HOW TO USE LINKEDIN TO GENERATE LEADS AS A B2B COMPANY

On the LinkedIn.com landing page, there are two options—you can sign in, or you can create an account to get started.

Those who already have accounts can sign in using the toolbar at the top of the page.

If you’re just getting started, fill out the short questionnaire box in the middle of the page. There’s a space for your first name, last name, and e-mail address. In the final box, create a password of six or more characters. When you’re finished, hit the join now button at the bottom of the box.

On the next screen that pulls up, enter your name and where you work, and then click create profile. After entering some basic information, you’ll enter information and click through several different screens as you complete the profile. There are five basic areas of information to fill out: experience, education, photo, skills and expertise, and details.

Keep in mind that this will be the first impression that many people will have of you, so you need to make it stand out in all the best ways.

• Experiences—in this section, add your job experience. You don’t need to list every job you’ve ever had, but as you try to position yourself as a B2B tech leader, make sure you add every job that shows your expertise in the industry. This might also be a good place to include any volunteer experience you have that applies to your career goals or company promotion goals. (If you prefer, you can add another profile section later to separate your volunteer experience from your work experience. If you choose to do this, keep it relevant to your career and company goals, and write it in a way that makes you shine.)
• Education—Formal education history such as university degrees should go here. If you have any conferences, individual courses or specialized training in your industry that will make you stand out, add them here, as well. As with items in the Experience section, make sure they’re relevant to what you want to accomplish.
• Professional photo—Out of all the elements of your profile, this could be the most important. A professional photo makes you 14 times as likely to be found on LinkedIn.
• Professional headline—LinkedIn populates your personal headline with your job title and current company. You can change this to something that will pique the curiosity of people who might see your profile, but remember to target it to the audience you want to impress. As a B2B tech leader, aim to draw in people who can help generate leads.
• Use the URLs—You can add up to three URLs to link back to online portfolios, work-related blogs, or personal (but professional) websites that will help position you as a B2B tech leader.
• Skills and Endorsements—in the skills section, list your skills and ask for endorsements from colleagues. Then ask a handful of people who’ve worked with you to provide recommendations. Try to get at least five recommendations on your profile in the beginning. These make a big difference in the impact your first impression makes on new readers.
• Details—Details that you add while setting up your profile show up as bullet points under your job experience.
• Join Groups—as you fill out your profile, take a moment to join one or two groups that look like a good fit for your company and your career goals.
• Fill out your Summary—unless you move it, the summary section will show up right under your profile picture. Take the necessary time to create a summary that showcases your abilities as a B2B tech leader.

Write your summary in first person and in simple language. Make it personable, but keep it professional. Busy professionals skimming through your profile should feel like they’ve met someone they could carry on a great conversation with.

While you write, keep your target audience in mind. As a B2B tech leader, you’ll want to appeal to people in technology and in business management positions. What kinds of things would you talk about with them if they sat across the table from you? If you can, phrase your summary the same way you would when talking with them face to face.

Include around six of your biggest achievements that relate to your abilities as a tech leader.  

Once your profile is complete, you can edit it as you go along, adding more sections or details as needed.

Although the #hashtag originated on Twitter, its popularity has spread across social media platforms, including LinkedIn.

Hashtags are useful for inbound marketers because they categorize specific keywords that potential clients can search for. An article or post with a hashtag will surface with other posts using the same hashtag on social media platforms.

For a B2B tech company, using hashtags to become part of relevant industry conversations can be useful for lead generation. However, limit the number of hashtags you use to two or three per post. Using more hashtags than that can be annoying to readers and actually drive down views.

It’s also important to research the hashtags you use to make sure they’ll help you achieve your goals.

When LinkedIn added a tagging option to its group features, it upped the chances that companies could get the attention of specific people or businesses they want to engage. 

To @tag someone in a LinkedIn group discussion, simply type @ and then the name of the person or company whose attention you’d like to get. They’ll get a notification that they’ve been tagged, and they’ll most likely respond.

