Why you should rely on job-related networks like LinkedIn for lead generation.
Social media platforms are among the most popular tools when it comes to marketing activities. Many rely on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram to reach a broad audience. Likes, shares and comments are all well and good, but they are not very useful from a company's point of view if no qualitative leads can be generated from them.
Founded in 2002 as a career and business network, LinkedIn has developed into a qualified content platform. Time has expired, where you can only find job postings or company updates here. Now it also contains a multitude of professional articles, online seminars, studies or e-books. Even the popular story format has found its way here and the platform continues to develop in order to remain successful. Worldwide, LinkedIn now has 722 million members, of which 50 million are companies. In the DACH region, there are 16 million active users (as of February 2021).
The basic prerequisite for any marketing strategy and successful lead generation is, of course, to define your own goals and target groups in advance. This is followed by the selection of the appropriate platform and the creation of convincing content.
Even though LinkedIn is still the most important network for the B2B sector, this does not mean that B2C campaigns have not already been successfully implemented here, as examples from Starbucks, Audi or Holiday Inn proof. Nevertheless, it can be said that lifestyle sectors such as fashion, interior design or food, with rather younger target groups, are not as successful here as, for example, the industrial, real estate sector or associations that are focused on business.
According to a study by Hubspot, the chances of conversion on LinkedIn are 2.74 percent. On Facebook, it is only 0.77 percent in comparison, closely followed by Twitter with only 0.69 percent. LinkedIn is therefore more than clearly in the lead with almost 300 percent.
(The study includes evaluations of 5,198 B2B and B2C companies).
So that's already a good reason to take a closer look at the international digital network platform based in California. Another is: since 2019, the number of users in the DACH region has increased by 31 per cent, the number of shared content is growing by 50 per cent and live streams even by over 450 per cent and, according to its own statement, a person is hired on LinkedIn every 7 seconds.
That's why it's worth taking a look at lead generation on this platform:
We give you five tips on how to use LinkedIn to successfully generate leads for your business:
If you are aiming for successful marketing on LinkedIn, so-called Big Rock Content, or Deep Content, is indispensable these days. This can be an online seminar, study, e-guide, whitepaper or research report. Don't worry, this doesn't mean publishing extensive articles on a weekly basis. B2B marketing expert Doug Kessler recommends one Big Rock content per quarter. This, in turn, can also be divided into small bites and used for the content creation of several contents. Again, the more visual the content, the better. Such publications are beneficial to put one's own competence and expertise in the centre and thus increase the chances of winning potential new customers.
One of the basic rules on social media platforms is: Be active!
Of course, this also applies on LinkedIn. Here, it is particularly useful to join active groups in which your target groups are located and with whom you can and should interact. If you find out that your target group has a specific need that this group does not fulfill, this is your chance to create a new group and become active as a moderator. This is a free and good way to get in touch with potential leads and win them over.
One of the reasons why lead generation via LinkedIn is so successful is the precise targeting options via the Sales Navigator, which is, however, only available to Premium members. For example, when searching for new leads, over 30 filter options can be set to create and save a list of relevant leads. In addition, the Sales Navigator offers features such as Lead Recommendations, where you can get recommendations on influencers and decision makers. Also useful is TeamLink, which allows you to view hidden contacts and thus find out who in your company is connected to prospects. Or access to the extended network, where you not only get access to direct contacts and 2nd degree contacts, but can also discover and reach 3rd degree contacts via the people search.
Online forms are a popular way to generate leads. However, forms that have to be filled out manually are the biggest obstacle to online conversions. With LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms, a call-to-action, such as "Register" or "Download", in the ad can automatically transfer profile data to the form. This saves members time and effort and you get up-to-date and reputable user data. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the usually desired website traffic to your own page is lower here and retargeting options can also deteriorate as a result.
Since May 2020, LinkedIn has also been offering the popular story format. Why should you also use this for your company? Quite simply:
- More reach
- More branding
- More traffic
- More turnover
Stories are consumed quickly, but they are also created quickly and are therefore perfect for in between. Recently, there is also the possibility to insert links and thus generate more traffic to one's own website. Although stories should be authentic and entertaining/informative, professionalism comes first on LinkedIn. Exciting figures or graphics, customer opinions or the announcement of a new blog post are ideal formats for LinkedIn Stories. Currently, there are no LinkedIn Story Ads yet, but they are already being tested.
Whether organic or paid, always look for quality content that adds value to your audience and rely on a high level of activity and connections to build your reach organically and then start investing in paid lead generation efforts in parallel.
Tip: Test organic content and promote only popular content to get the most out of your investment.
Whether B2B or B2C - with the right strategy and appropriate professional resources, you can successfully generate leads via LinkedIn and achieve significantly better results than on other social media platforms.
Uhura Digital advises and supports companies in the optimal implementation of social media and B2B marketing activities, from analysis and strategy development to implementation and optimisation. Interested? Just give us a call or send us an email.
