Are you looking for new tools to make B2B marketing prospecting more efficient? In this article, we introduce you to a very special tool: LinkedIn's Sales Navigator.
The Sales Navigator helps you to precisely define your target group and address them directly. But how exactly does it work?
Read on to find out how to get the most out of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator!
WHAT IS THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR?
LinkedIn is considered one of the most powerful digital business networks. According to a study by HubSpot, lead generation with LinkedIn is almost 277% more effective than with social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
And this is exactly where LinkedIn's Sales Navigator comes into play. It helps you make the right business contacts and save valuable time in prospecting.
Automatic notifications ensure you don't miss any important opportunities and take your social selling strategies to the next level.
THE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATORS
What makes LinkedIn Sales Navigator special when it comes to lead generation? The personalized customer contact!
With the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can address potential customers individually, even without prior contact details. The tool allows you to tailor your offers and generate targeted leads.
IS THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR FREE?
Before you decide to use the tool, you can test the Sales Navigator for free for one month. This gives you the opportunity to find out how effectively you can use the tool for your lead generation.
If you would like to continue using the Sales Navigator after 30 days, there are various subscription options available to you, which can be paid either monthly or annually.
LINKEDIN PREMIUM OR LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR?
As you may have already noticed, it is not only the Sales Navigator that offers a subscription model from LinkedIn. LinkedIn Premium is also available as a paid subscription.
However, LinkedIn Premium is primarily aimed at recruiters and job seekers. HR departments can use LinkedIn Premium to fill vacancies more quickly and job seekers can use the subscription to find suitable positions.
The Sales Navigator, on the other hand, is specially designed for sales professionals. It makes it possible to get in touch directly with target contacts in companies and use InMail messages for effective lead management.
This makes the Sales Navigator ideal for prospecting!
THE ADVANTAGES OF THE SALES NAVIGATOR
If you're already using the standard version of LinkedIn, you may have noticed that LinkedIn limits your search options. This is because LinkedIn tries to persuade its users to take out a subscription.
These search options are limited in the free version:
- Searching LinkedIn profiles with keywords and filters.
- Clicking on LinkedIn profiles from the "Viewed people" section in the right-hand sidebar.
If you're approaching the end of your monthly search limit in the free version, LinkedIn will let you know, but you will not be given an exact number of remaining search options.
However, if you regularly use up your free resources, you can simply subscribe to the Sales Navigator for professional prospecting.
Further advantages of the Sales Navigator:
Aside from unlimited search, Sales Navigator offers a number of advanced features that can take your B2B sales strategy to the next level.
These include, for example, the ability to search for target customers using advanced filters. You can also track updates and use filters that are not available anywhere else on the platform.
You will receive notifications about job changes, information about mentions of certain keywords, and more.
GETTING STARTED WITH THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR
- Optimize your LinkedIn profile: Your profile represents you and your company. It should look professional and be attractively designed.
- Define your sales preferences: Determine which criteria potential leads should fulfill. The tool offers suggestions based on your preferences.
- Use advanced filters: The Sales Navigator makes it possible to find exactly the right contacts with precise filter settings.
Once you have defined your criteria, the platform will suggest potential customers who match them. To do this, click on "Edit" and go to "Edit sales settings". Scroll down to the "Sales settings" section and adjust these to your target group. Here you can specify parameters such as geographical location, industry, company size, and function.
Once you have made these settings, your lead generation will be even more targeted and effective.
TOP 3 TIPS FOR THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR
To get the most out of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you should follow these tips:
TIP 1: DEFINE YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE!
This is the first tip on how to optimize prospecting with the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Switch to the search bar in LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Search for your target market and select leads that match your ideal customer profile from the results. Then click on "Show similar".
This allows you to identify potential leads that match your ideal customer profiles. Since these leads have characteristics of your existing customers, you can use the same approach and the content you have already created without having to develop new ones.
Follow these tips for effective LinkedIn outreach:
- Optimize your LinkedIn profile: Before starting your outreach, make sure your profile is up-to-date and engaging. A well-maintained profile is crucial, as no one likes to accept requests from strangers without recognizable commonalities. Your profile tagline and summary should clearly communicate your offer.
- Start with moderate requests: Start with up to ten connection requests per day. If everything goes smoothly, you can gradually increase the number of requests after two weeks.
