Direct messaging on LinkedIn is your key to unlocking new leads

In all fairness, Linkedin direct messaging feels like a bit of spam. Yes, the right way is to connect with people and then interact with their content first, comment on the post they are making. Like their posts. Post the content related to your service on your profile. Call me shy or whatever, but it really gives me chills for sending someone-I-dont-know message over any platform and that too for business.

I don't think LinkedIn personal messaging is spam. It's one of the ways to connect to new people and businesses who like to connect with you or who are working in your niche. It's one of the techniques to reach more people for the branding of your products or services.

I get pitches on LinkedIn via direct messages on a "constant" basis now as my connection numbers grow. I've actually been a LinkedIn member since 2009 but really was completely dormant on the platform until July of 2019. For years, I would occasionly log-in to approve connection requests which were primarily all from within the domain name industry (because my profile pretty much just listed domain names). Occasionly I would get messaged a list of someones domain names but not often (usually always crappy names I wouldn't ever bother registering). Last year, I saw Mandy McEwen post here on the Warrior Forum the positive results she was getting on LinkedIn for her business (followed up by her upcoming Warrior Weekly Deal). I decided I should start becoming more active on LinkedIn myself... primarily for getting re-involved in a direct sales company after a long time away. I paid attention to her advice on optimizing your LinkedIn profile.

Now many would think that the majority of pitches in my message box would be from people involved in other direct sales companies (MLM) but that isn't the case even though I do get pitched on network marketing lead generation programs every once in a while. The most frequent pitches I get are from web service companies (SEO, web design) telling me how they can help me grow my websites. Another common one is people contacting me who specialize in CBD marketing because CBD is a major product line for the company I promote & prominent in my profile. I don't think most read my profile "About" section.

Here are a couple direct message pitches from the last few days - "I'm launching a pilot program for a brand new marketing solution we created specifically for Cannabis and CBD companies. The solution pairs original viral video content and our proprietary AI influencer platform to produce phenomenal results. This solution drives revenue and builds brand simultaneously. Our first movers have seen up to 5x ROI on their campaigns! I would love the opportunity to learn more about your business, your challenges & goals to see if there's a fit. What is your schedule like to connect over the next week or so?" or "Congrats on navigating the legal nightmare that is selling CBD Oil. Now for the hard part; marketing it! I've got the legal know-how and selling chops to market any and all CBD based products WITH a specialty in Brand Marketing. DM for a quick 15 min call for more info."

So with these people I just pitch them right back - "Hi _______, If you seriously are producing results for CBD companies than don't worry about growing my business. Start growing your own CBD business. The company's system I work with caused sales to grow 900% in 2018 to $100 million in sales (2019 sales numbers not yet out). Anyway - take the tour of the system at "my link"

I need to be more consistent on LinkedIn to be honest to start getting better results with attraction marketing but have had a few people check out my CBD business but it wasn't from me sending them a direct message. They actually went through my profile either after seeing something I posted or via LinkedIn search. I'm more consistent on Twitter & Facebook but I know that LinkedIn is an ideal route to connect with professionals. I really need to step up my social game everywhere to be honest.

So anyway - the growing amount of direct messages on LinkedIn asking for 15 minutes of my time on the phone for whatever reason are getting tiresome & annoying. However not all direct messages are pitches and actually are from people who are building relationships or are curious on what I'm involved with. Some may laugh at this but I list Sasquatch research on my LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook profiles... which is the subject of many direct messages I get. What happens when I get non-pitchy direct messages? I often view their profiles to find out more about what they do.

Now as I type out this post, I begin to think "You know I should reach out on LinkedIn to company decision makers via direct message for some of my exact match domain names..."


Larry

I think Linkedin messaging done well can be super-effective. But you really need to not be super generic about your messages. No one wants to see a stock message from anyone... With that said, what do you guys feel about scalability? It's pretty time consuming to have to write a message for each lead

I have found contacting these decision-makers on LinkedIn has been quite tough and have had 0 success as of yet. It's just so difficult to know where they are in the sales funnel, what to pitch as you do not the exact pain point out of a few it could be or if they are even looking for a solution. People have come back to comment on the title of the email, which they seem to like or to say sorry we already have a company helping us. I do feel like I am spamming them and always inwardly cringe as I press send!

I have found that writing engaging articles (not just posts) to be a great way to stand out on the platform, demonstrate your expertise, and get visibility with your target audience. Usually I get prospects near the beginning of the sales cycle with this strategy.

It is essential to have a profile detailing relevant experience including links to your website, testimonials, etc for this to be effective.

I also do get a lot of DMs, (mostly from sales marketers), but this opens up dialog which often leads to either selling my own products or obtaining referrals. Getting DM is annoying unless you can provide value before the pitch.

Here's what I'm doing on Linkedin:
1) Connect with decision-makers who are in the same groups as you are.
2) Thank them for connecting and saying that if they ever need consultation in my field, then to contact me.
3) As the list of connections grows larger, I create posts about my field which they see in their feeds.

They contact me for help. I don't pitch them anything.

The cons of linkedIn direct messages -it is hard to scale and managing it. But this method is better than nothing.