LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for business outreach, particularly if your target audience includes other businesses. Like email, it allows for mutual interaction but offers a number of distinct advantages.
Before reaching out to potential customers or clients, it is critical to define your customer avatar, or ideal customer. This requires researching your target audience’s LinkedIn profiles to understand their interests and pain points. Gathering this information will help inform the messaging you use in your outreach, increasing the likelihood of a response.
Next, you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile; this is often a neglected step that can determine the success or failure of your outreach effort. Your LinkedIn profile should include an inviting profile picture, a header image, a headline, an “About” section, and details about your work and educational background. Recommendations from people for whom you have worked add to your profile’s credibility. Unlike email outreach, where a website or additional information may be required, LinkedIn allows potential customers to directly view your Profile, giving them an immediate sense of who you are and what you are offering.
Posting regular content is also essential. This not only increases your credibility but also serves to further inform your target audience about your products or services. Content should be aligned with the needs and interests of your customer avatar; in other words, it should address their pain points, ideally in a way that positions your product or service as a solution. Regular posting should continue even after outreach begins, as it helps nurture potential leads for future business.
When connecting with people on LinkedIn, the approach should be more about establishing a connection rather than making a sales pitch. Connection requests should include a personal message, expressing admiration for a recent post, shared interest, or the person’s professional role. Potential customers are more likely to respond positively to a friendly approach. Subsequent communication can be more promotional, pitching your product or service.
Like any successful marketing effort, LinkedIn outreach involves follow-up. Regular follow-ups every few days can increase response rates.
Finally, investing in a LinkedIn premium account can provide access to advanced outreach strategies. This includes features such as InMail and the Sales Navigator, which help to scale outreach efforts.
In conclusion, LinkedIn outreach can be a highly beneficial strategy for reaching out to other businesses. By defining a customer avatar, optimising your profile, posting regular content, connecting with people in a friendly manner, following up and possibly investing in a LinkedIn premium account, you can maximize your outreach success on the platform.
This guide is part of StoryLab.ai, a community that combines social learning with AI-generated copy and has experience in marketing and growth strategies. The platform features a toolkit that members have unlimited access to and encourages questions directed at moderators and other community members.
