‘Want to jump on a 10 minute call to see if we can help you build an app?’
If you're anything like me your LinkedIn inbox is similar to a spam folder on email. Poorly crafted copy and paste messages flood my inbox on a daily basis from companies looking to pitch their services.
They’re obviously hoping that sheer volume will eventually result in a response from a prospect that just happens to be in-market for their services. However in the long term, this approach is more likely to damage their reputation then fill their pipeline with new sales opportunities.
So how do you use direct messaging on LinkedIn to generate leads without spamming prospects?
Here are 3 outreach strategies that will significantly increase the likelihood of people responding.
1. Select a specific pain point in a niche
You need to demonstrate that you understand the pain points in your prospects business and then position your services as the solution to that problem. For example, if someone reached out to me with a message saying;
Hi,
I noticed your company ranks pretty low on Google search for keywords ‘___’, ‘____”, “____’. After reviewing your website I think these could attract X number of new leads every month and due to the low competition could be easy wins.
We’ve been helping companies similar to RooCru such as ___, ____,___ increase their lead volume through highly targeted SEO in under 60 days. Unlike traditional agencies we have a unique model that leverages affordable yet highly talented SEO experts and I was wondering whether you would be interested in watching a short presentation.
Let me know and I will send across the link.
Name
This type of message would increase my likelihood of responding 10 fold. It’s combining one of my pain points (getting free traffic), it demonstrates research into my niche and suggests a solution that is affordable without sacrificing quality, in a short period of time (for SEO). It’s also very easy to say yes to, it’s just a video, I don’t have to jump on a call straight away and can review the content in my own time.
This is a strategy we use for clients on a regular basis, it works particularly well for those who feel uncomfortable in a sales environment, those who want to demonstrate value before pitching and the companies targeting C-Level execs or large corporations. It’s designed to break through the noise using content as a tripwire to enter your top of funnel and can get a response rate in excess of 40%.
Tip for this strategy: Use evergreen content as the tripwire so you're not constantly having to develop new content. This could be a market report, tripwire, webinar, guide etc.
2. Offer a new opportunity
Clients with an exciting value proposition will always be able to generate leads relatively easily. But what if you're in a saturated market and you need to differentiate yourself from the competition? You need to reposition your services as a unique opportunity to a specific market.
We worked with a video production company that were struggling to generate leads
We worked with a video production company that were struggling to generate leads when offering their services as producers of marketing videos. However, they realised a new opportunity for corporate clients that wanted to create CSR videos for their employees to replace dull manuals. No companies are positioning themselves in this way so they created their own market. It’s also a lot more lucrative than one off marketing projects because clients need to create a series of videos and the content gets updated regularly, this is a great example of repositioning your offer to a new opportunity.
We also worked with a conscious leadership coach that was releasing a new program.
We also worked with a conscious leadership coach that was releasing a new program. During the time the client didn’t have a niche and wanted to simply reach owners of B2B companies with 50+ staff. This was unlikely to deliver a positive outcome. Instead we decided to leverage her experience in the PR industry. Her career spanned over a decade and she worked as a senior manager for some of the world’s most respected firms. By positioning her as an expert in this field and the fact she already understood their pain points she was able to create a message that resonated with PR firms. Within the first week she managed to close several new appointments and later onboarded a client onto her program.
The offer is everything, you need to be able to adapt and think outside the box if you're going to attract clients in a saturated market. By creating new markets that are not flooded with competition your lead generation can explode, and not just on LinkedIn.
3. Research and ‘flirt’ with the prospect
Everyone has an ego at some level and sometimes the best way to start a relationship is to stroke the prospects ego a little. I’m not talking about anything cringey here, but sometimes a complement can go a long way. It will demonstrate you did some research before reaching out and you’ll stand out in a big way compared to copy and paste messages in their inbox.
How can you do this while maintaining your dignity? It’s actually pretty simple! Use their activity on LinkedIn i.e. posts, articles they write, topics they comment on or Google them to see if they’ve been in the press recently. Once you have something you can base your outreach around that topic. Here’s an example.
Hi ___
I recently read your article on ______ and agree with your point on ____. How did you manage to _______?
We recently helped a client who had the same problem but we were also able to help them _____ which enabled them to get XYZ result.
Happy to share some insight on how we were able to do this.
Name___
This level of personalisation will undoubtedly increase the response rates. The only problem is that it requires a lot of manual work to find prospects that are actively creating content. This strategy is best for companies targeting high profile decision makers and BIG companies where decision makers are likely inundated with messages in their inbox.
Tip: Make sure the first sentence of the outreach contains the ‘ego stroking’ statement. Remain authentic. Don’t complement someone on a topic you don’t actually agree with!
These are three strategies that can really boost the chances of a prospect responding to your outreach. Want 10 proven, winning LinkedIn templates you can adapt to suit your business?
Check out the video below. You can also access the PDF guide on the RooCru homepage.
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