5 LinkedIn Features for Marketing & Sales
1. InMail and Sponsored InMail
LinkedIn isn’t just about shared posts and engagement. You can also use the platform to connect with promising accounts and partnerships.
InMail is LinkedIn’s messaging feature that lets you contact people you’re not connected with (i.e. your leads).
With LinkedIn Premium, you’ll receive 5 InMail messages every month. With Sales Navigator, you get 20 InMail messages a month.
2. Search by 2nd Degree Connections + Title
Use LinkedIn’s search feature to quickly identify potential partnerships.
Instead of limiting your lead generation or marketing efforts to strangers within your target audience, you can add a different tactic: connect with the people most likely to respond.
- Search for a specific title or role on LinkedIn;
- Narrow your search by “2nd degree Connection”;
- Narrow the list further with industry and location filters;
- Reach out with either a Connection request or an InMail message, mentioning your shared Connections and why you’d like to connect with them.
3. Groups
For a more organic approach to sales and marketing, join a LinkedIn group. Not only can you connect with professionals with shared interests who are in the same industry, but you can give your brand a wider reach. You may even find some valuable content and partnership opportunities.
You can learn what people want and need by listening to their struggles and questions shared in these groups. So you can improve your marketing strategy and offer solutions directly to individuals.
LinkedIn lets you join up to 50 groups. Start with a handful and spend a few extra minutes every day engaging with them. After a few weeks, you’ll be ready for your own post.
4. Sales Navigator
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium account that’s perfect for your next marketing campaign or new lead gen efforts.
For example, you can target specific accounts so they see certain content you post. Or you can use the Buyer Circle, which lets you see all of the main stakeholders and decision-makers involved in a particular deal.
5. Advanced Search on Sales Nav
When you have the Sales Navigator account, one of the most useful features is the Advanced Search.
With this lesser-known of the LinkedIn features, you can use the filters to create highly targeted lead lists and cold email campaigns: something like “VP of Sales at software companies with 100-500 employees in California”.
The filters you can use include:
- Job function and title
- Location and industry
- Company size
- Keywords
- People who have changed jobs in the past 90 days
- People who have posted on LinkedIn in the past 30 days
- People who follow your company on LinkedIn
Sales Nav lets you to easily find and connect with LinkedIn professionals who are in your target audience.
LinkedIn: Advantages and Disadvantages
ADVANTAGES
Improve SEO profile for your business
One of the best Linkedin advantages you stand to gain is an improved SEO profile. Search engines use 200 different factors of a site and business to determine its relevance. If a search engine regards a site as being relevant, it will gain more exposure.
Cost-effective networking path
Sites like Indeed and Snag jobs charge a large fee for employers to connect with potential candidates. But, people who have a very tight budget can use LinkedIn as a cost-effective venture to get new candidates. In fact, LinkedIn for Business gives users the ability to create a free account.
Simple way to keep up with a given industry
Regardless if a small business owner wants to stay up to date with the latest information surrounding products that they resell, or just stay up to date with the changing needs of people surrounding a specific subject, LinkedIn can help you to stay in the loop. Once you sign up you will be able to see upcoming trends and ideas that many people are talking about.
Get valuable data on your target demographic
If you are a job employer you will love LinkedIn. In order for you to get the best candidate your company needs, you have to gather data on your target demographic. This is the basics of any business venture. This social site will give you data surrounding the kind of people that you want.
Enhances visibility
With an abundance of content on the internet, many sites, professionals, and businesses struggle to gain visibility. LinkedIn for Business is the perfect way for professionals to gain visibility online. Even in cases where you may just want to get a job, by signing up for this platform you will quickly come to learn that by simply having an active, optimized account, you will get jobs much easier.
Professional environment
One of the best LinkedIn advantages is professionalism. Unlike other social platforms, LinkedIn for Business is not the type of platform where you will see videos of dogs or political memes and outrageous comments. The primary focus of the network is to provide a professional experience as well as to encourage professional development.
DISADVANTAGES
Tons of spam messages
One of the main LinkedIn disadvantages is spam. One of the most important things to remember is that not every message you get on this platform will be useful. When you use the platform for the first time, you will realize that many other people are doing the same things you are doing to increase their visibility.
Have to commit an abundance of time
Some people sign up for the social platform and eventually go inactive. As such, you will have to spend a vast amount of time when it comes to establishing connections, and getting conversations started. In fact, statistically speaking, you will be spending your initial time making introductions and trying to build new connections.
Interactivity level limited in comparison to other networks
If you have gotten used to Twitter and Facebook and use LinkedIn for the first time, you are in for a surprise. The level of interactions you are able to conduct are severely limited to the platform. As a result of this, you will spend more time building your profile and to make comments, and create posts.
Unverifiable claims
This platform gives professionals the opportunity to be endorsed by others when it comes to showcasing the talents and skills they claim to possess. While an individual who just started using the site may not have many endorsements to see. What this all means is that there are no guarantees that the person you strive to connect with, is an official expertise in the niche that they claim.
Expensive advertising expenses
One of the main LinkedIn disadvantages is PPC expenses. If you plan to spend money on advertising on Linked In, you will be glad to know that you will be given access to what experts deem as being a “high-value audience.” But, this value comes at a price. In comparison to other social platforms, your cost-per-click will be significantly higher.