Ivana Taylor
LinkedIn is the paragon of professional social networking sites. That being said, it isn’t just a great networking tool. It is also filled with plenty of sales leads candidates; all you need to do is go after them. That being said, you cannot simply start throwing your best advertising materials at LinkedIn in the hopes that something sticks. Like all social networks, LinkedIn requires a unique inbound marketing approach to effectively attract people’s attention. Here is how to use LinkedIn to generate sales leads:
Never say no to a new connection
The wider your reach on LinkedIn, the easier it will be to connect with people as you strive to generate leads. Each one is not only a potential sales lead, but also a link to countless other lead possibilities through second and third degree connections. As such, it is imperative that you do not reject any connection requests.
Reach out
Gaining more connections on LinkedIn isn’t something that you should sit around and wait to happen. Instead, you should be actively seeking out new connections that will expand your reach on the social network. That being said, quality is more important than quantity. It is very important that you do not try do connect with random people en masse. By building genuine relationships with real interaction, you can solidify the strength of each connection.
Find out which of your connections make good sales leads
Although having a long list of connections will help your brand on LinkedIn, you aren’t just reaching out to people for this reason alone. Each and every one of your connections is a real person; many of them could be potential sales leads. Unlike most other social networks, LinkedIn profiles give you a clear snapshot of a person’s professional disposition. You can use this information to determine how likely they are to be interested in your company’s products or services.
Integrate all of your social networks into LinkedIn
You should have a Twitter and Facebook page. If you don’t, you need to sign up now, because these social networks aren’t just playgrounds for celebrities, teens and cat videos. They are also viable networking tools with an even larger user base than LinkedIn. By integrating these social networks into the LinkedIn page, you are bringing their benefits along with them.
Use LinkedIn as an extension of your blog
LinkedIn allows you to make posts for a reason. By making posts on your LinkedIn page, you are positioning yourself as an industry leader and building the trust of people you aren’t even connected with. What’s more, you don’t have to do a lot of work to get this done you can take your best blog posts (you do have a blog right?) and repost them on your LinkedIn page. Also, be sure to make occasional video posts as well, because some people prefer to consumer information this way.
Write recommendations
People do not like writing recommendations at all. After the initial ego boost factor wears off (someone thought highly enough of you to ask for a recommendation), you realize that you have to take up your own personal time to do a favor that yields few ostensible benefits. This applies to everyone, not just you. However, people will be much more amicable towards writing recommendations for you if you have already done so for them.
Give praise where it is due
Chances are that there are more than a few leaders in your industry with outstanding LinkedIn pages. These people often make great posts regularly. When they do, don’t hesitate to give them some kudos. This is just one example of how you can give praise where it is due. You can also use events that you have experienced in your real life. For example, if you just attended a professional conference where one of your LinkedIn connections gave a great speech about something important, let them know.
As with writing recommendations, this will make people more amicable towards you as you learn how to use LinkedIn for your sales lead generation efforts.
Become active in groups
When considering how to use LinkedIn, this is usually one of the first things that comes to mind. Joining a group instantly connects you to hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, all of whom are somehow relevant to your industry. This, however, is only the first step.
After joining a group, you must become active . This will maximize your visibility and provide you with countless opportunities to expand your reach and get your posts shared.
Following this guide will help you yield real business benefits from LinkedIn
Now that you know how to use LinkedIn to generate sales leads, it is time for your marketing team to start leveraging the benefits of this unique social network to help grow your business.
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