B2B Lead Generation
- Thread starter JackB99
- Start date
In my experience, LinkedIn is just an irritation when it comes to contacting people. I've never used it for that purpose but I know that 99% of the messages I received are people who just want to flog me something.
Matt.....I sell x, y, z, can we speak? = NO.
Matt......you appeared in my feed again, we should connect = NO.
Matt.... we're in the same industry, we should connect = NO.
Matt.....we live in strange times, let's connect = NO.
Nobody wants to be sold too.
If you want to sell your services you can still use LinkedIn but you need to capture people's attention and add value.
You need to showcase your work on a constant basis. Show where you have added value or where you made a client money or saved them money. There's so much noise out there and a ton of competition, so what makes you different?
Once you have some strong content on your page you can contact people and make them aware of it. However, you will still need to follow up by phone because 99.9% of people will not reply. That is the nature of the sales game.
People are busy and you need to keep adding value so they take note. They don't bite (or buy) on the first occasion. Sometimes customers take 10-15 touches with a company or brand before they pick up the phone. You need a plan with multiple follow-ups, and not necessarily automated follow-ups because people can see them a mile away and they go in the junk folder.
Everything must be personalised and tailored to the business. Yes, it's massively time-consuming but you must do what your competitors are not prepared to do to stand out.
Never give up.
Hope that helps.
Matt
Matt.....I sell x, y, z, can we speak? = NO.
Matt......you appeared in my feed again, we should connect = NO.
Matt.... we're in the same industry, we should connect = NO.
Matt.....we live in strange times, let's connect = NO.
Nobody wants to be sold too.
If you want to sell your services you can still use LinkedIn but you need to capture people's attention and add value.
You need to showcase your work on a constant basis. Show where you have added value or where you made a client money or saved them money. There's so much noise out there and a ton of competition, so what makes you different?
Once you have some strong content on your page you can contact people and make them aware of it. However, you will still need to follow up by phone because 99.9% of people will not reply. That is the nature of the sales game.
People are busy and you need to keep adding value so they take note. They don't bite (or buy) on the first occasion. Sometimes customers take 10-15 touches with a company or brand before they pick up the phone. You need a plan with multiple follow-ups, and not necessarily automated follow-ups because people can see them a mile away and they go in the junk folder.
Everything must be personalised and tailored to the business. Yes, it's massively time-consuming but you must do what your competitors are not prepared to do to stand out.
Never give up.
Hope that helps.
Matt
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@JackB99 - that's an important point by @WebshopMechanic. Leads can take months to convert.
Your job is no longer SMM, graphic or webdesign. Your job is now marketing. Put all your efforts in learning how to market the benefits. Nobody wants SMM, a new website or some graphics. What they want is more business. More business means they can pay wages and make a profit. You need to show them how to get more profit. Once you have the lead work on converting. Then you can do your websites and SMM.
Linkedin can work but it's hard graft. I know a guy who use FB for marketing. He reckons it takes around 3 months to convert a new lead. He usually works on 20 leads at a time and will convert about 10%.
Your job is no longer SMM, graphic or webdesign. Your job is now marketing. Put all your efforts in learning how to market the benefits. Nobody wants SMM, a new website or some graphics. What they want is more business. More business means they can pay wages and make a profit. You need to show them how to get more profit. Once you have the lead work on converting. Then you can do your websites and SMM.
Linkedin can work but it's hard graft. I know a guy who use FB for marketing. He reckons it takes around 3 months to convert a new lead. He usually works on 20 leads at a time and will convert about 10%.
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- Original Poster
- #8
Thanks for the advice.
I currently have 3 permanent on-going clients: florist, property auction company and a new fast food takeaway company. All of which contacted me through adverts I put online.
I am also just up to start with a home improvements company and I was thinking to specialise in property services long-term. I know there will be thousands of companies across the UK interested in these services, but it's just a case of thinking about the best way of reaching them.
From the information provided in the responses, I was thinking:
- Create a project portfolio, to show some of the previous businesses I have worked with and the results they have received.
- Research property businesses without a website or an active/ engaging social media presence.
- Make initial contact with them by phone.
