5 Best LinkedIn Prospecting Tips for 2024

LinkedIn is constantly evolving. Adapting itself in the fight for attention. As a salesperson who relies on LinkedIn as a source for B2B leads you need to stay up-to-date on the latest LinkedIn prospecting strategies. 

Luckily, we’ve taken the time to research and test the latest LinkedIn prospecting strategies, consolidating the ones that worked into our top 5 tips for LinkedIn prospecting in 2024.

Key Highlights for LinkedIn prospecting

• Improve alignment across sales prospecting tools
• Reduce your reliance on a single email finder tool
• Boost the response rate with personalized LinkedIn messaging templates
• Leverage LinkedIn groups and communities for networking.
• Optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract prospects

1. Maximize Sales on LinkedIn

Many sales teams struggle with a fragmented tech stack. We surveyed over 800 sales reps and found that on average they’re using 7 different tools, resulting in a lot of inefficiency and admin work.

• B2B sales in 2024 is all about operating on reduced budgets and increased targets, i.e. doing more with less.
• From speaking with some of the best sales teams at companies like Google, Amazon, and Spendesk we see one clear trend. Top performing teams are maximizing sales by having an intense focus on sales efficiency.
• Reduce the friction of switching between tools and building workflows that automatically take care of admin work.

They achieve this by bridging the gap between their CRM and LinkedIn. Integrating various sales tools so sales reps can log activities, source contacts and manage deals all without leaving LinkedIn. Those who have been able to achieve this have seen a productivity gain of over 10%.

2. Email Finder Tools for LinkedIn

The best sales outreach is multi-touch, multi-channel. Using touch points across LinkedIn, email, and phone. This obviously means you need accurate email addresses and phone numbers for your contacts.

Most sales teams use enrichment tools like Hunter, or Dropcontact, but relying on a single source of data limits search results. The ideal solution can search many databases, choosing the best one depending on industry, segment or location. 

• Surfe is a great solution for this combining all leading contact databases
• Uses AI to intelligently select which one to use and verifying the results with ZeroBounce.
• In one click, Surfe takes care of selecting the database, sourcing the contact and uploading it into your CRM (Hubspot, Salesforce and Pipedrive are all supported).

3. Boosting Your LinkedIn Message Response Rate

In multi-touch, multi-channel sales outreach, sales teams are using LinkedIn messages to approach prospects. Keeping track of a large amount of LinkedIn messages can be demanding and it’s especially difficult for sales managers looking for insight over teams. 

The challenge

• The focus should not be sending more LinkedIn messages, but getting more responses. Higher quality messages that are better targeted with accurate personalization reap better response rates.
• Copying and pasting the same message over and over wastes time and gets low responses. Generic messaging simply isn’t good enough.
• Try personalizing your messages with the recipient’s name, job title, and company. But personalization can also take time if you’re not approaching it correctly.
  

The solution

Surfe’s Message templates for LinkedIn allow you to insert a personalized message in once-click. These could be intro messages, meeting invites, or answers to frequently asked questions.

Message templates are personalized so that, “Hey #firstname, I’ve been looking to speak to #currentposition’s at companies like #companyname…” becomes, “Hey John, I’ve been looking to speak to Account Executive’s at companies like Surfe…”

• When using Surfe message templates, you can see the response rate of each template and this is where things get interesting.
• By comparing the response rates of different messages, sales reps can begin to notice trends on how prospects respond to outreach.
• You may notice that informal messages get a higher response rate than formal ones or that shorter messages perform better than longer messages.

This is a simple and easily applicable tactic for boosting your LinkedIn prospecting. Over time, if you take into consideration the performance of specific templates, your response rate will only get better. You can share your most successful message templates with your whole team and you can become a champion by raising your sales performance team-wide.

4. Leveraging LinkedIn Groups and Communities for Networking

Another simple (and free!) opportunity to level-up your LinkedIn prospecting is by taking advantage of LinkedIn groups and communities. Here’s our top tips on enhancing prospecting with LinkedIn groups and communities:

Top Benefits of Active Group Participation

• Industry-Specific Knowledge: Joining groups relevant to your field offers a constant stream of industry insights and trends.
• Networking with Peers and Leaders: Engage with professionals who can broaden your horizons and possibly open doors to new opportunities.

How to Establish Your Presence

• Contribute Meaningfully: Share articles and thoughts that reflect your expertise. The focus is on adding value, not just visibility.
• Consistency: Regular participation keeps you in the loop and visible to group members.

Transforming Interactions into Opportunities

• Identifying Prospects: Look for members who interact with your content or those discussing needs aligned with your services.
• Personal Connection Building: Move beyond group interactions to develop one-on-one connections, gradually introducing how your services could be beneficial.
• Follow-Up Strategy: After establishing a rapport within the group, transition to more personal communication methods like direct messaging or emails.

Throughout all of these points you can be using Surfe’s Add to CRM function, email finder, and message templates to streamline and optimize your workflow.

5. Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile to Attract Prospects

Transforming your profile into a LinkedIn prospecting magnet starts with first impressions. Make sure your profile picture and cover represent your brand and your positioning.

Showcase your expertise

Your summary should then take center stage, weaving your skills and experiences into a compelling narrative that concisely expresses the value you’re offering to your prospects. It’s not just about listing your roles; it’s about showcasing how each role has sculpted your expertise into one that can solve a problem your prospects are facing.

Include a CTA

Make sure you’ve got a clear CTA linking to your website. You want the prospect to be able to continue their journey through the funnel as smoothly as possible and the next likely step is through your website so make that path clear to them.

Add social proof

Endorsements and recommendations are the silent advocates of your credibility. Encourage them from peers and clients to boost your profile’s authority.

Remember, an active LinkedIn presence speaks volumes. Keep your profile updated and engage regularly with relevant content. This ongoing interaction not only maintains your profile’s relevance but also cements your standing in your professional community.

Let’s wrap it up!

In 2024, mastering LinkedIn prospecting is more crucial than ever. By integrating these five LinkedIn prospecting tips – from leveraging LinkedIn’s tools and optimizing your messaging to engaging in groups and refining your profile – you’re setting the stage for enhanced networking and sales opportunities.

Each tip is designed to not just connect you with prospects but to build meaningful relationships that convert. Remember, the key to success on LinkedIn lies in being authentic, targeted, and active. Apply these insights to elevate your LinkedIn game and watch your professional network and sales potential soar.