Introduction
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social network, has over 950 million users.
It represents an essential system for identifying and contacting qualified prospects in your field. Prospecting on Linkedin, whether inbound or outbound, is now indispensable for all B2B or B2C high ticket companies. But in the face of ever-increasing competition, how can you stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of your prospects on LinkedIn?
Here are six practical tips to boost your LinkedIn prospecting and build strong relationships with your target audience. You’ll discover effective strategies for :
- Make your LinkedIn profile more attractive
- Share relevant content related to your industry
- Develop your network strategically
- Exploit LinkedIn’s prospecting systems
- Personalize your messages for impactful communication
Optimize your LinkedIn profile to generate interest
Your LinkedIn profile represents your professional identity online. It’s essential that it embodies your personal brand and highlights what you bring to your industry. Here are some tips to make your LinkedIn profile irresistible to prospects:
Clearly define your value proposition
The value proposition is what sets you apart from your competitors. It should explain why you are the preferred choice over others. Use your skills, experience, values and vision to build this proposition.
Make sure your value proposition is succinct, direct and captivating, and that it appears right from the title of your profile, as this is the first thing prospects will see. For example, instead of just listing your position, you could add a sentence that sums up what you offer, such as: “Digital marketing consultant – Specializing in increasing awareness and sales for small and medium-sized businesses online”.
Adopt a professional profile photo
Your profile photo plays a crucial role on LinkedIn. It should feature a smile and be relevant to your field. A professional photo projects a serious and trustworthy image. It also makes it easier to establish initial contact with your prospects. Accounts with photos receive up to 14 times more visits than those without. Choose a photo that enhances your image, reflects your personality and respects the conventions of your profession.
Use keywords to summarize your profile
Your profile summary is the ideal place to present yourself in detail and persuade prospects to contact you. It should be well-structured, clear and contain words appropriate to your industry, skills and services. There’s an art to it, so don’t hesitate to consult our guides written by a Linkedin expert to discover all the tips on optimizing your Linkedin profile.
The use of strategic keywords is essential to improve your reputation on LinkedIn. Systems like Jobscan or Resume Worded can help you identify the best words for your resume. Be sure to answer the questions: Who are you? What do you do? For whom? How do you do it? What conclusions have you reached? What is your added value and value proposition? How can you be contacted?
The use of bulleted lists, figures, testimonials, links, etc., will make your summary more engaging and persuasive.
Showcase your successes with concrete examples
Prospects are generally more captivated by your achievements than by your responsibilities. They want to know what you can offer them in concrete terms.
In the “Experience” section, describe successful projects, objectives achieved, problems solved, and the benefits you’ve delivered. Use clear performance indicators, such as sales generated, number of satisfied customers, or conversion rate, to back up your claims. Add visual elements such as photos, videos, presentations, articles and testimonials to illustrate your successes. These elements make your profile more lively and credible, while demonstrating your expertise and professionalism.
Publish valuable content related to your industry
To captivate your prospects on LinkedIn, a well-designed profile is not enough. It’s essential to publish meaningful content that demonstrates your expertise, adds value and highlights your passion for your industry. Here are a few content ideas to help you stand out from the crowd:
Share feature articles and case studies
Feature articles and case studies are excellent for exploring a topic in depth, offering data, analysis, concrete examples and advice. This type of content is highly prized by prospects eager to learn, inform or be persuaded. By sharing them, you demonstrate your in-depth industry knowledge, problem-solving skills and reliability.
You can share articles and case studies you’ve written, or content found elsewhere. For example, as a digital consultant in the fashion industry, you could publish an article on the latest digital trends in this field, or a case study of a campaign you successfully carried out for a client. Here, we’re talking about verticalizing Linkedin MirrorProfiles accounts.
Use video format for more engagement
Video is a particularly effective way of capturing the interest of prospects on LinkedIn. This dynamic, lively and personal format makes it possible to communicate ads in a captivating way. It also has the potential to generate more engagement, shares and comments.
Videos can be used to share tips, testimonials, interviews, demonstrations or webinars. Create your own videos or select existing ones that are relevant to your industry. For example, if you specialize in digital for fashion brands, you could share a video explaining how to develop an effective digital strategy for a fashion brand, or a testimonial from a customer satisfied with your services.