- Showcase examples of my previous projects.
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Jack,
I'm going to pick up the phone and call you and suggest I can help with your SEO. Or maybe I'll send you an email. Either way, what do you think your response will be?
How do you know a prospective client wants SM? How much new business can you bring them through SMM? Do you have actual figures to show them? For example, tweeting 3 times every day will create up to £20,000 of new business every year. Or, linkedin articles will get you 27 new leads each week.
I had a guy offer me SMM. I said he could have £50 for each warm lead. After 3 months he hadn't got me a single lead.
A portfolio can be good but they aren't easy to create. It's not good just waffling on. The page structure is very important.
As I said before, your new job is marketing. If you are good at marketing you will get leads.
I'm going to pick up the phone and call you and suggest I can help with your SEO. Or maybe I'll send you an email. Either way, what do you think your response will be?
How do you know a prospective client wants SM? How much new business can you bring them through SMM? Do you have actual figures to show them? For example, tweeting 3 times every day will create up to £20,000 of new business every year. Or, linkedin articles will get you 27 new leads each week.
I had a guy offer me SMM. I said he could have £50 for each warm lead. After 3 months he hadn't got me a single lead.
A portfolio can be good but they aren't easy to create. It's not good just waffling on. The page structure is very important.
As I said before, your new job is marketing. If you are good at marketing you will get leads.
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B2B Linkedin good.
D7 Lead Finder, Gmass, Gmail, SendGrid for email.
How to sell web design https://attachments.convertkitcdnn....e_Guide_30_Steps_to_Become_a_Web_Designer.pdf
https://foxwebschool.com/
D7 Lead Finder, Gmass, Gmail, SendGrid for email.
How to sell web design https://attachments.convertkitcdnn....e_Guide_30_Steps_to_Become_a_Web_Designer.pdf
https://foxwebschool.com/
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First of all, you have to make high quality and relevant content for your website so that readers can enjoy reading your text and easily understand it. After that, no more text is needed in the blog or content it should be full of video, images, and audio content. Books and ebooks we've written, have been some of our most successful lead generation ideas over the past few years, responsible for tens of thousands of new leads. In the B2B world, everyone loves using successful templates as a starting point when learning a new skill, experimenting with different tactics, or looking for inspiration, making them a fantastic lead generation idea.
Linkedln's is a useful platform that is worth it for B2B sales professionals or founders. But only if you can leverage what you glean from sales navigator into your outreach efforts outside LinkedIn's walled garden. I hope this information helps you.
Linkedln's is a useful platform that is worth it for B2B sales professionals or founders. But only if you can leverage what you glean from sales navigator into your outreach efforts outside LinkedIn's walled garden. I hope this information helps you.
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billybob99
LinkedIn for B2B is the mutts nutts if done properly.
You will definitely need sales navigator if you want to build a highly targeted list.
When you said you provide SMM I thought this is easy peasy to get leads from LinkedIn - then you said web design and graphic stuff, which now makes me think, jack of all trades.
Before you even dream about reaching out to people on LinkedIn - you need to make sure your own profile is on point. Don't come across as a jack of all trades dabbling in this and that.
Stick to SMM and optimise your profile for this service.
Most people have their name and their job title.
Joe Bloggs
CEO of BS company
Anyone who even glances at your profile should be able figure out what you do and how you can help them.
Same goes with the description.
The beauty of a good LinkedIn profile is that you'll also be in a position to get very hot inbound leads from people that found you in searches etc.
I use LinkedIn heavily (everything from automated message campaigns with several touch points to LinkedIn Ads and everything else in between) - its not the quickest lifecycle from start to finish, leads can take weeks and months to nurture and close but its worth it.
You will definitely need sales navigator if you want to build a highly targeted list.
When you said you provide SMM I thought this is easy peasy to get leads from LinkedIn - then you said web design and graphic stuff, which now makes me think, jack of all trades.
Before you even dream about reaching out to people on LinkedIn - you need to make sure your own profile is on point. Don't come across as a jack of all trades dabbling in this and that.
Stick to SMM and optimise your profile for this service.
