I have used LinkedIn for a while now, and I am still amazed at how it has changed. It is not just about networking anymore, but also about finding new business opportunities. The best part of the site is that you can find people who are in your industry or niche by searching their names on LinkedIn. You will be able to see what they do professionally as well as where they work. This makes it easy to connect with them if you want to start up a relationship.
In this article, I’ll answer a lot of common questions with regards to LinkedIn prospecting tools. I’ll explain whether to use automation or not and how to get the most out of your LinkedIn experience.
Let’s begin!
Why is LinkedIn so popular?
The main reason why LinkedIn is such an essential tool for any professional today is that there are over 700 million users worldwide. That stat means that you could potentially reach hundreds of thousands of professionals through LinkedIn alone. If you’re looking to build relationships with other professionals, then LinkedIn is worth checking out.
How does LinkedIn help me network?
Many people don’t realize when they first join LinkedIn that it helps you network more than anything else. When you search someone’s name on LinkedIn, you will usually come across their profile page, which includes information like:
- Their current job title
- Where they currently work
- What companies they’ve worked for before
- How long they’ve been working in their field
This gives you all sorts of insight into the person you’re trying to contact.
For example, let’s say you wanted to meet someone from Microsoft. By doing a simple Google search, you would probably see some articles talking about Bill Gates’ net worth. From these results, you might even know his hobbies and interests. Now imagine going onto LinkedIn and typing “Bill Gates” into the search bar. Instead of going through pages upon pages of irrelevant content, the search instantly presents you with his complete profile, including links to his blog, Twitter account, etc. All without leaving the website.
Of course, this is just an example. You may (or may not) find Bill Gates on LinkedIn. But you can be sure to find your target audience. And LinkedIn’s database will give you a lot of information about them.
With such an extensive database and many potential customers on the platform, it’s easy to think automation — or a prospecting tool — can help you do outreach faster.
Can I automate prospecting on LinkedIn?
Yes, you absolutely can automate prospecting on LinkedIn. There are several different ways to approach this, depending on your needs. Here are three options:
1. Use automated emails
Many third-party LinkedIn tools can help you gather emails from potential customers based on your requirements. Once their emails are added to your list, you can send personalized emails to those contacts.
For instance, if you were selling software products, you could create an autoresponder sequence that sends personalized welcome emails to each subscriber every time you add them to your list. This way, you won’t have to check who has subscribed to your email list manually. It also makes it easier to keep track of what prospects want as well.
2. Create custom audiences
Another option is to set up custom audiences using LinkedIn Ads. These allow you to segment your lists by specific criteria. So instead of sending generic emails to everyone on your cold list, you can only send relevant ad messages to particular groups. This allows you to save money while still reaching the right people at the same time. There are some costs to using LinkedIn Ads, and ad costs tend to be higher on the platform. So be sure to plan; otherwise, you might lose a lot of cash with little or no results.
3. Automate your connection request process
Some tools can help you automatically connect with new connections. They’ll then follow up after a few days to see how things went. If the automation tool finds that none of your prospects showed any interest, they’ll try again later. Some other tools offer more advanced features like scheduling when to reach out to people. The best part is that you don’t need to worry about following up yourself once you get connected!
These are all great ways to automate your lead generation efforts on LinkedIn. But is it all cupcakes and rainbows?
Is LinkedIn automation illegal?
Hate to break it to you, but if you’re using any form of automation on LinkedIn, you might want to stop right there.
For quite some time, LinkedIn has been cracking down on accounts that use automation in various forms.
The truth is, LinkedIn plans to ban bots entirely. It seems likely that LinkedIn will continue its crackdown until it gets rid of all bot activity. That means you should avoid automating your entire sales funnel on LinkedIn with a third-party automation tool unless you’re using automation that is allowed under their terms and conditions, or you don’t mind the risk.
Can I automate messages on LinkedIn?
Well, yes!
As we saw earlier, so many third-party tools can help you automate your prospecting on the social media platform. Some of these tools can even help you schedule a personalized message for different times throughout the day. On top of that, you can extract email address information and other prospect information and compile them in a spreadsheet. All this helps you stay organized and focused on your business goals without having to spend too much time managing your account. You just sit back and let the machine do the work for you.
However, as already discussed, you run a considerable risk if you use a third-party tool that LinkedIn doesn’t recognize.
With LinkedIn Premium, you can use LinkedIn’s advanced algorithm to find qualified leads and track your favorite accounts.
So, if you’ve been looking for a solution to automate your marketing activities on LinkedIn without getting banned, LinkedIn premium tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator are your best bet.
Is Linked Helper legit?
Linked Helper is a fantastic tool! The LinkedIn prospecting automation tool for small and midsize B2B companies – helps you find prospects on LinkedIn, engage with them in a conversational way that’s more personal than an automated message. For SMBs who lack time and resources, Linked Helper makes it easier than ever to reach qualified prospects and make solid connections faster.
If you haven’t heard of Linked Helper before, here’s what makes it unique:
- It works behind the scenes to build relationships between businesses and influencers based on your requirements.
- When used in conjunction with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can use the tool to visit the list of leads generated from Sales Navigator and then reach out with a custom connection request message.
Linked Helper is a powerful tool and has helped many business owners build a large following, reach and connect with qualified leads on LinkedIn.
It sounds like Linked Helper can help you quickly and efficiently grow your network on LinkedIn. However, as a third-party prospecting tool, it comes with risks, the biggest of which is getting your account banned. Linked Helper may be a fantastic tool, but LinkedIn has shut down and banned many LinkedIn accounts because of this tool.
So, although the tool is a fantastic prospecting tool — and the company continues to bypass LinkedIn’s algorithms — you always run a risk with your account. And as to whether the risk is worth it, that is entirely up to you.
In Conclusion
I would recommend against automating anything on LinkedIn unless you’re using one of LinkedIn’s approved sales tools. The platform is not designed for that purpose. If you look around online, you’ll notice many posts talking about how to “automate” things on LinkedIn. But they’re just spamming their content into other peoples’ streams. That doesn’t work well. It would be best if you never did that. Instead, create great content and let others discover it through organic search.
I think there are two main reasons why most people fail to succeed on LinkedIn. First, we tend to over-complicate our approach by overthinking the mechanics of the platform itself. Second, we often forget that social media marketing isn’t just about posting links to articles and blog posts. We also need to post engaging messages that encourage interaction.
As you can see, using any software or app to automate your sales process on LinkedIn will only get you so far.
To use LinkedIn successfully, you need to have a strategy first. Then, you’ll want to focus on building strong networks with people who share similar interests and are part of your target audience. Finally, you’ll want to leverage all the data available about each person you’re looking to connect with on LinkedIn. This means making sure you’re reaching out to the right people at the right time.
And when you combine all three elements, you’ll start seeing results fast.
