Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by or connected with LinkedIn in any way.


Some might say generating leads on LinkedIn is easy— and it is, but with LinkedIn Advanced Search. With it, you can find, filter, and connect with the right prospects faster than ever. We’ve tested its efficiency, and based on our results, in this blog, we’ll show you the art of LinkedIn prospecting using advanced search and also talk about:

Let’s dive in!


LinkedIn Advanced Search in sales, marketing & recruiting

LinkedIn Advanced Search is now a must-have tool for sales teams, marketers, and recruiters who need precision targeting to connect with the right leads faster. These search filters refine results by job title, industry, company size, and location so all professionals can streamline lead generation and improve conversion rates.

You can use these filters to cut through the noise, and if you master LinkedIn Advanced Search and its filters correctly, you can optimize outreach and drive real results. Here’s how:

  1. For sales teams, this means identifying high-value prospects efficiently
  2. Marketers can use LinkedIn’s data to reach engaged audiences.
  3. Finally, recruiters can enhance their recruitment strategy by pinpointing top talent with the right skills and experience.

Basic LinkedIn Search is a broad, surface-level view of profiles, jobs, and companies. With Basic Search, you can only search by name, keyword, or company. This search lacks precision targeting options. From our research, if you still want to use Basic, it’s good for quick lookups, but otherwise, it’s ineffective for lead generation or recruitment strategies.

In short, Basic Search is broad and limited, and Advanced Search is more detailed and optimized for targeted outreach. So, if you’re looking for efficient lead generation and recruitment success, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about LinkedIn Advanced Search filters.


LinkedIn Advanced Search filters

To find the right prospect, LinkedIn’s powerful search engine lets you use all kinds of filters: job title filters, experience and skills filters, industry filters, and location filters to spot top leads. This could be useful for sourcing candidate profiles or pinpointing potential leads for sales. 

Advanced users can also see company headcount to focus on businesses of a specific size and integrate results with a CRM extension to streamline outreach further. So, let’s look into all 10 primary search filter options on LinkedIn and how to use the advanced filters that go with each, starting with the three most commonly used.


LinkedIn Advanced Search - Primary filters

#1 LinkedIn Advanced People search

People search helps you find professionals based on seniority level, experience, and education and according to your Ideal Customer Profile. This way, you’ll target the right candidates or leads faster, whether you’re looking for C-level executives, mid-level managers, or entry-level talent.

Now, to enhance your primary People search, you can use 13 advanced filters for more precision. Click “All filters” to unlock more options for this type of search. Let’s go over them one by one.


People search - All filter

Connections filter


People-search-Connections

Filters your search results by 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-degree connections.

💡: You should focus on 2nd-degree connections and ask mutual contacts for referrals if you want warm intros and better chances of outreach success. We’ve also tested the Connections of filter paired with 2nd-degree connections to find mutual contacts who can introduce you to high-value prospects.


Actively hiring filter



Shows people who are currently looking to fill roles in their company.

💡: We tested pairing the Actively Hiring filter with industry and location filters to identify hiring trends in specific sectors or regions. This indicates a budget boost or their need for a new tool/solution. Use this to optimize outreach and meet the right market demand.


Locations filter


People search - Locations filter

Want regional targeting? This filter narrows your search by city, state, or country.

💡: If you plan on expanding into new markets, filter searches by location to target prospects within a specific region. We also recommend using geo-specific insights in your outreach flow. For example, you could highlight local case studies or industry reports to build trust in a specific region.


Current company filter


People search - Current company

This filter gives you prospects who work at a specific company, which is perfect for account-based marketing strategies and account lead generation.

💡: If you’re selling B2B solutions, you can use this filter to target employees at specific companies already in your pipeline and who match your ICP. Another thing we tried was to find recently promoted employees in target companies. We discovered that new decision-makers are often more open to new solutions.


Connections of


People search - Connections of

It finds people connected to a specific LinkedIn user, which is useful for network-based outreach.

💡: We used this filter to break into a new industry, find and engage with connections of a well-respected leader to leverage their credibility.


Followers of filter


People search - Followers of

These are users that follow a specific LinkedIn page, a company, or an influencer.
💡: If you want to target potential customers who follow a competitor’s company page, you can find and engage with them to offer your solution instead. Also, if you’re selling a product or a service that influencers might use, try engaging with them. From our experience, they’re more responsive, as they are aware of industry pain points and would potentially benefit from your services/solution. Or, they might want to agree to influencer campaigns with you and market your solution/services to their audience. Either way, it’s a win-win.


Past company filter


People search - Past company

Finds people who worked at a specific company - useful for tracking job changes.

💡: If your customer churned, and switched companies in the meantime, this signals a potential for collaboration renewal. For example, we’ve used this filter to reach out to past customers who switched jobs. We figured they might need our services at their new company.

School filter

People search - School filter

Filters people from your search by university or educational background, which is perfect for alumni networking.

💡: Same educational background is a perfect conversation starter in outreach. 

Industry filter

People search - Industry filter

This filter targets users based on their current industry.

💡: If you’re in B2B sales, this is one of the most important filters for you. It also helps you personalize outreach with industry-specific pain points and success stories.

Profile language filter

People search - Profile language

Shows you people with profiles in a specific language - perfect for localized outreach.

💡 Use this filter to break into new regions. Make sure to personalize your messages for different cultural expectations. Also, from our experience, if you speak the language in question, you should use it in outreach, as these prospects react better to their native languages.

