Generating Qualified Sales Leads on LinkedIn: What You Should Know

To generate more qualified sales leads, you should consider using LinkedIn. Statistics show that 80% of all sales leads come from LinkedIn. Some of these sales leads are qualified. Qualified sales leads are those that have been vetted and deemed ready for the sales department. They are considered higher quality than other, non-qualified sales leads. There are several things you should know, however, when using LinkedIn to generate qualified sales leads.

Create an Ideal Buyer Profile

You should start by creating an ideal buyer profile. Also known as a buyer persona, an ideal buyer profile is a semi-fictional representation of your B2B company's audience. In other words, it represents who, exactly, buys your B2B company's products or services. Qualified sales leads typically fit this profile. Whether you use LinkedIn, email marketing or SalesLeads' Prospecting Services to generate qualified sales leads, you should create an ideal buyer profile. With an ideal buyer profile, you can check to see if a prospect matches our B2B company's audience.

Use Lead Gen Forms

LinkedIn offers customizable lead generation forms for B2B companies. Known as Lead Gen Forms, they are available for Message Ads and Sponsored Content. If you use either of these paid advertising services on LinkedIn, you should take advantage of Lead Gen Forms.

With Lead Gen Forms, you can generate more qualified sales leads on LinkedIn. Lead Gen Forms are completely customizable. Best of all, you can target specific audiences with them. As long as you've create an ideal buyer profile, you'll know which audience you need to target with Lead Gen Forms. Click here to learn more about LinkedIn's Lead Gen Forms.

Look for Mutual Connections

When browsing LinkedIn for qualified leads, look for mutual connections. A mutual connection is someone with a shared network connection. You may discover that a user on LinkedIn has the same person in his or her network as your network. This is a mutual connection.

Mutual connections are often a sign of a qualified sales lead. As you browse users' profiles on LinkedIn, you should look for these mutual connections. 

Score or Grade

You should consider scoring or grading sales leads on LinkedIn. Scoring and grading are methods by which you can qualify sales leads. Scoring involves the use of a numerical score. High-quality sales leads will have a higher score than low-quality sales leads.

Grading is an alternative method by which you can qualify sales leads. Grading involves the use of a letter-based grade, such as A, B, C or D. You can identify qualified sales leads by either scoring or grading them.