Linkedin is the largest professional networking tool in the world. There are a variety of tools which LinkedIn offers to help you find leads and expand your customer base. To build your business, you should know how to use the site to its full capabilities. Here are a few ways lead generation company Siren Group AG proposes could help you harness LinkedIn to secure appointments with your insurance prospects:
Make your profile stand out
Your LinkedIn profile needs to stand out. It should portray an image that exemplifies you as a professional and the more comprehensive your profile, the better your chance of having a high ranking in the LinkedIn search engine.
- Upload a picture that exemplifies you as a professional –it’s worth paying a reputable studio for a professional headshot.
- Make sure your profile is “built up”. The profile summary section is very important, as this is where people who visit your profile will look to see an overview of your professional background.
- Stay active on the site, as LinkedIn rewards uses who are active on the site. By updating your profile, you show up in the weekly digest mail and in your connections news feed.
- If you have any relevant articles that you’ve written, try to get them featured on LinkedIn’s Pulse. Pulse is a great way to increase your distribution and get your name out there. Choose a topic that is relatable to your followers because the more organic viewers, comments, likes, and shares you get on your article- the more your chances of it getting featured.
- It also helps to interact with companies and other writers on the site by liking and commenting on their posts. They will do the same for you.
- Also take stock of who has been checking out your profile. If they haven’t sent you an invitation to connect, send them one as they were clearly interested in your profile in the first place. This could help increase your amount of followers.
Advanced search
The Advanced search function can help you expand your prospect list. It allows you to search for prospects by location, profession, company, or industry. Once you have defined the search criteria you can then ‘save’ this search. LinkedIn then will email you on a daily or weekly basis the results of your saved search, giving you greater time for other lead generation tactics.
- Lead Builder, a premium tool from LinkedIn gives you the ability to create and save prospect lists by using focused search filters such as interests, years of experience, seniority level and company size. It has the ability to give you daily email notifications.
- Linkedin Sales Navigator is a premium tool with an algorithm which will give you lead recommendations that are tailored to you. You will be able to easily save leads and create a sales lead list. This is one of LinkedIn’s fastest growing component of premium subscriptions. In a nutshell, the service gives you
- Custom lead recommendations based on your preferences
- The ability to import your Salesforce data
- Effortlessly find the right leads with Advanced search, with lead builder
- The ability to see who’s viewed your profile in the last 3 months
- Unlock full profiles for leads of those not in your network*
- Live sales updates on your prospects and customers
- inMail to reach out to any LinkedIn member
Build relationships!
After you have recognised a prospect and have been successfully introduced by a mutual connection, don’t immediately start with your sales pitch as it is likely to rub your prospect the wrong way. You may even completely ruin the chance of establishing a relationship. Rather, be genuine and make an effort to get to know your prospect and find out how you can help them.Here are a few resourceful ways of reaching out:
- Send a personal message or note congratulating them on a recent business achievement or work anniversary
- If someone in your network could also be helpful to your prospect, offer to introduce your new connection to them.
- Dig in to your existing customer base and connect them with like-minded people or even conferences that may increase their profile or visibility with others in their field.
- By clicking on “my network” – “connections” , you are able to search a number of topical things like birthdays, status updates and work anniversaries.
- Import your contacts from Gmail and Google. This will allow you to connect with them on LinkedIn and that will alert you to any shared connections and possible leads.
Stay tuned for part 2 of LinkedIn tips from the Siren Group next week!