Most people have their name and their job title.
Joe Bloggs
CEO of BS company
Anyone who even glances at your profile should be able figure out what you do and how you can help them.
Same goes with the description.
The beauty of a good LinkedIn profile is that you'll also be in a position to get very hot inbound leads from people that found you in searches etc.
I use LinkedIn heavily (everything from automated message campaigns with several touch points to LinkedIn Ads and everything else in between) - its not the quickest lifecycle from start to finish, leads can take weeks and months to nurture and close but its worth it.
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Linkedin great for B to B $6 a click on Linkedin for me at present and your ads starts running almost immediately.
ID: · Sponsored Content $12.00 243 impression clicks 2 0.82%
Linkedin ad platform takes time to learn
Google Ads B to B are very expensive and lots of click fraud, so your ads will be shown in countries you did not ask it for etc , no wonder Google make so much money
ID: · Sponsored Content $12.00 243 impression clicks 2 0.82%
Linkedin ad platform takes time to learn
Google Ads B to B are very expensive and lots of click fraud, so your ads will be shown in countries you did not ask it for etc , no wonder Google make so much money
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Not if set up correctly. I use Google Ads for B2B and pay lot less than $6/click and get a far higher click rate than your example.
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To be fair, CPC lead cost varies hugely depending on the keyword, I've seen long tail keywords at £20 plus (on a top performing CTR with a keyword Quality Score of 10). It tells you all you need to know about the quality of the keyword if people are prepared to bid that on it...
Click fraud is a non issue, there are lots of non Google tools to stop the advert showing in other countries and to make sure your competitors, or multi-clickers, don't waste your ad budget.
With these sort of prices the landing page and funnel/conversion process is the key, as it needs to be good quickly in order to not waste a lot of money.
Click fraud is a non issue, there are lots of non Google tools to stop the advert showing in other countries and to make sure your competitors, or multi-clickers, don't waste your ad budget.
With these sort of prices the landing page and funnel/conversion process is the key, as it needs to be good quickly in order to not waste a lot of money.
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Hmm those are also a cesspit for cheap projects that won't do your portfolio any favours at all! Alex
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Get your customers to say good things about you on camera.
If you get, say, a florist to say your stuff makes them a ton of money, just show that vid to a bunch of other florists. The smart ones will buy your service and your business will really bloom. Also been waiting years to make those puns.
My experience is my business is video production. I do this stuff for my customers all the time and do it myself. I just ping out an email, show them my customers saying 'this company's video makes me a ton of money' and then set up a Zoom.
If you get, say, a florist to say your stuff makes them a ton of money, just show that vid to a bunch of other florists. The smart ones will buy your service and your business will really bloom. Also been waiting years to make those puns.
My experience is my business is video production. I do this stuff for my customers all the time and do it myself. I just ping out an email, show them my customers saying 'this company's video makes me a ton of money' and then set up a Zoom.
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I think 1 lead per week is a very good number for SMM services.
It takes time to contact the lead, to discuss things, to provide audit, etc. On my previous work my boss said that he needs leads as many as possible. I warned him that a lot of leads it is a bad idea, if we can't handle their project. He laughed. Then his company had some reputation troubles because managers can't handle all projects, they were short on staff (developers) and needed some extra help. So, they settled on few projects which allow them to make money. And I got fired.
Also, from my experience, it's better to focus on even narrower audiences (or a more specialized audience) and their related expected outcomes. This strategy works well enough but it requires changes in the way we think and act.
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It is common practice here. Companies hire a marketer to get projects (otsource). When companies have projects, managers hire developers and they fire a marketer. My former boss didn't want to make marketing or SEO for customers because many digital agencies do it.
I worked 4+ years for the company. It was great.
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With Google PPC and FB advertising you really would need to convince your audience with previous case studies and portfolios.
Why not try hitting yourself local networking events. For any small business the best way to get leads is network network network. It’s easier to convince people how you can help them when you speak to them face to face rather than online. Networking also has the added benefit of referral.
Why not try hitting yourself local networking events. For any small business the best way to get leads is network network network. It’s easier to convince people how you can help them when you speak to them face to face rather than online. Networking also has the added benefit of referral.
