to answer questions.

LinkedIn is the best website for developing your professional brand. Through posts, networking, and discussions, you can position yourself as someone who has the most knowledge on a service or product. This helps sales reps position themselves as knowledgeable connections rather than someone trying to sell something. As you display your professional expertise, you can increase your chances of selling.

Optimize your profile for your business

One of the first things LinkedIn users access when interested in an individual or their company is their profile. This is why one of the first things any person should do is complete and optimize their profile to the best of their abilities. This can easily be done by following LinkedIn's suggestions to complete various sections of your profile like a summary, certifications, adding links, and such on.

A video or website portfolio is a unique way to begin networking with clients before even speaking with them. If you're thinking of making a video, consider making it an elevator pitch about yourself and the work you do. If a portfolio is more up your alley, take the time and care to build a diverse portfolio that highlights some of your best work.

Promote your services and products with content

LinkedIn's publishing platform is one of the most important features to utilize when wanting to expand your professional network and find prospective customers.

Every professional using LinkedIn should dedicate some time to writing and publishing engaging content. By publishing engaging content, more LinkedIn users will interact with your post whether it is through reactions, comments, shares, or views. As people engage with your post, it is shared to peoples' feeds, meaning that more people see it. As long as you create interesting content on a frequent basis, you will be able to share your message with more people.

But beware, there's no need for you to write lengthy blog posts or post videos about your business and products every day. Take the time to ensure that your post will reach your target audience by writing a post that is relevant to them. For example, if you are advertising a new accounting software, you could begin a post by sharing a very common frustration with Excel. Other accountants who use Excel may relate to these frustrations and want to learn how your software solves this issue. This will keep prospective buyers interested and reading. Other strategies to ensure that your content reaches your target audience are using appropriate hashtags, optimizing your content with SEO, tagging specific industries, posting to relevant groups, and such on.

There are many ways you can generate sales leads using your LinkedIn posts, just be sure to think creatively and promote your posts along the way.

Endorsements help business development

One of LinkedIn's unique features is endorsements. The endorsement feature allows coworkers, clients, and friends to vouch for a person's skills and professional abilities. These endorsements are then placed right in the middle of someone's profile, allowing any user to see who supports another person's work. If you're exploring someone's profile, take a look at the endorsement section as it can be a great source for lead generation.

The people who have endorsed your current connections' skills can be potential customers. Reach out to them with a request to connect. Due to your mutual connection with another person, they may be more likely to approve your connection request. Then you can send a message introducing yourself and your product/service.

Providing endorsements is also one of the best tricks to nurturing your sales leads. If you fear that your connection with a lead is growing stale, you could provide an endorsement for one of their skills/abilities. This will show your buyer that you're someone that cares about their professional development. It also reminds them about you and, as a result, your product or service.

Improve your prospects by learning who viewed your profile

If you haven't already, take the opportunity to invest in LinkedIn Premium. This subscription allows you to view what professionals and companies have looked at your profile. These viewers are great prospective clients because they are already interested in what you have to offer.

Generate leads by joining groups

LinkedIn has what seems like an infinite amount of groups for different professionals, interests, and such on. These groups allow individuals to access a wider audience because of the sheer size of the groups. Take the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) for example. Their LinkedIn group has over 16,000 members. This is a list of 16,000 leads for anyone offering products or services that could be targeted towards Public Relations professionals.

Take the opportunity to join in on conversations in LinkedIn groups. Whether it is through creating posts or interacting with others, you can increase your prospects of being noticed and building a larger network.

Because groups are much, much bigger than typical social networks, you have the opportunity to expand your target list and generate more leads with like-minded individuals. The only thing to remember is not to overreach and sell to people who may not connect with your product or service. Try to stick to individuals who you may know or are located in your region.

Utilize referrals to your advantage

Referrals are one of the most effective marketing strategies for your business. You can easily build your network and reach more people through referrals on LinkedIn.

You should take the time to browse through your customers' connections to find other people you can send connection requests to. The common connection will increase your chances of having your connection request approved.

Making a 1st-degree connection with another person is a great conversation starter. When someone approves your request, make sure to take the time to contact them to introduce yourself. You can also include a simple introduction to your company if you feel confident enough. This is a great way to break the ice and network with others.

Suggested connections

LinkedIn often takes the work out of networking thanks to its various features. Linkedin's suggested connections feature automatically suggests any people with who you may be interested in connecting with based on a system of filters. These filters include similar connections, common industries, past or present shared workplaces, and such on. The suggested connections feature can be for lead generation if it is utilized on a frequent basis.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

As far as prospecting tools go, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is one of the best tools to generate leads and get the results you want.

To make your lead generation easier, LinkedIn Sales Solutions has created LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This tool is designed to allow you to target appropriate people and businesses for your sales call, manage any important information like lead and company changes, and engage with any prospective clients.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator's Advanced Search Tool

LinkedIn Sales Navigator's advanced search tool makes it easy to use LinkedIn for leads. The tool allows you to search the website for prospective buyers whether they are an individual or company. 

You can search and filter a list of individuals based on a number of filters like their company, seniority, shared connections, title, location, expertise, and such on. A company can also be searched and filtered using the advanced search feature tool. A business can be filtered by its size, location, revenue, and more. It is also easier to maintain contact with clients as you can save them and include tags under their accounts.

Sales people should take care to use the advanced search feature as much as possible if it is not already built into their marketing strategy. The ability to narrow your focus and find a lead whether it be b2b lead generation or individual leads.

LinkedIn is a great website for generating and nurturing sales leads. Rather than taking the impersonal b2b route, sales professionals can put their best face forward to share their products and services. By using LinkedIn to generate a professional brand for yourself, you can increase your prospects and get results. 

Are there too many social media channels and no enough time in a day to manage them. If you're interested, you can book a time with me to discuss your existing social media presence, areas for improvement and a road map for the next quarter.

Jason Hunt, Co-Founder, Merged Media

Instagram: @jayhuntofficial