Prospecting on LinkedIn for Dummies: Instructions for Getting Started and Effective in 2022

2️⃣ Complete the identifying information on your LinkedIn profile

Write your first and last name. Forget the nickname, which has no place on a professional social network for obvious reasons. This advice may seem trivial, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t put their first and last names on their LinkedIn profile… the sky is the limit!

For your profile title, state what you really do. Think like you would when pitching your company’s offering.

✅ You must be able to explain your business, expertise and positioning in one line .

Get inspired by the value you bring to your customers. By the way, if you want to get serious about prospecting on LinkedIn, make your communication (including your profile) Customer – Centric.

Don’t make the mistake of copying your “official” function cold. It is dull, sad and uninviting.

As you can see on my LinkedIn profile, I took care to indicate where I live. It’s not an obligation. This information may or may not be interesting depending on the activity you carry out. However, we must keep in mind that humans are curious by nature. The more information we have about our potential interlocutors, the more confidence we have.

Quick tip about the cover image on LinkedIn The format recommended by the social network is 1536 x 768 pixels. If you are not a graphic design expert, you can use Canva, a very easy to learn tool that offers banners specially designed for the cover photo of your LinkedIn profile.

Of course, this image must be consistent with the graphic charter, the positioning of your company and the information you have entered on your LinkedIn profile.

The top part of your profile should quickly immerse the visitor in the world of your company to put them in the best position for LinkedIn prospecting.

3️⃣ Engage your visitors with a good summary

The “Info” section appears below the visual section of your LinkedIn profile. It is a section which is far too often neglected by users

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That’s why you’re going to have to beef up your game on this Info part to differentiate yourself!

This space is used to tell your story to your visitors and potential prospects because, as you will have understood, LinkedIn is not just an online professional CV!

You must therefore welcome the person by explaining who you are and what you do, with an impactful speech and elements of storytelling to get out of the game. That’s exactly what you would do if you met this person at a networking party in “real life”.

By reading this short description of you, your company, your activity and your expertise, your visitors will already make a (good) first impression, will quickly identify what you do and what you can offer them to meet their needs.

If your description appeals to them, there is a very good chance that they will go further on your profile. It is therefore essential to know your target and to have an idea of their expectations, needs, problems, aspirations and fears to guide your description in this direction.

Furthermore, at the end of this short introduction, don’t forget to
propose an explicit Call To Action (CTA) to redirect visitors
to the resources of your choice. Here, in my case, I call to action at the end of my LinkedIn profile description with two Calls To Action. The first to learn about our services at LeadIn , and the second to book a demo of our Twilead platform .

The Call To Action is used to show the visitor what you expect from him. For example, you can insert the following examples at the end of the description of your LinkedIn profile :

• ” You have a project ? Book a visio with me by clicking here!”
• ” You want a free SEO audit audit of your website ? Fill in your website URL on this form to receive your audit as soon as possible!”
• ” You want to boost your lead generation your lead generation strategy ? Book an appointment with me by clicking here! “…

4️⃣ Import its most relevant content

Once you have filled in the identification elements and the “Info” block of your LinkedIn profile, it is now time to :

✅ showcase some of your publications, achievements or flagship products from your offering .

This reinforces your expertise in your field of activity and brings more credibility to your LinkedIn profile. Of course, be sure to import content that is enriching and in line with the expectations of your target. No need to accumulate documents without logic.

Feel free to place videosvideos, presentations presentationspresentations listsand mock-ups and external links that can enrich your profile. Whenever possible, use visual formats to attract attention and push to the click.

5️⃣ Fill in your professional experiences

Of course, the professional experience section is not necessarily the most important when you want to develop your prospecting on LinkedIn.. However, I recommend working on it for several reasons:

• Prospects from large accounts will tend to review your profile to ensure your reliability and expertise;
• As I said above, humans are curious by nature. It is very common to look at the professional experiences of those with whom we are considering a partnership or collaboration, even if only diagonally;
• You increase the visibility of your profileIt will appear in the results page of users who search with keywords that appear in the different sections of your profile. Perhaps a buyer who wants to compete will contact you in a proactive approach!

