Stop Cold Calling Forever – How B2B Companies Can Generate Warm Leads on LinkedIn
In the B2B world, having a robust social media strategy has become non-negotiable. The internet is saturated with articles outlining best practices for posting at the right times, growing your audience, generating leads through social networks, and more. There’s good reason for all this social media hype — these platforms provide huge benefits for boosting visibility and growing business. In this article, we’re going to dive into the B2B darling, LinkedIn. 💼👨💼
LinkedIn has long been the premier social network for professional networking and connection-making. With over 800 million members worldwide, including decision makers at companies of all sizes, it’s no surprise LinkedIn has become integral for B2B marketing. Whether you’re looking to find new customers, thought leadership opportunities or hire top talent, LinkedIn opens doors like no other platform.
We’ll break down exactly how to utilize LinkedIn advertising to efficiently reach your ideal B2B contacts and convert them into quality leads. From targeting and creative strategies to ongoing lead nurturing, I’ll provide a step-by-step playbook for supercharging your results.
By the end, you’ll be optimizing your LinkedIn presence and watched leads roll in.
Audience targeting
The key to successful LinkedIn advertising is getting laser-focused on your most relevant contacts. LinkedIn gives you powerful targeting filters to narrow your audience down to people you know are worth your marketing spend.
Start by filtering for job titles that align with your ideal customer — are you selling to VPs, Directors, or C-level execs? Then indicate the industries you want to target. LinkedIn also lets you target companies by size, location, and other attributes to reach contacts at specific firms.
Drill down further into skills — target prospects with specific skills or skill sets important to your offering. You can also leverage audience targeting based on alumni networks if your contacts often share the same alma maters.
LinkedIn also enables targeting by groups, allowing you to reach members of industry organizations or discussion boards aligned with your niche. Be sure to check out “ similar audiences” too, which helps identify contacts with overlapping interests to your initial targets.
Ad format options
With different ad formats come different objectives. LinkedIn offers display ads, sponsored content, and text ads — each suited to distinct stages of the buyer’s journey.
Display ads show static images with headline and description text. These work well for top-of-funnel awareness raising. Add your logo, solution snapshot, and CTA to introduce new audiences to your brand.
Sponsored content is ideal for lead generation as it promotes your long-form articles or videos directly on LinkedIn. Members engaging deeply with your thought leadership are warm prospects already understanding your value.
For consideration and contact requests, text ads containing short, scannable headlines resonate well. Members can immediately grasp your offer and click-through without leaving LinkedIn.
Test different formats concurrently to see what performs best for your goals. You may find display lifts awareness while text ads convert at higher rates, for example.
Another option is dynamic ads which automatically serve the optimal format per contact based on their profile attributes and past behavior. This “set it and forget it” approach tests formats for you continuously.
With audiences defined, take time crafting formats to intentionally move contacts through the funnel. In the next section we’ll optimize ad creative for top conversion results.
Optimizing for conversions
Now it’s time to focus your ad creative for maximum conversions. Whether the goal is a form submission, download, or connection request, follow these best practices:
- Craft compelling value propositions in your headlines that address your prospect’s specific pain points. Highlight how you’ll help them achieve their goals like increasing sales or streamlining processes.
- Feature relevant imagery that visualizes your solution in use. Test different images against each other to see which generates more engagement for your audience.
- Use the first 130 characters of description text to continue expressing the benefits of connecting with you or acting on your CTA. Don’t waste valuable space restating what’s in your headline.
- Clearly indicate the desired next step, whether that’s connecting, downloading a asset, or completing a short qualifier form. Remove friction from taking action on your ad.
- Personalize where possible by inserting the prospect’s name, company or other identified attribute into the ad creative. This builds trust that you understand their unique needs.
- Once leads start rolling in, take care in following up promptly and professionally. Nurturing leads well is key to conversion and developing long-term client relationships.
With conversion-focused advertising, you’ll unlock the true power of LinkedIn for efficient B2B lead generation and sales. Continue refining to optimize your results over time.
Nurturing Leads Over Time
While initial ad conversions are the goal, your work isn’t done there. Stay top-of-mind with prospects and turn them into customers through ongoing lead nurturing.
- Retarget online members who expressed interest but haven’t converted yet. Serve related content ads with additional value and urgency to spur them into your funnel.
- For leads who connected or provided contact info, quickly on-board them to your email newsletter list. Send a welcome email introducing your regular content offerings.
- Launch a bi-weekly or monthly branded email newsletter highlighting your latest blogs, case studies, tools and industry insights. Give subscribers valuable content that deepens understanding of your solutions.
- Personalize newsletter content by addressing subscribers by name. Include references to their industry or any details from previous interactions.
- Prominently feature calls-to-action in emails linking to in-depth content or product pages. Nurture these moves with transparent reporting on engagement and sales attribution.
Use your newsletters as a consistent touchpoint for top-of-funnel nurturing and re-engagement of past customer leads. Develop long-term loyalty through ongoing valuable education and dialogue.
Nurturing transforms one-off clicks into loyal brand advocates, customers and repeat buyers. Stick with it for long-term success on LinkedIn and beyond.
In conclusion
LinkedIn advertising provides a powerful platform for efficiently reaching your target B2B audience and driving qualified leads throughout the sales funnel. By carefully crafting targeted ad campaigns, compelling creative, and conversion-focused strategies, you can maximize results from this influential channel.
But don’t stop there — nurturing leads over the long run through personalized content, retargeting ads, email newsletters and more is key to turning prospects into loyal customers. Marketers who view LinkedIn as an ongoing relationship-building tool, rather than just an acquisition play, will see the highest ROI.
If implemented strategically and refined over time based on results, a robust LinkedIn marketing presence can supercharge your lead generation for years to come. Get started optimizing your LinkedIn campaigns today to see new business opportunities flooding in. Remember — being where your buying personas already are is the smartest way to cut through the noise and get in front of ideal prospects.
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