Many people don’t know that LinkedIn can be used for lead generation. They think it’s just a social networking site for professionals who want to find job opportunities. While this is one of the uses of the site, it’s not the only one. Many business owners are finding it’s a great way to establish relationships with consumers and turn them into buyers.
How to Do It
If you’re like most business owners, you’re probably already on Facebook and Twitter. You post regularly, and you may have even seen an increase in website traffic because of your presence on those sites. You can do the same on LinkedIn. It has a feed you can post to, and all of your followers (connections in the case of LinkedIn) will see those updates.
With LinkedIn, it’s not only about posting. You need to do a little more relationship building. You do it with the other social networks, but you need to do it even more with LinkedIn. The first step is to connect with people you already know, and then you should invite people who are connected to your connections. These are second level connections, and they will be warmer than third level connections. Third level connections are people who are connected to your second level connections.
Send messages to people who accept your invitation to connect. You can ask them what they have been working on and offer your assistance. Be genuinely interested in getting to know these connections. These are your potential customers.
Bringing in More Leads
LinkedIn groups are perfect for lead generation. Find groups that have to do with your products and services and become a member. Offer help by answering members’ questions, and post tips in the group that people will find valuable. Do not promote your business as soon as you join. This may get you kicked out of the group. Ease yourself in by gaining people’s trust. Of course, once you start to form relationships with some of the members, you can invite them to connect. You can then get to know them more through messaging and your LinkedIn feed posts.
You can start your own LinkedIn group. You can then be the leader of the group, so you don’t have to work so hard to gain authority. Just be sure to be present and engage with your members. Again, you can make connections with your members to work on those leads.
Pulse is a publishing platform on LinkedIn that you can use for lead generation. You can post high quality articles on it, and then that could lead to more connections.
Lead Generation Takes Time
You may find yourself spending a lot of time on LinkedIn trying to increase leads. This is normal. With social media, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. It’s important to work on getting leads and converting them on LinkedIn, just like it is for any other way to generate leads. Nothing is easy, but it’s all worth it.