People search - Open to

Use this filter to identify people open to new roles, consulting, or collaboration.

💡: Recruiters can easily filter their lists and find Open to Work professionals, which makes hiring faster and easier.

Service categories filter

People search - Service categories

This filter finds freelancers and consultants that offer specific services.

💡: This comes in handy for recruiters if they’re outsourcing specific work. If you sell tools to marketing agencies, coaches, legal firms, consultants, etc., you can use this filter to target businesses that offer those exact services.

Keywords filter

People search - Keywords

Finally, for highly targeted results, use the keywords filter to find specific words within profiles, headlines, or job descriptions.

💡: We’ve used Boolean search within keyword searches (e.g., “AI AND Automation NOT Internship”) to refine search results further.

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#2 LinkedIn Advanced Companies search

If you’re looking for high-potential businesses, you can filter them by industry, hiring trends, and growth metrics in the Companies search on LinkedIn. Use it to target companies that are:

For precision targeting, use 5 advanced filters. Click “All filters” to see more options for Companies search.

Companies search - All filters

Company size filter

Companies search - Company size

Are you looking to target startups, mid-size businesses, or enterprise companies? This filter is for you.

💡: Now that you’ve found the right companies by size, look into your ICP and use other filters to zero in on your perfect leads.

Job listings on LinkedIn filter

Companies search - Job listings on LinkedIn

This filter signals growth, investment, or restructuring.

💡: Use this filter to find the types of roles they’re hiring for. If they’re expanding sales or marketing teams, they may need lead generation tools.

Locations filter

Companies search - Locations filter

Filter desired businesses by geography for localized targeting options.

💡: If you want to locate business expansion in certain regions, we recommend you combine the Locations filter with the Job listings & Company size filters to spot potential headcount growth. This is where you have an opportunity to sell your product.

Industry filter

Companies search - Industry filter

This filter helps you filter leads from relevant industries.

💡: Before you begin your outreach, we recommend you research specific industry pain points and then use that to personalize your pitch.

Connections

Companies-search-Connections

This helpful filter shows you businesses where you have 1st or 2nd-degree connections.

💡: Our advice is to engage with your connections' content first before reaching out. This will make the connections warmer and more sincere.

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#3 LinkedIn Advanced Job search

Attention recruiters, sales teams, and job seekers! Job search is here to help with sourcing top talent and targeting hiring companies for B2B outreach. You can use it to track:

For precision targeting, use 17 advanced filters. Once again, click “All filters” to see more options.

Job search - All filters

Sort by & Date posted

Job search - Sort by & Date posted

First off, you can sort your search by Most recent and Most relevant. Also, you can set a timeframe for your search for additional precision.

Experience level

Job search - Experience level

From entry-level to executive roles, this filter shows jobs based on necessary experience.

💡: Sales teams can spot companies hiring executive decision-makers, which usually signals high-ticket deals.

Company

Job search - Company

This filter narrows job listings to specific companies. This is great for account-based hiring or sales targeting.

💡: If you pair this with the Actively Hiring filter, it will help you reach out to businesses that invest in team growth.

Job type

Job search - Job type

You can use this advanced filter to sort jobs by full-time, part-time, contract, internship, or temporary positions.

💡: Job seekers will appreciate this filter and can combine it with others to get better search results for their dream job. 

Remote

Job search - Remote

This filter shows only remote-friendly jobs, which makes it easier to find global job seekers and remote-first companies.

💡: What we noticed when testing these filter is that sales teams can use it to identify companies that expand internationally without physical offices. This signals a demand for cloud-based business solutions.

Location

Job search - Location

Use it to filter job postings by city, state, or country. This is useful for geographic-based hiring and expansion tracking.

💡: If you’re looking for a job, you should consider targeting companies in fast-growing markets for better negotiating power.

Industry

This filters jobs by industry.

💡: If you're selling industry-specific software or services, you should filter your search by healthcare, finance, or tech industries. This will make your outreach highly relevant.

Job function

Job search - Job function

Sorts job postings by departments.

💡: If you're selling B2B software to, for example, marketers or sales teams, use this filter to search for companies that are hiring for sales or marketing roles. In other words, hiring indicates that they either had a budget increase or they’re making a department change. From our experience such leads are more open to the conversation which gives you room to pitch your product, for example CRM, lead generation, or sales engagement tools and showcase how it can benefit their department.

Title

Job search - Title

This will show specific job titles, which can help sales prospecting.

💡: What we discovered after testing this filter is that sales teams can use it to track hiring patterns for decision-maker roles, for example if they are frequently searching for a c-level role or keep one job post up for months. This could signal a need for innovation - a new product or service.

Benefits

Job search - Benefits

You can use it to filter jobs based on benefits. This includes health insurance, paid time off, remote work, or signing bonuses.

💡: If you're a job-seeker, you can make sure to have a perfect work-life balance by prioritizing job listings with specific benefits.

Commitments

Job search - Commitments

If you’re looking for certain values in a hiring company, this is where you filter them.

💡: This filter is mostly useful for job seekers who prioritize specific values in their future careers. On the other hand, if your company offers a service from this list, for example seminars for the employees, you can use this filter to get a list of these companies that are investing in such service.

Additional Advanced filters for Job Search

Apart from the 11 advanced filters listed above, you can use 5 more toggle switch filters in Job search. You can decide if you want to turn them on or not by clicking the button next to it.

