How to Use LinkedIn Groups to Generate Leads
LinkedIn is typically seen as a networking tool, rather than a social media lead generation source. However, there are aspects of LinkedIn for business that can serve as a marketing tool as well. For instance, LinkedIn groups can help you generate leads as long as you take the right steps to reach your target audience.
Use Your Copywriting Skills
Basic copywriting skills will ensure you reach your audience on LinkedIn and increase the chances they will visit your profile or your website. It doesn’t matter if you are starting your own conversation or contributing to someone else’s, you need to be articulate your thoughts in an attractive manner. Every response you leave should be clear and concise, get to the point quickly and come from the heart. It is also best to eliminate adjectives and adverbs to help keep it simple.
Consider Using Comment Templates
It can be time-consuming to monitor LinkedIn and to leave comments where they are appropriate. However, LinkedIn marketing is made easier with the use of comment templates that can help you create effective comments without all the work of managing it manually. To create your own templates, consider the answers you typically provide, such as instructions, advice on common topics or insights you often find useful to other users. Create a document where you save this information so you can quickly access it and copy and paste instead of having to type out the same response. Remember not to make your responses sound too much like a sales pitch. These posts should be informative.
Be a Leader
You want people to follow you and your business so you need to position yourself as a leader. Not only do you want them to look up to you as a leader in your field, but you also need them to see you as a leader in your LinkedIn groups. If you use social media for lead generation, it’s important to make sure people notice you. One way you can do this is to use your responses to lead individuals to ask more questions. When you post in a way that encourages individuals to ask more questions, you will establish a presence on LinkedIn and help prospective customers reach you.
Create a Plan
LinkedIn marketing isn’t something you can just work on whenever you have a spare moment; you need to make sure you have a set plan in place to ensure the success of your plan. The following steps can help you make the most of LinkedIn as a lead generation tool.
Connect with Others
You should set a goal to connect with a certain number of people each week. For instance, perhaps you want to find five new people to connect with every week. These individuals can be former colleagues or people with whom you currently work. This will help you rapidly expand your reach.
Join Groups
Even if you have your own group for marketing services, you should join other groups so you can establish yourself as an expert in your field. However, don’t limit yourself to joining two or three in a month.
Start New Discussions
In every group you participate in, it’s important to start new discussions on a regular basis. While it’s tempting to only reply to others’ inquiries, it won’t provide the same visibility as creating your own conversations. This is particularly helpful right after you join a group to establish your membership and increase the number of people who notice you and potentially connect with you.
Answer Questions
The Answers section of LinkedIn is filled with questions on a vast number of topics. Every week, you should make an effort to seek out questions relating to your field and answer them.  Try to answer at least two questions every week to increase your visibility and promote yourself as a leader in your area of expertise.
Create a DirectAd
A DirectAd can be a useful lead generation tool if you know how to use them. Create a landing page designed to sell one of your products or services or to collect information from your prospective clients. You can then use the DirectAd tool to create an advertisement pointing to this landing page. This is an easy method of driving traffic and generating more leads
Add Applications
Using applications on your profile page can help with social media lead generation. Many people choose to add the Amazon Reading List and WordPress apps, but you will find a vast array from which you can choose. Make sure you select options that will appeal to your target audience to make your profile more engaging.
If you are looking for a company to help with your social media lead generation, contact us. We can help you use LinkedIn to its fullest advantage.
