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In this guide you'll learn to use LinkedIn find and connect with leads, create relationships, and convert them into successful deals through email marketing.
Antonio Gabrić
But at the same time, there has been no meaningful change in the strategies for lead generation, qualification and nurturing.
So how does a business connect with its ideal buyer at the right stage in its growth journey?
As a 900 million-strong network of professionals from every conceivable corner of the world, LinkedIn makes it easier than ever to connect, person-to-person, with the end users and decision-makers of your product.
With LinkedIn, you can find and connect with potential leads, create relationships with them, and nurture those relationships into successful deals through email marketing. In this article, we’ll show you how.
Your LinkedIn profile is probably the first impression you will make on a potential lead. And no matter what anyone says, the initial view they have of you goes a long way in establishing your credibility and worth to them.
Do a step-by-step assessment of your profile to ensure you’re not getting off on the wrong foot.
The biggest advantage of having an authentic personal brand is that it doesn’t just reach your core audience, it resonates with them. If they’re nodding along to everything you say, it’s won’t be long before they’re willing to do business with you.
But different audiences have different interests and needs.
Use Iconosquare’s LinkedIn analytics to study the number of impressions, likes, shares, and comments your posts have generated, and where they come from. The data could reveal a few surprises.
You may have been consistently posting long-form content on LinkedIn but find that a single infographic has been driving much of the traffic to your page.
An indicator like Iconosquare’s Average Engagement Per Post Type chart will tell you exactly which type of post outperforms the others.
Use this data to refine your understanding of your target audience. You can also schedule your posts to a time that has previously shown strong viewership and engagement numbers.
The ‘People Also Viewed’ section on the right of a profile and ‘People Who Viewed Your Profile’ list are easy ways to look for targeted leads.
LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator and Boolean search operators can narrow down your search results to specific factors so that your outreach becomes hyper-focused.
Fostering relationships with potential leads is integral to successful sales.
The beauty of social media is you can track online behavior to get insights into the person behind the job title.
Their interests, achievements, pressures and pain points should all be factored in when you initiate a conversation with them.
Nurture ties by liking and leaving thoughtful comments on their posts. In some cases, you may need to step up your game and reach out to them through LinkedIn cold messages. But before you start drafting those messages, make sure you've taken the time to research their profile and interests.
Simultaneously establish your thought leadership and authority by regularly publishing your own posts on a subject matter they’re interested in. Set aside 30 minutes-1 hour every day to strengthen your LinkedIn relationships and keep them moving down the social media sales funnel.
Don’t forget to lead score to keep track of your top priorities. Set up alerts for when an important lead posts on LinkedIn so that you don’t miss the chance to connect.
And while it’s nice to leave an encouraging comment or two, don’t go overboard by liking and commenting on every single post of theirs. Insincerity has a way of seeping through, so keep interactions light and friendly.
LinkedIn groups are private by default, and by virtue of their exclusivity, are likely to have better quality leads.
The flip side is that unless you join one, it’s difficult to guess whether it’s a spammy bulletin board filled with sales pitches; or a goldmine of industry and job-specific news, conversations and networking opportunities.
Look up job titles that fit your buyer persona in the LinkedIn search bar and filter results to show only Groups.
Apply to join groups of professionals that are a good fit for your target audience. LinkedIn caps the number of groups you can join at 100, so pick wisely.
Once you’re in, don’t instantly launch a pitch. Take time to build your reputation from the ground up. Ask questions, leave comments, and try to be helpful and informative at all times.
After speaking to a prospect a couple of times in the group, free account holders can initiate a one-on-one conversation with up to 15 group members a month.
Social media is jam-packed with self-proclaimed experts tooting their own horns. What’ll set you apart from the majority is a demonstration of your expertise, stated precisely and backed up with examples.
The more value you impart in your LinkedIn content, the bigger your following, and naturally, the higher your conversion rate.
Posts containing polls, statistics, growth hacks, job openings and personal experiences, good or bad, help build organic relationships with leads.
Like any other social media platform, LinkedIn rewards native content. And the success of its relatively recent Newsletter feature is proof of that.
Andy Crestodina’s weekly newsletter has almost 178K followers, 100K of which he gained in the first 10 months.
You can offer free downloadable resources like ebooks, or on-site resources like tools to implement or test the points laid down in your newsletters in exchange for your leads’ email addresses.
