Social media is the number one channel for lead generation in 2022, according to HubSpot. LinkedIn is an important member of that pack (group howl, anyone?). Though LinkedIn used to be the social network for recruiters and job seekers, LinkedIn lead generation is now a valuable tactic for many marketers, especially those in the B2B sector.
LinkedIn allows people and brands alike to form authentic connections while also communicating about their services and products. Despite having a relatively smaller reach than Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, LinkedIn currently offers arguably the strongest concentration of B2B leads of any social networking site.
Ready to start growing your lists? Here are four ways to generate more leads using LinkedIn.
Why Is LinkedIn Good for Lead Generation?
LinkedIn is great for lead generation because companies have direct access to their target customers. They can share relevant content, engage in conversations, and ultimately attract new business in a non-intrusive way (say no to spam, people!).
But the LinkedIn lead generation stats also speak for themselves. LinkedIn has 810 million members, yet it recorded 15.4 billion sessions in the second quarter of 2022. Its users aren’t just creating profiles, but they’re also actively engaging with their LinkedIn network.
Is your jaw on the floor yet? If not, consider this: 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn are decision-makers for their business, so it’s no surprise that 40 percent of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the most-effective way they generate high-quality leads.
We're going to show you how to make it yours.
5 LinkedIn Lead Generation Best Practices
Using LinkedIn for lead gen may seem relatively straightforward, but it takes time and commitment. No spammy comments, no sliding into LinkedIn Inboxes uninvited, no pitches disguised as connection requests. But good things take time, and building a lucrative lead generation strategy is no different.
Here are our five top tips for generating leads on LinkedIn.
Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page
Your company page is like your online storefront. It’s where prospects come to learn more about the business. If carefully optimized, your brand’s LinkedIn page can be instrumental in moving leads from the top of the funnel to the middle of the funnel by getting them to take some action, such as clicking through to your website, your LinkedIn group, or converting into a sweet, sweet lead.
At the most basic level, LinkedIn optimization means filling out all relevant fields with useful information. Your leads should never have to guess what exactly you or your brand does.
This is only the beginning, however. To properly optimize your LinkedIn profile for lead maximization, you need a comprehensive SEO strategy.
We use the word “growth marketing agency” in the About section of our own LinkedIn page so that the people who need us can find us.
Your profile should be optimized for the keyword that your leads might search for. But you should avoid using generic keywords or phrases. With LinkedIn, specificity is key, and the best way to quickly get some traction for your brand is by optimizing your profiles for hyper-focused, long-tail keywords.
For example, “SaaS company in Vancouver” is much better than simply “SaaS company.”
In this way, you will enhance the discoverability of your profiles. That’s only the first step.
Build a Brand for Your Business Leaders
Executives in any niche command some respect and attention. When they post content, readers will take notice, expecting to learn something from a business leader who’s already killing the game. Leverage this energy to generate leads on LinkedIn.
Though personal branding seems like it could take away from your company branding, they’re actually two peas in a pod. The idea is to have your people organically become thought leaders in your industry. The larger their brands get, the more people will learn about your company along the way. And since these people find your business leaders relevant, they’ll probably find your company relevant, too.
Investing in brands for your business leaders is like casting a wider net that also catches more qualified fish. Pair their expertise with your company’s own unique perspective on your product or service to reliably generate more leads on LinkedIn — a total win-win.
Think Like a Media Company
You optimize your LinkedIn Company Page. Your executives’ influence is on the up. Now you need high-quality content. The best companies on LinkedIn succeed by thinking like a media company.
This starts with a strong content marketing strategy, one that prioritizes relevant, high-quality stories. Wondering what “relevant” really means? Create a buyer persona. This doesn’t have to be a cheesy profile called “Bob the B2B Guy,” but it should leverage data to illustrate the stories your target leads want to consume. Then, you have to go out and create those stories.
You should then aim to create great content on a regular basis. Incorporate a mix of different media, too. Companies that post weekly see higher engagement rates, and LinkedIn posts with images get two times more engagement than posts without. Don’t sleep on video, either. LinkedIn Live Streams rack up 24 times more comments than regular videos.
Thinking like a media company will not only establish you as an authority in your industry, but if you do it right, you will start getting shares from other influential people and brands within your industry. This could lead to exponential growth in your LinkedIn lead generation.
Create a Community
Your community is one of your most valuable assets. A loyal community will follow you from platform to platform. They’ll welcome your emails into their inbox. They’ll anxiously await new product developments.
That’s why creating a community is one of the best ways to master ongoing LinkedIn lead generation.
Though your community should be unique to you, what matters is that you create relationships with your customers. Share the media you’re creating to make their personal and professional lives better (yes, fo' free).
Do this on a regular basis, and your customers will actually want to hear from you. That’s the best kind of lead generation there is.
Leverage Paid Ads
Creating a community through organic reach is always the best foundation. But paid ads can be a great way to fill the gaps or re-engage people you haven’t heard from in a while. LinkedIn has lots of paid options that can help you reach your target audience precisely and with meaningful content. That’s why 79 percent of content marketers said LinkedIn Ads performed better than ads on other social networks.
There are four main options to consider. These are Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, Lead Generation Forms, and Text Ads.
For a growth-oriented brand, you might want to lean a little stronger towards sponsored content and sponsored InMail. These channels most closely resemble organic growth strategies and can be used to strategically enhance your organic methods.
With sponsored content, you can gain massive reach with relevant content created for your industry. The personalized, targeted LinkedIn messages that you are able to send with sponsored InMail are another powerful LinkedIn tool not to overlook.
Lead generation forms are another great tool. You can customize the fields to only request the information that’s relevant to you and your business.
How Do I Create a Lead Gen Form on LinkedIn?
To create a lead gen form on LinkedIn, log into your Campaign Manager and select the account you’d like to create a form for. Then do the following:
- Click the dropdown for “Account Assets.”
- Select “Lead Gen Forms.”
- Click “Create Form.” At this step, you can also expand the form to see a larger version.
- Customize Your Form Fields. With lead forms, less can be more. Only include the fields you absolutely need for your CMS.
- Click “Create.”
Now you’re ready to collect LinkedIn leads. Boom shakalaka. For best results, consider incorporating your lead gen form into your broader LinkedIn strategy to ensure it complements (rather than detracts from) your other paid and organic efforts.
Level Up Your Lead Generation Strategy With LinkedIn
We’re not saying LinkedIn marketing is the be-all and end-all of B2B marketing. But we are saying that LinkedIn lead generation is a valuable tool in your inbound marketing kit. Getting it right can mean reliably generating leads — and high-quality ones at that.
To recap, the five keys to LinkedIn lead gen are:
- Optimize your company page to make the most of any visitors.
- Build a brand for your business leaders to widen your reach.
- Think like a media company to create stories that resonate with your customers.
- Create a community your customers actually want to be a part of.
- Fill any gaps with LinkedIn’s paid tools to hyper-focus on your most profitable market segments.
But LinkedIn lead generation can only go so far on its own. Here’s one more tip: One of the best ways to generate leads on LinkedIn is by pairing it with a powerful CMS such as Hubspot CRM, which offers easy ad management tools to take your LinkedIn lead generation to the next level.
We’re a Hubspot Partner Agency and can help you make the most of your LinkedIn. Get in touch to find out how we can help!