Inbound marketing relies on drawing new clients to you. One way a B2B tech company can do this is to write long-form posts that include useful tips. For the best impact, the posts should be 800-2000 words long. Posting twice a week on LinkedIn is recommended by some professionals.

The biggest advantage that long-form posts provide on sites like LinkedIn is the potential to be seen as a thought leader. In the competitive B2B tech world, being a thought leader means people know who you are. Because they grow to trust you through your long-form posts, potential clients will think of your company when they’re looking for tech solutions for their own businesses.

On LinkedIn, companies can post short videos on the products and services sections of their company profiles. They’re set up easily by pasting a YouTube video URL in the correct spot, and they’re free to use.

Short videos can also be used as posts from personal LinkedIn pages. Asking employees to share a company video on their personal LinkedIn sites can significantly boost company visibility.

Embed a Slideshare presentation in a blog post. Since Slideshare has a wide viewing audience and can be optimized for search engines, it can boost a post’s rank over more traditional posts.

Getting started is fairly simple. To write an article on LinkedIn, log in and look for the white space near the center top of the page that says share an article, photo, video or idea. Click on the pencil icon. This opens up your blog window, a clear writing space with a simple menu.

There are header options (normal through header 5) in the menu bar, as well as bullet points and numbers for lists, a hyperlink insertion tool, and a quotes tool to make any quotations you use stand out.  You’ll also find the standard bold, italic and underline options for changing up the text.

In the blue section below the toolbar, there are two icons and a plus symbol for adding a cover image for your blog. As this can become part of your brand, select something that represents your company and the message you want to send to other people.

Your headline goes below the blue rectangle. The white screen at the bottom of the window is where you’ll write the text of the article. If you click on the icon that says Write Here, another toolbar pops up that gives you options for inserting photos, videos, snippets, links, and slides. Clicking the X on the left of the toolbar will close it so you can continue writing text.

In the top right-hand corner of the page, you’ll also find a More drop-down menu that allows you to see your current drafts and articles you’ve already published. You can also start a new article from that menu or access the help center.

Once you begin, aim to get five to ten articles out quickly. Having at least this many posts can boost your credibility.

All in all, it’s a simple structure that’s easy to use.  Open the window, write, add some media, and hit publish.

There’s a lot of competition for blogs on LinkedIn—more than three million long-form articles are published there, and 100,000 new articles are published on LinkedIn every week. You’ll want your blog to stand out.

The headline you write is critical. If there’s a place to combine brevity, clarity, and accuracy, it’s here.

The news feed can only show so much, so you’ll want to craft a concise headline that will intrigue potential readers and give them a reason to click through to the text.  Pairing a punchy headline with a compelling image improves your chances of getting readers and shares.

The frequency and length of posts matters, too. Articles should be at least 300 words long, but remember that most readers are busy professionals who wouldn’t want to invest too much time—unless, of course, your content is that good. Most of the time, try to keep your articles to around 1000 words. Multiple postings spread throughout the day have the highest chances of reaching readers.

You also have to consider the content itself. What you have to say should matter, not just to your company, but to industry leaders and potential buyers. Consider the following ideas:

• Make sure the content is relevant to other conversations going on in the industry. If people are already talking about something, offering a fresh viewpoint can promote your company image and display its potential for finding out-of-the-box solutions. For ideas, check out the What people are talking about now box on the right side of your home page—you might find an industry conversation already in progress or an idea you can incorporate into one.
• Strike up a new conversation. Look beyond industry trends to the causes behind them, or look ahead with pertinent questions about where the industry is headed. For an article like this, consider getting the opinion of an industry influencer, or maybe even a full Q&A-style interview.
• Discuss action plans. It’s always a good idea to include action words in your posts because they’re packed with emotion and power. What better way to embed your company’s brand in the mind of potential leads? If you can get them thinking while they’re feeling the adrenaline rush these kinds of words inspire, you’ll be memorable.
• Try to get your posts featured on one of LinkedIn’s 42 channels. If your post is displayed on a channel that’s consistent with your company’s vision and is read by influential people in your industry, you’ll have a chance at drawing reader attention to your company’s brand.
• Write simply. It’s easy to get caught up in industry jargon, but the widest-read posts are written so that 11 year-olds can read them.

