Short on Time?  Here’s the Summary:

 

Step # 1 –  LinkedIn Message with Email – Send your digital brochure to provide some more information

• Missed Step 4?  View the video training on Step 4 of our LinkedIn Marketing Strategy
• Ready to Learn more? 

Speaking with a LinkedIn Expert can give you clarity in what you want to achieve on LinkedIn, and how you should be positioning yourself and your company, so you are recognised as an Industry Leader.

Contact Bonnie Power via email on bonnie @ perfectboom.com or by phone on 1300 979 640

 

Why is LinkedIn so Effective in Attracting High Quality Leads?

When people go to LinkedIn, their mind is on the subject of work.  They are there to collaborate, to find suppliers and partnerships.

LinkedIn is the perfect platform to initiate a conversation with a prospective client.

An Example of a LinkedIn Messaging Sequence

 

The 5 Step LinkedIn Strategy to attract your ideal clients

Welcome to part 4 of our 5 Step LinkedIn Strategy to attract your ideal clients. If you missed part 3, you can find it here, where we discussed content. Now it’s time to attract some of those ideal clients!

 

Step 4 : Propagate Leads on LinkedIn to Attract High Quality Clients

Step 1 to 3 of this process has been setting the stage for this step – you’ve got your plan, your profile is one of the best, your content is establishing you as a thought leader and this is where the rubber hits the road, where your cash register starts to sing. You could wait for your ideal clients to find you organically, or be referred to you (and they will!) but if you want to grow your business exponentially, it’s now time to  proactively reach out to them.

When people go to LinkedIn, their mind is focused on work. They’re there to collaborate, to find suppliers and partnerships. LinkedIn is the perfect platform to initiate a conversation with a prospective client. We’ve put together a timeline to help you manage your strategy.

First, build your network. Use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to find a list of your ideal clients. For example, you can use it to show you a list of the business owners of accounting firms in Melbourne.

Then create a template of general content that will be relevant to most of them. DO NOT use the generic template that LinkedIn provide. You will damage your brand and reputation by spamming people with generic messages that do nothing to build a relationship. Instead, consider the market you are focusing on, look at their profile, see if you’re connected to specific people and use that to personalise your message. The higher the worth of the client, the more personal the message should be.

Aim to get 10 messages a day out as a minimum, but if you’re serious about building your network, Perfect Boom offer this service at 50-70 messages per day. Then the timeline kicks in.

Day 1: The day your connection gets accepted. Remember, not everyone is on LinkedIn every day, so your request may take a couple weeks to be accepted.

Day 2-3: Send a personal message. Thank them for connecting, then offer a giveaway that helps them by providing industry insights. Then use a spreadsheet or CRM to track your outgoing marketing activity  and any responses. One of LinkedIn’s very few weak spots is that it’s not great as a lead tracker, so we suggest  you manually track what you’re doing to measure success. If people are responding well to your thank you message, but not your marketing message, for example there’s a potential issue there. It’s the same with your posted content – Google analytics will show if people are following the links to your site and helps to highlight the most successful articles.

Day 30: Send a marketing message. There will be a small percentage of people who you’ve connected to who are actually ready to invest in your type of service in the immediate future. This is the “low hanging fruit”, they are ready to buy right now, and your timing is perfect!

Sending this message at around the 30 day mark is the perfect time to scoop up all these hot leads.  It’s the best way to get a return on the effort you’ve put into your LinkedIn profile.

The main gist of the message will be to ask them if they’re interested in finding out more about how you could help them. The message can’t be salesly, it has to be conversational.

If there’s no response to your day 30 offer, don’t give up. They might not be ready to do business with you right now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. At around day 50, share a link to some pillar content. Every 3 weeks or so, send another message to them. Invite them to an event you’re attending, ask for their opinion on some research you’re doing, send more pillar content. Each message, when well crafted, further establishes your credibility as a thought leader. There will be more on nurturing your leads in step 5.

