How do I find my ideal clients on LinkedIn?
Most business educators and experts live their life in the land of telling you how to “make sales.”
This is how you price your offers for profit!
This is how you totally crush a sales call!
This is the way you can maximize your time so you can make more money!
But what if you’re not sure how to FIND your ideal clients in the first place?
Or maybe you’ve found them before on the platform you’ve mastered (let’s say Instagram or Facebook), but you feel like there could be another pool of clients waiting for you on an untapped platform (like LinkedIn!).
Well, good news. There ARE ideal clients waiting for you to show up and give your unique version of “value” on LinkedIn. But with new platform overwhelm, how the heck do you actually find them?
That’s what I want to walk you through in today’s blog post!
How and Where to Find Your Ideal Clients on LinkedIn
Now, believe me or not, but I’d argue it’s A LOT easier to find your ideal clients on LinkedIn than any other social media platform, especially if you use these tips.
Tip #1: Know your goals.
Maybe you’ve heard the advice before, “Know before you go” and it applies to LinkedIn strategy, too. What is your intention with the platform? Are you looking to fill your pipeline of leads for more sales? Do you want to fill your pipeline with relationships that might help you network and expand the opportunities you have? Do you want to create a list of folks who would love to come work for you when open the next job opening? What is the purpose + intention that you have for LinkedIn? Know that first.
And if you’re a little stumped on what exactly COULD come from LinkedIn, head to this blog post to find out 4 unexpected opportunities that MIGHT come to you when you invest your time strategically in the platform!
Now, I do know if you’re here, you’re curious about getting leads and sales from LinkedIn, and that comes from knowing WHO you’re going after.
So, what does your “ideal client avatar” mean?
This definition is a little different when it comes to LinkedIn than what you may have learned about your ICA on platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Most times when someone is doing ideal client avatar work, they’re looking at where they shop, what iced coffee drinks they like, are they a dog lover, etc?
These are things that may or may not pertain to finding and searching people on Instagram, but on LinkedIn, we’re looking for something different.
Here’s how you can break down your ideal client avatar when it comes to either current clients or past clients and then how you can analyze them through a new lens so that you can find NEW clients on LinkedIn.
Look at your current or past clients.
What is their career backstory? Do they have any similar skill sets or job titles that you can really lean into when it comes to the people you serve and help with your product or service?
Are they sales people? Marketing people? Are they usually former engineers? Can you categorize them in any way? This is a really good place to start when it comes to finding your ideal clients on LinkedIn.
Tip #2: Know exactly who your ICA is in the context of LinkedIn profile data.
So let’s say you know EXACTLY who you serve, and you’ve found that almost every person you’ve worked with successfully has come from a sales background, or maybe a recruiting background. Great! Now all you need to do is go seek out the people with that listed in their profile by simply searching on LinkedIn. Yep, it’s THAT EASY.
Tip #3: Get involved.
The third way to find your ideal clients on LinkedIn can both function as an initial visibility tactic, but also a LONG GAME when it comes to getting more leads and sales from the platform. And that’s to GET INVOLVED in different communities, types of people, and conversations via LinkedIn groups or posts.
Your only job is to meaningfully engage. As you start to plug in, you’ll begin building solid relationships. And I highly recommend meeting with individuals whenever you can and getting to know them and their story better. You never know what these conversations are going to lead to.
Afraid your audience is NOT full of ideal clients? DON’T DO THIS!
You may be concerned that your experiences or connections in a previous stage of your life no longer serve your business, or maybe you just think that your audience is likely not interested in the content you’re gonna be making. I get it. Most of us created our profiles in college and never looked back. Even so, I still don’t recommend deleting connections. That’s actually one of the WORST things we can do.
Why?
Well, first of all, we wanna make sure we stay above that 500 connections mark because it will help the algorithm and your content.
But, secondly, we just never know WHO in our current audience is actually an ideal client for our business down the road.
The third thing to think about when it comes to LinkedIn, specifically is: who in their network might see your content that might be an ideal client of yours?
Don’t waste any traction you may be able to gain from connections you’ve already made. Instead, I want you to just build strategically moving forward. Post thought-provoking content that’s true to the value you provide your clients and customers, and the right people will come into your path.
So, remember, if you’re searching for your ideal clients on LinkedIn, think about the skill sets and past history your most ideal clients have that are similar or aligned. This will allow you to search for those common profile attributes, and basically “duplicate” your ideal clients through posting and engaging with the right people on LinkedIn.
Does this sound doable to you? What are your hesitations when it comes to believing you can find your most ideal clients on LinkedIn? I’d love to know!
P.S. If you’re interested in getting leads and sales on LinkedIn, but you don’t want to do the strategy, posting, or engaging on your own, I’d love to chat and see if our agency could take that off your hands! Click here to find out what our agency does and how it can help you grow your business and brand.
