Lead generation hacks: How to boost B2B sales on LinkedIn

Generating B2B leads can be an overwhelming process but you can use LinkedIn advertising to boost your B2B lead generation.

As a professional networking site, LinkedIn offers businesses a wonderful opportunity to generate and target potential leads. With advanced search filters and various targeting methods, LinkedIn advertising is a great way to get your content in front of your target audience and generate leads.

To find out how you can generate and target leads that are likely to convert, why LinkedIn ads should be a component of your paid social strategy, as well as how to measure lead generation success, read on!

Optimise your LinkedIn profile

Your LinkedIn profile is a reflection of your business and is often what potential clients will use to form an impression of your business based on this. Therefore, you must put your best foot forward and showcase your brand in the best light possible; optimising your LinkedIn profile is the way to do this. There are several ways you can optimise your profile:

Get your social proof in there

Positive reviews and testimonials are brilliant for increasing credibility and generating leads based on this form of social proof. Previous client’s opinions can significantly influence the decision process for leads, so showcasing these on your profile is an effective way to persuade potential clients to trust you.

Keep your account up to date

It is important to keep your company profile active and up to date, as it not only increases brand trust and credibility but also shows your dedication to the mission and work you do.

Provide as much information on your profile as you can

Positive customer experience is important in generating leads, so responding to comments, questions, queries and messages quickly and efficiently is crucial. LinkedIn can help with this. You can offer a ‘plans and pricing’ section where you can outline answers to common questions, so readers can get answers easily.

Make sure all profile sections are complete

If you want your brand to look professional, you must ensure that your profile is complete. This includes having a compelling ‘about us’ section that clearly outlines the company mission and brand values. It should give the reader a clear idea of who you are, what you do and why you do it. It is usually the first thing a user will read so taking the time to perfect this is crucial. You should also include related keywords throughout your ‘about us’ section to boost your social media SEO.

You must also include visual assets to people noticing your brands. These include a brand logo and LinkedIn banner image. Having these on your LinkedIn profile makes your brand recognisable and stand out from the competition.

Enable useful LinkedIn profile features

You can add a ‘ask people about this product’ to your profile. It includes people who are already clients/customers, so potential clients can ask questions about your business to them. 88% of consumers fully trust the recommendations from people they know, so asking a question to a fellow ‘connection’ is influential in the decision-making process.

By optimising your LinkedIn profile using the tips above, you can make a good first impression, increase user interest and generate more leads. Let’s explore how content can help you generate leads.

Use your content to generate leads

The content you produce is vital in attracting new leads and increasing brand awareness. High-quality, visually appealing, valuable content is how you attract audience attention and build brand credibility. If users trust your content, they will trust your brand too. Here are some tips for using LinkedIn content to generate leads:

Leverage the power of B2B influencers: influencer marketing is an effective way to increase awareness and reach. Choosing an appropriate brand ambassador, who aligns with your brand values and shares your target audience, is crucial.
Be engaged and active in your LinkedIn community: The more you like, comment and engage with content from your followers and industry, the higher your chances of increasing online visibility and reaching a wider audience. LinkedIn groups are a great way to participate in discussions and get your name out there in the industry.
Always stay relevant: Creating and sharing relevant content with your audience increases the chance of more leads. If they feel connected to your content, they are more likely to interact and engage. You should also make sure you use social listening to keep up to date with the latest trends, challenges and topics in your industry. This helps to increase authority and establish your brand as an expert in your field.
See what works and what doesn’t: Track content performance to see what patterns of content drive the most engagement and create more content that replicates that. You should also scope out your competition and see what content performs best for them; the LinkedIn ad library is an efficient way to track competitor success.

Now we know how to generate leads, we can now explore how we target the right leads.

How to target the right leads

Ultimately, you want to generate leads that convert. To do this, you must target potential leads who are most likely to be interested in your services and or products.

You need to understand your target audience; who are they? What do they do? Where do they live/work? What is their job title? By creating audience personas and identifying your ideal lead, you can create tailored content with specific messaging that will resonate with them most. The more the audience connects with your content, the more likely you will be to generate leads that convert.

LinkedIn offers filter options that can help you refine your search for leads. You can filter multiple categories such as location, industry, job title and company size. Filtering your search will help you find leads that match your ideal personas.

Top Tip: Further advance your search by using keywords, as it can help you find people who may not have a complete profile yet.

How ads help you target leads

As mentioned above, to find the perfect leads, you need to be sure who your target audience is to help you narrow down your targeting options. You need to consider targeting based on job title and industry. In relation to ‘job titles’ we recommend reviewing and updating this targeting option monthly, as job titles regularly pop up and change. Therefore, you can find more leads.

Targeting methods for LinkedIn ads

Conventional: This usually covers an audience size of around 50,000-100,000 people. It typically includes wider industry targeting.
Target accounts: A smaller audience size between 20,000 to 50,000 people. Although more expensive, it is likely, that with this approach, you will reach the most relevant potential leads.
Retargeting: LinkedIn allows you to upload lists of leads that are yet to convert. You can then retarget these leads will tailored content to hopefully increase conversions.

The price of LinkedIn ads

Linkedin ad budgets are fairly flexible. Whatever your budget, you want to make sure that your money is spent in the best possible way. The minimum daily budget for a LinkedIn ad is $10. A decent budget is essential so you can drive the results you want. Here our team of paid social experts can support you with setting out an appropriate budget that will deliver the results you want.

There are two ways LinkedIn will charge you for ads:

Maximum delivery: This is the default. LinkedIn charges you every time someone sees your ad (aka impressions). It is quick to set up and will increase your reach.
Manual bidding: With this option, LinkedIn will charge you each time a user clicks on your ad. Although a more complex option, it is slightly more cost-effective than the option above.

Top tip: If you haven’t used LinkedIn ads before, start by using maximum delivery so you can begin to understand what your cost per lead should be and then you can start to use manual bidding once you have more insights.

How to create the perfect LinkedIn ad

Ad content needs to be valuable to the user, attention-grabbing and relevant to you target audience. To ensure conversions and lead generation, you need to create ad content that speaks directly to your audience’s wants and needs. The more relevant, personalised and tailored your content, the more likely your audience will be to engage and become a valuable lead.

LinkedIn offers a range of ad formats that you can utilise to deliver your message creatively and effectively.

How to measure your LinkedIn lead generation success

You can monitor KPIs and track metrics such as engagement rates and lead conversion rates to assess how well your lead generation strategy is working.

It is important to consistently measure and monitor your KPIs because you can learn from the data and adjust your strategy accordingly. You should always use the data to inform your strategy decisions as this is the best way to drive results.

Like with any successful strategy, learn from your mistakes and build on your wins!

Embryo can help boost your LinkedIn lead generation!

We understand how important a successful lead-generation strategy is for businesses and our team of paid social experts are fully equipped to support you on your lead-generation journey. Get in touch today and get ready for your lead generation numbers to skyrocket.