8 Simple Ways to Qualify Your LinkedIn Leads
LinkedIn is a social media network with over 500 million users, including many business executives. Of the business executives on this site, 76% check their accounts daily.
So why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of these types of leads?
All successful businesses know that lead generation is an essential part of the sales process, but qualifying these leads is just as important as gathering them.
Here are eight simple ways to qualify your LinkedIn leads, so you can determine which prospects are worth pursuing to save you time and money!
Understanding the Approach to Qualified Lead Generation on LinkedIn
Before we move into how you can qualify your LinkedIn leads, we need to first understand how LinkedIn lead generation is different.
Traditional lead generation strategies involve businesses contacting people from some type of list to give them a sales pitch. They might purchase the list from a broker.
By using LinkedIn to generate qualified leads, you are ahead of the traditional method. This social media site is a better way to generate leads and establish connections. This is because you aren’t approaching random prospects with a sales pitch.
1. Methods of Qualifying Leads
In order to take the leads you’re connecting with on LinkedIn to the sales team, you’ll need to better understand them by having an approach to qualifying leads. Two common methods of lead qualification are lead scoring and lead grading.
Lead scoring means giving a numerical value to a lead. This number should indicate the person’s interest level in actually buying your product or service. The goal is to evaluate how active the lead is and how high their interest level is by assigning a point value to the actions you decide are important.
Lead grading means you’re assigning a letter grade to the lead based on their profile. With lead grading, you’re using letters A through F and based on a number of qualities, you’re determining if the lead is a good match for your ideal customer.
2. Sales and Marketing Should Work Together
Now that you understand how you’ll be qualifying these leads, it’s clear why you need to work with the sales team. This team talks to clients regularly, so they will be able to provide insight into what the grading criteria and lead scoring criteria are for qualified leads.
You should also come up with a strategy to understand when a lead should be handed off to a salesperson.
3. Determine the Ideal Prospect and Have a Goal
If you don’t know who your ideal prospect is, you’re unlikely to find qualified leads. Since you’re using LinkedIn, think about your ideal prospect in terms of their profile.
You should then have a goal. Before you start connecting with people, decide what you want them to do once you reel them in.
Do you want them to join a webinar or get on a call? You also may be looking to create a network event with lots of possible clients you’re connecting with on LinkedIn.
4. Define Which Actions Qualify as Intent
In order to score leads, you need to know which of their actions qualify as intent to purchase. This determines how valuable the lead is, and therefore, what score you’ll assign to them.
How engaged are they with you on LinkedIn? Are they simply “liking” your posts on LinkedIn? This type of action might indicate that they are interested in your company or your profile, but might not mean they have intent to buy from you.
But if they connect with you, rather than the other way around, this might indicate that they have intent to buy. Or if they’re actively engaged in your messages and asking you questions, this might show intent.
5. Target Business Decision Makers
Make sure you’re targeting the people who will actually help your business. Consider the person within the business who will be able to buy your product or service from you.
While targeting CEOs might help you make a sale, you could also target decision-makers and leaders elsewhere within the company. If your product helps IT professionals, look for the head of IT at the company rather than the CEO for a narrower approach.
Your grading criteria should consider the job title as a part of the score.
6. Emphasize Mutual Connections
Once you’ve narrowed down your ideal prospects, take a look at their profiles and any mutual connections.
Getting a personal recommendation from someone they already know can go a long way. People are more inclined to hear your sales pitch if they feel like you are someone who was recommended to them.
Mutual connections can then also factor into your grading profile. The ideal LinkedIn lead might be someone with a mutual connection and the right profile.
7. Take the Time to Understand Your Prospect
Take a look at their business and professional profiles outside of LinkedIn. You should understand the role they play at the company. You can also start by commenting on recent posts they’ve made on LinkedIn so that you become more familiar to them.
Rate them based on both their profile matching your ideal prospect and the amount of action they’re taking. If you understand the ideal candidate’s profile and are then able to rate the value of their actions, you’ll know what score they should be assigned.
8. Continue to Engage on LinkedIn
If you’re able to connect with a lead on LinkedIn, but you don’t continue to engage or follow-up, they will forget about you. Staying active will help you to transition someone from a lead to a customer.
When you’re ready to pass your lead off to sales, there should be a clear strategy. Know what action you want your leads to take, and be sure to follow through on this action.
Qualified LinkedIn Leads Will Uplevel Your Connections
By following the steps above, you’ll be able to qualify your LinkedIn leads and stay ahead of your competition.
This platform is perfect for lead generation and allows you to narrow your search. By engaging on LinkedIn, you can build relationships and score your leads based on their profiles and the actions they’re taking.
Keep reading more from our blog to stay ahead of marketing trends and continue to grow your business.
