Emma Brudner says, “If you’re using LinkedIn for sales correctly, you won’t insert an ask into your initial invitation to connect. It’s only after the prospect accepts your personalized connection request and you’ve diligently observed their behavior on the network that you can follow up with a meeting proposal. But just like cold sales emails, there’s a right way and a wrong way to write a LinkedIn message. Whether you’re sending an InMail or a good old-fashioned message, look to the following template as a guide”. The Anatomy of a Great LinkedIn... [...]

Emma Brudner says, “There’s no wrong way to go about researching a prospect in advance of a call. Yes, there are a few efficiencies to be gained, and some networks are more important to check than others, but as long as you’re doing your research, you’re already more than halfway there. The only way a sales rep can truly fail is by going into a call totally cold. Buyers just don’t have the patience to answer basic questions whose answers are readily accessible with the most cursory searching, nor do they have time to fill you in on their challenges. If you pick up the phone without... [...]

Tony Messer says, “If you’re a small business owner, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard the growing chatter about just how important it is to get on LinkedIn. It’s the fastest growing social media channel for professionals, and with more than 430 million users from 200 countries worldwide, there is a lot of potential, to say the least. In fact, 40 percent of LinkedIn users check their accounts daily. For many small business owners, LinkedIn represents untapped potential. There are plenty of future customers and connections to be made on the site — if done correctly. The... [...]

Steve Lazuka says, “Smart marketers know that creating highly shareable content is the best way to spread their message for the least money. When your content is intriguing, people not only click on it, but they share it. They want to be in the know, and sharing witty, insightful content is one of the easiest ways to attain expert status and more followers. So help them. Give your contacts great content they can share. It’s a win-win situation. They can share valuable content, and you can build your LinkedIn network and attain expert status in your field. But how do you set yourself... [...]

Joe Griffin says, “LinkedIn is best known as the world’s largest professional network — in other words, users aren’t there to look at cat memes or read celebrity gossip. Instead, they’re looking to connect with people in their industry, network, keep up with industry news, and look potential job opportunities. For marketers, paying attention to this difference in user purpose is key when building your social strategy. The more looped in you are on what people are talking about, the easier it becomes to use that information to craft helpful, targeted content. And that’s... [...]

Nataly Kelly says, “I’ll admit it — I love LinkedIn. It’s one of the few places online where I feel mostly shielded from unwanted interactions. Ironically, most of us are on LinkedIn to make connections that will help us to advance the goals of our companies, and of course, to improve our own careers. So here’s the catch: How can you achieve your own, admittedly self-interested objectives, without sending people communications they don’t want to receive? Welcome to InMails, the internal messages you can send to people on LinkedIn who are not directly connected to you (not yet... [...]

Bethany Cartwright says, “LinkedIn is the #1 social media platform for B2B content distribution. That makes it a key platform to generate leads, build professional relationships, and drive leads. But it’s not enough to use LinkedIn just to build an organic following. If you want to effectively expand your content’s reach and get it in front of the right eyes, you should be using LinkedIn’s Sponsored Content feature. Even if you’ve used Sponsored Content before, you may not have mastered all of the steps it takes to make sure you’re getting the most ROI from your campaigns.... [...]

Aja Frost says, “Want to become a prospecting superstar? LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a fantastic resource. It simplifies the process of finding, contacting, and staying up-to-date with prospects, referrals, and customers. Rather than spending hours manually tracking prospect activity on the platform, you can get instant insights. That means more time for high-value activities like calling people or giving demos. Whether you’re new to Sales Navigator or a veteran of the tool, these 12 tips will help you take your social selling game to the next level. Basic 1) Message Prospects Without... [...]

Howie Busch says, “What do you do when you need to get to a person or a company? It used to be that when you needed to get through to somebody you didn’t already know you had to pick up the phone and persuade that skeptical receptionist/gatekeeper. Remember the movie “Wall Street,” when Bud Fox called Gordon Gekko for 30 days straight, each time trying to charm Gekko’s secretary to put him through? Gatekeepers can be pretty tough (besides, when Bud Fox did get through the gatekeeper to Gekko, he lost everything and almost wound up in jail. But we digress). Cold calling... [...]

Larry Kim says, “Like a lot of marketers, I find LinkedIn Ads frustrating. The thing is, by making just a few needed improvements, both LinkedIn itself and advertisers could greatly benefit. For LinkedIn, advertising could be bringing in much more than a meager $181 million in revenues, as it did during the second quarter of 2016. Compare that to the advertising revenues of Google ($19 billion) and Facebook ($6 billion) during the same quarter. For advertisers, better LinkedIn ads would offer some pretty obvious benefits. It would give brands and businesses another platform to reach LinkedIn’s... [...]