Mastering LinkedIn Outreach – Your Ultimate Guide

As the digital landscape expands, so does the need for effective outreach. Driven by the fast pace, startups constantly deploy new lead-gen & sales tools. That’s where the power of LinkedIn outreach comes in.

At Whales, we use LinkedIn to connect with potential clients and unlock new avenues for growth. In this post, we’ll delve into the significance of LinkedIn outreach in 2023 and follow up with insights from our growth strategist, Kseniia. Whether you’re a CEO or marketing manager, we’ll help you utilize LinkedIn for your business objectives.

In today’s digital age, LinkedIn is a unique environment for B2B marketing. With a vast network of professionals and decision-makers, LinkedIn leads job-related interactions.

LinkedIn is also big on personal branding. Individuals and businesses can showcase their expertise, establish themselves as thought leaders, and build trust with their target audience. 70% of consumers feel more connected to a brand when its CEO is active on social media – it feels like real people run the business.

Moreover, LinkedIn is a robust lead-gen tool with extensive search capabilities, advanced filters, and targeted advertising. By leveraging these, digital marketers can precisely target decision-makers, CEOs, marketing managers, and other key stakeholders. A whopping 82% of B2B marketers got their biggest success through LinkedIn.

If you’re not convinced, here’s why LinkedIn should be part of your marketing toolkit in 2023.

• Up to 40% of monthly active users use LinkedIn daily. That’s around 100 million professionals (read that again) you could target every day.
• After sharing ads on LinkedIn, 50% of companies were seen as “higher quality,” 92% more professional, 74% more intelligent, and 59% more respectable.
• Brands have seen a 33% increase in purchase intent due to advertising on LinkedIn.

So, what is LinkedIn Sales Navigator? It’s a product for B2B sales teams that enables user connections at scale. With Sales Navigator, users can refine their searches to pinpoint ideal prospects, access detailed insights about leads, and even track engagement metrics.

Let’s see how using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for digital marketing can amplify your outreach results. Here are some champion best practices.

Choose accounts deliberately

LinkedIn’s recent study reveals that successful sellers – those who exceed 150% of their sales targets – consistently research before contacting potential clients. Less than half of other sellers do the same.

Moreover, high-performing sellers spend about 10% less time on actual sales activities than their peers, focusing on research. Top performers prioritize quality over quantity in their sales calls by targeting accounts with genuine potential for successful deals.

Here’s how LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help you find your top accounts:

• After uploading your business book, click Accounts in Sales Navigator to reach the Account Hub.
• To find high-priority accounts, click Account Filters in the search bar. To identify priorities within your saved accounts, filter to your book of business in Account lists or use other filters.

Here are the filters to help you find the best accounts:

• Geography – Limit the geographic location to the areas you’re interested in prospecting (if you’re not shooting for global audiences).
• Industry – Choose the best fit for your ideal customer among the predefined industry options.
• Seniority Level – Pick the tier of employees you target – from entry-level to CEO.
• Function – You can choose the types of work your prospects do, such as “marketing,” “software development,” etc.
• Boolean – Combine keywords to customize your search. You can separate the keywords with “And” to find profiles with all keywords. Use “Or” to find profiles containing particular keywords.
• Size: Apply Annual revenue, Company headcount, or Department headcount to find the largest opportunities.
• Recent growth: Apply Headcount growth, Department headcount growth, or Funding event (within Recent Activities).
• Buyer Intent: ‘Buyer intent’ helps find accounts interested in your company; ‘Technologies used’ shows companies using technology relevant to your offers.

Find The Right Buyers

Looking to close a deal? Sales Navigator has over 40 filters to help you find new leads. These include Job title, Function & Seniority level, Location, Buyers inside & outside your CRM, Buyers with a recent job change, and Buyers that have posted to LinkedIn in the last 30 days.

Message Thoughtfully

With InMails, you can easily reach LinkedIn members you’re not connected to. Running out of InMails? Here’s a solution – make your messaging thoughtful. Each time you send an InMail, focus on getting a response back, even if it’s a “Thanks, not interested.” This way, your InMails will be credited back. Hit the right tone and craft thoughtful and personalized messages for the win.

Also, put your prospect first. For example, prospects will forget a message like “Hi, my name is ‘X,’ and I am from ‘Y’ company. At ‘Y’ company we do…” because nothing in it is about them. Meanwhile, a simple line like “Is your product lacking a social media strategy?” refers to the prospect’s pain point. That’s different.

