LinkedIn has become the biggest playground for sales and growth. There are many tools and strategies to explore for generating leads on LinkedIn. And that’s what we’re going to talk about.
What is lead generation on LinkedIn? Why is it important? And most importantly, how to do it effectively?
I’m going to show you how to generate leads on LinkedIn and my 5 favorite strategies to do it.
What is lead generation on LinkedIn?
Lead generation on LinkedIn consists of generating leads (= business opportunities) on the world’s largest B2B database and social network, namely LinkedIn.
It involves all techniques and strategies that promote visibility and engagement across the platform.
There are two different groups of lead generation strategies on LinkedIn:
- inbound: all actions that generate interest and make your leads want to contact you. This can include LinkedIn posts, webinars, etc.
- outbound: all actions that generate interest by sending a message directly to your prospects. This can include LinkedIn outreach, LinkedIn Ads, etc.
Both have pros and cons and should be explored when it comes to generating leads on LinkedIn.
Why should you generate leads on LinkedIn?
As I said in the introduction, generating B2B leads can be difficult depending on your industry.
Overall, there’s a good chance LinkedIn is one of your best solutions, and for several reasons:
- LinkedIn is the largest B2B database in the world.
- LinkedIn data is very clean, rich, and up-to-date.
- LinkedIn is likely part of the daily routine for many of your B2B prospects.
- LinkedIn offers many features that will help you generate leads.
With the right tools and process, you can build a real lead-generating machine using only LinkedIn!
This is why we decided to include LinkedIn as one of the main distribution channels for La Growth Machine, in addition to email and Twitter.
4 Strategies to Generate Leads on LinkedIn
Now that you know what lead generation on LinkedIn is and why you should focus your efforts there, it’s time to start generating!
Here are 5 of the best strategies for generating leads on LinkedIn. Read on!
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
If you don’t know it yet…
Yes, LinkedIn offers you the ability to create Lead Gen Forms directly on your company page:
These are forms described as templates that allow leads to sign up for your product (or take any other action) directly from LinkedIn.
Strangely, I haven’t seen many people talk about them, so here are three main reasons why you should put them on your page:
- It costs you nothing: Literally. These are free forms that you can customize on LinkedIn.
- They allow you to collect and store leads directly from your LinkedIn page.
- Lead Quality: These are leads who have voluntarily filled in their information and followed your CTA, so you know they are hot leads for sure!
They also work with LinkedIn Ads, meaning you can create a campaign in LinkedIn Ads and direct users to your lead generation form once they click.
Here’s how to create one:
- Go to the Edit page of your LinkedIn page
- Go to the Lead gen form in the Edit menu
- Activate the Lead gen form
- All that’s left is to fill in the details:
Have a strong company presence on LinkedIn
When you embark on lead generation on LinkedIn, the choices you have to make can be quite daunting. But the good thing is, you don’t have to make them alone!
When I talk about a “strong company presence”, I’m not talking about you (the CEO, the founder, etc.) or the company you lead – we’ll get to that a bit later in the article
I’m talking about your employees instead! Get your employees to talk about your brand and become its ambassadors!
This is very useful for the company as it contributes to brand reputation.
Finally, I know that not everyone in the company will want to post, it takes time, effort, and some know-how! That said, at least make sure that those who do post have:
- The motivation to do so: Again, it will take them time compared to what they were doing before, so make sure it’s worth it.
- A well-optimized LinkedIn profile: With professional photos, clear titles/bios, and detailed work experience.
All of this is to add credibility to your brand!
Believe me, once potential clients see a value-added post on a topic that interests them, written by someone who has tidied up their profile… I hope you have the bandwidth to handle them all!
LinkedIn Company Page
Just as your personal LinkedIn profile is your digital business card, your LinkedIn company page is your company’s virtual storefront!
This page plays (or at least should play) a crucial role in your lead generation strategy!
Nowadays, you need to post value-added content to stay relevant. Even though LinkedIn prioritizes “human” content (content posted by individual accounts), it’s still very important to post about what’s happening within the company.
Here’s why it’s a great way to generate leads:
- Post updates: Highlight your product and what makes you stand out. Share the latest news you’re working on. This is the time to
- Engage and convert: Engagement on your posts and updates isn’t just good for the algorithms; it’s an opportunity to start conversations. Every like, comment, and share is a potential customer waiting to be converted.
- Humanize a company: People want to connect with people, not faceless companies. Use this space to showcase your company culture, tell your employees’ stories, etc. Generally, it’s about building a relationship with your audience!
Ultimately, you’ll receive more and more messages like this one:
The Automated LinkedIn Approach
So far, all the strategies I’ve talked about are what we call “inbound lead generation”, meaning you put in place a lot of actions for leads to come to you.
On the opposite, you have “outbound lead generation”, which consists of contacting your prospects and trying to introduce them to your product.
DO NOT believe the so-called LinkedIn gurus who try to convince you that mass outbound works. They couldn’t be more wrong. Segmentation is the cornerstone of any successful outreach strategy!
In fact, the previous strategies I talked about are a form of segmentation: Intent-based segmentation, which consists of targeting people who have already shown interest in your brand! Automation is the icing on the cake that allows you to save a lot of time!
Let’s take a workflow example: here is my nurturing campaign when someone interacts with my posts on LinkedIn:
- I start with email because the content is quite substantial; I explain the resource, give a brief overview, etc.
- Then, I switch to LinkedIn. At LGM, we love LinkedIn, email is too formal for us. So I prefer to contact via LinkedIn because it’s smoother and more personal.
The copywriting can be divided into 3 sections, highlighted in the screenshot:
- Email Intro:
Subject: LinkedIn Link
Hello {{firstname}}nnFollowing your request regarding {{resourceName}}, I’m doubling down with an email :)nnI wouldn’t lie to you, La Growth Machine does all the work for me.n The tool is available [here] {{link}} – don’t forget to duplicate the Google Sheet on your end nn(OPTIONAL) Also useful, we offer {promo | added value | etc.} with the code LGMNOEL :)nnFinally, we regularly share free tools and relevant content – would you like me to add you to the list of people to notify so you don’t miss anything?nnHave a great day!n{{identity.firstname}}
Not too complicated… It’s direct, transparent, with a friendly touch at the end to add even more value!
- Switch to LinkedIn:
Hey {{firstname}}nnHere’s the tool for explanation:n=> {{link}}nnDon’t forget to duplicate the Google Sheet on your end
Also, we offer {promo | added value | etc.} with the code LGMNOEL :)nnFinally, we regularly share free tools and relevant content – would you like me to add you to the list of people to notify so you don’t miss anything?
Why?
Simply to emulate the human touch. Nothing is more human than sending 2 messages one after the other.
Even though we’ve already admitted it’s an LGM campaign, it still feels good!
You can also add an extra message to drive the point home:
I hope you found this useful
- Last attempt:
So, how did you find the tool?nnHere’s plenty of free access content to explore:n
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- {{item2}}
- {{item3}}
- {{item4}}
- etc.
n t
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This is actually the last attempt to start a conversation with the person, hoping to lure them in so I can ask my sales questions and start my pitch!
Last Thoughts
You’ll notice that I never talked about trying my tool, doing a sales pitch, or anything like that throughout my analysis of these strategies.
This is the key: you just need to start a conversation with them. And because you’ve done your segmentation correctly (haven’t you? ), they will at least be interested. Or, in the worst case, you can still get them to give you something!
Remember that in sales, NO rarely means no. You always have to try to convert them at least into “not yet” or understand why it’s a “no”
Keep conversations authentic, and with patience, the right prospects will engage!
Happy lead generation!