The names and titles start to waver in front of your eyes as you scroll LinkedIn endlessly. Profile after profile, looking for the one. The one lead that will become your next future client.

When it comes to lead generation for businesses, the power of LinkedIn is undeniable. The plethora of data available from this social networking site alone is staggering. Individual workers self-update, leading to over a dozen distinct data points and as close to real-time data as possible.

While the lead-generating databases sometimes have access to similar information, it is often stale or outdated. Salespeople can stay ahead of their market and keep up with current trends in their industry by appropriately utilizing LinkedIn for B2B lead generation

Plena, a B2B lead generation software, hooks seamlessly into the sales funnel workflow through LinkedIn's Sales Navigator. Plena provides over 26 data points on possible LinkedIn prospects, reducing the time needed to do lead qualification manually. 

In this blog post, we will discuss how B2B Lead Generation can work well by using LinkedIn strategies.

Fast Facts Current Outbound Lead Generation Process

• Response Rate Cold Calling: 2%
• Open Cold Email: 44%
• Cold Email Click Through Rate (CTR): 3.76%
• LinkedIn Cold DM Reply Rate: 39%

Benefits of using LinkedIn for B2B Lead Generation

In B2B sales prospecting, B2B lead generation is the topic of conversation. We all need that steady flow of leads to keep the sales funnel optimization flowing.

Lead generation involves using multiple platforms, including ads, email, social media and cold calling. However, LinkedIn is now the most popular tool for generating leads in the B2B industry.

With the relevance of the data on the platform, it is easy to see why. LinkedIn is information on the Business part of Business 2 Business, yes, both of them. Consider an update to your own company's LinkedIn Page.

Using LinkedIn gives us access to a massive pool of professionals, from decision-makers to middle managers to front-line managers. All of whom could potentially be interested in what you have to offer. LinkedIn offers features like Sales Navigator and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration, further improving lead generation efforts. 

The software by Plena, a robot sales prospecting helper, links directly into Sales Navigator, making for easy navigation and seamless integration. Plena uses LinkedIn for its rich data, enabling it to return over 26 data points on a possible lead. By using LinkedIn, with a lift from Plena, for B2B Lead generation, actionable prospects will result from your efforts.‍

Telling Stats

• Managers Report updating their LinkedIn Profiles 3.6 times per year (Source)
• Non-Managers report updating 2.2 times per year
• Workers making over $80k per year update their LinkedIn more than those who make less

5 Steps to Creating a Successful Lead Generation Campaign on LinkedIn

In order to launch a successful lead generation campaign on LinkedIn, it is essential to focus on lead qualification, utilizing social media marketing strategies, and implementing a lead scoring system. 

1. Step one in creating a successful campaign is to identify your target audience to determine the appropriate criteria for qualifying leads. While not to the Pygmalion level, you need to have a target firmographic, demographic, and position in the company.
2. Once you have defined your ideal customer, you can leverage LinkedIn's advertising options to create engaging content that resonates with the target customer. Social media marketing is critical in B2B lead generation, from building brand awareness to lead nurturing and even sales engagement.
3. Finally, a lead scoring system can help you prioritize and focus on the most valuable leads. When lead scoring, score the particular signals that indicate buying for your company and industry. These can also change over time.
4. After initiating a new scoring system, you must review it against the actual data. Even established scoring systems should be looked at in the eye of continuous improvement.
5. Utilize LinkedIn Groups to provide expertise to the group audience and engage/warmup leads.

By following these three steps, you can increase your chances of creating a successful B2B lead generation campaign on LinkedIn.

When Lead Scoring, Think Continuous Improvement

1. Implement
2. Adjust 
3. Feedback
4. Analysis
5. Adjust
6. Repeat Steps 2-6

How to Build Targeted Lead Lists on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a robust network that can help you build targeted lead lists for your business. By filtering your search results based on location, industry, company size, and other criteria, you can identify the right sales prospects for your offerings.

The key is to focus on firmographics and demographics. While we can't be more specific because this is individual to what product or service you are selling, we can give you advice; let Plena help.

