The power of LinkedIn is known and recognized by marketers and salespeople. LinkedIn is a single central platform which has users and potential customers communicating with each other and interacting with the content shared. The potential that it brings for engaging a wider customer base and for B2B communication to take place effectively is undeniable. It is important to know how to best utilize this platform for successful prospecting.
Hooking The Prospect With Engaging Content
A great way to approach customers and prospects is to first establish your credibility. After your LinkedIn profile is optimized perfectly and checks all the boxes, you should connect with your prospects. It is good to always write a personalized message along with the connection request to showcase and highlight the ‘human’ aspect of your business. People get dozens to hundreds of messages and connection requests in a day, it is important to make yours stand out from the rest.
The first few lines of your message should be impactful and leave an impression of the reader. However, you should not exaggerate or elaborate the content of your message to the extent that your message gets lost in translation. People are busy and have different priorities. It is your job as a sales professional to make sure that your message is clear and concise so their time is not wasted reading it. Spruce up your LinkedIn message by giving it some personality or making it engaging and interesting.
This blog aims to help you understand the importance of LinkedIn message hooks and how to write diverse hooks according to the event and situation at hand.
Event Based Hooks
There are multiple events around the year and a vast variety of occasions that may arise in a prospect’s personal life. As a salesperson trying to generate leads and successfully convert them, you need to be mindful of these. Here the hooks will play a great role.
There are different ways to open your message with a specific hook to reel in the interest of the potential prospect. Examples of some event-based hooks for messages are below:
New employee: You can start off by saying something along the lines of; ‘I saw on LinkedIn that you recently joined Visa as their director for sales operations, congratulations on the new role!’
Hiring: An example of this hook is, ’I see that you have quite a few sales operations positions open and thought I would reach out.’
Responsibilities: Get their interest by being direct about how you can address any issues they are facing or any opportunity they are on the lookout for. For example: ‘I saw on LinkedIn that you are heading sales ops at Visa and are looking for ways to streamline CRM.’
Achievements: Congratulate prospects on any achievements they gain. For example: ‘I just saw on my news feed that you won the XYZ award for ABC!’
Funding: Target specific events and milestones in your message hooks to get the conversation going. For example: ‘I just read in The Wall Street Journal that (company name) recently raised $100 million in funding, congratulations!’
Expertise: Encourage and appreciate the development and growth of skills by the prospect. For example: ‘I saw your recent blog post about ramping up your recruiting efforts for 2021. Congratulations on the growth!’
Event: Follow up with the people that you connect with and interact with at events to culminate a mutual business relationship. For example: ‘It was great connecting with you at (event name)!’
News: If there is any news that concerns the prospect and you, use it as a chance to create a conversation and connect with them. For example: ‘I just saw news on the improving investment climate of the market in (industry name). I would like to discuss and get your expert opinion on what this entails for field professionals.’
Location: If your prospect is present in the same city then you can try to set up a meeting with them to talk in detail about how you can add value to their lives and help them through your product and skill.For example: ’I noticed that we are located in the same city so I wanted to ask if you were free to meet on Friday at 1pm for lunch to discuss your expertise and impressive knowledge on increasing prospect conversion for sales.’
COVID: COVID-19 has drastically impacted business operations all around the world. It has become a common pain point for people, with many trying to find ways to minimize the damage they take on. You can use this common ground to connect and build a relationship with your prospect. For example: ‘Your recent post impressed me because of how your company took on the challenge brought upon by COVID-19 to set up an effective work-from-home strategy to reduce losses.’
Conclusion
With the changing times and needs, it has become imperative for sales professionals to keep up and adapt accordingly. To beat out the competition and get a higher conversion rate of prospects, elevate the quality of your LinkedIn messages. Communicating with the prospects, whether for connecting or to further build the relationship, requires you to keep in contact with them. With these hooks part of your message’s structures, you are good to go!