Rob Lowe, Head of Sales at CoursesOnline offers advice for sales professionals who are looking to generate leads via LinkedIn.
Remember what type of account that you’re using
When I’m looking at acquiring clients via LinkedIn, I generally start my journey from two main perspectives. I’m either thinking about it from an individual side of things or from a company/brand perspective. You might be wondering why it’s important to differentiate between the two. Well, the main reason why is that a company’s LinkedIn page has more features than a personal account does, meaning that you can’t always use the same approach for both. It’s a big factor that’s worth keeping that in mind.
Why do we use Linkedin?
Before anything else, LinkedIn is a social tool. One of the most common ways I’ve used it is to increase client acquisition by creating a network of relevant connections and followers. This audience will see your content before anyone else, and their own networks will then see the content they’re reacting to as well. Building up relevant networks like these can help to deliver results.
This gives you the capability to showcase a company’s products and services as well as promote unique content. This can take the form of simple posts and shout outs to recent big wins and successful campaigns. Why not publish full articles on subjects you know your network will love? You can build brand awareness and put a company’s services in the shop window in one fell swoop. In my experience, this has been an excellent way to increase engagement with a network and build credibility in a brand’s solution and role within the market.
Reaching out to your target audience
I am a firm believer in taking a more personal and direct approach when using LinkedIn. This can be done by reaching out to companies as well as decision-makers through messaging, inmails and sponsored messages or posts. This method goes beyond basic brand awareness, as you’re essentially prospecting in the same way a sales professional would. The aim here is to engage with stakeholders and begin the sales process through CTAs, which will encourage interaction.
There are also paid tools out there aimed specifically at helping with client acquisition that can come in handy as well – these include sponsored inmails, promotions sent to specific audiences, display advertising and premium accounts.
Have you discovered any particularly good LinkedIn sales tips? Share them in the comments below.
