With more than one billion(!) members across 200+ countries and territories, and with two new members joining every single second, LinkedIn continues to serve as the best place on the planet to find B2B-oriented leads.
The challenge of course, is cutting through the clutter and chaos and actually getting through to your ideal prospects on the platform.
And, while everyone wants to try and unlock LinkedIn’s ever-changing algorithm to make posts go viral, there’s a far easier way to generate leads on the platform – simply reach out and talk to your ideal prospects 1-on-1.
Repeat after me: On LinkedIn, the money is in the mailbox!
Having spent the past decade leveraging LinkedIn to find, engage and generate qualified leads for myself and countless clients, that truth remains a constant no matter what else changes on the platform.
In this article, I’ll unpack 5 specific strategies we use with our “Done For You” LinkedIn Lead Generation clients to reach out to 200-300 of their ideal prospects every single day.
Strategy #1: LinkedIn Invites
If you want to generate nonstop leads on LinkedIn, you’ll want to amass as many targeted, 1st degree connections as possible.
The reason is simple – once you and someone else are connected on LinkedIn, you can send unlimited, free 1-on-1 messages to the other person, even personalizing those notes with audio / video, GIFs, emojis and more.
Think of 1-on-1 messaging on LinkedIn like texting for grown ups. Having the ability to “instant message” your ideal prospects on the platform is priceless – ensuring you have a direct route into their inbox whenever you need it.
So building up your 1st degree connections is invaluable, and it all starts with sending someone else an invite to connect on LinkedIn.
Now, LinkedIn has recently put limits on how many invites you can send in a given week, which makes the additional tips I’ll share below so important if you still want to reach out to 200-300 of your ideal prospects every day.
But with the invites you are allowed to send, here’s a few tips to maximize the acceptance rate:
Tip #1: Make sure you have a client-facing profile.
If your LinkedIn headline has nothing to do with and nothing of value for the person you’re inviting to connect, they aren’t likely to accept your invite.
Here’s a quick way to fix this – make sure your LinkedIn headline follows this template –
“[Service I Provide] for [Target Audience(s)]”.
My LinkedIn profile headline is
“Done For You” LinkedIn Lead Generation for Franchise Consultants, Business Coaches & Small Business Owners.
If you’re a Franchise Consultant, Business Coach or Small Business Owner, and you get an invite to connect from me, you know within two seconds what’s in it for you if you accept my invite to connect, right?
(Note: If you need more help making your LinkedIn profile client-facing, grab this free “fill in the blank” LinkedIn profile template I’ve created.)
Tip #2: Try “blank” invites.
We’ve found higher conversions in certain niches when you do NOT attach a personal note and just send a “blank” invite asking someone to connect. To the point above, make sure your profile headline / etc. makes it clear what’s in it for the other person if they connect with you
Tip #3: Try a “generic” personal note.
If you’re not really going to look at someone’s profile and find things that impress you to mention, don’t send a LinkedIn invite that says, “Came across your profile, was impressed and would love to connect!”
People can see through that phony personalization. Instead, try some genericpersonal notes like these:
“Hey [NAME] – always looking to expand my network in the [INDUSTRY] space – let’s connect!”
or
“Hey [NAME] – I work with a lot of [JOB TITLE] in this space and thought it might be useful to connect!”
The key with LinkedIn invites it to TEST … try blank invites, try generic ones, try even being blunt if you want –
“Hey [NAME] – I help Franchise Consultants generate qualified leads on LinkedIn – should we connect?”
See what works, and scale it up!
Strategy #2: LinkedIn Groups
There are three key challenges everyone faces when it comes to using LinkedIn for lead generation:
- Finding your target audience all in one place.
- Running into LinkedIn restrictions on the number of outbound invites, messages, etc., that you can send on a daily / weekly basis.
- Having to “pay to play” in terms of sending paid InMails to people you’re not connected with, etc.
With that in mind …
What if there were a faster, easier, and better way to instantly find your ideal prospects in one place, and, as a bonus, message them all for free at massive scale?
Good news … there is!
Welcome to LinkedIn Groups, a hidden gem in the world of lead generation.
Follow these steps to find the right groups for you:
- Log into your LinkedIn account.
- In the search bar, type in keywords related to your ideal prospects, such as their job title, role or industry.
- Filter the search results LinkedIn gives you by clicking on “Groups.”
- Browse the list of groups and join the ones that are relevant to your target audience.
These groups are a goldmine of potential clients who, in theory, should be primed for / interested in the value and benefits you can provide people in their professional walk of life.