Job search - Toggle 2
Job search - Toggle 3

These toggle-switch filters are great for job seekers and  include:

Other LinkedIn Advanced Search filters for lead discovery

LinkedIn advanced search is a powerful way to pinpoint potential clients, candidates, and business partners with precision. But, besides the big three, People, Companies, and Job Search, you can also use 7 alternative search methods on LinkedIn and their advanced filters. You can use them for:

Let’s look at all of them one by one. 👇

Groups search

Group search - All filters

Using LinkedIn groups to find leads within engaged communities in your target industries. Using this filter is a great way to identify engaged prospects, build relationships, and position yourself as a trusted expert within a targeted niche audience.

Events search

Events search - All filters

Use the Events search to target & connect with event attendees of webinars, conferences, and networking events of your target audience/topic. This is a very useful and underrated way of connecting with engaged professionals, spotting warm leads, and joining real-time conversations that align with your sales or recruiting goals.

Services search

Services search - All filters

Services search is perfect for you if you want to find freelancers, consultants, and B2B service providers based on specific categories. It's ideal for businesses that want to outsource work or for sales teams to identify potential partners or clients offering complementary services within their ICP.

Here are the advanced filters that go with it:

  1. Service categories - These include: Consulting, Marketing, Coaching & Mentoring, Operations, Writing, and an option to Add service if it’s not listed here.
  2. Locations - By country, state, or region.
  3. Connections - It includes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connection options for further filtering.
  4. Profile language - It includes: English, Spanish, German, French & Portuguese.

Schools search

Schools search - All filters

If you want to target professionals based on their educational background, you can use the Schools search to do so. This is a great option, as our testing suggests that using a mutual experience can build faster connections with prospects.

Posts search

Posts search

If you want to identify trending industry topics for outreach or through leaders, you should definitely try the Posts search.

When filtering LinkedIn posts, these are the advanced filters you can use:

  1. Sort by - Two options are Top match or Latest.
  2. Date posted - Three options to choose from: Past 24 hours, Past week, and Past month.
  3. Content type - Choose from: Videos, Images, Job posts, Live videos, Documents, and Collaborative articles.
  4. From member - Lets you choose which member the post is from. You can Add a person’s name.
  5. From company - This lets you choose which companies the post is from. You can Add a company.
  6. Posted by - The options are: 1st connections, Me, People you follow.
  7. Mentioning member - You can even choose which member the post mentions.
  8. Mentioning company - You can choose the company that is mentioned in the posts you’re targeting.
  9. Author industry - You can also choose the industry of the author who wrote the post, which can help with precision targeting as well.
  10. Author company -  The same goes for the author's company as an added filtering method. 
  11. Author keywords - This advanced filter lets you enter keywords that the post you are targeting should contain.

Products search

Products search - All filters

Products search can help you explore software and services listed on companies’ LinkedIn pages. It can be useful fo sales and strategic outreach, but also:

Advanced filters that go along with this search are:

  1. Free version - Does the product offer a free plan.
  2. Product category - These include: Online Course Platforms, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software, Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS), Payment Processing Software, Simulation Software, or you can Add a category that’s not listed.
  3. Product company - You can filter your product search by company and find it more easily.

Courses search

Courses search - All filters

Use the Courses search to find LinkedIn learning courses that relate to a skill, industry, or job role. With this search, you can:

Additional filters include:

  1. Levels - Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
  2. Time to complete 
  3. Software
  4. Subjects and Topics
  5. Continuing Education Units

LinkedIn Advanced Search techniques for better targeting

Getting better results on LinkedIn isn’t just about using advanced search filters. It’s really about combining them with smart techniques that sharpen your focus. Using the right approach can save tremendous time and uncover higher-quality leads. But how do you do that? 

One of the most effective tactics is LinkedIn Boolean search.

Boolean search is a powerful method for refining LinkedIn searches using logic-based commands like AND, OR, and NOT. These LinkedIn search operators help you include or exclude terms, making your search results more precise.

By mastering Boolean logic, you can dramatically improve search refinement, especially when you're looking for very specific profiles or qualifications. Use Boolean search as a recruiter or sales rep and aim to reach the right people faster.

AND operator

Use AND when you want to narrow things down and find profiles that mention both terms you’re searching for. For example, if you type marketing AND automation, you’ll only see results that include both words.

OR operator

OR is great when you want to broaden your search and include more possibilities. Say you’re looking for someone in copywriting OR content writing—you’ll get results that mention either one.

NOT operator

Need to filter something out? Use NOT to exclude keywords—like if you search for developer NOT Java, you’ll skip all the Java developers and see everyone else.

Parenthesis

Parentheses help you organize your search when using multiple terms. So if you type marketing AND (B2B OR SaaS), LinkedIn will know to look for marketing folks in either B2B or SaaS.

Quotes

Use quotes when you want an exact match—super helpful for specific titles. Searching "sales manager" in quotes shows only profiles with that exact phrase, not just people with “sales” and “manager” somewhere random in their bio.

Search LinkedIn with other tools more effectively

Google search

LinkedIn is a powerful search engine on its own, but sometimes we need a little extra, especially if you don’t have a Premium account or you bumped into search limits. Here’s where Google search operators come in.

This is when we use tools like site:, in-title:, and quotation marks to search LinkedIn freely and even find hidden profiles and super-target your results. ✨

Use the site operator

Want to search only on LinkedIn through Google? No problem! Just use site:linkedin.com and add your keywords—like site:linkedin.com/in sales manager Germany. It’s a quick way to find public LinkedIn profiles without digging through the platform manually.