Rather than looking up these firmographic and demographic filters one at a time, you can use Plena to quickly build filtered lists with sufficient data to feed right into a lead-scoring system.

Pay attention to authority within the company since decision-makers are more likely to have buying power. Plena's data pull covers position titles. Once you have a refined, filtered list of potential leads, reach out to them with personalized messages that address their pain points and offer value. LinkedIn is an excellent tool for building a high-quality lead list that grows your business.

Advice for LinkedIn based Cold Outreach

While the reach-out can be automated, even personalized AND automated, this process is worth trying the manual way while you are learning it. There is a practice until you can make that shot in your sleep style of logic to this. By understanding what approach and even which words work on your customer profile, you will land more of the shots you take.

The specific layers of personalization, pain points, appeal, and informative portions of your outreach will become refined. When you templatize and automate that groundwork in learning, the slow way will shine through in boosted numbers.

Crafting Compelling Content Marketing for Your B2B Lead Generation Campaign

Crafting compelling content marketing for your B2B lead generation campaign is crucial to successful sales and digital marketing strategies. In a world where social media marketing reigns supreme, creating content that resonates with your target audience at the moment is vital. In the digital age, we look for the next great zeitgeist in shows, books, and culture before the old one is finished.

So how does a B2B sales team keep up? It's not just about creating content that sells or commenting on every trend to seem relatable. It is about building trust and credibility with your audience.

You can engage with them through in-network interactions, such as commenting and reacting to their posts. And yes, it can be about your favorite new TV show or the game on Friday, but those are not a chance to pivot into a sales pitch; they are just touch points to remind them you exist in their sphere. By doing so, you deepen the relationship with your prospects and, with sustained effort, ultimately convert them into loyal customers. 

Another way is to create high-value content to educate them on industry trends and become an authoritative source of knowledge. Understand what your audience wants and needs and create content that speaks directly to them personally and professionally. With the right approach, crafting compelling content can be a powerful tool for lead generation and brand awareness.

If you are concerned about producing educational, high-value content, remember the wisdom of Warren Buffet "To be an expert in something, you just need to know more about it than the average person."

Measuring the Success of Your B2B Lead Generation Campaign on LinkedIn

When running a lead generation campaign on LinkedIn, measuring its success through various factors is essential. One key metric to track is response rates, indicating overall interest and engagement from potential leads. Additionally, measuring sales outreach and engagement through tools like Sales Navigator can help determine your campaign's effectiveness and identify improvement areas.

In order to build strong relationships with potential leads, lead nurturing also plays a crucial role in measuring campaign success. Everything in this day and age is trackable. Most often, reach outs and sales engagement metrics are tracked in CRM systems. Remember that knowing where you are now is the only way to improve. Measure the success of your LinkedIn; it will help you improve your B2B lead generation to maximize ROI and drive long-term growth for your business.‍

Tactical Takeaway‍

Whenever possible, automate your tracking of metrics. While necessary for continuous improvement and assessment of performance, tracking every little task you do is tedious and time sucking. Human memories are usually the most fallible part of monitoring metrics.‍

Action Items

• Update your LinkedIn profile and business page regularly
• Use tools like Plena to cut down on endless scrolling and clicking
• Practice personalization and measure response rates to fine-tune your approach 
• Build good content to boost your authority and reach
• Measure your progress and continuously improve
  

Conclusion

LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for any successful B2B lead generation campaign due to its extensive reach, self-updated profile information, and constantly evolving nature. The power of Linkedin lies in pinpointing the correct targets within your industry, targeting those leads with relevant messages, and engaging those leads most effectively. 

Through targeting a well-defined list of B2B leads on LinkedIn that have the appropriate purchase decision-making power, understanding their motivations and interests, crafting custom messaging aligned with their pain points and goals, plus a thorough review and assessment process - you'll be sure to increase your success rate when generating sales prospects via LinkedIn.

Although there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for B2B lead generation on LinkedIn, by following the steps outlined in this blog post - you're well on your way to success. 

Please stay current on the latest B2B lead generation innovations from Plena's team of experts by following us on LinkedIn and requesting a demo of Plena here.