Once you’ve joined the right LinkedIn Groups, you’ll want to message the members who fit your ideal prospect profile.
And here’s the AMAZING thing about LinkedIn Groups – once you join and are accepted, you can message all of the other group members for FREE!
Even if you’re not connected, you can still send anyone in the Group a 1-on-1 message at no cost. 🤯
Just click on “Show All” once you’re inside the Group:
That pulls up a page with EVERY single member, and you can instantly message ANY of them (even if you’re not connected!) 1-on-1 for free:
You can now send a 1-on-1 message to hundreds of Group members each week!
(More on what to say in those 1-on-1 messages in a minute.)
Strategy #3 – Open Profiles / Free InMails
Typically, you can only send someone you find on LinkedIn a 1-on-1 message if (A) you’re already 1st degree connections or (B) using a paid InMail (more on that below).
But many LinkedIn members have what’s known as an “Open Profile”, meaning they’re open to anyone / everyone being able to send them a 1-on-1 message – even if they’re not connected.
If you’re a paid / premium LinkedIn member, you have the option to set up your profile as “Open”:
Here’s an example of how to know someone has an “open” profile on LinkedIn —
You can send them an InMail for free – it operates just like a “normal” InMail, but you don’t have to use up any of your paid InMail credits. Just click “More” on their profile and then “Message” and it opens up an InMail box:
Boom!
You can now send free InMails to your ideal prospects!
Strategy #4 – Paid InMails
Anyone with a paid LinkedIn account (such as Sales Navigator) knows about paid InMails.
InMails are your ability to “force” your way into someone’s inbox with a 1-on-1 message. It’s different than a typical 1-on-1 LinkedIn message in that it also includes a subject line (like an email) and then body copy, plus the ability to add a “signature” like with an email.
According to LinkedIn, you get 50 new InMail “credits” to use each month, and they will roll over if you don’t use them all. (Although the max “InMail” credits you can roll over is 150, so after that if you don’t use some, you’d lose the next month’s allotment of 50.)
Also, if someone “accepts” your InMail and responds, you’re supposed to get that InMail “credited back” so you can use it again on a different message.
Paid InMails are a limited lead generation play, obviously, but they can work extremely well if you can’t find another way to get a message to a prospect (either via inviting to connect or inside a Group, etc.).
I’ve found the best InMails are short, direct and blunt.
Here’s an example of an InMail I send Franchise Consultants —
(Subject Line)
Free book?
(InMail Text)
Hey [NAME] – can I send you a free digital copy of my new book 📚 “LinkedIn Lead Generation For Franchise Consultants”?
The idea here is NOT to try and “marry someone on the first date” by asking for a call or trying to start a sales conversation.
Rather, I’ve found that offering free tips / content that are hyper-niched to that person’s unique pain points works best.
For example, I know a challenge for Franchise Consultants is finding qualified leads on LinkedIn.
So I wrote an entire book for them on the topic – and I give it away as a free PDF to help Franchise Consultants (A) get to know, like and trust me, (B) demonstrate my expertise in their niche industry and (C) get them some quick wins / value right away.
Strategy #5 – 1-on-1 Messages to 1st Degree Connections
As I mentioned earlier, the value of having 1st degree connections is you can message them anytime you want for free and without limitations.
So, what should you SAY in those messages to get engagement?
I’ve found in recent months that ultra short messages are key – like, literally 1 sentence or 1 question.
Here are some examples of what I send my niche audiences:
Hey {{FIRST_NAME}} – want me to send you a free digital copy of my book 📚 “LinkedIn Lead Generation for Business Coaches & Consultants”?
or
Hey {{FIRST_NAME}} – can I send you my best free tips on how successful Business Coaches & Consultants are leveraging LinkedIn to land 5-6 figure clients?
I’d suggest two different templates for your “1 sentence” LinkedIn message:
Template 1 – Ask a question:
“Hey (First Name) – are you running into challenges right now around (pain points)?”
or
“Hey (First Name) – how are you dealing with (common industry-related pain points) right now?”
Template 2 – Offer something free:
“Hey (First Name) – can I send you a free digital copy of my (eBook / Webinar / Podcast), “(Title of Content)”?
The idea is simply to start / spark a conversation and some engagement so you can then pivot into a deeper dive / discussion once you get that first YES.
With the volume of messages, posts, etc., on LinkedIn, plus the ultra-short attention span we all have thanks to the digital age, short, simple, 1 sentence messages or questions are working well right now on LinkedIn.
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