Use the in-title operator

The in-title: operator tells Google to look for your keyword in the page title (which usually includes someone’s name and job title). So if you type site:linkedin.com/in intitle:"data analyst", you’ll get people who actually have “data analyst” in their headline—not just mentioned somewhere in their profile.

Use quotation marks

Use quotation marks when you want Google to search for an exact phrase. For example, "UX designer" site:linkedin.com/in will show you only profiles with that exact job title, not random results with just “UX” or “designer” floating around separately.

Automation tools in LinkedIn lead sourcing

Let’s be honest; searching and clicking on LinkedIn - not so bad. But writing individual messages and sending them manually takes forever. That’s where sales automation tools come in to save hours (and your sanity). If you’re building lead lists, running outreach, or tracking replies, automation is here to help scale your efforts without losing your personal touch.

Copy LinkedIn URL

With LinkedIn advanced search filters, you don’t need scraping tools to get to your leads. You can precision-target your search and get to your audience faster. And then? Well, all you need to do is copy the search URL and go to your automation tool.

But which one? 

Skylead

Introducing Skylead, a sales engagement tool that uses a multichannel approach and Smart sequences to help save time on manual outreach and book three times more meetings with prospects. Now, let’s go over the campaign building process in Skylead. Get ready!


1. Go to your Account in Skylead, then in the Campaigns tab, click Create.

Skylead Campaign creation, Step 1

2. Then, on the campaign dashboard, select the LinkedIn search result campaign type, add the People search URL you’ve copied before, and click Next.

3. After clicking Next, you’ll land on the Campaign settings. This is where you adjust multichannel preferences, along with Global settings.

Skylead Campaign creation, Step 3

In the Email settings, you pick which email accounts Skylead should use to send your outreach. You can add an infinite number of email accounts at no extra cost. If you choose multiple emails, Skylead rotates them to keep your domains safe - a nifty feature called Inbox rotation. You can also set your sending schedule and choose how you want tracking to work.

Under LinkedIn settings, you decide whether Skylead should grab publicly available info from your leads and whether it should automatically refresh your search results.

When the refresh option is turned on, here’s how it works. For search URLs, Skylead reruns the same search after a set time and adds any new leads it finds to your campaign.

And finally, in Global settings, you’ll set your targeting rules and choose when you want your campaign to start running.

Skylead Campaign creation, step 4

4. Once you’re done setting up your campaign, hit Next, and you’ll land in the Smart Sequence builder. This is where the real magic happens—you can mix LinkedIn and email steps and add if/else conditions to maximize getting in touch with every possible lead. So if someone doesn’t reply on LinkedIn, no worries—Skylead follows up via email to keep the conversation going. It's all about hitting the right touch points at the right time.

Skylead Campaign creation, Step 5

After you’ve added your actions and conditions and built a sequence with those hyper-personalized messages that match your search findings, just hit Launch—and boom, your first Skylead campaign is live. From there, once your leads start replying, it’s your turn to jump in and take over the conversation.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions

How to overcome LinkedIn Advanced Search limits

Now, if you’ve ever been mid-search and suddenly hit a wall on LinkedIn, you’ve experienced a search limit. These limitations are not uncommon, and you’ll find them especially if you’re using a free account.

These restrictions impact:

If you know these limitations, you can plan your workflow smarter and avoid blocks. Here’s what each of them means:

  1. Commercial use limit - This happens when you view too many profiles or run too many searches in a short period of time on a free LinkedIn account. Once you hit this limit, you won’t be able to use search until next month. Want to upgrade to Premium? Here’s some advice on how to get LinkedIn Premium free.
  2. Search results limits - Free accounts can only see the first 100 profiles in search results, with 1000 searches a month. If your target is larger than this number, you’ll get to see only a small portion of it and miss out on good leads that might be further down the list. Premium accounts have unlimited people searches.
  3. Boolean Search limits - LinkedIn basic allows using Boolean search, but it restricts complex search queries. Too many operators can, in fact, trigger errors.

LinkedIn’s Search restriction workarounds

Okay, now that we know our limitations, let’s show you the workarounds. There are a few smart ways to help you see more results. Here are your options:

  1. Upgrade to a Premium account - If you’re working with high-volume outreach, our best advice is to upgrade to a Premium membership to unlock the full potential of LinkedIn advanced search filters.
  2. Use Sales Navigator filters or LinkedIn Recruiter -  These premium tools unlock even more advanced filters, unlimited profile viewing, and saved searches to keep your lead gen or recruiting on point.
  3. Maximize visibility within the limits - Have a solid search and outreach strategy, which means clear and focused search terms and a wise filter combination. Also, try to add value by stirring up engagement prior to outreach and stay active to show up higher in searches yourself..

FAQ

1. What are LinkedIn Premium Search filters?

If you have LinkedIn Premium, you can access all advanced filters in your regular search. Additionally, premium tools like Recruiter Lite and LinkedIn Sales Navigator also offer advanced filtering to search by seniority, company size, activity, and more, which is ideal for precise lead and candidate targeting.

2. Can I access LinkedIn Advanced Search filters without a Premium account?

Yes, LinkedIn's free search has limited filters, but you can use alternative search strategies like Boolean search or Google search operators as a workaround.

3. Can I do an Advanced Search on LinkedIn?

Yes. As long as you have a LinkedIn Premium subscription, follow a LinkedIn search guide, apply filters wisely, and use best practices like Boolean strings for more accuracy, and you’ll get more refined results.

