“We've implemented as we would any other online channel.”“yes and no.”
“Not completely; no!”
“No, not really.”
If you responded to the question with one of the above statements, you’re not alone.
Most people think of LinkedIn as a great place for networking, researching contacts and searching the job market, but its true value as a lead generation tool has yet to be fully realized. If LinkedIn is where a big chunk of your target audience reside, and you’re not yet using LinkedIn for Lead Generation, here’s your opportunity to get started today with using LinkedIn for lead generation. All it takes is 10 minutes a day of your time.
Have the Right Mindset When You’re on LinkedIn
People use LinkedIn usually for one of the following 2 purposes:
- To Learn – to keep themselves updated about their industry news, or to further their skills and career.
- To Network – to build connections that will be mutually beneficial
Keep these in mind while using LinkedIn as a lead generation source. When people are looking to learn and network, your sales ads may not work for lead generation on LinkedIn if they don’t serve either of those purposes for your audience.
Consequently, whatever you do on LinkedIn for lead generation should revolve around these 2 goals of your target audience.
Tell Your Story On Your LinkedIn Personal Profile
“This is interesting, who is this guy?”
The first thing that anyone will do when they come across your post, your ad or any other activity on LinkedIn is to check out your profile to get to know you better.
There are countless things you can do on your profile and there are a lot of useful guides available already, just head over to the HubSpot blog and you’ll find a ton of information there. One thing I will mention though is, don’t forget to list everything on your profile that is relevant to what you’re doing now. Make it easy for the person to find the information they need to know about you. Besides, you don’t want the person visiting your profile to search for information, because it’s not them who knows what they should be searching for, it’s you.
Join Relevant Groups and Participate in Group Conversations
LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups. You will of course not be able to do justice all 50 of those groups in 10 mins, so if time is a constraint, you can choose your groups wisely and participate in groups that are most relevant to what you’re doing and where you can find a big chunk of your target audience.
In these groups, you’ll find that there is always someone who is asking questions that you know the answers to. And not just that, you will also have innovative ideas and inputs that you can share based on your expertise and experience on the subject matter. By answering these questions and being active in the community, you will not only generate awareness for you and your company, but you will also develop mutually beneficial relationships that will be built on trust. And who knows, someday someone will say “This is interesting, who is this guy?” thereby opening up new doors for you and your company.
Have an Active Company Page
A company page is just as important as your personal profile. Anyone who comes to know about you will want to know more about your company. You will also need your company page to promote your sponsored ads and sponsored updates.
You can use your company page to showcase your company’s products and services and post regular information on the company page to keep your audience updated about your company.
Don’t Just Build Connections, Build Relationships
Be authentic and genuinely helpful to your connections. This is the key to building trust – the foundation of any relationship.
Be purposeful about any communication you send to your connections on LinkedIn. You wouldn’t want someone to waste your time, so don’t waste theirs either.
Leverage Your Existing Connections
If you’re well connected on LinkedIn, while trying to get more business, chances are that you will find the key decision maker and you have some common connections. If you’ve built good relationships with your connections, you can leverage them to connect with the decision makers and get you in the door.
These are just few tips that will get you started with using LinkedIn for lead generation. There are a lot more things that you can do on LinkedIn. It may mean spending more than 10 mins a day on this platform, but given the potential it has, I’d say it’s worth it.
If you’re looking to start a sponsored ad or sponsored update campaign on LinkedIn, I’d recommend downloading the following eBook – it has some good insights and information that will help make your ad campaign successful on LinkedIn.
