4 Simple Ways to Use LinkedIn to Generate Sales Leads

AUGUST 19, 2013 BY JOE SOTO

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you are aware LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with over 238 million members in over 200 countries and territories.

I’ve shared how to dominate your sales competition on LinkedIn in previous articles, but you can also use it as a lead-generating machine for your business.

Part of the reason many sales and marketing professionals miss out on LinkedIn’s potential is that they don’t realize the breadth of information and networking opportunities available. LinkedIn goes beyond just a personal profile and status updates.

Here are 4 ways you can add additional value, stand out from the competition and earn the attention of your prospects:

1. Join (or start) groups to expand your circle of contacts and to increase your reach and connections. Find the top groups in your industry by searching for keywords and ranking by group activity. Then go find top groups where your prospects spend theirtime and join them as well. Participate in Q&A to position yourself and your company as thought leaders, experts in your field.
2. Post links to content so you become a source of business information and attract connections. Posting is important, but engaging is vital. Just as with any community, make sure to add value to each conversation.
3. Build your LinkedIn company page to position your organization as you’d like it to be seen. Perhaps the best way to make an impact in Linkedin is by growing your company page. This is critical for any business because it’s how you get into the person’s network updates, one of the most used features of the site.  Write the company description to include keyword rich text that resonates with product descriptions and contributes to network search visibility. Then identify a daily posting sequence in an effort to establish consistent brand messaging.
4. Follow other company pages of industry peers, partners, customers, and prospects. Commenting, liking, and sharing of updates from these sources can get your company immediately on the radar around the most relevant conversations that are already taking place.

Now you have 4 simple ways to generate leads on LinkedIn.  You’ll attract the prospects by standing out among your competitors who are either not using LinkedIn at all, or who are using it poorly to just promote themselves and their products and services.  You can be different not by saying you are different, but by behaving differently with how you engage online.