Now, let’s review the latest effective LinkedIn tactics tailored to digital marketing professionals. We’ll cover outreach and lead-generation techniques to help you thrive on the platform.

Engagement Tactics

Here are some tactics to not only increase your engagement metrics but also foster meaningful connections with potential clients.

Add visuals to your LinkedIn posts to boost engagement. Include images, videos, and infographics to break up text and make posts more visually appealing.

Include relevant hashtags to increase visibility and reach. This will help your posts appear in search results, making it easier to find your content.

Encourage comments and shares on your LinkedIn posts. Ask questions, join discussions, share industry insights and helpful tips & tricks.

Be active and post consistently. Participate in relevant groups and discussions, comment thoughtfully on posts, and engage with your connections’ content.

LinkedIn Conversion Optimization

A few simple conversion optimization techniques can help you drive your audience in the right direction. Here are the key conversion optimization features LinkedIn offers.

Lead Gen Forms
After clicking on your LinkedIn ad, users can submit their details through a pre-filled form without leaving the platform. Utilize this to save users time, reduce form entry barriers, and lower acquisition costs.

Website Conversions
LinkedIn enables optimizing ad campaigns for website conversions. You can track form submissions, purchases, or sign-ups on your website, and LinkedIn’s algorithm will show your ads to users most likely to take action.

Conversion Tracking
You can set up events, track their performance, and see how well your ads drive conversions. You can even measure the ads’ impact on specific actions taken on your website.

Matched Audiences
You can retarget website visitors, upload your customer lists, or target specific LinkedIn audiences based on their content interactions. This way, reaching users who have already shown interest in your business is easier. Control your ad spending and schedule campaigns for peak times when your audience will most likely convert.

Dynamic Ads
You can access customizable ad formats with user-specific content – names, profile pictures, or job titles. Many users cannot go past such a high level of personalization. Experiment with ad variations to determine which ad copy, images, or headlines work best.

Conversion Goals
Set specific campaign conversion goals, such as lead generation, website visits, or video views. You can also optimize your bids for particular actions to allocate your budget efficiently.
Сonversion rate optimization leaves little space for guesstimates. It’s heavily data-driven. Utilizing customer data with the help of LinkedIn tools will help you see what prevents your audience from converting and improve the overall user experience for your product or service.

For me, LinkedIn is more than just a platform for lead generation. It’s about sharing knowledge and support, forming meaningful connections, and a genuine desire to create value.

Whether you’re running a blog or want to promote your landing page, mastering the art of LinkedIn outreach requires a strategic approach. So, I want to share a few tips on rocking your outreach game. Here comes:

• Rock Your Profile. Make your LinkedIn profile shine! Use a picture that best represents you and your brand. Craft a headline that shows your personality and your unique skills and accomplishments.
• Know Your Goals. Be clear about what you want from LinkedIn. Are you job hunting, looking for business pals, or just want to chat? Let your community know why you’re here to ensure everyone’s on the same page. It’ll be easier for your supporters and stakeholders to align with your mission.
• Be a Detective. Research the profiles you want to connect with to find common interests or things to discuss. Thinking like a detective can help you approach your goal more strategically and effectively and identify hidden opportunities for outreach.
• Personalize Invites. Don’t use the same old message for everyone. Personalized first-touch messages have a better chance of success, so ditch the robot speak. You’re more likely to be remembered this way.
• Give Before You Get. Add something to the LinkedIn party – share your unique insights or others’ input, like, and comment. It’s about creating a feeling of reciprocity, not just connections.
• Perfect Timing. Aim at work hours and weekdays for quick responses. You can even research when your audience is most likely to be available and receptive for a better chance of engagement.
• Keep it Cool and Steady. Building LinkedIn relationships is similar to making friends. Messaging people daily can feel like a chore, but you must stay patient and consistent. Over time, it will pay off with a steady flow of prospects.

Work smarter, not harder. LinkedIn has introduced AI-powered writing suggestions, which can be used to spruce up LinkedIn profiles, recruitment posts, and ad copies. Let AI do some work for you.

So, shine on! Don’t forget about the fun as you rock your LinkedIn outreach. Remember, it’s like chatting over coffee and building connections that matter.

LinkedIn’s impact in the professional world continues to grow, so it’s more important than ever to have a strong LinkedIn outreach strategy to achieve your goals. Tracking the latest tech developments, embracing ongoing learning, and fearlessly experimenting is vital to landing meaningful conversations with potential clients.