LinkedIn Sales Navigator: A Business Guide

LinkedIn has changed the way that over 740 businesses connect with each other and other professionals.

It is a hugely valuable social media platform in the B2B marketing space.

Although LinkedIn has proved a success so far, they have also brought out a more advanced feature called ‘LinkedIn Sales Navigator’ that can help businesses to find their ideal customers.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers the ability to filter down your criteria and narrow your searches – helping businesses find their ideal customer profiles. This means that small businesses now have the ability to generate more leads for their work, without having to search through millions of people.

For those of you who are wondering, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium feature that helps businesses to generate more leads by targeting specific profiles. It is a powerful collection of search abilities, added visibility to extended networks and personalised algorithms that help you connect with decision makers.

Put simply, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a social selling platform that offers businesses a multitude of additional features that can help them find and build relationships with potential prospects. It simplifies the act of searching, contacting, and staying in touch with potential leads and prospects.

Sales Navigator provides you with information and useful insights that give businesses a much deeper understanding of their potential customers and leads.

This means that you can connect with prospects on a more personal level, by offering tailored content and messaging.

If you work in the B2B space and want better leads, then LinkedIn sales navigator is for you.

The paid feature has various subscription options for individuals, teams and enterprises, depending on the size of your company and your goals. The LinkedIn website shares details of all 3 packages.

Lead builder

If you are looking to increase your prospect list, then this feature will work wonders. With Saved Searches, you are able to create customised lists based on geography, industry, company, title, function and relationship.

You can then filter results by:

• Changed jobs in past 90 days
• Been active on LinkedIn (in last 30 days)
• Work Experience
• People that follow your page on LinkedIn

And to make this even better, you will be notified about any new leads that come through – so you don’t have to be on your phone all day!

InMail

The InMail feature allows you to contact people on LinkedIn even if you haven’t yet connected with them. This opens up so much more opportunity for small businesses to grow and expand their reach. It is really easy to use and comes with additional benefits of read receipts and insights as to how many of your messages were actually opened: a similar strategy to email marketing.

CRM Integration

Another appreciated benefit of Sales Navigator is the ability to integrate a CRM system. If you regularly use Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, you can use the Sales Navigator CRM to view and display your key LinkedIn information. If your CRM is an integral part of your business marketing, Sales Navigator will make your life so much easier. You are able to have all of the information in one place, meaning there’s no longer the need to keep switching between tabs!

Smart Links

This is definitely one of the most helpful benefits of LinkedIn sales navigator. A Smart Link is a direct link to an external document for example, a word doc, pdf or CSV file. You can insert these links into your InMail messages, making it so much easier and more likely that your prospects will actually open the document.

No Commercial Use Limits

Although the free version of LinkedIn is revolutionary to how businesses now market themselves, it does still have its drawbacks. The free version of LinkedIn has a commercial use limit placed on your account. If you really want to up-level your digital marketing and generate serious leads, you need to upgrade to LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Ability to Send More Connection Requests

Users of the free version of LinkedIn are only allowed a certain number of connections each day. As a general rule of thumb, LinkedIn recommend no more than up to 50 connection requests per day.

LinkedIn is monitored by intelligent algorithms that can detect if you exceed this amount, and you risk getting your account banned or suspended.

With LinkedIn Sales Navigator, your profile is permitted to send up to 200-225 connection requests per day – opening up the opportunity extend your daily reach and contact more business prospects.

Unlimited Search Results

LinkedIn Sales Navigator customers are able to submit an unlimited amount of search results per day. This allows businesses to alter search criteria most effectively and find the best leads.