A good strategy for creating multiple posts throughout the day is to take advantage of all three of the posting options. Besides articles, post a quick update with a photo or a video that explains what you’re up to and why it’s important to the industry.

When you post a video or image, use the text function at the top to add information or @mentions to people you particularly want to spark a conversation with.  You can also change the post settings to gain the widest possible audience from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window.

Also consider using the write an article option to create a very short post with questions, hashtags, and links back to an article you’d really like people to see.

Content can be included in comments, too, so don’t forget to engage with people who comment on your posts. It’s an effective way of driving up views.

Ultimately, writing and posting great content is part of the lead-generation process. When you engage your audience, you increase your chances are of pulling in business.

Begin by clicking the work icon on the upper right-hand side of the page. It looks like this:

The next step is to enter your company name, and then you’ll choose a URL. Verify that you have the right to set up the page, click the create button, and move to the welcome screen, where you can start building the profile.

As with your personal LinkedIn page, do what you can to make your company profile stand out.

• Add an exceptional photo that accurately depicts your brand and the message you want to send to potential leads.
• In the products and services tab, include descriptions, links to, and explanations of the products and services you sell. List them in order of importance.
• Ask for reviews on your products and services from LinkedIn members. These reviews show up as written testimonials, and they can be used on company websites as well as being featured on the LinkedIn company page.
• Write a great summary. Your summary can be anywhere from 250-2,500 characters, including spaces. Focus on shared interests within your industry and on building trust with like-minded people.  Once you build trust, you can work together with others to advance your shared interests—such as building business partnerships and generating leads.
• In your summary, list five or six significant company accomplishments, and add in volunteer service to show your company is aware of communities and individuals.
• Create your first blog posts. Aim for five to ten quality posts at first, and add to them later.
• Utilize Slideshare. When you write your first company blog posts, consider embedding Slideshare presentations to help explain why the industry needs your business.  Slideshare is one of the 200 most visited sites in the world, and it gets 60 million views a month. It can also be optimized for specific keywords, which can cause the blog post to outrank more traditional posts on the same topic.
• Share the company page with employees. If they have personal LinkedIn accounts, ask them to identify with the company page. They’ll then show up as employees on your company page, which means visitors can connect with them. This can generate more talk about your company and ultimately bring in leads.
• Add additional administrators to the page, including key employees. They’ll feel more engaged with the company’s success, and it will spread the responsibility to promote the company across a broader human resource network.

To reach a target market, you have to understand the platform you’re using and how to behave there. The most effective discussions on LinkedIn are built on mutual trust.

One way to build trust between your company and others in the industry is by participating in discussions already happening on LinkedIn. While the Top Contributor feature in LinkedIn Groups has been discontinued, you can still watch out for industry influencers and engage them when you can.

Monitor group conversations and provide useful input. Comment regularly on the posts of people who seem respected in the group. Avoid simply sharing articles from your company blog. Instead, share information from third parties that can spark a conversation and position your company as thoughtful, aware and cooperative.

Get involved in LinkedIn’s influencer program. Aim to write articles that LinkedIn will pick up to promote, but don’t wait to get involved. Start commenting on the posts of LinkedIn influencers in your industry and engage with other people who comment there.

Occasionally, changes in the way a social platform like LinkedIn works can shake things up in your social media marketing plan. LinkedIn changed many of its group features to help cut back on spam and make using groups more effective. If something changes, watch the trends on group discussions as well as your LinkedIn analytics to determine how your company will be affected.

Sometimes it’s worthwhile for a B2B tech company to create a new group. If a good discussion group gets too spammy, for example. You might also be able to use a new group to establish your business as an industry leader.

The first thing to do is decide who the target buyer is for your product or service. A good inbound marketing plan should specifically address the kinds of questions that a buyer might bring up. Once that strategy is in place, it becomes easier to identify potential groups that your company should participate in.

Each profile can join up to 50 groups.