4. Why use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search?

Because it boosts recruitment efficiency, enables targeted lead sourcing, and supports smarter sales prospecting by focusing only on high-fit profiles.

Ready for Faster Lead Gen?

We’re finally at the end of our LinkedIn Advanced filters journey, so now that we’ve covered each one and added use cases and advice from our insightful testing, only one question remains: Are you ready for faster lead generation with LinkedIn Advanced filters?

We now know that LinkedIn Advanced Search is a must for sales teams, marketers, and recruiters, but it could also be useful for job seekers. Add automated outreach and thoughtful lead management to that equation, and you get your desired result: faster lead generation and a more fail-proof outreach strategy.

By following our advice, you’ll get to experience these benefits:

  1. Precision targeting - Use LinkedIn advanced filters to target the right people, companies, and jobs with extra accuracy. 
  2. Smarter recruiting - You can build an effective recruitment strategy if you identify qualified candidates faster through experience, skills, and intent.
  3. Personalized outreach - You can use search insights and content discovery to tailor messages, which will help boost engagement rates.
  4. Free & premium tactics - Use the actionable insights from this guide for both LinkedIn free search users and LinkedIn premium users.

So, what are you waiting for? Search for those leads and start your smarter and faster lead gen today! And while you’re at it, register and try Skylead for 7 days, free of charge.

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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

In the fast-paced sales world, cold outreach is one thing, but keeping track of leads is another. While it may seem like a headache to look into lead activities, job changes, overall engagement, and buyer interests for outreach optimization, there’s still a way to track all this easily - LinkedIn Sales Navigator alerts.

In this blog, we’ll cover what we’ve learned by exploring and using LinkedIn Sales Navigator ourselves, and it includes the following:

Let’s dive in.


Sales Navigator masterclass banner with Relja, Skylead's CEO


What are Sales Navigator alerts?

Sales Navigator alerts help SDRs track all relevant lead activity, such as account updates, job changes, news mentions, buyer interest, and prospect interactions in real-time, which is all information that can be used to achieve effective sales efforts and further personalize outreach.

When Sales Navigator alerts are on, you can get timely insights on lead engagement. When we used these alerts, we’ve come to the conclusion that they can help tremendously with LinkedIn prospecting, sales engagement, and account management.


Where to find Sales Navigator alerts? 

There are three places where you can find Sales navigator alerts, and here’s why each place is unique. 


LinkedIn Sales Navigator dashboard

Of course, the first place to check is the Sales Navigator homepage. It represents the primary hub for lead and account alerts. When you log into your Sales Navigator account, here’s where you track updates about your:


Sales Navigator homepage - All alerts

We’re all fans of effective prospecting, so when we tested these alerts, we were aiming to get streamlined information about our saved leads and accounts. What’s helpful is that you can filter alerts by lead or account filters, your saved lists, and specific dates.


The LinkedIn App

If you’re on the go, you can also access Sales Navigator alerts through your LinkedIn app and Sales Navigator mobile app. For instant updates on lead and account activities, we’ve enabled push notifications. So if someone, let’s say, views your profile, you can reach out instantly while they still have you on your mind. In outreach, it’s important to strike while the iron is hot.


Sales Navigator mobile app, homepage

If you want to adjust your alerts according to your needs, just go to Settings in the app and change the things you need.


Your email inbox

Another way to amp up your lead tracking and stay updated without having to log into your LinkedIn accounts all the time is to get these alerts in your email inbox. You can have daily or weekly updates in your mail, with updates of your lead lists, account lists and saved searches.

After setting up real-time notification reports via email, we found that it can help speed up sales productivity. You can set up email preferences and frequency control yourself. We’ve explained the complete process in the How to set up email alerts on LinkedIn Sales Navigator? section below.


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Types of Sales Navigator Alerts You Should Know

Here are all the 30+ Sales Navigator alerts you can find on LinkedIn, sorted into types. Let’s explore each one and show you how we’ve used them for a more effective sales outreach strategy. 

We recommend saving leads from Sales Navigator alerts to Lead Lists. Later, we’ll explain why this is crucial for automated outreach.


Lead alerts

Lead alerts in Sales Navigator keep you informed about key prospect activities. With these alerts, you can track:

These alerts are of great help to SDRs because, thanks to them, you can reach out at the perfect moment, making sure you connect at the right time and have relevant conversations with potential buyers.


Sales Navigator New position alert

Here’s a great sales tactic that we’ve used in our sales strategy: use job change alerts as an icebreaker—when a lead moves to a new company or gets promoted, congratulate them and position your solution as a valuable tool in their new role. 


Example:

Hi {{firstName}},

Congrats on your new role at {{newCompany}}! 🎉 I wish you all the success in this new chapter.

As a {{currentPosition}}, I'm sure you’re swamped with new tasks, but what if I told you you could achieve results for your {{newCompany}} much faster?

I look forward to staying in touch!


Invite to connect example 1

Pair this alert with engagement alerts to prioritize warm leads who interact with your content, which will increase your response rate significantly.

Lead alerts
Lead Changed JobA saved lead just got a job at a new company.
Lead Changed RolesYour saved lead changed job titles in the same company.
Lead NewsA lead you’ve saved was mentioned in the news.
Lead SharesA saved lead shared their or someone else’s post on LinkedIn.
Recently Viewed LeadA recommendation to save a recently viewed profile as a lead.
Lead AssignedThis alert notifies you when a lead you've saved in Sales Navigator is officially assigned to a sales rep in your company's CRM. This means the lead is now part of an active sales opportunity, and a specific team member is responsible for managing their progress.
Sales Lead Submitted CRM FormThis alert notifies you when a saved lead (someone you’ve already tracked in Sales Navigator) fills out a lead form on your company’s website. For this to work, your company must have a Sales Navigator Advanced Plus plan and enable CRM Sync.

