If you’re a B2B business owner, you need a strong LinkedIn outreach strategy. How are we so sure? Because 84% of B2B executives use social media channels – like LinkedIn – as a source for purchasing decisions.
And if you’re not tapping into that market, you’re probably missing out on some big customer accounts. But you know GreenStar Marketing. We exist to help you fill these gaps ASAP. So, if you’re looking to build a LinkedIn outreach strategy? Just keep reading
Part 1: LinkedIn Outreach Strategy for Sales
Step 1: Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator – Or Advanced Search – To Find Your Ideal Prospects
But before you do, know who you’re looking for. Identify the criteria that best fits your target audience. After all, marketing to everyone often leads to attracting no one. Here are a few our customers use to narrow things down:
- Industry
- Location
- Company Size
BONUS TIP: Ask your marketing team if they’ve developed any buyer personas. If they haven’t, sit down and brainstorm a few.
Once that’s done, hop on LinkedIn to Advanced Search or Sales Navigator to find prospects that match your ideal customer profile (aka “buyer persona”).
Create a comprehensive list of potential leads based on your results!
Step 2: Start Interacting with Those Leads
Alright, you’ve got your list of leads. Now what? Now you start engaging with them on LinkedIn!
- React to their posts
- Comment something clever or fun
- Ask an insightful question
- Or agree and tell them why!
This will build a necessary familiarity between you that will turn that cold outreach into a warm outreach.
BONUS TIP: If your customer doesn’t post much, don’t worry! Just interact with the comments they leave on other peoples’ posts.
Step 3: Craft Personalized Connection Requests
In a world of out-of-the-blue DMs, your prospects are being bombarded with generic, automated messages on LinkedIn 24/7. We guarantee it. So, dare to be different! Dare to spend an extra five minutes writing requests that highlight the following:
- Mutual interests
- Common connections
- Relevant insights about their industry or company
- Or specific reasons why you believe connecting would be valuable.
This step should be easy because you’ve been looking through – and reacting to – their LinkedIn posts already. You should know a little bit about what they’re interested in.
If a lead is active on LinkedIn…
Consider not attaching a note to your connection request! Instead, once they connect with you, send them a quick voice note thanking them for accepting. On that note, be sure to mention a piece of information you learned from one of their personal or corporate posts. It demonstrates your interest.
If a lead is on LinkedIn less…
Definitely send a note. But keep it short, conversational, and to the point. Don’t go for the kill right away. Instead, ask an engaging question like “What’s the most underrated – but necessary – software for a [insert their job title]?”
Step 4: Continue to Engage with Valuable Content
Once you’ve connected, keep up with your leads! One of the easiest ways to do this is by sending 90/10 messages.
90/10 messages mean that 90% of the messages you send provide value to your prospect, while the remaining 10% focuses on your product or service. Here are some suggestions:
- Send a resource (blog post, eBook, whitepaper) that addresses a pain point they brought up in one of their previous posts.
- Share an insightful article about a new advancement or trend they’ve been interested in, asking for their thoughts.
- Shoot them a link to a free demonstration of your product and ask what features they think you should add to the roadmap.
By sending them content, you position yourself as an advisor first and a salesperson second. And you’re also increasing the chances they’ll buy from you. After all, 52% of B2B buyers are more inclined to purchase from vendors after reading their content.
BONUS TIP: Ask your marketing department if they have any content related to a specific pain point your leads are experiencing (Refer to Step 3 in the Marketing Section of this blog). The odds are they will!
Step 5: Ask for The Meeting or Their Email Address
Once you’ve built some rapport and provided value, you can freely express your interest in diving deeper into their needs and how you can meet them.
Your previous research will be invaluable here. You can now identify a pain point they have and use it to ask for a call or a Zoom meeting. Here are a few examples:
- “Your comment about how bad audio kills great deals is so true! I can help you get HD clarity on every call you make, so you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
- “Your post about business texting made me laugh out loud. Not having that capability can be frustrating, but I can help. We’ve got a texting solution that boosts customer engagement by 50%.”
- “I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed the article about AI you shared. It really has made things so much easier. I can help you put AI to work for you with our automated rating solution.”
Remember to always be empathetic and understanding when it comes to their pain points. It’ll go a long way.
Part 2: LinkedIn Outreach Strategy for Marketing
It’s time to talk about marketing.
Step 1: Take Stock of Your Content. The Things You Have and the Things You Need.
Before you start creating new content, be sure it doesn’t already exist! Go through your current Marketing Drive with a fine-tooth comb, cataloging:
- Blog posts
- Whitepapers
- Case studies
- Webinars
- Video ads
- Infographics
Take note of anything and everything that aligns with your target audience’s needs – and interests. We know it may sound like a lot, but you’ll be thankful that you did later on.
Now, are there any gaps in content? Anything that’s missing that might be helpful for your sales team and – by extension – your potential customers? If so, start brainstorming and developing it!
Step 2: Schedule A Stream of Relevant Company Linkedin Posts to Back Up Your Sales Team
Your salespeople are “in the trenches” with potential customers all day, every day. They’re going to know a thing or two about what leads will want to see. So, work with them to create a content calendar of scheduled LinkedIn posts that align with their messaging and complement their outreach efforts.
Here are some topic suggestions to help get you started:
- Share updates about company news.
- Highlight customer success stories.
- Post thought leadership articles.
- Provide relevant industry insights.
Once you’ve got about 2 weeks’ worth of posts, schedule them and start working on the next batch.
Step 3: Prepare Email Content Based on Your Sales Team’s Prospecting Data
Getting from prospect to customer can take a lot of work. Thankfully, collaborating with sales will make it much easier. Especially when it comes to sending emails. Start by discussing each prospect and their preferences with your salespeople.
Once you’ve recorded everything, you can craft highly personal email templates. They can address goals, pain points, questions, and anything else prospects might want.
BONUS TIP: Be sure to guide and support the sales team in effectively using these templates during their outreach process.
Step 4: Send This Content to Your Leads
Once the email content is ready, you can start launching your campaigns. Use an email marketing platform (or marketing automation tools) to manage your lists and schedule the perfect send date and time.
To make your emails even more engaging, we’d recommend including additional resources as attachments, like:
- Case studies that address their pain point.
- Whitepapers answering common questions about your product.
- Industry-specific reports to help them stay on top of trends.
This adds extra value for your prospects and showcases your expertise. It’s a big win-win.
The To Long/Didn’t Read Version
For those of you looking for a digestible graphic of all this information, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.
Congratulations! If done correctly, you’ve just established a consistent and effective outreach strategy!
Establish a Winning LinkedIn Outreach Strategy with GreenStar
If you’re looking for someone who can level up your Linkedin outreach strategy – or get one started for you – GreenStar Marketing’s here for you! Our data-driven approach cuts through the clutter, helping you establish a strong LinkedIn presence and build valuable relationships that convert. Reach out now to get started!
