How to Generate Warm Leads On LinkedIn

How do you respond to a recession? I’ve been here before and I recognize the signs— it seems inevitable that a recession is coming. I survived the dot com bubble, 9/11 and the Great Recession of 08/09 – barely. The difference is that now I know what to do. I recommend you act now and take massive action—charge forward with total commitment. Activity is the solution. If you stand frozen with fear like a deer in the headlights, you’re in danger of getting run over.

I get 100% of my business through digital marketing strategies with 20% of my warm leads coming from LinkedIn. Generating warm leads on LinkedIn is one of the marketing strategies I recommend adopting right now. 

The only way to deal with adversity is to increase your commitment and adopt more intelligent strategies. In this episode of The Resilient Recruiter, I’m sharing a presentation on how to generate warm leads on LinkedIn. I’ll share the 5 key things it takes to make your profile compelling, how to connect with leads and how to resonate with your audience. 

Outline of This Episode

• [1:16] What motivates me to push harder in times of uncertainty
• [6:57] How to generate warm leads on LinkedIn during a recession
• [10:05] I share the 5 keys to creating an effective LinkedIn strategy
• [13:17] Key #1: Create a compelling LinkedIn profile
• [24:08] Key #2: Focus on Consistently growing your network
• [33:08] Key #3: Follow up and start engaging conversations
• [39:07] BONUS: How to increase your response rate exponentially
• [42:40] Key #4: In a world where content is king—how do you stand out?
• [53:47] Key #5: Who do you engage with on LinkedIn?

Key #1: Make your LinkedIn profile compelling

Your LinkedIn profile should be a lead generation website for your business. Take a look at your LinkedIn profile from the perspective of a potential client or candidate. Does it convey who you are and what you do? There are a few things I recommend making a concerted effort with:

1. Do not use the default banner. It is prime real estate and one of the first things someone sees. Ideally, you should use a photograph taken in a professional context. It needs to convey credibility and authority. 
2. Craft a professional headline. Clearly define what you do and what value proposition is. Who do you work with? What kind of results do you get? Signal to your industry and your ideal audience that you speak their language and provide them an incentive to scroll down and get more information. PRO TIP: Adjust your headline using the app on your phone—you’re somehow allowed more words/characters.
3. Use the ‘about’ section to make a human connection. Tell your personal and professional story in a way that is relevant to your business and resonates with your audience. You want a potential client or prospect to relate to you. Share WHY you do what you do. 

Listen to the episode for more ideas to create a compelling LinkedIn Profile. 

Key #2: Consistently grow your network 

Growing your network needs to be a proactive process that you do consistently every day. You need to start by searching for your ideal prospects with a tool such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator. I recommend setting a goal to send 30-50 connection requests a day (allocating 30-60 minutes of your time). I typically see a 40% acceptance rate from people who are warm prospects that are more receptive to engagement. 

Secondly, focus on crafting a message that is low-key, non-threatening, with zero sales pitch. Personalize the message when possible with something relevant. You can create a friendly and natural-sounding template to use that is tailored to the search filters you applied to identify that prospect – e.g. industry.

Key #3: It’s all about outreach

You need to follow up with leads and start conversations. Send a sequence of messages with the end goal of engaging the lead and having them schedule a call on your calendar. This is a task where you can hire a virtual assistant to help you. 

• Within the first 24 hours send them a polite thank you note.
• If you don’t get a reply, send another message from a different angle. You could ask a question or comment on a post or article on their profile. Perhaps you could send them a piece of content or research relevant to their field. 
• In a subsequent message, you could send a “case study” pitch—a soft sell— listen to the full episode to hear my script for this message template.
• Ultimately, you’ll offer a call — but only AFTER you’ve delivered value and established rapport.

There is ONE thing I’ve found that will get you a higher response rate. One of my clients gets an 80% response rate when they use this tactic. Listen to the whole episode to find out what the strategy is.

Key #4: Content is king – but only if you do it right

The easiest way to generate inbound leads is by producing content on LinkedIn. Writing articles is great, but even simply posting a status update is huge. Once you’ve connected with someone, it keeps you on their radar. You become a regular in their newsfeed and they see your face repeatedly. 

These are the guidelines that I recommend:

1. Consider posting once daily but the minimum is once a week. It can take as little as 15 minutes to come up with something that can offer value. 
2. Share a video update: You can cover thoughtful and relevant content quickly and it allows your connections to see your personality and connect with a face. 
3. Share your photos: post photos from client meetings, industry conferences, speaking on a panel, etc. with a simple caption. 
4. Share a text-based status update: This is something that you can do daily. 

There is an art and a science to status updates. People NEED to engage with your content or LinkedIn won’t share it. Only a small fraction of your audience sees what you post organically. So you need to design your content carefully and put an emphasis on content that will stimulate discussion. 

Key #5: Engagement – Be strategic and intentional about where you’re commenting and liking 

There are only TWO reasons you should comment on someone else’s content: 1) If they’re an existing or potential client, or 2) they’re a thought leader in your industry who your ideal clients are already following. LinkedIn isn’t Facebook. It’s pointless to scroll, like and comment on people’s posts randomly. Be strategic and intentional. 

1. Engage with an existing or potential client. Make what you say directly relevant so that they take notice of you.
2. Engage with a thought leader in your industry. They are interacting with the same audience you want to reach. If you can capture a piece of that audience with your thoughtful comments, you’re headed the right direction.

The recruiting industry lives on LinkedIn more than any other platform. It’s important to leverage the social platform as a part of your digital marketing strategy. What you’ve read is just a snapshot of the content I cover in this episode. Make sure you listen for full details on my guide to generating warm leads on LinkedIn. 

Resources & People Mentioned

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• BOOK: Start with Why
• BOOK: The Million-Pound LinkedIn Message
• Vidyard
• CloudHQ
• BombBomb

Connect With Mark Whitby

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• Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach
• Mark on YouTube

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