“We have to know the buyer profile. We have to know who we’re talking to. We also have to know what problems they’re having, because those are the problems we’re going to be providing helpful information for.”—Matt Traylor, Innovative Marketing Resources

An easy method to search for groups that fit your buyer profile is to search for them by keyword. Once you see a group that might work, dig deeper. Look at the statistics for the group—how many people are in the group? How many active conversations are there? Look at the demographics, too—if the group is filled with salespeople rather than industry professionals, you might get a lot of sales spam rather than good niche-specific conversation to draw people to your company.

It’s also important to look at the rules of the group. If the group doesn’t allow links to be posted in the discussions, don’t do it—you’ll be labeled as a spammer. One exception is occasionally linking back to a blog post that thoroughly answers a question someone had during the discussion.

Groups with no links are the highest quality groups for discussions. Company representatives shouldn’t worry about not being able to link back to a website or blog post, because people who appreciate the conversation will want to connect with you and learn more. When they do, they’ll see the company page and other links that can stimulate even more talk and generate leads.

A final way to find groups that might interest you is to decide who your dream client would be. Once you’ve found your dream client’s profile on LinkedIn, research the profile for helpful demographics and skim to the bottom, where the groups this person participates in are listed. It’s a good bet some of those groups will be ones you’ll want to spend time in, as well.

 Tips for creating solid LinkedIn campaigns

• Write good content—a solid blog post with significance for your industry, and write an intriguing headline in the form of a question that can ignite discussion. You’ll be forming a campaign around this blog post.
• Create several messages around the blog post. Write enough of them to last a few months, spread out over several social media channels as well as time. Some of them should be personal messages that you’ll send out automatically.
• Use an automation tool like Octopost to schedule when the non-personal posts will go out and who they will be sent to. Remember not to automate posts to groups that don’t allow links.
• There should be a separate message for profiles and groups because an individual will react to a new message or post differently than a group will.
• Make sure you’re not sending the same message to several groups at once—send out only one post at a time.
• Use all the messages over the course of the campaign.
• If your automation tool has a social inbox like Octopost does, use it to track and respond to the conversations your posts initiate. The more you engage, the more likely you are to build relationships and draw in potential buyers.

Sponsored content is a paid boost for increased visibility. It begins as organic posts on your company page that show up in the feed of your followers.

When you feel like it’s time to reach beyond the people who ordinarily see your posts, you can pay for the best pieces to become sponsored content. Choose articles that are already popular with your organic followers and narrow your choices from there.

To generate leads, sponsored content should have a call to action or a gated component like a webinar that new readers can sign up for. You should always target your widest possible audience.

Once you’re ready to go, your pages will be distributed on the feed or other pages of the LinkedIn members you’re targeting. When they click back to your site, the content will show up as company updates on your company profile or showcase pages.

Direct sponsored content is an expansion of sponsored content.  

With direct sponsored content, posts won’t be published on the company page to be a part of a campaign, and companies can personalize or tweak the content. This allows them to test and retest the content they use until they’re satisfied with the results. The tests won’t be sent to followers, only to the specific target audience the company chooses.

Both sponsored content and direct sponsored content ads are created by the advertiser in LinkedIn’s campaign manager.

Text ads make up LinkedIn’s self-service Pay-Per-Click advertising program. Like the other advertising options, companies can choose which audiences to target. The company creates its own ads, sets its budget and pays only for the ads that result in clicks or impressions.

Sponsored InMail is an e-mail marketing campaign just for LinkedIn. Companies using sponsored InMail can direct personalized messages with no limits on character counts, such as invitations to webinars or other events, to targeted audiences. Campaigns are quick to set up and launch. As with other LinkedIn advertising services, companies set their own budget.

LinkedIn Retargeting is a handy tool that allows companies to retarget people who are members of LinkedIn but have also visited the company’s website.  This is done by installing the LinkedIn Insight Tag to their website, which then matches visitors on the website with people on LinkedIn.

Once you have that data, you can send personalized or targeted messages through LinkedIn using the advertising capabilities above.