Dorie Clark’s LinkedIn newsletter contains the link to a free assessment manual which readers can download after entering their email address.
It doesn’t matter how incredible you think your content is, too much of a good thing is still a bad thing.
If you schedule LinkedIn posts to be published daily, sending your connections a slew of direct messages, and commenting on their every single post, they’re quickly going to become oversaturated and disillusioned with your messaging, or as the Gen-Z’s call it, get the ick.
Pace the frequency of your outreach so that you stay top of mind, but not breathing down their neck.
Limit your original posts to 2-3 times a week, and even if you’re trying to build momentum, to a maximum of one per day.
Natural-sounding and personalized messages outperform gimmicky, sales-y ones.
And spamming has repercussions other than just annoying your leads. Sending out too many messages in a day might get your account flagged and suspended by LinkedIn.
Calls-To-Action (CTAs) are to lead marketing what morals are to children's fables. They need to be present, easy to understand, and repeated several times throughout to ensure effectiveness.
Tom Fishburne, the founder of Marketoonist, regularly posts on LinkedIn. He links to both the cartoon and a landing page to sign up for his newsletter at the start and end of each post.
And it’s not just posts that benefit from CTAs. Your direct messages too should have a clear goal. Do you want to hear their thoughts on a strategy your business deployed? Would you like them to attend your webinar?
Don’t clutter messages with too many CTAs. Try highlighting the benefits of engaging in that action in your CTA.
LinkedIn’s custom CTA button feature can be used to redirect leads to a landing page for email marketing list sign-ups.
Whether it’s a post, direct message or newsletter, you can include an opt-in link at the end of each to capture your LinkedIn audience and funnel it to your email marketing list.
The style, length and overall vibe of your landing page depend on your personal brand as well as the industry you’re in.
Here are some general tips to create landing pages for faster email list growth:
List benefits or features to nudge reluctant potential leads into signing up.
Testimonials or success stories can build trust and increase conversions.
You can also try an interactive design like a scratch coupon or a spin-the-wheel game.
Every marketer wants a rapidly growing email list. But doing marketing outreach without verifying email addresses is like crossing a road without looking.
You can’t have qualified leads without qualified email addresses. If you send emails to an address that:
it will impact your bounce rate and sender reputation.
To keep these in check, you can use Hunter’s email verifier. It validates the email address you want to contact without actually sending an email. Just enter the address and click on ‘Verify’.
If the check fails, your screen might resemble this.
In such a case, it’s best to temporarily take the email address off your list and consider finding an alternative contact.
You can also use the bulk verifier to validate the email addresses on your list altogether.
Run regular checks every 3-6 months to maintain email list hygiene. That will ensure you reap all the benefits of a growing email list without any of the drawbacks.
Expecting the same run-of-the-mill template to motivate leads into signing up to your email list is like expecting your nanna, your neighbor's two-year-old and the part-timer at the garage to have the same taste in music.
And let's face it, there are more chances of all three of them being Dua Lipa fans than of a cookie-cutter message getting a response, let alone driving subscriptions.
You can’t write a custom message for every lead, but you can do the next best thing: segment and personalize.
Segment emails based on location, time, age, interests, industry, and even the time you’ve been interacting with them for.
Personalization refers to adding an individual touch to each of the interactions you have with leads, for example, by automating emails to be triggered by specific customer behavior.
Subject lines should be short and catchy. Experiment with using lowercase letters and emojis, and steer clear of spammy words.
You can add openers to emails containing compliments about expanding to a new market, or a short feedback video about their website. Like they do in this email template.
Keep track of the emails or other content they’ve interacted with and factor that in before sending them future emails.
By leveraging the power of LinkedIn, you can create a highly-targeted list of people to focus your email marketing strategies on. Consistently seek out professionals that fit your buyer persona, create valuable content, and engage with prospects. Combine these tactics with a holistic social media, content and email marketing campaign, and let your sales speak for themselves.
In the last decade, the world of email marketing has imploded. An estimated 347 billion emails are sent every day; buying email lists is riddled with hurdles of authenticity, consent and quality; data protection laws and the crackdown on cookies have made reaching new audiences harder; and the markets are in a constant state of flux.
Antonio is an outreach manager at Hunter. He is passionate about testing different outreach tactics and sharing results with the community. When he is not connecting with industry leaders you can find him on his motorbike exploring off-the-beaten paths around the world.
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