Account alerts

Account alerts in Sales Navigator help you monitor key updates from your saved accounts. With these alerts, you get to track:


Sales Navigator promotion alert

These alerts helped us stay ahead of major shifts in certain companies, which allowed us to adapt our outreach to a prospect’s evolving business. 

Here’s what we did. Every time a company received new funding or announced an expansion, we interpreted this as increased budgets and potential for investing in new solutions. So, you should use these alerts to reach out to business decision-makers with a personalized pitch that highlights how your product can support their recent growth and scaling efforts and company-wide changes.


Example:

Hi {{firstName}},

I saw that {{CompanyName}} recently {{secured funding/announced an expansion}}—congrats! 🚀 Growth like this often comes with new challenges and opportunities, and I’d love to connect and share insights on how [yourProduct] can help support {{result}}.

Looking forward to this connection!


Invite to connect example 2
Account alerts
Account NewsA company you saved was mentioned in an article published or shared on LinkedIn.
Account Funding NewsNews of received funding for a company you saved in an article published or shared on LinkedIn.
Account Shared UpdateA saved company shared an article, post, or photo or published an article on LinkedIn.
Account Preparing to GrowA company you saved increased the number of posted jobs on LinkedIn in the last 90 days.
Account Growth Your saved company had an employee increase in the last 90 days.
Talent Moving to Another AccountAn alert shows when a saved company's employees move to a new company.
LayoffsA saved company experiences layoffs.
Account Slowing GrowthA company from your saved list experienced a decrease in employee growth in the last 90 days.
Senior Hires at AccountA company you saved hired a new employee in a senior position or C-level position.
Account Decision MakersA recommendation to view decision makers at a recently saved or viewed account.
Account AssignedThis alert alert notifies you when a company you’ve saved is assigned to a sales rep in your CRM. This means the company is now part of an active sales opportunity, and a team member manages the relationship.

Buyer interest alerts

Buyer Interest Alerts in Sales Navigator notify you when a prospect views your profile, engages with your content in any way, or researches your company. They help you identify:

These alerts are signals of strong intent and point you to warm leads early on.

Now, when a decision-maker or influencer repeatedly interacts with your profile or company page, it’s a sign they’re considering your solution. So, instead of a generic pitch, you should use personalized outreach referencing the activity from the alert—acknowledge their interest and offer a relevant case study or value-driven insight as a conversation starter.


Example:

Hi {{firstName}},

I see you’ve checked our company page a few times recently—thanks for stopping by! 😊 It seems we share an interest in {{industry topic}}, so I’d love to connect.


Invite to connect, example 3
Buyer interest alerts
Lead Viewed ProfileA lead from your saved list has viewed your profile.
Lead Accepted Your Connections A saved lead accepted your connection request on LinkedIn.
Recently Viewed LeadA recommendation to save a recently viewed profile as a lead.
Potential Lead Viewed Your Profile A recommendation to save a lead who viewed your profile and works at a company in your saved accounts.
Lead Engaged with your ContentA saved lead engaged in your LinkedIn content (liked, shared, or commented). This alert applies to sponsored content and organic content, which is available for Advanced or Advanced Plus users.
Lead Viewed your Smart LinkA saved lead viewed your shared Smart Link.

Engagement alerts

Engagement Alerts in Sales Navigator notify you when a prospect interacts with your posts, shared content, or company updates–simply a prospect interacting with your content or company page. These alerts help SDRs identify active leads who are already aware of your brand. This signals that they will be more responsive to a warm, contextual outreach approach.

Here’s what we’ve tested so you can try it - when a lead likes or comments on your post, don’t just send a cold message. Instead, reply to their comment first to start a more natural conversation. Then, follow up with a personalized LinkedIn message, LinkedIn InMail, or email, where you’ll mention their engagement and give additional insights related to their interest.


Engagement alerts
New Shared ListsWhen a colleague on your Sales Navigator contact shares a list with you.
Comments Added to a Shared ListWhen a colleague on your Sales Navigator contact comments on your shared list.
Leads/Accounts Added to a Shared ListYour saved lead or account has been added to a shared list.
Leads/Accounts Removed from a Shared ListA lead or account you’ve saved has been removed from a shared list.
New Shared SearchesWhen a colleague on your Sales Navigator contact shares a search with you.

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How to set up email alerts on LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

To enjoy the perks of Sales Navigator alerts, you don’t have to log into your LinkedIn account constantly. You can set up email alerts. Here’s how:

  1. Open your Sales Navigator profile, click on your profile picture, and go to Settings.

Sales Navigator Email notification 1

2. Then, find the Email & Notification section and set your email preferences.


Sales Navigator Email notifications 2

In the Receive emails? tick the categories of emails you find useful for your sales outreach efforts.

Here’s what we also did when testing Sales Navigator alerts - for further accuracy, you can even add an email category or a dedicated label to your inbox to find these emails more easily and prioritize lead and account updates.


Inbox labels

With these email alerts, you can:

  1. Receive notifications for saved leads and account activities in real time and act accordingly
  2. Customize alert frequency and align them to your email preferences
  3. Use these emails to prioritize buyer interest alerts for a greater conversion rate.

