How to Convert Your LinkedIn Connections to Leads

converting LinkedIn connections to leads

There are over 645 million people signed up on LinkedIn. This means that you should be considering the idea of LinkedIn lead generation. Today, LinkedIn is famously referred to as the social media for professionals, has become very important.

You can seize the opportunity of your immediate network on this platform to generate leads. In this post, we will look at how to convert your connections on LinkedIn to leads. Let’s get started.

LinkedIn lead generation tool

Tips to Help You Convert LinkedIn Connections into Leads

Many people see LinkedIn as a platform to find jobs or widen their professional network. Yes, you can use it for this, but you can also enjoy more benefits. One such benefit is converting your connections into revenue-generating clients. How can you achieve this?

Check out our LinkedIn lead generation tips below:

Personalized private messages

How do you feel when you receive a personalized private message on a network like LinkedIn? You tend to feel special and appreciated. This is how the recipients of your personalized messages on LinkedIn will feel.

On this platform, you can send about a hundred private messages to first-degree connections every day. If you are a startup business, you can easily post about your products or services. This is an open check that you need to utilize wisely. One way to send such messages is to add the name of the recipient and maybe the name of their company.

When sending these messages, make sure that you are offering some value. Examples of value propositions include beneficial legislative changes, a newsletter, or a link to a valuable article. You can make use of LinkedIn’s platform to publish the article then share its link via a private message.

As many as a million users make use of LinkedIn’s publishing platform. This results in more than 130,000 posts every week. So rather than a sales pitch, send such a link as a Christmas gift. Make it catchier by adding a “call-to-action” at the end.

LinkedIn connection limitation

Research using LinkedIn

What better to achieve LinkedIn lead generation than to research on LinkedIn? Do you know that this platform has more than 63 million decision-makers and 90 million top-level influencers? What does this mean to a business like yours?

It presents you with a very huge opportunity once you can get such individuals to adopt your product or service. Marketing on LinkedIn is very similar to marketing via any other platform. You must first research your prospects before attempting to contact them. The best way to sell to your connections is to first research about them.

When you learn about their potential pain points and interests, you can convince them to buy from you. You can find out about this through the kinds of discussions such prospects engage in on the platform. With such information, you can customize your messages to encourage positive responses.

 Use content sharing to add value

Just like it is with other methods of marketing, you shouldn’t just jump at making a sales pitch on LinkedIn. When a person accepts your request for a connection, the first thing on your mind should be providing value. You must share valuable content consistently via your profile first. Doing this gives a picture of your interests and your industry.

More than anything else, it shows your connections what you are capable of and how they can gain from you. There are several content ideas that you can employ. Examples include industry statistics, work insights, news articles, personal experiences, etc. Sharing stories of how you have assisted other clients with your products and services works like magic.

The quality of content you share via your profile will determine if LinkedIn lead generation will be easier or not. One survey shows that about ninety-one percent of marketing executives on LinkedIn find their best content on this platform. Using this same platform allows your connections to learn from you and know you from a distance.

There is the temptation of forwarding content to connections as messages. Don’t make a habit of this as it may become annoying real soon. It is best to leave your content on your profile and people can choose to view it or not. Your best bet is to track engagements to discover who shows the most interest.

LinkedIn networking

Endorse connections

Many LinkedIn users dismiss the endorsement section of the platform. You probably think it is a useless widget too. That’s a wrong notion. Do you know that endorsing your connections has a way of tapping into their ego?

It is a way to attract good vibes since people enjoy it when they attract attention. Endorsing your connections is a two-edged sword bringing you good in every way that you use it. First, when you endorse a connection, they are likely to endorse you back. This has an immensely positive effect on your LinkedIn profile.

Second, it reminds the connection that you exist. This means that they are more likely going to schedule a call or online meeting with you. By so doing, you have carved a space for yourself in their mind and you are living there “rent-free.”

Ask for feedback

Discussing LinkedIn lead generation will be incomplete without talking about feedback. As much as we are always nervous to ask for feedback on new products on services, people hardly give bad feedback. Even if they aren’t satisfied with the product or service, their feedback is most likely to be constructive criticism.

LinkedIn is a great platform to run your market research. Your connections will provide lots of helpful insights on what you should add or remove. In the end, you will be better off as you would have improved your new product or service.

Always plan for an offline move

LinkedIn is a great platform to connect with leads. However, you don’t conclude your sales on LinkedIn. If your ultimate aim is sales, you must begin to nurture your efforts towards moving offline.

This means that you must find out the best sales methods to reach out to your prospects. Would they prefer a video chat, phone call, or physical meeting? You shouldn’t make the request immediately you connect with a prospect on LinkedIn. Instead, groom the relationship for a few weeks or months before taking it to the next level.

When you take your time nurturing such relationships, you are more likely going to get a positive response. Meanwhile, keep researching what your prospect wants and the best methods of reaching out.

Why you should use LinkedIn to generate leads

By now, you will agree with us that LinkedIn lead generation is a huge possibility. The question is, “why should your business use LinkedIn to generate leads?”

Here are a few reasons:

  1. Free messaging to your first and group connections.
  2. Lots of niches so you are covered.
  3. You can invite referrals and connections.
  4. Sponsored content is possible on this platform.
  5. Display ads.
  6. Text ads.
  7. Sponsored InMail.
  8. Dynamic ads.

Wrapping Up

If you have never thought about it until now, you need to consider LinkedIn lead generation. We have shown you several ways to convert your connections on this platform into leads. Along with this, we showed you a few tools that you can utilize on LinkedIn to attract new prospects. Do you think that we left anything out? Share with us in the comments section.
Author
Maria is a content writer for the unlimited graphic design service Delesign with a keen interest in eCommerce and internet marketing. She is a communications graduate and understands what it takes to write persuasive copy and blog posts. Outside of work, you can find her mini-blogging about her life on social media.