As a B2B marketing firm, we encourage clients to engage in social media, specifically with LinkedIn. Some are too quick to write it off as a resume or job seeking tool, and unnecessary for their sales process. I’m equally quick to correct B2B marketing professionals who aren’t giving LinkedIn any credit.
Last week, I presented on “LinkedIn Lead Generation.” You can listen to the 16 minute presentation summary on YouTube, but here are my key takeaways:
Living, Breathing Sales Database
When starting out, some B2B companies don’t have the revenue to invest in a lead database software like Hoovers or Netprospex. Think of LinkedIn as a sales database substitute, oftentimes more accurate than other sales prospecting programs. With a premium account subscription, gain access to contact details within your ideal prospect customer base and start a conversation.
Creating Content That Translates to Sales
Ignoring the activity update section of LinkedIn is a big mistake. Even if you are slow to the content marketing game, post findings from third party sources. Make it a point to highlight content either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis so you appear relevant in Update Feeds and visitors to your LinkedIn page see you’re invested in the industry.
Ideally, sponsor original content and target it to individuals of interest. Just last week we sponsored a LinkedIn Update targeted to about 76,000 LinkedIn users. That small of a target audience may seem ineffective, but the Update received an average daily click through rate (CTR) of .6% (to add perspective, a successful campaign CTR is typically between .2 – .3%). 93% of those click through’s were new visits to our website. That means, thanks to sponsored LinkedIn content, we’re reaching a new audience that never heard of us before. Even better, our introduction was valuable to their business needs.
Bring It Back To The Personal Connection
With everything that I say about digital efficiencies, I still follow up with a phone call to each of our prospective contacts. After engaging on LinkedIn, scheduling a phone call with that key decision maker gets the conversation offline and shows you’re passionate about doing business.
No time to listen to the video? View my presentation slides below:
