LinkedIn Lead Generation: 7 Best Practices to Grow Customers

Many businesses move to LinkedIn—the world’s largest master network—to pat into nan correct audiences to turn their operation.

In this guide, we’ll explicate nan reasons why you should usage LinkedIn for lead generation. We’ll besides supply tips for connecting and engaging pinch your perfect assemblage connected nan platform. Finally, we’ll show you really to show your LinkedIn capacity to measurement customer growth.

Why Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation?

LinkedIn stats show it’s nan number-one level for business-to-business (B2B) lead generation. 

These are a fewer reasons why you should usage nan societal level to root qualified leads for your brand:

Professional Networking

Designed for engaging and building relationships pinch different professionals, nan LinkedIn abstraction helps you link pinch imaginable customers successful applicable industries. And nurture relationships that tin lead to business opportunities.

Credibility and Trust

Having a societal beingness connected LinkedIn tin found your marque arsenic a reliable and trustworthy subordinate successful your manufacture aliases niche. Making it easier to move connections and followers into leads.

Content Marketing

LinkedIn lets you create and stock valuable contented pinch your audience. Showcasing contented related to your expertise tin pull leads who whitethorn beryllium willing successful your offerings. Establishing your marque arsenic an authority aliases thought leader successful nan process.

Targeted Advertising

LinkedIn offers advertising options you tin return advantage of to target circumstantial industries, occupation titles, interests, and more. 

The targeting options disposable tin thief you scope nan correct imaginable buyers for your products aliases services.

7 Best Practices for LinkedIn Lead Generation

Here are 7 recommended champion practices to kickstart your LinkedIn lead procreation strategy and trading efforts.

1. Optimize Your Profile and Business Page

A LinkedIn floor plan is for illustration an online resume and master showcase, while a business page serves arsenic a advertisement for your business offerings and activities. 

Optimize your own, coworkers’, aliases employees’ profiles and your brand’s business page to make a affirmative belief connected group viewing them. And pull imaginable leads searching for topics related to your products aliases services.

Here’s how.

Use a Professional Profile Photo and Compelling Cover Image

Choose high-quality headshots that align pinch your marque personality. Presenting individuals that activity location arsenic approachable and professional. Also, usage a compelling screen image that conveys what you connection your audience.

Here’s an illustration of floor plan elements that springiness a affirmative first impression:

Write a Descriptive Headline

The header is 1 of nan first things group spot connected your LinkedIn profile. It besides appears adjacent to your sanction successful nan main provender erstwhile you people posts.

Clearly show what you do by including your domiciled aliases occupation title and your unsocial trading proposition (USP).

In this example, nan header includes a occupation title, a secondary role, and a USP:

Write a Compelling “About” Section

The “About” conception of your individual LinkedIn floor plan is wherever you tin trade a compelling summary. Showcase your skills, what you do for customers, and what sets you isolated from competitors.

Include a call to action (CTA). For instance, nonstop group to interaction you, sojourn your website, aliases download a resource. The correct connection tin person floor plan views into leads.

In this example, nan laminitis of contented trading marque Haus of Bold speaks to nan target audience’s main goals. And explains what nan business solves for “a circumstantial type of company.” Then lists notable clients successful her portfolio.

The conception ends pinch 2 CTAs.

Fill Out Your Profile Completely

Take advantage of everything your LinkedIn floor plan has to connection by filling retired each fields. For instance:

• List applicable activity acquisition and item cardinal achievements to found your credibility and expertise
• Add your skills and inquire your connections to endorse them. Which helps validate your expertise and makes your floor plan much attractive.
• Request recommendations from clients aliases different professionals. Positive feedback tin build spot pinch imaginable customers.

Use Relevant Keywords

As you group up your profile, see keywords applicable to your business that your perfect assemblage searches for. Which is adjuvant for LinkedIn SEO.

Research nan correct keywords successful Keyword Magic Tool. You’ll find it nether “SEO” > “Keyword Research” successful nan Semrush dashboard menu.

Let’s opportunity you’re a taxation preparer who wants to look successful searches for taxation mentation keywords.

Go to nan instrumentality and participate “tax preparation” into nan hunt bar. Choose nan state you want to target and click “Search.”

You’ll spot a database of keyword ideas allowing you various ways to select nan results.

Since you’re looking to pull leads, constrictive nan database down to nan astir applicable keywords. Select “Commercial” and “Transactional” from nan “Intent” drop-down. Click “Apply.”

Now, nan database displays keyword ideas strictly pinch commercial aliases transactional intent.

The instrumentality besides organizes nan ideas by category. 

Filtering for “service” keywords is simply a bully spot to start. You mightiness besides see different categories like “business” or “professional.”

If you click “service” successful nan left-hand class pane, nan database will show each service-specific terms.

Note down nan keywords that make consciousness for your business. When you’ve settled connected a fistful of target keywords, people incorporated them passim your LinkedIn profile. 

Here are immoderate cardinal places to see keywords connected LinkedIn:

• Headline
• “About” section
• Experience
• Skills

Set Up Your Optimized Business Page

In summation to your individual profile, create a free LinkedIn business page to correspond your marque connected nan platform.

A business page has akin aspects to a LinkedIn profile, specified arsenic nan headline, manufacture field, and “About” section. It besides features elements that disagree – for illustration nan “Products,” “Jobs,” and “Events” areas. 

Here’s Semrush’s business page arsenic an example:

You tin mostly optimize your LinkedIn business page pinch nan aforesaid keywords you utilized connected your profile. And capable retired arsenic galore page elements arsenic you tin to supply adjuvant accusation to your followers and imaginable leads.

2. Add a Custom Button to Link to Your Site

Use LinkedIn’s civilization fastener characteristic connected your floor plan to nonstop group to your brand’s offering and make leads. You mightiness take to nexus to a merchandise aliases work page, a free trial, a portfolio, aliases different applicable contented connected your site.

Here’s an illustration of a finance writer utilizing this characteristic to nexus to their penning services:

3. Connect pinch Potential Customers

Identify Your Target Audience

Finding your target assemblage is nan astir important step. Otherwise, you’ll discarded clip reaching retired to nan incorrect people.

Think astir who your target customer is. Consider what manufacture they’re in, their occupation title, wherever they’re located, and truthful on.

For example, to scope mini businesses for your taxation prep work you’ll apt want to link pinch owners, founders, and CEOs. Small businesses whitethorn not person a finance master connected staff.

Start Searching

The hunt for leads tin beryllium time-consuming, and you mightiness see a LinkedIn lead procreation work to grip it. But nan LinkedIn site’s hunt functionality lets you look for nan nonstop type of leads you want. 

Use aggregate filters for illustration these to browse profiles:

• Connections (first, second, and 3rd degree)
• Connections of a person
• Current company
• Followers of a person
• Industry
• Keywords (first name, past name, title, company, school)
• Location
• Past company
• Profile language
• School

Personalize Your Connection Requests

When you travel crossed a imaginable lead, nonstop them a relationship petition pinch a applicable and engaging personalized message. You tin see a statement of up to 200 characters.

Don’t transportation conscionable yet. The extremity present is to commencement a master narration and easiness into a speech to study astir each other. Mention why you want to link and really you supply worth to them.

Follow Up

When personification accepts your connection, respond pinch a personalized connection to opportunity thanks. Or inquire them astir projects they’re moving on—or what their goals are for this year.

Continuing nan speech helps you build a narration pinch your imaginable while keeping your sanction and business top-of-mind.

4. Post Regularly

Post consistently connected LinkedIn via some your individual floor plan and business page to stay visible successful your network. And found yourself arsenic an progressive master and marque successful your industry.

Aim for a mates of posts per week. Regular, applicable contented demonstrates your expertise and committedness to staying informed. Diversify your posts to spot what gets nan champion engagement and turns connections into leads. 

As a taxation preparer, you mightiness station astir nan pursuing from your individual profile:

• Tips: Quick tax-saving tips
• Seasonal content: Share reminders, deadlines, and last-minute tips during taxation season
• FAQs: Answer communal tax-related questions
• Collaborations: Tag different professionals related to your manufacture (such arsenic financial advisors aliases attorneys) to foster partnerships

From your business page, you mightiness stock things like:

• Industry news: Tax rule changes, IRS updates, etc.
• Client occurrence stories: How you helped a customer prevention money aliases navigate a analyzable taxation situation
• Company updates: Recent institution news, events, and worker recognition

Consider a contented almanac to support up your posting routine. Semrush’s Social Poster is an perfect instrumentality for creating and scheduling your LinkedIn posts.

First, group up a task successful nan Social Media toolkit. Enter your website and click nan “+ Create project” button.

Give your task a sanction and click “Create project.” You tin usage nan sanction of your business.

Next, click “Social Poster” nether “Social Dashboard” from nan left-side paper to unfastened nan contented calendar.

A pop-up will look connected an quiet almanac for you to link your societal profile. Click “Add Profile.”

Select “LinkedIn” to nexus your floor plan to nan calendar.

Tick nan container adjacent to nan profile(s) aliases business sanction you want to station from. Click “Add profiles” to complete nan setup.

You’re now fresh to create, schedule, and people posts to LinkedIn from nan Social Poster tool.

5. Engage pinch Your Audience

Regularly interact pinch your LinkedIn assemblage to nurture connections, found credibility, and support your sanction and business salient among imaginable customers. Here are a fewer tips to execute that:

• Acknowledge comments connected your posts. Respond to people’s questions aliases thoughts to show that you worth their input—it tin thief you build a genuine narration pinch them.
• Comment connected your connections’ posts to support a voice. Ask questions to promote conversation. And stock your expertise connected topics applicable to your industry.
• Share manufacture insights, tips, and occurrence stories successful your posts to pull attention. Also, airs questions to your assemblage to promote engagement. You’ll perchance spark discussions that could move into a backstage speech astir really you tin help.

Use Social Inbox to show and reply to LinkedIn comments and messages successful an organized, businesslike manner.

If you’ve already created a task successful nan Social Media toolkit and connected your LinkedIn relationship to it, spell consecutive to nan Social Inbox dashboard.

From here, you’ll beryllium capable to negociate each comments, nonstop messages, and mentions. 

6. Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups

Use your individual floor plan to subordinate LinkedIn Groups and link pinch a targeted assemblage of professionals willing successful circumstantial topics aliases industries. 

You’ll beryllium capable to:

• Identify networking opportunities pinch nan correct imaginable leads
• Actively participate successful discussions to found applicable engagement
• Share valuable insights to position yourself arsenic an master successful your field

Going backmost to our taxation prep business scenario, let’s opportunity you subordinate a finance group connected LinkedIn. Members who whitethorn beryllium looking for nan services you connection will apt scope retired to you based connected your contributions to nan group.

Examples of groups you could subordinate to find leads include:

• Professionals successful your manufacture aliases niche
• Small business owners
• Professionals successful related industries aliases fields
• Business networking circumstantial to your region

LinkedIn besides lets you hunt for applicable groups by sanction aliases keyword—just travel nan steps successful its helpful guide.

7. Use LinkedIn Lead Generation Ads

LinkedIn has 4 different advertisement types you tin group up to scope and person your target audience. Some require you to create a free business page, while you tin usage your individual LinkedIn floor plan for others. We’ll explicate what you’ll request for each type.

Use LinkedIn Sponsored Content to create posts intended to scope much group beyond your connections.

For instance, stock thought activity insights aliases beforehand your services. You’ll request to create a business page to station from if you don’t person 1 already. 

Here’s a Mastercard sponsored station arsenic an example:

LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging lets you nonstop private, personalized messages straight to your audience’s inbox—a overmuch much businesslike measurement to make leads than contacting 1 imaginable astatine a time.

Here’s an illustration of LinkedIn connection ad:

Use either your business page aliases your individual floor plan to group up sponsored messages. Ideas see offering immoderate inheritance astir your offerings, a free trial, aliases a registration nexus to a unrecorded webinar you’re hosting. 

Dynamic Ads

LinkedIn’s Dynamic Ads are automatically personalized to nan consumer. You request to usage your business page to group up this advertisement type.

Ads look to nan correct of nan platform’s desktop position and see nan recipient’s first sanction and floor plan image—which draws their attention. They besides see your brand’s logo.

Below is simply a Dynamic Ad that appears to a targeted user, Seth, pinch their sanction and photo. The advertiser, Startup Different, encourages Seth to travel nan brand.

As pinch Sponsored Messaging, usage this advertisement type to make leads by featuring your service, promoting a free trial, aliases sharing an arena registration link.

Text Ads

LinkedIn Text Ads are basal pay-per-click (PPC) aliases cost-per-impression (CPM) ads that let you to take your desired audience. 

Either usage your business page aliases your individual floor plan to group up these ads. Filter your targets by demographics and different criteria like:

• Job title
• Industry
• Geography
• Age
• Gender
• School
• Skills
• Company name
• Company size
• Membership successful circumstantial LinkedIn groups

The LinkedIn tract displays Text Ads to nan right, for illustration Dynamic Ads. 

Ads see a headline, a description, and an image (such arsenic your marque logo). They besides bespeak to nan personification whether immoderate of their connections travel you.

Below are 2 stacked Text Ad examples. Where simple, clickable headlines return nan personification straight to nan respective landing page.

Follow LinkedIn’s step-by-step instructions to create your first advertisement campaign. And group up nan Conversion Tracking characteristic to show capacity straight successful nan platform.

Monitor Your LinkedIn Performance

Once you’re sharing contented and increasing your connections, you’ll want to spot which posts get nan champion engagement, really large your LinkedIn scope is, caller followers, and more. This way, you study what’s astir effective for generating leads. So you tin do much of it.

Use Semrush’s Social Analytics instrumentality to negociate each your LinkedIn business page analytics from 1 place.

If you’ve already created a task successful Social Media Toolkit and connected your LinkedIn page, spell consecutive to nan Analytics dashboard.

Click nan “LinkedIn” tab.This is wherever you’ll research "Audience,” “Engagement,” and “Posts” information specified arsenic assemblage scope and growth, engagement rate, and follower insights.

To alteration nan clip framework of your LinkedIn data, click nan “Last 7 days” button. And take really acold backmost successful clip you want to analyze.

Semrush’s Social Content Insights complements Social Analytics to thief you show your LinkedIn posts’ capacity much closely. On some your individual floor plan and your business page.

The elaborate dashboard shows cardinal station metrics for illustration reactions, comments, and shares. 

Dig into nan individual posts’ numbers for granular insights into assemblage engagement levels. And what contented resonates pinch your LinkedIn followers nan most. 

Let’s resume our taxation preparer example. To see scenarios wherever search your LinkedIn capacity tin thief you fine-tune your lead procreation strategy:

• By exploring humanities data, you observe that January has nan highest station engagement. Plan to station and link much often astatine nan aforesaid clip adjacent year.
• There’s an influx of caller followers each clip you stock a collaboration post. Publish much of those for amended results.
• You observe that links to customer occurrence stories make nan astir leads. Create further akin contented connected your website and stock it connected your LinkedIn profile.

Capture More LinkedIn Leads pinch Semrush

As you turn engagement pinch your audience, prime a instrumentality that could thief you streamline, measure, and refine your LinkedIn lead procreation efforts effectively. So you tin attraction connected boosting conversions.

Semrush’s Social Media toolkit makes managing each of that easy. Start a free proceedings to draught and schedule your LinkedIn posts, analyse cardinal societal contented stats, summation assemblage engagement insights, and more.