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Social Selling on LinkedIn: Complete Guide to Generate Pipeline
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3. Play the long game “When you rush into the DMs of everyone who comments on your post and pitch to them without any context, it breaks a prospect’s sense of psychological safety and instantly creates “a moat around you as a seller that nobody wants to cross,” says Alex.” Instead, slow down your interactions.Zoehas found that consistently posting content that keeps you top-of-mind brings buyers to you at the moment they are ready to have that conversation.
Invite to connect, personalized note: 39 of 50 accepted “Whether you get an accepted connection request with or without an initial message, sending highly-personalized voice notes or videos can be the differentiator you need to expedite these new relationships.” “Go back to voice notes [within LinkedIn], 1:1 videos, things that AI can’t replicate yet. It’s a good way to show that you’re actually human as opposed to an automated message,” saysFlorin Tatulea, Head of Sales Development atCommon Room.
Building a personal brand like Zoe’s has become table stakes for effectively building pipeline. You’re just one person in an endless sea of options and one of the only things you have at your disposal — that no one else does — is your authentic voice, opinions, and experiences. “"Your LinkedIn is your online reputation…your personal brand, not your resume. I look at LinkedIn profiles all the time. When they scream, ‘I’m in sales. Buy from me!’ and they aren’t a value add, it’s a turn off."” As you start posting and building out your content framework, here are three guidelines to follow.
LinkedIn is uniquely suited for B2B lead generation but at its core, it’s still a social media platform.Whatyou post andhowyou present yourself affect the likelihood of your prospects responding. ““I look at posting on LinkedIn as marketing,” saysBrendan Short, Head of Product-led Sales at Apollo, “You can connect with people and direct message them, which is essentially cold outbound, but there is a huge outbound play for building an audience and nurturing them through LinkedIn posting.”” Zoe Hartsfield, one of today’s top LinkedIn sales voices, is an example of a self-made salesperson who built a robust network through consistently posting and focusing on personal brand. When she was a quota-carrying rep, Zoe consistently hit 50-60% of her quota through LinkedIn by following a simple posting framework (see figure 5.1).
Thought leadership. LinkedIn is a treasure trove of ideas and opinions and 79% of buyers say that thought leadership helps them decide which vendors to research. “LinkedIn is uniquely suited for B2B lead generation but at its core, it’s still a social media platform.Whatyou post andhowyou present yourself affect the likelihood of your prospects responding.” “I look at posting on LinkedIn as marketing,” saysBrendan Short, Head of Product-led Sales at Apollo, “You can connect with people and direct message them, which is essentially cold outbound, but there is a huge outbound play for building an audience and nurturing them through LinkedIn posting.”
Insert the video as a raw clip. It shouldn’t be a link that takes your prospect out of their LinkedIn messages. Here’s a helpful video for attaching video files to a LinkedIn message. “Make the thumbnail personalized. “Make it a mini preview of what you’re going to talk about,” Melissa says, “I’ll do a picture of myself or a picture of the prospect…I always put a banner at the bottom of the time commitment, too.”” Identify their channel of choice. Maybe, they aren’t that active on LinkedIn. Apply these same principles to Twitter/X, Instagram, or Slack communities to meet your prospects where they’re at.
With over 930 million people on LinkedIn,hundreds of millions of whichplay a role in decision making, the platform’s pool of prospects is more akin to an ocean. It’s uniquely different from other engagement channels for a few key reasons: “Professional and personal data. On LinkedIn you can find work history, industry, and company information plus personal interests, opinions, and engagement history. All of this is valuable qualification and personalization data you can use across outbound.” Business context. People go to LinkedIn for business topics and career development, making them extra receptive to B2B messaging.
Invite to connect, personalized note: 39 of 50 accepted “Whether you get an accepted connection request with or without an initial message, sending highly-personalized voice notes or videos can be the differentiator you need to expedite these new relationships.” “Go back to voice notes [within LinkedIn], 1:1 videos, things that AI can’t replicate yet. It’s a good way to show that you’re actually human as opposed to an automated message,” saysFlorin Tatulea, Head of Sales Development atCommon Room.