If you get to about day 150 and they’re just not responding to you, start looking at their 2^nd degree connections. If you feel comfortable and you feel it’s appropriate, ask to be introduced to them. They might not be interested in your services right now, but you can leverage the goodwill you’ve built up to get to someone else who might.

By now this must seem like a LOT of effort, and yes, it is. But if your lifetime engagement is in the $20K-100K mark per client, then the time and effort invested in this process is worth it. This is high level engagement stuff, it’s consistent, it’s considered, it’s strategic, and as a result, it works.

 

This video training helps you to build your brand with your target market, and I’m confident that you’ll get an increase in leads and referrals just by doing this step.  It’s all about creating quality content that highlights your thought leadership, so you are recognised as a prominent industry leader.

The final takeaway is that consistent activity on the LinkedIn platform builds credibility and helps build trust with your prospective client and strategic partners.  I hope you find value from this video, and please feel free to leave a comment below or get in contact via email (support @ perfectboom.com) or by calling us on 1300 979 640.

Welcome to part 2 of our 5 Step LinkedIn Strategy to attract your ideal clients. If you missed part 1, you can find it here, where we discussed creating your target audience. Now that you know who you want to attract, it’s time for part 2 – what you’re saying to them when they find you.

 

Step 2 : How to position yourself on LinkedIn so you generate more high quality leads

You’ve probably heard the quote “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”. But have you considered that in this digital age, the first impression you make nowadays increasingly isn’t the one you make in person? In the professional arena, your first impression is often your LinkedIn profile.

In addition to perspective clients, your page may be viewed by potential investors, joint venture partners or members of the media.

The objective of your LinkedIn profile is for you to be seen as a prominent and credible figure, passionate about the industry and with original views and information to share.

In this article, we’re going to look at what your LinkedIn profile should contain.

1. Your LinkedIn Headshot

Your photo is usually the first element that visitors to your page will look at. It must be professional, but professional doesn’t mean a cold, clinical headshot with a forced smile. A good headshot photographer can create a photo that captures your character and creates engagement.

2. Your LinkedIn Headline

Your headline appears just under your photo. It should be a snapshot of what you do and who you do it for. Your headline should use your keywords – the words your clients would use when searching for you online. It’s great for SEO.

Including symbols can help create a distinctive look as well as separating your headline’s key points. You can view Perfect Boom owner, Bonnie Power’s LinkedIn profile and see her headline here.  (note: the symbol feature is now only available via copy and paste from existing headlines – feel free to use Bonnie’s profile as a template).

3. Your LinkedIn Summary

Below your headline is your Summary. This is not your resume. This section should encourage your perspective client to pick up the phone and speak to someone in your office. What do you do? Why do you do it? Do you service a niche industry or location? What can you do to help? Think like your perspective client – what do they want/need to know that will make them want to do business with you?

Longer summaries work best when you chunk them into sections. It avoids the ‘wall of text’ and is good for people skimming through your content, especially when they’re viewing on a mobile device.

Your summary should also include a call to action – an invitation to call, a download from your website such as a checklist or how-to information. A great call to action enhances your credibility.

4. Your Experience Section

The next section is Experience. People don’t often scroll all the way down to view this, and so many people focus only on their headline and summary. But if anyone is going to check out your profile thoroughly, it will be an interested potential client doing due diligence. If they’re looking at this area, they’re highly interested in you.

Your experience should include the scope of clients have you worked for and what have you’ve achieved for them. Where possible, include statistics or case studies to back up your claims. Providing evidence of your results helps to separate the ”sayers” from the “doers”. Providing evidence of your results boosts the believability of your claims.

5. Your Interests

Other elements to add include board membership, volunteer work, or support of charities and causes. These all help flesh you out as a person, they generate warmth and show your personality. If they resonate with your potential client, they can also be used as a conversation starter when they do contact you.