Create eye-catching infographics and visuals
Infographics and visuals are ideal for condensing and presenting data in a clear and attractive way. They’re particularly useful on LinkedIn, where textual content abounds. Use them to illustrate statistics, facts, processes, comparisons, lists and more. Create your own infographics and visuals, or use online systems like Canva or Piktochart. For example, as a digital marketing consultant, share an infographic that highlights the benefits of digital for a fashion brand, or a visual that details the essential steps in a successful digital campaign.
Interact with your target audience
Publishing quality content is crucial, but so is interacting with your audience. Engage by replying to comments, asking questions, soliciting feedback, and thanking those who share your publications. These interactions strengthen your bond with your prospects, demonstrate your interest and availability, and arouse their curiosity.
You can also take part in discussions on other content related to your sector, contributing your perspective, experience or advice. This increases your visibility, positions you as an expert and opens doors to new opportunities. For example, as a fashion digital marketing consultant, you could comment on an article about effective digital strategies for fashion brands, sharing your views or experiences.
Expand your network strategically
To captivate prospects on LinkedIn, it’s not enough to simply publish relevant content. It’s crucial to strategically expand your network by connecting with the right people and solidifying your credibility.
Here are some effective strategies for expanding your network on LinkedIn:
Join relevant groups
They offer forums for discussion around common themes, sectors or interests. These spaces are essential for keeping abreast of the latest news, trends and opportunities in your field. What’s more, they represent an excellent opportunity to meet prospects with similar interests, issues or needs.
To expand your network, join circles that correspond to your sector, your audience, what you offer or your geographical location. You can also create your own group to establish yourself as an opinion leader or reference in your field.
To find interesting circles, use the LinkedIn search bar, or look at the groups in which your contacts or prospects participate. Once you’ve joined a group, actively engage in discussions, share your expertise, ask questions and offer advice. This will increase your visibility, help you make connections and generate interest in your profile.
Connect with relevant prospects
Once you’ve defined your target audience, start connecting with interesting prospects on LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s advanced search, which lets you filter results according to specific criteria such as name, position, company, sector or location.
You can also use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, NOT to further refine your search. For example, if you’re a digital consultant in the fashion industry, try the query “marketing manager” AND “fashion” to find accounts matching these criteria.
When sending a connection request, be sure to personalize your message by explaining who you are, why you want to connect and what you can contribute. Avoid messages that are too generic or commercial, which could deter your interlocutor. For example, you could write: \Hello, as a digital marketing consultant specializing in the fashion sector, I found your article on digital trends for fashion brands particularly interesting.
Don’t be too selective, as long as you don’t have more than 1,000 connections. You need enough connections to have an interesting reach on Linkedin.
The circle system makes this more complex. Often, our customers rent a dozen MirrorProfiles accounts and verticalize each account to a specific target, then invite the MirrorProfiles accounts to connect to their Linkedin account in order to access a 2nd and 3rd cerce in their target.
Use recommendations to gain credibility
Recommendations, written by people who have collaborated with you or benefited from your services, are posted on your LinkedIn profile and reinforce your credibility and reputation with prospects. As social proof, they attest to the value of your work, your expertise and your contribution.
They can also reassure your prospects of your reliability, professionalism and interpersonal skills. For recommendations, don’t hesitate to ask past or present customers, partners, colleagues or managers.
Send them a request via LinkedIn, reminding them of the context of your collaboration, the conclusions reached and the benefits provided. You can suggest points to emphasize, depending on your networking objectives. For example, if you’re a digital marketing consultant for the fashion industry, ask a satisfied client to highlight your ability to develop digital strategies aligned with the needs and objectives of fashion brands.
Use LinkedIn features to prospect
Attracting the interest of prospects on LinkedIn goes beyond simply expanding your network strategically. It’s essential to make effective use of LinkedIn’s features for targeted and efficient prospecting. There are also plenty of tips and tricks for optimizing your Linkedin prospecting. MirrorProfiles has been around for over 5 years, which has enabled us to see what works and what doesn’t on Linkedin.
Explore these two features to improve your prospecting on LinkedIn:
Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for advanced targeting
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium service offered by LinkedIn, designed to simplify sales prospecting. This solution offers advanced features for identifying and contacting prospects.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator benefits include:
- Unlimited access to LinkedIn accounts, with no search restrictions or connection requests.
- Advanced search filters to target prospects according to specific criteria such as sales, number of employees, position, sector, etc.
- Personalized alerts to keep you informed of prospects’ job changes, publications, keyword mentions, and more.
- Lead recommendations to discover accounts similar to those you’ve already contacted or registered.