- Create and share valuable content: When someone visits your profile for the first time and notices that you regularly share useful guides and content in your area of expertise, the likelihood of a connection being made increases. People connect with profiles that are active and offer recognizable value.
TIP 2: KNOW HOW TO USE FILTERS!
The advanced search is one of the best-known functions of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator. You can use more than 20 advanced filters for your search. In the "Keyword", "Title" and "Company" fields, you can also perform a so-called "Boolean search". Three simple operators are used here: AND, OR, and NOT.
You can use the operators to create a logical search space in order to find the right results in a structured and targeted manner.
One of the biggest advantages of LinkedIn's Sales Navigator is the advanced search with more filter options.
By using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT, you can customize your search queries.
- "AND" allows you to filter results that meet all the specified criteria.
- "OR" expands the search by returning results that meet at least one of the selected criteria.
- "NOT" helps to exclude unwanted results.
You can also put your search in quotation marks to get a result with the exact same keyword and save your searches so you don't have to set the filters again each time.
Have you found potential leads on LinkedIn? Then you can simply use a template like the one below to contact them:
Hello {name},
I found you on LinkedIn and your work immediately caught my eye. Your work at {company name} reminds me of my work for {your previous clients}.
I wrote a short article about what makes my company different. I think you might like it. Want to know more?
TIP 3: USE INMAIL FROM LINKEDIN!
InMail, LinkedIn's direct messaging feature, enables personal and direct communication with potential customers.
The effectiveness of InMail increases when you customize the messages and address the recipient's personal information and professional milestones.
For example, you can refer to a recent job change and use this as a hook for your message. Such personalized messages can significantly improve the response rate as they show the recipient that you have really looked into their profile and career.
You can easily start the conversation for prospecting with the following template:
Hello {name},
Congratulations on your new job! I'd like to continue the discussion about "XYZ" that I had with {predecessor} with you now. Let me know what time works best for you.
Or like this:
Hi {first name},
I saw that you recently got a job at {company name}. Congratulations!
I'm writing a lot of content on {topic related to the position} that might be relevant to you because....
You can also search for relevant LinkedIn groups and connect with members. With the standard LinkedIn you can already search for groups using keywords, but the Sales Navigator offers you additional filters to identify specific group members.
An example of a personal invitation could look like this:
Hello {name},
I see that we are both in group XYZ. I would like to exchange ideas with you and explore opportunities for collaboration. What do you think?
By the way, you can automate this process so you don't have to send each connection request individually.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our B2B Marketing 'pick-up lines'!
LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR AUTOMATION UND RETARGETING
You can also use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to use tools that automate the sending of connection requests, follow-up messages, and other activities.
Lead automation tools make it easier for you to make your prospecting strategy and outreach campaigns more efficient. They save valuable time as you don't have to manually take care of every lead qualification and connection request.
These tools also allow you to personalize your mass outreach, making interactions and messages feel more natural, regardless of the number of contacts. They automatically generate reports on your campaigns so you can easily keep track of how many leads have responded, replied, and converted.
A/B testing is also facilitated by automation. Simply experiment with different outreach requests and follow-up templates to find out which texts generate the most engagement.
By combining your LinkedIn automation tool with other marketing tools, you can integrate an omnichannel approach into your LinkedIn marketing. Well-known tools for this are WeConnect, MeetAlfred, Lusha and Dux-Soup.
With the automation of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can automatically qualify and interact with leads in the largest global company network.
This allows you to manage your customer relationships in a targeted manner and determine the optimal contact strategies. Simply activate the necessary settings in the LinkedIn Sales Automation application and enter the required IDs.
CONCLUSION: HOW GOOD IS THE LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR FOR B2B MARKETING?
LinkedIn has not only established itself as a platform for professional networking but has also launched the Sales Navigator, an indispensable tool for your B2B sales strategy.
Founded less than two decades ago, LinkedIn has revolutionized the way salespeople research and connect with potential customers.
This method of social selling is showing clear results: salespeople who use social media are more likely to achieve their sales targets, and sales rates have also increased.
The LinkedIn Sales Navigator makes optimal use of these advantages of social selling and thus facilitates the acquisition of new customers.
The Sales Navigator is therefore an excellent tool for prospecting in B2B companies!
