How to Leverage LinkedIn for Lead Generation

If you're looking to use LinkedIn for lead generation, it can be a great place find and build relationships with potential customers. However, many are intimidated by the platform and want to understand it better before they get started. Here are three key pillars that should be considered when building your presence on LinkedIn: profile, content, and direct messages. By using these three features together in harmony, you can maximize your lead generation efforts and tap into opportunities you didn't know existed even WITHOUT LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator.

This article is provided by Rondle Dines, a dedicated digital marketing specialist offering top-of-the-funnel lead generation services for coaches, consultants, and traditional sales teams. To become a Be in the Room Member, click here. Current members can submit an article here.

Profile

Your LinkedIn profile should be an effective way to communicate with potential customers. Though there are a lot of sections you can update, it's important to give extra attention to your headline and cover photo, as they are the two sections that will get seen most when your profile is viewed. Putting your job title is not the best use of your headline. Instead, mention the problems you solve and who you solve them for here. Emojis and clever separations can help make it brief but clear.

Your cover photo is your most valuable real estate on your profile - don't miss this opportunity to communicate! Use software like Canva to add text that talks about the problems you solve and who you solve them for. Don't forget to display easy contact details right on this photo such as a phone number, email address, or website.

Content

Content plays an important role in growing and engaging an audience. You can use variety of types including pictures, videos, documents, polls and other announcements. It is also very acceptable to just write just short form text posts without pictures or long form articles, but the key, as with any social media is frequency and consistency - commit to posting at least 3-4 times a week on a regular basis.

It's also helpful to make posts that often cover a general topic that appeals to your ideal customer - such as tips in your specific industry. This will work in combination with a direct message strategy to engage with connections even more.

Direct Messages

Direct messaging might feel daunting. You don't want to send out spam and you don't always want to take time to craft meaningful messages every time. Despite these fears, LinkedIn makes it easy to start quick conversations with strangers without running into any trouble. It's like walking up to someone at an in-person networking event - no one will yell at you for asking about their business!

Many people overlook LinkedIn's notifications for birthdays, work anniversaries, and job changes - but these are great opportunities to stay in touch with contacts. You can either just send the auto-filled good wishes or add your own personalized short question at the end to further the conversation.

After a pleasant initial exchange, try asking a low-ball qualifying question in order to better connect with potential leads. So, referring back to your posts topic, an easy question such as 'I often post about [general topic]. Is that a subject of interest to you?' is a great way to figure out if this is the right person to connect with further. Plus, this opens up the conversation and allows them to ask more about that topic if they want.

Begin with existing connections and use search filters to find new potential contacts. To ensure messages encourage further dialogue, be sure to end with a brief, easy question. Crafted properly, these messages will help you learn the contact's qualifying attributes that can't be searched with filters. Furthermore, by utilizing a menu of well-received questions and responses that you can adjust slightly to different conversations, managing your inbox can take less than an hour each day.

Three Pillars, One Platform

So, what happens when you direct message someone you don’t know well? Likely they’ll click to your profile! Be sure your headline and cover photo are ready. With these tools at our disposal, we can maximize the potential of LinkedIn and make sure we're making the most out of your connections and conversations.

Rondle Dines is a dedicated digital marketing specialist offering top-of-the-funnel lead generation services for coaches, consultants, and traditional sales teams. She has extensive experience in cold calling lead generation. Rondle offers paid ads management across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Furthermore, she provides guidance to her clients on how to find potential customers on LinkedIn and writing personalized direct messaging sequences.

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