The Linkedin human connection method

So you’re looking for a new strategy for LinkedIn prospecting? You’re not getting anywhere just spamming people on Linkedin and needing more sales. In this article, I’ll talk about a Linkedin marketing method that led me to spend £3500 on personal training on credit card the very next day after the initial call. So if this works on me a marketer knowing all the tricks, and got my attention it might just work on your potential Linkedin clients as well.

So how do you make that human connection on Linkedin and rise above the white noise of spam messages that everyone is getting?

Ok so let’s start with your bio. If your LinkedIn profile description isn’t easy to understand then people won’t know what you do. You can’t be all things to all people so niche down. Fresh books didn’t start by going after the whole market they started by island hopping. Freshbooks started with graphic designers, Web devs etc, then they conquered the market, and you can too. For example, if you’re in marketing and you want to work as a Google ads setter, then make your profile summary all about:

 

How you’ve spent x amount of time reducing the costs of Google Ads, for your previous clients.

How you’ve spent x amount of time creating better targeting for Google Ads.

How you’ve found ways to avoid Google ripping you off.

Now that you have niched down, you want to create a set of targeted Linkedin accounts that are your ideal customer. So for this Google Ads example, your ideal target will be a business that needs a Google Ads setter like a marketing agency, an entrepreneur, or a Chief marketing officer.

How do you find your target audience?

The obvious way for you to find these targeted accounts is to use the Linkedin sales navigator. Find people that have been active in the last 30 days, otherwise, you’re chasing people who don’t even use Linkedin.

Ok so we’re still on writing your profile bio summary, everything we do from here on out should be about the target customer. 

  • Address fears, pain, needs, desires, and most of all how you can help your client.
  • Your headline could include a benefit, but be sparing with benefits as they can come across as spammy.
  • Your headline must include keywords that your target customer will search to find you.

The headline of the profile must be like an ad or subject heading you would write in an article, so write it with the following in mind:

  • Curiosity
  • Emotion 
  • Facts

When writing your profile summary you should utilise principles of copywriting which I have written about here in the truth behind copy writing examples. Use real-life reasons as to why they need your service. Failing to do your keyword research can lead to failure. Remind people that if they don’t solve the problem what might happen. For example “If you’re not closely monitoring how much you’re spending on Google Ads, you could be spending way over your budget”

Facts tell, and stories sell.

Remember you’re writing for a human being, not an algorithm. Including keywords is fine, it’s the logical thing to do. People in B2B and B2C will respond to emotion more than logical selling. So use storytelling, talk about a horror story that you saved your client from. “A previous client of mine was spending over £100 to gain one client I got this down to £40 per client saving them 60% in lead generation costs”. Talk about a client transformation “My customer went from breaking even to being profitable in a matter of weeks”

Remember like all marketing copy and messaging you’re writing for the customer, so keep them in mind and don’t always talk about yourself. It’s important you know your customer, if this takes speaking to some before you start selling and writing your profile then you need to do this. You always start with your customer in any copywriting you do. To a certain extent, the customer only cares about their problems, how the Google Ads Display certification that you have.

How do you warm your prospect up?

Start commenting on their posts.

Commenting on their content shows that you’re taking a genuine interest in what they do and post.

Commenting helps you to be known to them before you start contacting them.

Commenting on their account is much more likely to make them respond back, in the thread.

 

So how do you reach out?

So I’m assuming you’ve been commenting on their posts. If so this is a good time to reach out

“hi _____

I just read your post on the state on how you’ve been spending loads on Google Ads without seeing decent results, I feel your pain I was there once. I’ve been working in marketing for the past 10 years I’d love to connect if you’re up for it, I think I can help you out”

This is slightly flattering, it shows you’ve done your homework. So you’ve started engaging with the prospect, through their LinkedIn posts on a regular basis, so try and send 10 to 20 of these direct messages every day.

What happens when they connect with you.

It’s important that you start selling immediately, ignore everything you’ve just built up, and constantly message them every day asking if they want to use your for Google ads services, do this till they block you, and then report you to Linked for being a Cunt, seriously Linkedin have a “report for being a cunt” button. No I’m just kidding that’s ridiculous. Seriously though how much does this happen on Linkedin, you connect with someone and before you know it they’re trying to sell you SEO services, or coaching, I mean fuck off, please. 

So don’t just start out by selling to them. Find out how you can help them. For example, if you know they set Google Ads or talk about them on regular basis, then offer them a piece of content that you have written, a blog post on how to keep your costs down with Google Ads.

The time I spent £3500 on personal training.

I once got a voice note from a personal trainer. That night I signed up for £3500 of personal training. I really did spend this much money with him, and I got serious good results, which meant I am now able to keep my weight in check. James was his name, wow there really are too many people with the name James in this world, it should just be me.

He started off by talking about some weight lifters that we both follow on Facebook and how he learned a lot from one of them. Straight away he made a connection with me and we started talking. Above all that it was hearing a human voice that made it possible for him to rise above all the white noise. So use voice notes when contacting people, you’ll come across as human.

Bots on the rise

I’m seeing a huge rise in bots on Linkedin so much so that I’ve seen 6 bots trying to contact me in the past 2 months. This is a little less than the actual humans that contact me. The messages from these bot accounts are the usual straight-up sales pitch. Even if this service was a good fit for me I just ignore it anyways.

So the lesson here is don’t sell straight away, build a relationship, and talk more about them than yourself. When you do business with someone on LinkedIn why wouldn’t you take advantage of the information on their LinkedIn, so start cyberstalking.

So Look at their profile, invest time to know them, check out their website, what interests they have, and find out what’s important to them

  • Look at their activity 
  • People love validation
  • Like and share posts that they have written
  • Then while posting their content write why you like it 
  • Tagg them so they know you appreciate their work 

Sometimes this is enough to strike up a conversation with someone

 

 

 

Voice notes

Mention something you noticed about them

Mention what you have in common 

An example voice note might be 

“Hey ______ thanks so much for connecting, your profile jumped out at me because ______ , iv worked with companies like yours so I was really intrigued by what you were doing at ______ , I did some research and thought I would run an idea past you that I thought you would find helpful to and wondered if you would be OK with me sharing with you”

  • These types of messages
  • Show authority 
  • Show you have done your research
  • Show you have expertise
  • Demonstrate you have an idea that might help them
  • You ask permission and are humble 
  • This also creates intrigued 

Do this for an hour a day. Even if it doesn’t turn into a sale, this still helps with engagement on your account, which in turn will help with:

  • Getting engagement with your posts.
  • increasing your reach
  • If you come up more in your contact’s feeds its more likely that previous potential clients might come back to you.

The real takehome from this article after everything I’ve said is to use voice notes, it might be your best method to get above the noise, of all the spam people are not getting on a regular basis.

References: Linkedin sales machine by Raza Imam