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billybob99
For B2B lead gen you just can't beat LinkedIn - at the end of the day its about getting in front of decision makers, and people with the budgets to actually afford whatever you're selling.
The problem with LinkedIn nowadays is (like everything else) there are too many gurus going around giving the impression you just send 1500 messages a month and you'll become a millionaire in no time.
Every automation tool has 3 pricing tiers, the first one that says they'll send 1500 messages a month with 2 follow ups, next one 5000 messages a month with 3 follow ups and the big boy one that sends 10,000 messages a month with 4 follow ups.
I've dabbled with automation and it was a big mistake.
I would never automate any of this going forward - if you're looking to close high value deals, you need to put the time in, you can't cut corners.
I get spammed a lot on LinkedIn - I get a connection request and if I accept, I know within 30 mins I'm gonna get a message, and without fail it pops into my inbox. I disconnect with that person, or like Clinton getting accustomed to not accepting the request in the first place.
This month I've sent about 12 personal messages to 12 decision makers, highlighting a problem they have and how I could help them solve it.
Ongoing conversations with 5 of those people already, one of them is my favourite pizza chain.
It's a bit like PPC, if it didn't work for you, you think its crap and tell everyone its crap. LinkedIn isn't rocket science but you gotta do it properly.
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That's interesting. Bizarrely, I use Linkedin to send messages 'helping' people. i.e. stuff that specific targets find useful. And again, like you, very personalised. As I do video production, it's very video-oriented.
Do you also use this tactic or are you more direct in your approach?
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billybob99
I get these, mainly for "marketing workshops/webinars".
Promising a load of value if I just click this link and give them my email address.
The message is usually 10 paragraphs long and is going in the bin.
I also get shorter versions saying they have a valuable resource for someone just like me, in the form of an eBook.
Do I want it? If so I just gotta reply to that message. Also going in the bin.
If they just attached it to the message, I might actually check it out.
It will all depend on your industry, sending messages just helping people out might work for you.
No, because they don't need help. They need action. Have to be short, sweet and direct.
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LinkedIn is the dog's boll*cks for B2B, but, but, but you really need to know what you're doing there. 99% of people get it wrong and so think it doesn't work or that it's a waste of time.
Absolutely. Don't use LinkedIn to sell, use it to showcase your expertise and the sales will flow in automatically.
But that's a long term game plan and too many people don't have the patience. They want to pay per lead or some other bullsh*t like that because they want immediate results. Bozos.
I accept requests, but not from anyone in sales or "business development" or marketing. Avoid those like the plague! Actually, go further. If they're in marketing and they "reach out" to you, that's evidence that they are prize idiots. Don't just dump them, click the link to report them using the IDK. I have little patience for pratts.
For people who slip through that net - perhaps their profile doesn't say they're in sales - and who want to speak with me, I have a boilerplate. I tell them to book a paid consultation. You want to talk about how you can get me more leads? Book a paid consultation. You want to talk about how you can save me money on utilities? Book a paid consultation. You want to tell me about this new free PDF you've created, or your webinar or your new free course? Book a paid consultation.
Serious parties who've taken the time to research my expertise ...will pay. The others can take a long walk off a short pier, a form of exercise that's often abbreviated as GFY.
Also, I avoid connecting with anybody unless they are C-Suite and I avoid people who give bullsh*t reasons for wanting to connect. @WebshopMechanic gave four good examples of the kind of opening messages that deserve immediately blocking the sender.
My prospective clients are owners of large businesses. I'll connect with them and senior people in my industry and ...that's pretty much it. And if any of my connections post Facebook type nonsense I disconnect or no follow them. As a result, I have an awesome feed, get fantastic and useful stuff in it, and generate a lot of enquiries and business from LinkedIn. It's taken many years to tweak my LinkedIn footprint to this extent.
I do not buy any ads or pay to sponsor posts or use Sales Navigator or "reach out" to anyone to talk about my services.
My philosophy is to not think about generating leads / clients. Think about investing in your product, reputation, customer service ...and let the lead generation take care of itself.
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