How to prospect on Linkedin?

Refine your profile

Your profile defines your image and personality. It should be as neat as possible, without being trite. It should be able to show your best side and prove that you are a trustworthy person. This obviously starts with a good picture, ideally a professional one, and an attractive description. These are the two things that recruiters and prospects see on LinkedIn. So you should attach great importance to these two things.

Then there is the profile in general, especially the description of your skills, your academic and professional background and your experience. Give as much detail as possible. If you offer services, mention them one by one. If you buy services, say what type of service you are interested in. 

As a professional : 

• You should have an easily recognisable access URL. Your LinkedIn account URL should have your name or company name on it. This is especially important if you represent a brand; 
• be precise and detailed in every line of your profile;
• Leave your website or links to your products open to the public so that people have an idea of your skills;
• use inbound marketing and SEO techniques to make it easy to find you.  

This is how you will be more visible on LinkedIn. 

Building a network

After the profile, you need to build up your personal and professional network. Your reputation and notoriety are at stake. The larger your community, the more influential you will be. And to be effective in a prospecting campaign, this is essential. Do not hesitate to send requests to potential targets, individuals and companies, for example. Create discussion groups or join the ones with the most people. You must do everything to be known and recognised. 

The network is also a ready-made advertising medium. You become part of interesting business groups. You are in a good business environment. You have followers who are really interested in what you do or potential customers. Whatever the case, business opportunities develop mainly on the networks. 

Broadcasting news

News guarantees automatic monitoring and endless expansion of your community. In fact, people are hungry for news. If you post news, people will come to your profile to find it regularly. This will increase your community and get people talking about you. It is advisable to place your services or products intelligently in the news of the day... from time to time.

For prospecting, this type of free advertising will help you with your canvassing. Since you know how many people react to your news, you also know how many will read your advertising post. Ideally, you should relate the news facts to your services or products in a completely natural way. You can make a joke or keep a serious tone, but be creative. 

Being active

LinkedIn is a social network like any other. So you need to be active to activate your account and draw attention to yourself. The more you share something interesting, the more people will be interested in you and your products. A company that does business should therefore have a strong presence on LinkedIn by regularly posting news, reviews, products or promotions.

Be careful not to overdo the marketing either and not to be too pushy. Being active does not mean that you will bombard your profile with products and anything else. Instead, you should talk about the product and do some intelligent advertising. You should show your professionalism, the quality of your services and products through each of your posts. 

Even when you contact a prospect, you should remain professional but close. Hence the need to send personalised messages. When they respond, the responsiveness should be just as impeccable.

Using LinkedIn Ads

To succeed with your LinkedIn advertising stunt, you should start by targeting your prospects. If you run into a few problems, LinkedIn already offers a solution: LinkedIn Ads. You can easily find your audience, regardless of your company's sector of activity. You can also access a longer list, which is convenient. Plus, you'll have access to much more interesting profiles and accounts you wouldn't expect.

The filter is based on the size or location of your company. Your geographical target area is also included. If you are looking for candidates in Paris, for example, you can easily find all the profiles that match the vacancy. 

Prospecting on LinkedIn thus requires patience, perseverance and intelligence. Note that each message must be well personalised to attract the curiosity of your targets. Emails and follow-ups must also be well structured. My Name is Bond supports you in your LinkedIn prospecting and advises you on this subject.