Leveraging LinkedIn to generate leads for a B2B iPaaS provider.

At Tribe47, we let data do the talking. We helped our client to define 174 possible segments, then asked them to rate the nine segments with the highest potential from 0 to 3 according to 10 criteria:

• Competition – 3 points when is very weak
• Amount – 3 points when the quantity of prospects is high
  Expected Revenue – 3 points when lifetime value is high 
• Segment growth – 3 points when it’s is growing constantly and rapidly 
• Solvency – 3 points when the segment has high purchasing power and price isn’t a crucial factor that influences the purchasing decision
• Virality – 3 points when the segment has high viral potential. Most customers eagerly participate in viral contests, give testimonials, take part in affiliate programs
• Experience – 3 points when your experience is 3+ years 
• Closeness – 3 points when you can reach the decision-makers easily 
• Profitability – 3 points when you have a high margin, low acquisition, and retention cost
• Recent Hot Leads – 3 points when you have converted a lot of those

The winner by a mile was Communication Software or UCaaS companies, which took the lead with a whopping 12 points.

With a segment defined and ripe for some campaign action, our next challenge was to determine how sophisticated and aware of Embedded iPaaS solutions it was and how to target it via LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

To answer those questions, we turned to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which allows you to easily define how many companies exist in a specific niche. After identifying about 3,000 companies inside our chosen segment it was time to plan paid campaigns and calculate the performance and cost per click.

We created a Guide for UCaaS Platform Upgrade specifically for this segment and made a Paid Promo of it on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Because the niche was so narrow,  LinkedIn Cold performed the best, achieving a CPA 2.1 times better than Facebook Cold or Twitter. 

From experience we knew that using warm traffic on Facebook decreases overall costs, so we settled on a campaign strategy that combined LinkedIn Cold and Facebook warm traffic to net the highest quality leads.

Now for a free tactic that really paid off – exploiting organic traffic. 

From the market segmentation workshop, we knew that there were 3000 companies that could potentially become Appmixer clients. 

Knowing our persona was a UCaaS Company CEO or CTO, we used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to check how many potential clients were located in specific regions. 

Since Appmixer is a high-ticket product, we decided to reach out to CEOs and CTOs in the wealthiest regions – Europe + North America.

In LinkedIn, we built a list of contacts who fitted our requirements. Then, using the Phantombuster tool, we scraped the list and sent them network requests from the client’s profile. Two weeks later, nearly a quarter (21%) of those requests had been accepted.

In just a few carefully considered moves, we had built a huge audience inside our LinkedIn followers list.

We were on our way to create an ideal marketing campaign for a UCaaS client but knew that the wrong approach could send all those potential clients we had identified running. 

To understand which tone of voice our persona prefers, we set up two ad sets for the Guide for UCaaS Platform Upgrade Lead Magnet. 

The first ad set was clean and classic and included only the name of the Lead Magnet with some straight copy and graphics.

The second one displayed some creative flair and included RTM elements.

One ad set performed 1.93 times better than the other according to CTR, so we got all the data we needed to implement the holy grail of B2B marketing campaigns – the WEBINAR!!!

Tribe47 has oceans of experience in organizing online webinars. We know that hosting a webinar is the best way to move leads faster and more effectively through the funnel because:

• You gather your leads in a simple way, the same as for lead magnet campaigns;
• You are ‘meeting’ with those leads in person, so it’s easier for them to humanize your brand and product;
• You can demo a product for hundreds of people at the same time;
• After the webinar, you have clear statistics on who remained engaged for the whole session (and who left after a few minutes);

The game plan was this: pre-record the webinar with the host a few days in advance of the event. Follow this up on the day with a live Q&A session with the webinar host. 

The Appmixer Team chose from a list of webinar topics that we drew up, and then we prepared a script and a presentation template. The next step was to fill this script with technical information. 

When promoting a complex IT product, it’s essential to explain what it is and how it works during the webinar. Afterward, we got a video production professional to polish the webinar recording to gleaming perfection.

We started the promotion of the campaign two weeks before the event.

It included:

• Organic posting on company’s profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter;
• Organic posting on the Personal Profile of the host;
• Paid promotion on LinkedIn Cold traffic;
• Paid promotion on Facebook Warm traffic;
• Two Newsletters to the existing database;
• LinkedIn Event. 

So here is how the funnel looked like:

For paid promotion, we already had a targeted niche. However, in the case of super narrow audiences, it’s best not to rely on just this one source. 

If you cast your mind back to the start of the project, you’ll recall that we started LinkedIn Growth for Personal profiles. Our plan was to have more than 50% of leads coming from organic sources.

What really made the difference in organic performance was the LinkedIn Event which allowed us to convert LinkedIn Connections into Sales Leads. Here is how it played out:

Step #1 – Create a company event

Write powerful copy for the event description remembering to mention the date, time, timezone, and who is speaking.

Step #2 – Publish the first post to invite LinkedIn attendees to register for the webinar

Just because someone says that they are going to attend the LinkedIn Event doesn’t mean that they will register. So we need to invite them.

Step #3 – Send invites from Personal profile

And here we go with the “aha” moment. LinkedIn allows you to send free invites to all your connections in a few clicks. And that’s not just annoying messages but notifications on your phone. That’s when our LinkedIn Growth efforts paid off.
Also, LinkedIn will send reminders to attendees via the Notifications tab 7 days before, 3 days before, and on the day of your event.

Step #4 – Convert LinkedIn Event Attendees into real marketing leads.

With a critical mass inside your LinkedIn Event, it’s time to take care of real webinar registrants. Write another post inside the event, but this time use the option for ‘Notifying LinkedIn Attendees’ about the post. They will receive a notification with a reminder to register for the webinar.

ATTENTION HERE: You can only use the ‘Notify Attendees’ option twice per week. So plan accordingly. 

Step #5 – Make the last call

You’ve got a list of LinkedIn Event attendees who weren’t registered for the webinar. So your next task is to remind them to do this (otherwise they won’t receive their personal link to the broadcast).

How? By using LinkedIn private messages from the Webinar Host’s profile. Usually, if you receive a cold message from someone on LinkedIn you ignore it. In this case, the webinar speaker is known to the target audience, so instead of spam, they are receiving a notice to attend the webinar and get the necessary information.

Step #6 – Monitor your LinkedIn Event Chat during the event

Someone will definitely ask in an event chat “HOW DO I RECEIVE A LINK TO THE BROADCAST?”. So, be ready to send them a link to ensure they get the best experience (as we did for the Appmixer webinar).

How do you make your LinkedIn Profile grow on its own? Use Phantombuster Automations! All you need is a LinkedIn Sales Navigator profile and Phantombuster Subscription. 

Start by defining your target audience including the industry, company headcount, job title, and any other filter you see in the LinkedIn Sales Navigator Dashboard.

Step #1 – Input your criteria in the LinkedIn Sales Navigator Search

Step #2 – Copy the link and paste it into the Phantombuster Search Export tool

That will generate a .csv file with all the leads that meet your persona’s requirements. Now for the clever part: converting these links to your leads’ Sales Navigator personal profiles into LinkedIn links. 

Step #3 –  Convert the links in the .csv file 

The hardest part of this step is being patient and not giving in to the urge to send requests manually! 

Upload your file to the Phantombuster Sales Navigator URL Converter and go make a coffee. In a few minutes, you will have a list of your potential clients.

Step #4 – Setup automated requests sender

Launching Phantombuster Network Booster allows you to send 10-15 requests every day automatically. So, in 1-2 months you will have a LinkedIn profile full of relevant juicy leads waiting for your invitation to a Webinar or Conference! (see step 7 above 🙂 )