- Tracking system to manage your leads, categorize them, rate them, synchronize them with your CRM, and more.
- Measurement system to assess your performance, compare your results with those of your competitors, and measure your response rate.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful system for optimizing your prospecting on LinkedIn and increasing your chances of conversion.
Consider LinkedIn ads to reach a wider audience
LinkedIn Ads represent another prospecting strategy on LinkedIn, thanks to paid advertising. These ads can be used to broadcast promotional messages to an audience, based on precise criteria such as profile, behavior or interests.
The benefits of LinkedIn ads include:
- Wide reach, with over 950 million professional users on LinkedIn, 40% of whom connect daily.
- Precise targeting thanks to over 200 selection criteria, such as position, company, sector, location, skills, groups, etc.
- A variety of advertising formats available, including text, sponsored, video, dynamic and InMail ads.
- Budgetary flexibility, with cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) payment options, and the ability to modify or stop campaigns at any time.
- Analysis of campaign results, offering detailed reports on performance, metrics, costs, conversions, and more.
LinkedIn ads are an effective way of reaching a wider audience and generating leads.
Adopt a personalized approach to your communications
To captivate your prospects on LinkedIn, it’s not enough to simply use basic prospecting features. A personalized approach that takes into account the needs, interests and expectations of your contacts is crucial.
Here are some tips for personalizing your communications and building a relationship of trust with your prospects:
Customize your connection requests
As stressed earlier, personalizing your connection requests on LinkedIn is fundamental. Prospects are far more likely to accept your request if you explain who you are, the reason for your connection and the benefits they can gain from it. Use the information available on the prospect’s profile, such as position, company, sector, publications and interests.
Also mention something in common, whether it’s an acquaintance, training, experience or event. For example: “Hello, I’m a digital consultant specializing in the fashion industry. We both studied marketing at ESCP. I’d like to talk to you about the opportunities and challenges of digital for fashion brands. Would you be open to joining my network?”
Send personalized approach messages
Once you’ve connected with a prospect, initiate the conversation by sending them an approach message presenting your service offer. This message should be personalized, relevant and respectful, yet concise and direct. Tailor it to the profile, context and specific needs by following these steps:
- Thank them for accepting your connection request and briefly remind them of who you are and why you are contacting them.
- Show your interest in them by asking an open-ended question about their business, their sector, their project, etc.
- Present your solution, explaining how you can help him achieve his goals.
- Encourage them to take action by offering them a call, a demonstration, an appointment, etc.
- Conclude by thanking them for their interest and expressing your expectation of their response.
For example: “Hello, thank you for accepting my connection request. As a digital marketing consultant specializing in the fashion sector, I noticed that you’re a marketing manager at XYZ, a brand I hold in high esteem. How are things going at the moment? What are your digital goals and challenges? I propose to help you develop a digital strategy tailored to your needs. Would you be available for a 15-minute call next week? Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you. Best regards.”
Provide appropriate follow-up without being pushy
It’s crucial to follow up after sending an approach message, to maintain the prospect’s interest. However, avoid being too insistent or too frequent, which could be counter-productive. Opt for an adapted follow-up, taking into account the prospect’s behavior, feedback and commitment. Here’s how:
- Choose the right moment, taking into account response time, urgency and seasonality.
- Choose the prospect’s preferred communication channel, based on their habits and availability.
- Tailor the tone of your message to the degree of familiarity and trust established with the prospect.
- Personalize the content of your message, focusing on the objective and added value for the prospect.
- Adjust the frequency of your messages according to the prospect’s reactions and interest.
For example, you can send a follow-up e-mail to a prospect who hasn’t responded to your approach message, reminding them of your offer, providing them with relevant information, proposing a special offer or asking for their opinion. Other channels such as telephone, SMS or social networks can also be used to vary the points of contact and maximize your chances of response.
In conclusion, LinkedIn has established itself as an essential system for business prospecting, offering the opportunity to discover and connect with experienced prospects in your field. However, to capture the interest of prospects on LinkedIn, having a well-constructed profile is not enough.
It’s crucial to :
- Share relevant and valuable content related to your field
- Develop your network strategically
- Make the most of LinkedIn’s prospecting features
- Customize your communication approach
- Multiply sources of influence by renting Linkedin MirrorProfiles accounts
By applying these strategies, you’ll significantly improve your prospecting on LinkedIn and establish solid links with your potential customers.
So don’t delay, and put these tips to work right away!
