Is LinkedIn right for your target audience?
Before you start prospecting on LinkedIn, make sure your target audience is well represented on this network. Here are a few things that characterize LinkedIn users:
- The 30-49 age group is predominantly represented
- Many of them are company executives or managers.
The LinkedIn social network is a professional network, so it goes without saying that prospecting on Linkedin is a must. mainly BtoB. At least, it's the most relevant target for users.
1. Look after your LinkedIn profile
Working the "top of the profile
Creating an attractive LinkedIn profile is a must if you want to be credible with potential contacts. More than having an attractive profile, you need to catch the eye.
Of course, your LinkedIn profile needs to be up to date and reflect your current and past situation.
The visual basis of your profile is your profile photo and your cover photo, which must absolutely be be professional. It's the first element seen by the person consulting your profile, so you have no room for error. Prospecting on LinkedIn works like any other business approach, and can be summed up by the phrase: "You only get one chance to make a good impression."
Depending on the photo you choose, the feeling you give off can be quite different.
Add an engaging summary
Only the first few lines of your summary are visible on your profile. To see your entire summary, the user must click to find out more. That's why it's so important that the first lines are written with care and have enough impact to entice the user to read on.
Write your summary according to the people you want to reach. A job-seeker's summary (recruiter-oriented), for example, is not at all the same as that of someone looking for new customers.
Also, remember not to turn your resume into a CV, as users will be able to see your background further down your profile. On the other hand, use your summary to place keywords that will enable you to position yourself in searches that web surfers might make, making you more visible.
Add skills and get recommendations
Two very important elements when prospecting on LinkedIn that allow you toincrease your credibility with users who don't know you. In fact, many potential buyers will see these 2 elements on LinkedIn after being convinced by the summary. It's a way of reassuring them, at least if it's positive.
To do this, you need to mention your skills. We strongly recommend that you limit the number of skills. You need to focus on the main ones, and make sure they're relevant to your target audience and/or your field of activity. By doing so, you'll more easily come across as an expert in your field.
Ask for recommendations from colleagues, former customers and active customers for support your expertise and highlight your strengths in your work. The figures for recommendations speak for themselves: "Consumers trust recommendations from friends seven times more than conventional advertising".. So, even if in this case they're not always friends, all studies show that a potential customer is more likely to contact a company for a product or service if it has positive reviews.
2. Define your prospecting objectives on LinkedIn
Before you start prospecting on LinkedIn, it's important to determine what you're looking for, and therefore the goals you want to achieve. Here are a few examples of objectives:
- be visible
- be recognized as a professional in an industry sector
- identify and find new prospects
- retain existing customers
Obviously, these are very broad concepts, but they already give you a sense of direction.
Once you have defined your needs, it is necessary to set intermediate targets and more operational KPIs (performance indicators). This makes it easier for you to implement concrete actions to achieve your objectives.
Here are some examples of intermediate goals you can set yourself:
- Send 10 invitations (per day to increase the size of your network
- Publish 1 short post per day
- Write 1 publication or 1article per month
- Interact liking, sharing, commenting at least 1 time/day
- Trigger 2-3 private discussions a day with LinkedIn messaging
Even if your ultimate objective is to obtain appointments to convert new customers, setting up this type of follow-up will enable you to evaluate a more global progress in your sales performance.
3. Send private messages
Structuring your sales approach by message on Linkedin involves process creation.
To do this you need to define :
- a roadmap : an outline showing the chronological order of each daily action, its progress with possible outcomes, and a summary of daily intermediate objectives.
- action models: a precise description of each action, its purpose, context, means, language, and target figures
A scenario means starting from point A and arriving at point B (an appointment, for example), anticipating the different possible paths.
Prospects can react quite differently from one another, and you need to be aware of this. prepared in advance. That's why it's important to establish a series of logical actions to reach a final goal.
Here too, it's possible to have several end goals, such as obtaining an e-mail address or a telephone appointment.
The simplest and most effective long-term approach is to build scenarios according to the type of structure and decision-maker. This means that if you have several targets, then you need to build several prospecting scenarios.
4. Effectively distribute news to improve prospecting on LinkedIn
Let's be honest, it's not the most direct way to generate new customers, but it's certainly one of the most interesting on the market. for the long term. The problem with creating news or more substantial content on LinkedIn is that it's not very operational, and it's not always easy to evaluate the results (return on investment).
To optimize your approach, you need to offer useful content to your prospects, because your prospects need to learn and educate themselves before they even know how to pinpoint their problem.
Addressing the issues and questions of the decision-makers you want to reach is the key to getting them to contact you, and therefore to improving your prospecting on LinkedIn.
How do you find out? The answer lies with sales people, those who are in daily contact with customers and hear the questions customers ask all day long. If you start by asking your sales reps to compile answers to questions asked by their prospects (from the most general to the most specific), this will provide content to publish.
Part of prospecting on LinkedIn is answering questions that other future prospects are sure to have, providing them with a solution and arousing their curiosity about your company.
5. Leave a comment on publications
Studies show that, to have the best chance of engaging a recruiter or potential client, you need to respond within 24 hours. So it's not just about being active on LinkedIn, it's also about be responsive !
Make comments that bring value to your contacts and your target to demonstrate your expertise and let them know you're the right person for the job. It's a great way to get recommended or contacted. It's important to do this regularly and over time to really get noticed and become a reference in your field. Prospecting on LinkedIn is a long-term process that needs to be nurtured every day.
6. Interacting in LinkedIn Groups
Ask to join groups where your target audience is, and where your presence can add real value. Do some keyword research to find groups of interest to you, or ask your current customers, for example, which groups they're in.
When you're a member of a group, you become really effective by being active:
- Take part in discussions
- Interact with members
- Publish relevant content that will drive traffic to your website
Don't just prospect on LinkedIn. Get involved, interact, publish, and you'll see how it all falls out.
For your information, the great added value of LinkedIn groups is that you can send messages to members even if they are not in your contacts.
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