Our top 5 tips for how to use LinkedIn to generate new business
I have been a skeptic for many years about the real benefits of LinkedIn for B2B sales. My style is to build relationships with people first before trying to sell to them. I hate that aggressive selling approach and that was what I thought LinkedIn was.
Well I was wrong. For the last three months I have been using LinkedIn to generate leads (and I have been getting upto 20 really good leads a week) for a brand new startup from an almost zero starting position. I like to think of it as the marketer eating their own dog food!
The main problem I see with marketers these days is that their advice is limited by their own experiences. Not all marketers are continually trying new ways and not many use the science behind how buying decisions are made, to support the marketing that they do. I didn’t want to be one of those marketers so I set out to try the human emotional approach that I didn’t think LinkedIn could facilitate!
So here are my top 5 tips for how to bring together the science and marketing, when using LinkedIn for B2B sales.
1. Know your audience – I know this sounds obvious but I want you to start by understanding the behavioural styles of your audience, not just the standard things everyone starts with “they are males aged 40 living in these regions”. Buying decisions are made in the unconscious minds and are always based on an emotion. These emotions are things that are always linked to the underlying needs of why your customers buy your product or service. Needs like – security, acknowledgement, feeling of belonging, control etc. So think about the human need that your product or service fulfils on for your ideal audience.
2. Build your audience in LinkedIn – Once you know the behavioural styles of your audience I then want you to think about what industries / sectors they can be found in. What position titles do they hold? Make a list. Then go through all your connections and get rid of anyone who either doesn’t have that as a title or works in that industry. (You can keep people who will edify you also). Once you have removed anyone who isn’t a fit to buy from you, start adding more contacts that do. The aim is to have at least 1000 ideal prospects that you can start to market to.
Find your contacts by searching job titles and industry specific terms. Remember when you ask them to connect with you, always send a connection message.
3. Tell this audience how you can help them. The biggest mistake I see with LinkedIn profiles is where people write profiles that are just listing out all the things they do (the services or the feature and benefits of the products they are selling).
The reason this approach doesn’t work is that you are leaving it up to your prospects brain to make the connection around how these services or features and benefits are going to help them in their business. First, customers need to understand why they need what you are selling and how that will fulfil on their need that you defined from Tip 1. E.g. We have a client that sells software. It is so easy to go straight in with “our software does this and that…”. Instead, think about why does the audience need your software? In our case customers need our client’s software to help build trust with the community. Next, tell them exactly who you are targeting (as you defined in Tip 2). Then tell them what you will deliver to help them achieve your promise, and how.
4. Make it super easy for people to contact you. This is the second biggest mistake I see in LinkedIn. It is hard to find contact details to just call or email the person to find out more. So add them into your profile.
5. Talk with people. Think of LinkedIn as a place to have a conversation with a person as you would at a networking function. Where you are curious to find out more. Find something in their profile you have in common and ask them about it. Don’t be too quick to tell them all about you, instead make the message conversational and always end by asking them a question. Build up rapport over a few back and forth messages with them.
Keep in mind people buy from people. You will quickly discover who has the right behavioural style that you know will resonate with you.
We have established a tried process on how to apply neuro-marketing to your LinkedIn strategies. If you have been considering how to use LinkedIn to generate more leads, get in touch and have a chat with Belinda.