Many corporate managers and B2B businesses try to make excuses that social media can’t work for them for lead generation. Explaining how untrue that thought process is would be a completely different blog post. Here, we are going to ease into the social media world for corporate workers trying to find potential customers online.
Since LinkedIn has a very professional reputation, B2B and corporate employees believe it to be a more acceptable place to try and find new customers. I can personally vouch that for a variety of clients, LinkedIn has driven high quality traffic to their websites.
There does seem to be a disconnect for people trying to understand how to really get involved on LinkedIn to connect with prospects and generate leads. So how can you use LinkedIn to generate leads?
Want an overview on what exactly LinkedIn is and how to set up your profile?
I think a lot of misunderstanding is in posting to your personal page’s updates. Where you can really leverage connecting with your target audience on LinkedIn is with LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers.
You should already have your buyer personas determined before laying out any marketing plan. When you know your exact demographic, it will be much easier to find them on LinkedIn.
When you post an update on LinkedIn, only people that you are connected with will see that. If your goal is to get involved for real, lead generation on LinkedIn, then you need to go out and connect with new people.
How To Use LinkedIn Groups
Based on your target audience, you should have the exact description of the perfect leads that you want to generate. Go to the LinkedIn Groups Directory and search for their job titles or keywords that would describe their professional roles. This will get you a list of groups where your ideal customers are sharing content and getting involved in conversations.
Search Term Examples (for different industries):
- B2B Sales
- Digital Marketing
- Jewelry Designers
You need to join these LinkedIn Groups and start participating.
TIP – Make a note of how active the group is by the number of discussions. You can also see if people you are connected to are already a part of the group.
3 Do’s Of LinkedIn Group Lead Generation Through Participation
- DO: Look for discussions that you are knowledgable in and can contribute genuine, quality contributions
- DO: Ask questions that you are interested in started a discussion around
- DO: Share content to website articles, even if they aren’t your own, if they can be valuable to the group
3 Dont’s Of LinkedIn Group Lead Generation Through Participation
- DON’T: Join a group that you will not be able to offer quality contributions to
- DON’T: Be overly self promotional and only post links to your own website
- DON’T: Start a discussion and then not answer people’s responses
What Are Your Experiences With Using LinkedIn For Lead Generation?
Have you been successful with using LinkedIn for generating leads? Maybe in your experience you find LinkedIn a waste of time? Leave your story in the comments below!
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