6. Your Skills

Your Skills section should be in a relevant order. Encourage your existing contacts to endorse your key skills. People you connect with will view the skills and endorsements area for activity as nothing screams “fake, robot generated profile” more than an empty skills and endorsements area.

7. Recommendations

The next section is your recommendations. Again, it’s not a commonly viewed area, but those that view it are those that are the most interested in you. Make sure you include recommendations are from the kind of businesses you want to attract, and ensure that at least 2 or 3 are from the last 12 months.

Now go back through and look at your whole profile. Does your LinkedIn profile really separate you from the pack? Does it show your breadth of knowledge and the scope of your experience? Think about your framework – how do you help your client go from where they are now to where they want to be? Create a sky-high overview that they can then use to get comfortable with you and your work.

Remember to have your other team members update their LinkedIn profiles too. Make sure that your messages are congruent – what the company does, what you stand for and what clients you have.

Tips on how to Use Your LinkedIn Profile to Build Your Company Brand Awareness

Articulating the results you’ve delivered through the through testimonials and case studies.

Building your 1^st degree connections with clients and joint venture partners (covered in step 3).

Create goodwill with your audience by sharing your high-quality content.

Demonstrate your excellence by showing awards and projects.

Express your opinions on general industry issues.

Find the partners and colleagues to share your great content. You can do this via strategic use of messaging.

Get an emotional connection by showing your passion. This is where your content will differ as it’s not the same cold, clinical content that everyone else has on their profile.

Help your audience to see what you provide by sharing some of your IP.

The profile that follows these steps will truly be one that rises above the others and attracts those ideal clients. The next step is to get your name out there by associating it with some great content.

The 3 Elements to Consider when Planning Your LinkedIn Marketing Strategy

1. Target Market

You’ll get the best results when you become laser focused on your target market.

2. Marketing Messages

After attracting your ideal type of clients to become connections,  a special invitation will be sent to your target audience.

3. Content Strategy

Your LinkedIn activities focus on promoting your thought leadership and showing your market you understand their key problems.

 

 

Step 1 : Plan your LinkedIn Strategy

Why is social media such an unrewarding time sink for many businesses? Because they take a ‘spray and pray’ approach – they churn out huge amounts of material across many different platforms, hoping it will be seen by the right people. They also assume they know what their clients want, which means their message isn’t always hitting its mark. Before you can position, promote, propagate or pursue, you must have a Plan.

A plan doesn’t just save you time and effort, it’s also about understanding your success. If you don’t know what you want to achieve, you won’t’ get there. Or if you do, you won’t realise you have!

The first part of your plan should be your ideal client. Who are they? What sort of company do they work for? Where are they located? What size company are they? Who’s making the decisions on whether to engage you? Invest the time to answer these questions as fully as you can – they form the basis of your LinkedIn Avatar and are all targeting fields in LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator.

Now that we know who we’re talking to, what do they need? Specifically, what type of content would they need to see on your profile and your website to make them confident that you are worth connecting with and speaking to? This is where your content will be king. It needs to be the cream that rises to the top, above what your competitors are churning out (more about this in step 2).

Finally, what are you going to do when your ideal clients do start talking to you? That’s when your marketing sequence is required. When speaking to a potential ideal client, start where they are – uncover their core problem. What’s going on in their minds? Why are they wanting to speak to you? What do you have that they need?

The most effective initial conversations come from communicators that can understand their clients’ needs and can make them feel confident the solutions are at hand. An effective marketing sequence will ensure that you’re engaging effectively with your potential clients right from the get-go, making it easier for you to start to educate them and then slowly steer them towards finding out more about what you have to offer.

Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Well, it is. But these 3 parts of your LinkedIn plan – your who, your what and your how of communicating with your clients is critical to ensuring that your strategy is an effective, efficient and targeted one.

 

• Ready to Learn more?  View Step 2 of the LinkedIn Marketing Strategy
• Want to Speak with a LinkedIn Expert? 

Contact Bonnie Power via email on bonnie @ perfectboom.com or by phone on 1300 979 640