Finding quality leads for your SaaS is a never-ending process. What’s interesting is that sales teams are relying less on marketing to generate leads and instead, leveraging social selling to hit quota and achieve sales goals; and since LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for B2B SaaS, it is of no surprise that more and more B2B sales teams are looking towards LinkedIn for finding leads. 

In an ideal world finding potential leads on LinkedIn should be just a search away but that is not the case. When it comes to lead prospecting and lead generation on LinkedIn, you need to make the best use of the features offered. 

Let’s take a look at some tips you can use to generate sales leads from LinkedIn (without paying for LinkedIn Premium). 

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Optimize your LinkedIn profile

As a B2B Salesperson, your LinkedIn profile, in a way, becomes the face of your organization. According to LinkedIn data, a complete LinkedIn profile increases the chances of

meeting or even exceeding sales targets by more than 2X, and can increase InMail acceptance rates by as much as 87%. 

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile has two benefits:

1. Since you will be reaching out to strangers who may not know about your organization, your profile needs to reflect your credibility.

2. It will help prospective customers to find you. 

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A few tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile: 

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1. LinkedIn Headline

Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing your prospect would see.  

• a. Avoid technical jargon 
• b. Use industry-niche keywords 
• c. Add value proposition 
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2. LinkedIn About

Your LinkedIn about section should give a concise summary of your expertise in the industry. 

• a. Have a hook 
• b. Include quantifiable claims
• c. Add a CTA 
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3. LinkedIn Profile picture

If you want to be considered a legitimate point of contact, do not avoid adding a profile picture. 

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Use LinkedIn’s filters to narrow your search  

To narrow down your search (there are 810 million users on LinkedIn, after all) use LinkedIn’s filters effectively. You can filter ‘people’ by school, company, and industry. 

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Note: If you’re not a premium user, LinkedIn limits the number of searches per month so use your searches wisely. 

Users of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator can tailor their search for leads based on the keywords in their updates. You can save yourself a lot of headaches by using advanced search filters like industry, company size, and keywords.

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Find and give referrals 

Referrals can prove to be one of the best methods to generate business. Browse through LinkedIn using the filtered search feature as well as your customer’s connection and make a list of people suitable for your business. After connecting with them, you should introduce yourself to each contact as your relationships grow. It will help in building a rapport by setting a friendly tone and eventually asking for a referral.

You can also ask your customers to refer your SaaS to others by creating an incentive for them. 

Check out Ambassador - a referral marketing software to help you turn happy customers into brand ambassadors. 

Keep in mind that people are more likely to give you referrals if you return the favor so be nice and give referrals to others. 

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Post your own content 

LinkedIn is a great platform to draw eyeballs by posting content. Content can include personal blogs, thoughtful comments that showcase your expertise in your industry. 

This has two primary benefits. 

First, it will help build your profile. Remember: Personal branding will get you far. 

Second, prospective customers will be able to find you through your content and will know 

Make sure each post you send out is relevant to your industry, SEO optimized and includes relevant hashtags to get more clicks. While there is no need to shy away from promoting your business, try not to sound too much like a salesperson. 

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Engage with your target audience

LinkedIn works differently from other social media platforms which is what makes it so important for B2B salespeople. Your connections and followers get notified of your activity on LinkedIn which is why along with posting original content, you should also actively engage with your connections and industry folks. This is a great way to establish your presence. When you see a post that is relevant to your industry, make sure to add to the discussion by commenting and/or replying to other comments. Keep an eye out for prospective customers in the comments section too. 

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Join a LinkedIn group 

Here’s something you might not know about LinkedIn: there are various LinkedIn groups you can join to meet professionals from your industry. LinkedIn groups are a goldmine for anyone wanting to interact with industry experts and professionals. For B2B Salespeople, LinkedIn groups can be a good source to generate high-quality leads because they are private and exclusive.  

Building your own LinkedIn group can be a mighty task that will take a long time. Instead, find the existing LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your industry. 

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Before you join a LinkedIn group, consider the total number of active members in the group and the rules of engagement. 

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You should make good use of the discussion forum by posting questions and comments that fit the target group. 

To conclude 

Whether you're looking to generate leads or to interact with potential clients and partners, LinkedIn as a platform has a lot to offer, and if used correctly, can be a powerful tool for B2B sales teams looking to generate leads. Selling on LinkedIn is definitely worth the investment if you make the most of its features. 

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Keep an eye out on our blog for future articles in this series, where we'll be taking a closer look at LinkedIn Sales Navigator and LinkedIn Sales Insights.