LinkedIn also offers Account Targeting, which matches people your company already has accounts for with LinkedIn Members, and contact targeting, which matches LinkedIn members to your contact list.

All of the campaigns originating on LinkedIn are self-service programs run through LinkedIn’s campaign manager. On campaign manager, the person in charge of the campaign names it, sets a budget and a target audience and gets it going.

To use campaign manager, a person needs to have a LinkedIn account and a credit card.

The main differences between the advertising programs are how the advertising content is delivered and its marketing purpose. Here’s a quick run-down:

The advertising programs differ from the target/retarget tools, too. The target/retarget tools simply match databases so that LinkedIn campaigns can be targeted more effectively.

Display ads can be run on LinkedIn, but these have to be set up through an outside advertising source.

Marketing is practiced with the intent to generate leads, and sales departments are meant to convert those leads into clients. Getting the two to work more as a team than as separate company entities can improve the efficiency of finding new clients.

One way to do this is to look at where both teams fall in the sales funnel. Goals and action plans can be created where they overlap that allow them to work together to find and close sales.

For example, as more customers do research online before making a purchasing decision, sales teams can let marketing teams know what kind of content they need to create. Then the sales teams can direct potential clients to that content and use it to close the sale.

A B2B tech company can utilize some of the features of LinkedIn to help align sales and marketing teams.

For it to work well, B2B sales teams have to be aware of the kinds of situations they will face when trying to close a sale. This means they need to know what the target businesses are and the kinds of situations they face moving forward in the industry. Using the filters in LinkedIn’s search option to find relevant prospects is a good place to start.

Once the salespeople have identified relevant prospects, they can look at demographics, analytics, and prospect’s posted content and comments to determine what the prospect’s needs are, and how the company can fill those needs.

This lays the basis for creating content that will generate and convert leads. Marketing can use the information that salespeople gather to create impactful connection messages and follow-up messages for each prospect.

If the salespeople discover an industry trend while looking for prospects this way, marketing can create inbound marketing content to draw more prospects to the LinkedIn company profile page and website.

Using the filters on LinkedIn’s search option is free, but for companies who are looking for more dramatic growth, using the paid LinkedIn Sales Navigator might be something to consider. It has advanced search options and the ability to save lists of target accounts and leads. There are also more sales insights and the ability to use your entire network to help reach out to prospects beyond company connections.

Pricing of sales packages and comparison to other LinkedIn packages are discussed in more detail in Chapter Seven. 

The main reason to watch trends and statistics is to understand your target audience. If something changes in their viewing patterns, will that impact their likelihood to purchase something from your company?

A downturn in engagement on a specific platform might mean the way you promote your company has to change. Perhaps more curated content can be shared, or maybe your company will do better engaging in groups that have fewer people posting spam comments.

Understanding LinkedIn and how to use it to interact with other members positively is a key to managing your LinkedIn marketing strategy. Social media is always changing, which means understanding it means keeping a close eye on it, reacting well to the change by adjusting tactics when necessary, and generally behaving well in an online professional setting.

Company page analytics include updates, followers, and visitors, and there are a number of statistics gathered for each one.

Statistics for updates are gathered in a table showing the first few words of the post, the date it was published, and whether or not it was a sponsored campaign. You can see whether the update was sent to all audience members or to a target audience, as well as the number of clicks, impressions, interactions, and followers that you gained because of this update.

There’s also an engagement percentage that shows the total of interactions, clicks, and followers acquired, divided by the number of impressions. Reach is shown on a graph depicting the number of daily clicks for both paid and unpaid campaigns.

Besides the total number of people following your company page, you can see how many followers you acquired organically and how many came from sponsored content or company follow ads.

You can also take a look at follower demographics, including seniority, industry, job function, company size, and more.

Follower Trends allows you to see how the number of your followers has changed over time and the How I Compare feature shows the number of your followers compared to other companies.

Visitors are tracked with a graph showing the number of daily views for your company page, as well as career page clicks, unique visitor clicks (also in a graph form), and visitor demographics.