How to set up LinkedIn Sales Navigator alerts?


The alert setup guide

Now, while we have you in your Sales Navigator settings, this is the place where you can set Sales Navigator alerts. Here’s how:


Sales Navigator, Notification & Alert preferences

Here’s where you set specific alerts that align with the needs of your sales outreach strategy.

You can also access these Settings from your Sales Navigator dashboard in the All alerts section by clicking here:


Sales Navigator, Settings

Advanced search filters used with alerts

But here’s how to get even more relevant alerts from Sales Navigator. Use Sales Navigator filters to refine your lead and account lists. Here’s how to use this trick:

Here’s a tested tip. We’ve used a lead filter like Posted on LinkedIn in the past 30 days to target active prospects who are more likely to engage, so you should try that, too.



Using Sales Navigator alerts for lead generation

Sales Navigator alerts do more than keep you informed—they help uncover new prospects, personalize outreach, and engage high-intent leads. Here’s how to use them for smarter lead generation.

When looking at these alerts, here’s what you could target:

  1. Recently promoted decision-makers - they will potentially rethink solutions in use
  2. Companies hiring for key roles - these are signs of growth and budget increases, and that’s where your solution pitch comes in
  3. Organizations expanding into new markets - this is a sign of a potential need for your product.

Sales Navigator alerts help you avoid cold and generic messaging in targeted outreach. You'll get better results if you use Sales Navigator alerts as icebreakers for prospecting. For example, after testing, we’ve concluded that combining job change alerts with company activity alerts helps target leads that are most likely to convert.

As we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s smart to save the leads that appear in these alerts in Sales Navigator Lead lists. The text below will show you why.


Sales Navigator outreach campaign in Skylead

Now that you know how and why it’s important to monitor Sales Navigator alerts, we’ll show you how to use this knowledge for the next step - automated outreach. Since we only speak from experience, after carefully testing every strategy, we can only guarantee results with the tool we used - Skylead. So, here’s how to use our tool to create a solid Sales Navigator outreach campaign.

  1. Go to your Account in Skylead, then in the Campaigns tab, click Create.

Skylead Sales Navigator campaign 1

2. Then, on the campaign dashboard, select the Sales Navigator leads list campaign type, add a URL from your desired Sales Navigator lead list, and click Next.


Skylead Sales Navigator campaign 2

Note that you can also use an Import campaign type. This is when you add a custom CSV file, which contains the basic information of the leads you’ve gathered according to your Sales Navigator alerts. Your CSV file should contain first and last name fields along with profileUrl at the minimum so Skylead can do its outreach magic.

3. After clicking Next, you’ll land on the Campaign settings. This is where you adjust Email and LinkedIn preferences, along with Global settings.

Skylead Sales Navigator Campaign 3

In Email settings, you set the desired emails from which Skylead sends outreach messages. Also, you can choose schedules and tracking preferences. 

LinkedIn settings let you choose whether you want Skylead to collect publicly available information and if you want to refresh your search results automatically. 

When enabled, the refresh feature runs in two ways depending on your lead source:

Finally, Global settings is where you adjust your targeting preferences and schedule your new campaign.

Skylead Sales Navigator campaign 4

After you finish setting up the campaign, click Next, and you’ll land on the Smart sequence builder. This is where you combine LinkedIn and email action with if/else conditions. This is how you reach your leads while maximizing touchpoints with them. If they don’t respond on LinkedIn, you’ll get them via email.

Sales Navigator campaign 5

After you’ve added your actions and conditions and built a sequence with hyper-personalized messages, click Launch, and you’ve just finished your first Skylead campaign. Once your leads reply, you take over the conversation.


What are buyer interest signals and why are they important for sales engagement?

Buyer interest signals show when prospects are actively researching solutions, engaging with content, or considering a purchase. They help you spot warm leads before your competitors do. Here are the signals you should be looking out for:

  1. Profile views - When a prospect checks your profile
  2. Content engagement - Likes, shares, or comments on your posts
  3. Company research - When multiple employees from a company view your profile.

Naturally, you should prioritize prospects who continuously engage with your content because they’re more likely to convert. Now, if you spot a warm lead, make sure to:


FAQs


1. How do I get Sales Navigator alerts?

To get your Sales Navigator alerts, save leads and accounts to lists, then configure your alerts in Settings > Email & Notifications. You can enable alerts for lead updates, account changes, and buyer interest. Also, you can view alerts on the Sales Navigator homepage, LinkedIn app, or via email notifications.


2. Are Sales Navigator alerts free?

Sales Navigator alerts are included in all LinkedIn Sales Navigator plans. However, advanced alerts like Buyer Interest Alerts might require Sales Navigator Advanced or Advanced Plus subscriptions. You can customize alerts for leads, accounts, and engagement without extra costs.


3. What are top sales leads?

Top sales leads are high-priority prospects with strong buyer intent, engagement, or decision-making power. They may have recent job role changes, company expansions, or interactions with your content. Sales Navigator helps identify these leads through lead filters, buyer interest alerts, and engagement tracking for better outreach and conversions.


4. What are Buyer Interest Alerts, and how do they work?

Buyer Interest Alerts in Sales Navigator notify you when prospects show signs of interest, like viewing your profile, interacting with your content, or researching your company. These alerts help identify high-intent leads early on, which helps with timely, personalized outreach to decision-makers and influencers in the buying process.