Please fill in this field seriously, mentioning the company, its activity, your role and your results during your “mandate”. Don’t be hasty. Be sure to give figures if you have them, especially on the Return on Investment (ROI) of your actions, the increase in revenue resulting from it, the growth of the workforce, etc.

Follow the same logic for the “Training” and “Licenses and Certifications” parts of your LinkedIn profile. Give serious information about your academic background as well as your professional training, including short courses, digital certifications, etc.

Here are the basics to optimize your LinkedIn profile before starting your prospecting. To go a little further and complete your profile, I invite you to read my dedicated article : How to optimize your LinkedIn profile?

⭐ Tip #2: ForLinkedIn prospecting ➡️ work your network!

As you can see on my LinkedIn profile, I have been able to build a fairly substantial network over the years. This is a great source of organic “traffic”. Of course, this networking did not happen overnight. I have moved forward and continue to move forward step by step adding and exchanging with new people on a daily basis based on the intersections and synergies that can exist between our areas of expertise.

Networking is an art. You will also take great pleasure in refining your approach, acquiring the soft skills necessary to identify potential partners and demonstrating your expertise, daily. I insist on the permanent side of the thing, because regularity remains one of the most important tricks for successful LinkedIn prospecting. I will elaborate on this point a little later.

Attention, it is not enough to add people at random. We do not seek (only) to demonstrate social proof by quantity. On the contrary, it would be counterproductive. You will get in the way, especially with
the latest restriction on the number of weekly invitations put in place by LinkedIn
(100 invitations to connect per week).

Places are therefore limited. Therefore, direct your connection requests to qualified people and who have a minimum of activity on the social network. It would be a shame to waste your time addressing people who are certainly qualified on a business level but who connect once every two years!

You will be able to identify active members by browsing their profile, especially in the “posts” and “activity” sections. This will maximize your chances of conversion.

If you followed the first step of this guide on LinkedIn prospecting, your profile is now operational and above all attractive. You can start to socialize and sympathize with the other members of your network, with all the tact and know-how that are essential, like in a networking evening. So of course, like in “real life”, you have to be respectful of others and establish healthy relationships with your network. Also arm yourself with your expertise so that your interventions are relevant.

If you are commercial, I teach you nothing. You know very well that you should not greet and then unpack your commercial offer to sell your product. It’s necessary know how to listen to your client, talk with him about his needs and touch the “emotional” side. Storytelling, empathy and clarity in the words will be your allies to engage in meaningful conversations with your prospects .

To sum up, if your approach message is too commercial, too frontal, all the previous efforts will have been for naught. It’s a bit crude, but it’s the reality. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes (empathy). When you receive a “Hello First name + 10-line sales pitch”, are you really reading the message? Chances are you’ll react like 95% of LinkedIn users who ignore these outdated, uninspired approaches that no longer work.

To prospect on LinkedIn, the trick is to start by positioning yourself as an expert in listening to the needs of others. Once again, that’s what you do on the pitch, right?

There are different ways to contact members of the LinkedIn network. Cold prospecting remains an interesting lever, provided that it is carried out according to the rules of the art. I also offer you
3 tips for writing an effective message
!

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Tip #3: Share high-value content on LinkedIn

We will adopt here the same approach as for the content strategy which aims to work on the referencing of your website and the pages of your company on the various social networks. Several objectives Improve the visibility of your LinkedIn profile, boost your organic reach and show your expertise with quality content that will interest your target audience. This will facilitate your prospecting on LinkedIn .

To write a post, nothing could be simpler. Go to your homepage and click on “Start a post”. It’s very easy to share news, information that you find relevant to your audience or any other content that falls within your target’s interests. As a medium, you can use text, include external links, image, photo and even video. Attention : LinkedIn recently announced a change to the recommended ratio for videos. From July 11, 2022, the videos go from 9:16 to 4:5.

