I’ve never really been a big fan of LinkedIn. Not sure why. The last time I looked at it seriously was a few years back. Even though it’s utterly focused on B2B relationships, it seemed more for helping you get a new job, than get a new client.
As a business owner, that seemed more of a threat to my staff, than a useful marketing tool.
The last few weeks have changed that for me. I’ve been running a specific campaign to get new clients using LinkedIn as a prospecting tool.
It’s not set the world on fire. But as an extra resource alongside the 10 or so other channels I currently use to generate leads and build a relationship with people, I would say it is more than holding its own.
It’s certainly been worth me paying for a premium account.
Here are three useful ways you can use LinkedIn to get more clients.
Using existing connections to reach new people
The best source of new clients is your existing clients. With LinkedIn, the best way to reach new people is to leverage the people you already know.
LinkedIn makes this easy by telling you how you have connections to people, through your existing network. I’ve been looking up people I want to talk to, and then have used my network to find a warm way to reach them.
Cold approach = failure.
Warm approach = higher chance of success.
Learn about your prospects
People buy when they are ready to buy, for the reasons that are relevant to them.
Looking at their LinkedIn profile can give you very useful information about their business. It’s also a good way to connect to the real decision makers.
If you can get any contact in a business, you can usually leverage that to get connected with an influencer, or the actual decision maker.
Use Groups to prospect
I’ve been added to a group used by IT support professionals.
Which gives me the chance to a) see what’s important right now, and b) pitch in with useful content if I can help.
Notice I didn’t write there ‘spam everyone with sales messages’. That’s a big no no.
The goal of any lead generation system is to find the right people, start a conversation with them, build a trusting relationship, and then be in front of them at the point they need or want something you can help with.
What kind of LinkedIn groups do your ideal prospects sit in?
