LinkedIn is a great place to network and grow your business and is an effective tool for generating B2B leads that many brands have yet to explore.

In this guide, we share techniques used by seasoned marketers to scale businesses on the social media platform attracting over 260 million visitors each month.

Though first, we want to share that this guide is brought to you by Dice Media Group, and as a result-driven agency, are thrilled you are here as this guide will help you thrive in times that are all but certain.

Consult us today to see how we can help you grow, we use strategic solutions to succeed goals and offer complimentary consultations to our valued visitors; excellence is our service, results are our product.

Before diving in, here are some run-down facts to consider:

From securing connections and partnerships to generating leads and boosting brand awareness, LinkedIn is the opportunistic, land-of-growth medium for digital entrepreneurs and startups. 

LinkedIn is an invaluable addition to any growth strategy, and unlike Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, is a professional platform helping business owners to establish and reinforce business relationships.

So you can use LinkedIn as a marketing platform effectively, we gathered LinkedIn marketing hacks that will help you to find new partners and customers, both of which are essential to business growth.

Though first, let's discuss how to set up a business on LinkedIn and the importance of doing so, follow the steps below to join the many profiting business owners following Dice Media Group strategies, the only regret you will have is not finding this guide sooner than you did.

Indeed it is.

In fact, the Foundation Inc shared eye-opening revelations proving this to be true.

The biggest winner above is that 93% of B2B marketers believe LinkedIn is the best place to source leads, one reason being that over sixty percent of corporate website visits originate from LinkedIn.

Simply put, it is a lead-generation magnet.

However, the platform has largely flown under the radar in terms of sourcing B2B leads, which according to HubSpot studies, is attributed to most companies not relying on social media to source leads.

Social media is essential to lead creation as over 80% of B2B social leads are sourced on LinkedIn.

As shown above, social media is not an ideal lead source for B2B companies, though LinkedIn is an exception as it outpaces all other platforms, including Facebook, Google +, Pinterest, and Twitter.

As shown above, LinkedIn falls short of blogging, telemarketing, and inside sales.

This does not mean it is not useful to B2B businesses.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.

For example, Modern, an Australia-based B2B marketing agency, recently generated $2 million in sales from LinkedIn just by optimizing their marketing techniques.

And they did so in just three weeks.

Six months and another $4 million dollars later, they tripled revenue just by doing research and activity participating on LinkedIn.

Though here comes the real question: How do you get leads on LinkedIn?

That is what Dice Media Group is here to share; we compiled powerful ways to find leads on LinkedIn, let’s first get you set up properly on the platform.

There over half a billion users on LinkedIn sounds like a lot, but truth be known, most of these users are outside the United States, which means there is plenty of room for growth.

Companies not using LinkedIn miss the opportunity to draw leads from a global audience. 

You may have exhausted marketing efforts in your local market, and if so, using LinkedIn is a great way to let the rest of the world know who you are, you only need to create a company page.

Creating a page is free and as easy as entering your company name:

Next, you will want to upload an image, and not just anyone, but one that is iconic to your brand:

Finally, write an About Us section that encapsulates your brand:

Keep in mind, LinkedIn has character limits much like Meta descriptions.

You can exceed it though staying under the limit is ideal. 

Once the About Us section is finished, add your website, industry, and company information.

This is a convenient way to give visitors context without bogging down your page with content. 

LinkedIn uses this information to help your page appear upon searches executed by other users.  And too, they share the location of the business with others which potentially means more leads.

This helps you stay connected with local businesses.

Local referrals are a great way to demonstrate credibility among a larger audience so you will want to add featured groups as well.

This is crucial to sourcing leads, just be sure to include keywords within your About Us section that are relevant to your business.

Once your page is created, focus on creating links to your Company Page.
 
Sharing a link from your site or in blog posts and email signatures helps to spread awareness too.

Once your page is up and optimized, it is time to share content.

Content marketing is vital to succeeding on any platform, and LinkedIn is not an exception.

Over two-thirds of LinkedIn users consider themselves to be news junkies so it would be difficult to find another audience that is as ready and willing to read your content.

Incorporate LinkedIn into your daily posting regimen to reach, grow, and engage your audience.

It is best to use all the different post types that are available on LinkedIn.

As you see, you can write an article, post an image, or publish a video.

If you choose to write a post you will be ushered to the following publishing tool:

You can then use a catchy headline and image and share your knowledge on the topic. 

Sharing brief bits of content with a link to the full blog post on your website is a great way to hook readers and to direct them to your site, which is where you should provide visitors with even more advice.

No matter the form of content you share, it is best to have five to ten posts on your page to bolster credibility.