If you don’t have time to write dedicated articles, reuse those you publish on your blog! This is what is known as ” snacking “A technique that consists of capitalizing on existing content to create mini-content for social networks, for example.

Sharing content that appeals to your audience is a key practice for asserting your expert status and expanding your network.. Internet users who see this content on their newsfeed can interact by liking, commenting or even sharing it. They will give you great visibility with their LinkedIn connections and send the right signals to the social network’s algorithm to maximize your organic reach.

I also advise you to be active in private groups on LinkedIn by participating in discussions and reaching out to members outside of your network. This is probably the most effective technique to expand your network as soon as possible.

Attention Only post content with very high added value in the groups. The audience is better informed, more knowledgeable and particularly demanding. It is therefore out of the question to promote your services frontally without adding value.

I also recommend entering private groups on Facebook as well. It works very well and gives good results. At LeadIn we have launched our own group dedicated to the best Social Selling hacks & practices on LinkedIn. To join the group, just click on “ The LinkedIn Stack: Best Social Selling, Tools & Automation Hacks ”.

To find out which social networks are relevant in addition to LinkedIn for your B2B prospecting, you can take a look at this article: Which social networks used for your B2B acquisition strategy ?

⭐ Tip #4: Post on LinkedIn ➡️ a continuous improvement mindset.

As I explained above, regularity is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to shine on LinkedIn. It will also be necessary to adopt a continuous improvement approach to identify and correct your mistakes… because you are bound to make them. The process is iterative: you publish, you gauge the engagement and the impact, and you make the necessary corrections for the next publications.

According to a study by LinkedIn and Edelman, 71% of B2B decision makers believe that half of the content they consume on LinkedIn does not add value to them.. The cause: redundant content, filled with language and language that is too institutional.

For 87% of B2B decision makers surveyed, content can be both intellectually rigorous and easy to consume. It’s up to you to find the best balance to please your audience and generate qualified leads. Here is a summary of the characteristics B2B buyers look for in the content they consume on LinkedIn:

• Advice, recommendations and statistics from reliable and sourced sources;
• Original and daring ideas that shake up the existing;
• Analyses performed by recognized experts;
• A more human and less institutional, less formal tone;
• Content carried by people rather than brands.

⭐ Tip #5: Start with a custom icebreaker or catchphrase

The idea is to break the ice between you and your prospect. He doesn’t know you and may give you a cold reception! But that’s without counting on your hard work to find THE interest that characterizes him.

If you can write a clever catchphrase that addresses this area of interest, your prospect is bound to take note of a genuine interest in them and feel flattered.

Your interviewer is relaxed, he feels your human side thanks to the touch of humor that you have reserved for him in your catchphrase. He will then be more inclined to read the rest, or even to answer you.

⭐ Tip #6: Target specific groups of people, find a common denominator

Rather than attacking random Linkedin members in the category you’re interested in, it makes sense to attack members of a particular group who have commented on a specific post in the last X days.

Indeed, thanks to this information of the like of a post or the comment of a post in the last days, you have an information on their interest of the moment. And you can confidently start a conversation with the maximum chance of holding their attention with a topic that interests them.

If, on the other hand, you just target a business category related to yours, then you will have little chance of knowing what your prospects are interested in and therefore little chance of holding their attention, or titillating their interest.

Moreover, if in addition to targeting a specific group, or even a specific Linkedin post, you manage to highlight a common denominator between you and your prospect, then you increase even more your chances of successful contact.

Indeed, if your prospect has commented in a group to which you also belong, you have the proof that your interests are common, and that your request for connection is all the more relevant. It can be a group on Facebook as well as on Linkedin.

⭐ Tip #7: The power of hyper-customization

You will prepare a visual or a video that integrates personal elements of your prospect. You can integrate his first name, the name of his business, his company logo or any other relevant information about him.

There’s nothing like receiving these kinds of personalized visuals or videos to make you feel truly special. After a slight period of doubt, which may lead him to think that it is automated, he will be able to see the authenticity of your work. You make a lot of points. This kind of message converts very, very well.

