Social Selling: How To Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile for Lead Generation

 

We are no longer in a world of beige sales presentations, unanswered email pitches and cold calls - creating, building and maintaining relationships with potential clients is the number one way to establish a highly-engaged, high-converting audience. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the undisputed top dogs of social media, but what about LinkedIn? The often overlooked little cousin of Facebook, LinkedIn has become a surprising powerhouse when it comes to Lead Generation! More than 80% of social media generated leads actually come from LinkedIn, and 59% of marketers claim to regularly generate new leads from LinkedIn, in comparison to 26% from other social media platforms 📈📩 

 

Here is how to optimise your LinkedIn profile for Lead Generation… 

 

 

It is indisputable that LinkedIn is for business; everyone on LinkedIn is looking for new business opportunities in some respect. LinkedIn has a highly sophisticated readership, so your profile should make full use of this and go into detail about what you currently do (if you are not looking for a new career opportunity), how you help your clients, and how you could help them. This social network is highly keyword-oriented, so make sure that the substance of your profile is totally relevant and descriptive, so that these keywords can easily be picked up by the LinkedIn algorithm. But before you start dropping business buzzwords like ‘leadership’, ‘passionate’ and ‘motivated’, these words are an instant turn-off. Show us you follow these principles, don’t tell us! 

 

 

First of all, think about your ideal lead. Who do you want to connect with? It’s a good idea to begin with others in your industry, so that you can build a strong alliance of Subject Matter Experts to pick up advice from and follow trends. It can also be beneficial to connect with people you work with or have worked with in the past, so you can build up that ‘Recommendations’ section of your profile. Next, connect with those who come from industries you are trying to target. For example, for us at Pink Leopard, we would be interested in connecting with Aestheticians, owners of Beauty Salons and Medispas, and some e-commerce brands thrown into the mix for good measure. Creating a solid network of real people, all with an interest in the results you garner, can mean the difference between a LinkedIn profile that is left collecting dust, and a Lead Generation machine. 

Build relationships with LinkedIn connections to convert them into leads 👯‍♀️ 

 

Once you have made these connections, it’s time to nurture them, keep them engaged and show them why they should be working with you! Remember, clients are generally more interested in results than your process, so whenever you have a big success, celebrate it! What can start as a ‘like’ on a stranger’s post, can turn into a connection and more regular interactions, until eventually you have got yourself a potential client. It’s all about ushering your network through your marketing funnel, just like you would any other lead. You can even offer a variety of LinkedIn-exclusive Lead Magnets, such as a discount on your services, a free consultation, or anything that values the network and shows you to be a valuable connection to have. 

 

LinkedIn is a powerful lead generation tool, that is just waiting for you to take advantage of it. Rather than starting your profile, writing a couple of half-hearted paragraphs and running a mile, never to be seen again, change the way you are viewing this underrated social network. Continued effort is required to optimise your profile, nurture your network and usher in new leads, but I assure you that the effort you put in will be well worth it when you see the results you get out of it. Anyway, BRB, just off to check my LinkedIn… 

 

💌 If you have any questions, or would like to find out more about our services, drop us an email at hello@pinkleopard.co.uk