This is how posts display on company profiles:

Do not post old content though.

LinkedIn is home to over four million long-form articles and receives over a hundred thousand article submissions each week.  With that said, you should create stand-out content that caters to the needs and interests of your audience.

According to LinkedIn, it takes ten pieces of content to generate one conversion.

This means you have work to do, and plenty of it. 

Keep in mind, viewers must click your content before they convert.  As such, implement action words and entice them to your content by building curiosity.

Take the following post as an example:

It includes basic yet useful questions that everyone developing a marketing strategy should know.  

But that is not all, the post also includes a link to the blog post of the publisher, which entices readers to click through as the referenced page expands on the topics they are already interested in reading.

LinkedIn Ads used to be ineffective compared to other social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Not long ago, LinkedIn lacked many features which at the time made other platforms more profitable to advertise on for business owners. 

For example, LinkedIn did not use quality scores to keep ads relevant and nor did they offer targeting options, which meant businesses were advertising to general audiences instead of targeted consumers. 

This presented major issues as you could run the same ad for weeks, generate no returns, waste tons of money, and then be left with no insight as to why the campaign was not performing.

But LinkedIn stepped up their game, added the ability to create custom audiences, and now lets users target and retarget specific accounts.

It is no wonder why they are now the top-rated platform for lead generation.

LinkedIn Ads are more powerful now than ever before and can be used to put your business in front of a very profitable and highly selective audience.

Create regular text ads, sponsored content, or send targeted messages using InMail to reach potential clients directly; powerful features surely to help your marketing strategy.

Most importantly, you can now retarget visitors in your sales funnel with the Matched Audience Tool.

Matched Audiences was developed by Microsoft and helps users optimize ad campaigns on LinkedIn. 

With it, you can retarget website visitors, upload existing accounts, and even add email contacts to which LinkedIn will display your ads.

This is helpful for retargeting and increasing sales as 98% of traffic does not convert on the first visit.

With retargeting established as an effective way to reaching those 98% of visitors, Matched Audiences is powerful as LinkedIn’s user base is comprised of professionals who are more likely to make a purchase.

Once set up, you can send impressions to pre-existing ads or networks, and since you know who you are advertising to, will enjoy improved conversion rates and sales that otherwise would not be achievable.

Sometimes, it only takes one connection with a company to create inroads that lead to sales.

LinkedIn is aware of this fact which is why they let users search for individuals with laser-like precision. 

Simply select the search bar, open the drop-down menu to the right of People, and then filter results by location or mutual connections, you can even search for people based on the companies they work for.

Once you find the person you can then introduce yourself using InMail, here is how it looks when searching for profiles using Microsoft:

For narrower results, select the All Filters tab to perform an advanced search, shown in this example, if I needed to find a self-employed, bilingual writer in the United States with experience in the technology field, I can easily find that person.

Tell me, what other platform offers such a feature for free?

Remember, it only takes finding the one right person to source the leads and industry insight you need.  

The goal here is to find people in a professional field or organization to build relationships with.  Rather than waiting for them to come to you, reaching out to prospects shows initiative and helps you to foster meaningful client relationships and potential partners too.

One great way to make new connections o LinkedIn is to search for groups in your industry.

LinkedIn groups enable you to connect and interact with other like-minded professionals in your market.

These groups are your place to spark conversations with those that will appreciate it most.  LinkedIn did a fantastic job revamping groups, navigating them or creating one of your own has never been easier.

When visiting a Groups page you are greeted with curated highlights, as shown below:

This is a quick preview of how active the group is.

You can see which topics are active and then join the conversation to network and grow your business.

Finding new groups is easy too and joining one is as simple as applying and awaiting acceptance.

Once joined, you can speak to professionals in that group to ask questions or to share insights and ideas.  

Essentially, you are given a targeted group of professionals to foster relationships with, and for free too.

Using LinkedIn to build leads and brand awareness is a viable option for businesses of all sizes. 

When creating an account and before engaging with the community, be sure your profile includes as many details about your business as possible so visitors can easily understand your brand and services.

Staying active on LinkedIn is very, very important. 

Joining groups, engaging with connections, and posting quality content are all excellent ways to grow a business with LinkedIn.
From Dice Media Group to you, we wish you success and hope this guide enables you to make the most of your marketing efforts. 

Follow the steps above for accelerated growth and sales; the growth potential for your brand is limitless, especially with Dice Media Group on your team.

We are here to help each step of the way to your success.

If struggling to grow online and need a team of marketing pros, SEO specialists, and digital-growth strategists on your side, contact us today for a free consultation to see how we can help you grow.