It is even possible, as we will see later, with tools such as the Leadin sales prospecting solution, to automate this kind of hyper-personalized contact, while keeping a very human touch. Automation is rarely detectable, except by professionals who know exactly how it works.

🚫🙅 Don’t when it comes to Linkedin prospecting

Here are a few practices you should absolutely avoid if you don’t want to miss out on your Linkedin prospecting:

• Invite en masse without specific targeting
• Make heavy and egocentric messages that only talk about your commercial offer, without interest for the prospect, impersonal moreover.
• Make incessant reminders, accompanied bybasic arguments with no power of conviction, in the style of “we are the best, you’ll see!”
• Wanting to say too much, in response to all objections! You don’t write a script for a call center to which you outsource the prospecting.
• Do not respect the basic rules of typography
• Taking spelling and grammar lightly
• Forget the call to action, otherwise known as the CTA

If you can avoid these harmful habits of bad salespeople that we see too often, you will already stand out from the crowd. If you manage to apply several of our tips, you are on your way to becoming a real Linkedin prospecting shark.

How to write an effective and irresistible prospecting message on Linkedin?

After these tips, it’s time to give you a recipe for writing the best Linkedin prospecting message. The ideal message will be built in several steps:

• A hook
• Qualify the prospect
• Explain the reason for your question
• Titillate his desire to answer you

The hook or Icebreaker

The idea of the Icebreaker is to attract attention by showing that you have done some research on the person. You then address him a first targeted sentence, to capture his attention and get him to listen to the rest.

Prospect Qualification

In this second step of the ideal Linkedin prospecting message, the principle is to “sort” your prospects. With an open-ended question, you will be able to categorize them as feeling this problem that you can solve, and the other half as not feeling it.

Why ask him this

Here you explain to your Linkedin prospect why you are asking this specific question. You tell him that he is not the only one with this problem and that many other people you are in contact with also have this problem. It’s time to get out your best stats.

To make people want to respond

You potentially have the solution to your interlocutor’s problem. Say it simply, without trying to sell a product.

10 examples of Linkedin prospecting messages

And now, I’m going to help you approach your network, your prospects on Linkedin, with 10 examples of messages prepared and thought to convert the user into a new relationship.

It’s about approaching the matchmaking process in a professional manner, with a friendly touch to lighten the mood, and without trying to sell your services in a frontal way. Here we go:

📧 Message to a member of the same group as you

Hello (first name),

“I was going through my LinkedIn feed and saw that we were in the same group. Your post on (topic of post) really resonated with me, as it is something that impacts all of us as (name of field, specialty) professionals today. I propose to discuss this in more detail. By the way (bring here an interesting question on the subject).

📧 Message to a user who commented on a relevant post

“Hello (first name), I hope you are well! I just saw your comment on the article about _____. You seem very interested in this area; I would love to chat with you soon, if possible.”

📧 Message to a person with whom you have a common contact

“Hello (first name),

I see that you are interested in _______. I’ve been following your friend’s recent posts and have found them stimulating! What did you think of this article?”

📧 Message to a person met during an event

“Hello (first name),

I noticed that we were interested in the same topics at your event last week. Have you seen this article/post on _____?”

📧 Message to a customer

“Hello (first name),

I saw that you were a regular user of LinkedIn and thought it would be interesting to follow your company’s news. By the way, I want to congratulate you on (…)!”

📧 Message to a competitor

“Hello (first name),

I was browsing your profile and saw that we were both practicing in the same field. It seems you know a lot more than I do, but hey! Let’s talk about what makes us different.”

📧 Message for a user from Linkedin suggestions

Hello (first name), I hope you are well! I was looking at your profile and I noticed that we share certain interests. There seems to be a lot of overlap between our values, so it might be worth connecting with each other on LinkedIn to see if anything comes up in conversation or collaboration 🙂

📧 Message for a partnership request

“Hello (first name),

We both work in different fields, but I think our activities could be complementary. What do you think?”

