LinkedIn is much like paid search in many ways, as both marketing tactics involve search, clicking, connecting, and converting. We explain to clients that it is of this mindset to keep in mind as we train on our approach to social selling for lead generation.

Linkedin is a social network for business; and to be engaging with contacts and prospects should not be ignored. But as a marketer or salesperson, no activity during the day should be done without some sort of convincing as your goal. Think about it; sharing content, posting content, and being helpful are what I call social retargeting. On LinkedIn, its reminding prospects and connections of your existence, and you are sharing content that aligns with your personal brand. Retargeting in the advertising context means “finish a conversion on our website”, or “here’s a new offer you may like.” With LinkedIn, retargeting is “Remember me? Here’s content you may like. Maybe it can lead to a sale because I know stuff that can help you”
There are many ways that LinkedIn social selling is like paid lead generation programs, as the chart below shows. Let’s explain.

Search LinkedIn: I am searching from prospects based on a variety of filters, to reach out to, or ask a current connection to reach out to? Why? I hope to sell my services to my targeted prospects by first connecting with them, sharing content, and hopefully give them something of value that can lead to an appointment. Prospects use groups to search for solutions, by asking questions themselves. Paid Lead Generation: Prospects are searching for a solution to a problem. Prospects are either looking to education themselves, or find a company that has a product or service they need. They enter queries into a search engine with the hope to become a lead for a company if the content or offers are compelling enough for conversion.

Results: LinkedIn: After I enter queries into LinkedIn Search, I find a list of people who satisfy my query. I can now review and click who may be helpful to me, or who I could connect with may be a potential lead. The more specific my search; the more granular my potential lead list is, and that makes my connection requests relevant to the prospect. So if you want prospects to find you, make sure important keywords are in headlines and profile.

Paid Lead Generation: After prospects enter their search query, they get a list of companies that have the potential to satisfy their needs. The more relevant their query is, the better results they get. When buying keywords on Google, if your keywords match the intent of the buyer, your click rates will be better, and you will get more qualified inquiries to your firm.

Ad: LinkedIn: A compelling profile headline, telling people what you do with relevant keywords that prospects use to find people like you will get you more clicks to your profile, and more connection acceptances. Paid Lead Generation: If you have a compelling value proposition, and a strong call-to-action, your ad will generate more clicks, and you’ll receive increased conversions.

Click: LinkedIn: As prospects click to your profile, they are scanning your summary, background, and other profile information to make a determination whether to become a connection. Your profile needed to be written like a landing page, designed for convincing and converting. As a social seller, this is the first impression of you and your firm, before they visit websites. Prove that you are a valuable connection to a prospect. Paid Lead Generation. Prospects click to landing pages designed for lead capture. Offers, benefits, and proof points must be easily understood. A properly designed and well-written landing page can make all the difference in the world in email capture conversion rate. Don’t lose the audience; convince them instead- reassure them.

Convert: LinkedIn: If you reach out to enough prospects with a tailored and non-threatening connection request, your LinkedIn connection conversion rate will increase. If your follow up messaging is helpful, and even if you include a compelling offer with proof points in your messaging, your message-to-lead conversion will increase. And, don’t be afraid to offer something free on your profile page. Paid Lead Generation: A problem solving content asset, a free offer, or whatever you have that is so valuable that a prospect will indeed be curious enough to offer an email address, is what will capture conversions on your landing pages. Testing is important here.



With both LinkedIn and paid search, the objectives are eerily similar, even though the mediums work so differently. Our goal with any marketing or social selling endeavor:
• Attract • Convince • Convert • Then Close
Think of conversions when you engage on LinkedIn; that’s a key metric when identifying your results with social media lead generation. Agree?