📧 Message for a user who visited your profile

Hey (first name), it seems that you found my profile very interesting. Did I catch your attention with something in particular? Let me know so we can discuss what made the difference!

📧 Message to extend your network in local (regional)

Hello (first name),

I work in the (industry) and am currently conducting an investigation. We are looking for ways to improve our services in your area – it would be great if you could participate!

And there you have it.

Now that you have the basics of prospecting on LinkedIn , all you have to do is set up your strategy and get started!

Add a publication schedule to your schedule and plan daily LinkedIn actions. For example, you can take 5 minutes a day to reply to your messages, add a few new contacts, publish a post, etc.

🤖 A logical evolution towards Linkedin prospecting automation.

You are finally aware of the techniques that allow you to prospect effectively on Linkedin. If you have reached the end of this guide, then you have understood that personalizing your prospecting approach is a key concept that can make you successful.

However, it requires a considerable amount of time. And we agree, you have a business to manage, with many tasks that require as much versatility as availability for your customers or collaborators.

Sales prospecting actions on Linkedin are quite repetitive, even if each prospect is different. Your approach is structurable. It is therefore naturally automatable.

Humanize automated Linkedin sales prospecting

Leadin specializes in this automation of Linkedin prospecting, with the leitmotiv of hiding as much as possible the robotic techniques. All the magic of the Leadin concept consists in humanizing the automated contacts, so that your prospects don’t realize that you are doing mass emailing.

Your prospect must feel special, in order to maximize your prospecting conversion rates. That’s the value proposition we put forward. Your prospecting is 100% automated by experienced agents who will target your potential clientele in a very precise way.

Thanks to our tool and in particular to our special B2B outsourced sales prospecting solution, you can expect a continuous flow of qualified leads that will maintain and boost your sales.

Automated solutions today are able to implement several very clever techniques that your prospects will not be able to see any automation against.

Hyper-customization in automatic

Indeed, it is possible to usehyper-customization by creating customizable visuals that include variables such as the name of the contact, his business and his logo. Your prospect receives a visual that gives him the impression that you really worked on his project: it’s a very positive first impression that you can potentially communicate to hundreds of prospects.

This is an example of a hyper-personalized video following a free registration for a blockchain developer training. You can see surprisingly that the variable {{first name}} is used three times during the video, giving the really disturbing impression that he shot this video especially for you.

The icebreaker or the automated hook

It is also possible to use artificial intelligence solutions that will generate hundreds or even thousands of sentences such as IceBreaker whose goal is to break the ice between you and your prospect. Thanks to the data you have on him, you can create personalized sentences that will definitely capture his attention, as he will not believe that the intelligence with which the sentence is formulated could be robotic. The idea is to value the person in order to open him to a first connection and to future actions.

The automated common denominator

We can also mention the possibility of determining, thanks to the available data, common denominators between you and your prospect, in order to approach him in an intelligent way. You can show them that you are part of the same group on Facebook or Linkedin, and make them implicitly admit that a connection is relevant, and then bring them to a discussion on a topic related to this group. That’s what you would do if you had to research the person by hand. This can now be automated with Leadin, either with your access and by you, or directly managed by Leadin professionals, to put your commercial prospecting on autopilot.

In this how-to guide, I’ve covered the basics of prospecting on LinkedIn.. With this, you will already be more effective than 70% of the members of this leading professional network! However, if you want to improve your chances and further optimize your prospecting, I recommend my complete guide to B2B acquisition on LinkedIn in 2022. You will find automation methods and tips to maximize your response rate.

You may also be interested in these articles

• The best LinkedIn prospecting tools
• Our Complete Guide to Turning LinkedIn into a Selling Machine
• The KPIs to follow for your LinkedIn prospecting
• Our connection request templates on LinkedIn
• How to apply the AIDA model to generate leads on LinkedIn?
• Learn how to organize your inbox on LinkedIn
• How to use social proof on LinkedIn?
• The best LinkedIn automation tools
• 5 examples of LinkedIn messages to prospect