5. How to turn off Sales Navigator notifications?

To turn off Sales Navigator notifications, go to Settings > Email & Notifications in Sales Navigator. Disable unwanted alerts for leads, accounts, and buyer interest. In the LinkedIn app, go to Settings > Notifications to mute or customize push notifications.


Ready to boost sales engagement with Sales Navigator alerts?

As you can tell by now, Sales Navigator alerts can be a very powerful tool for effective sales outreach. If you combine alerts with the other Sales Navigator features, such as Advanced search filters and saved lead and account lists you can double up on your sales results. 

The trick is to remember to fine-tune your alerts based on your ideal customer profile (ICP) and sales strategy. Prioritize buyer interest signals, job changes, and engagement alerts to identify high-intent leads faster. Remember to:

By using alerts strategically, you’ll shorten your sales cycle, engage leads at the perfect moment, and increase conversion rates. This will give you a serious competitive edge.

Now, enough reading - go set up your Sales Navigator alerts and start turning real-time insights into sales opportunities!


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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

LinkedIn automation tools are the future of sales, and let me tell you why.

LinkedIn is a professional social media platform with over 1 billion users in more than 200 countries. It is used for B2B lead generation because its conversion rate is 3x better than that of any other social media platform. Moreover, the audience on LinkedIn has 2x buying power.

So, no wonder many sales teams use LinkedIn prospecting as their basis for targeting. After all, without LinkedIn, many sales executives would have a hard time generating B2B leads. Even marketers around the world use LinkedIn for B2B marketing lead generation. Not to mention recruiters who began using it to find top talents for their companies.

But as LinkedIn lead generation became the standard, it also became clear that doing it manually was time-consuming and not sustainable in the long run. People needed a smarter, faster way to perform their operative tasks, such as LinkedIn outreach. Thus, LinkedIn automation tools were born.

We actually built Skylead to help these individuals save 11+ hours a week on manual work so they can focus on what matters. Nurturing leads and closing deals.

Of course, the market has grown since we launched, and now there are plenty more tools that promise to automate outreach activities.

Interested in finding and using one yourself? Let us help you with that!

In this article, we cover the 18 most popular LinkedIn automation tools that we personally tested.

Tool ⚙️Audience score ⭐(per Capterra, G2, Software Advice)Pricing 🏷️
Skylead4.8 / 5.0A single plan costing $100/mo per seat
LinkedIn Sales Navigator4.5 / 5.0Starts from $99.99/mo
PhantomBuster4.5 / 5.0Starts from 69€/mo
TexAu4.2 / 5.0Starts from 79€/mo
Dux-Soup4.1 / 5.0Starts from $14.99/mo
LinkedHelper 24.8 / 5.0Starts from $15/mo
Zopto4.3 / 5.0Starts from $197/mo
MeetAlfred3.2 / 5.0Starts from $59/mo
Dripify4.6 / 5.0Starts from $59/mo
Expandi4.3 / 5.0A single plan costing $99/mo per seat
We-connect.io4.6 / 5.0Starts from $69/mo
Octopus CRM4.5 / 5.0Starts from $9.99/mo
Salesflow4.2 / 5.0Starts from 99€/mo
LinkedFusion4.3 / 5.0Starts from $65.95/mo
Lead Connect4.2 / 5.0Starts from $25.95/mo + Free plan available
Waalaxy4.5 / 5.0Starts from $88/mo
Salesloop3.5 / 5.0Starts from $49/mo + Free plan available
IFTTT4.6 / 5.0Starts from $3.49/mo + Free plan available

We’ll also introduce you to the types of LinkedIn automation tools available and explain how to choose the one for you.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with a Smart sequence and a quote that positions Skylead as a powerful LinkedIn automation tool for lead generation with the text ''Close 3x the leads with smart automation.


What is LinkedIn automation?

LinkedIn automation is a technology that tools use to perform different LinkedIn activities you would usually do manually. In other words, this technology automates the tasks, meaning it performs them on your behalf. These activities include LinkedIn profile views, sending connection requests, follow-up messages, or LinkedIn InMails.

LinkedIn automation serves for LinkedIn lead generation purposes. For example, you can build your LinkedIn network, make new connections, and outreach them on autopilot, or automate sharing gated posts.

In outreach terms, LinkedIn automation essentially recognizes your lead source, such as a LinkedIn search URL. It analyzes LinkedIn pages, performs actions according to your settings, and interacts with the selected LinkedIn users. Moreover, some LinkedIn automation tools can also search for publicly available information on your leads’ LinkedIn profiles. 

The best LinkedIn automation tools can even send personalized messages and images according to individual leads' information, which is available on LinkedIn. Also, they even use messaging sequences to send follow-up LinkedIn messages if the lead doesn’t respond.

Lastly, some tools can send bulk messages to all leads at once. However, this is something you need to be cautious of when it comes to safety. Don’t worry, though. We will talk about how the best LinkedIn automation tools do it below.


What are LinkedIn automation tools & why should you use them?

LinkedIn automation tools are software that use automation technology to automate LinkedIn activities. They take over time-consuming tasks like sending connection requests and messages, allowing you to focus on more important things.  In addition, they test and analyze your performance and show you what you need to improve. 

There are many more benefits other than the ones we just mentioned, though. 

So, let's go over the 6 most important ones.


Image of 6 benefits of using LinkedIn automation tools

1. LinkedIn automation tools save you time

By streamlining the most time-consuming LinkedIn activities, these tools really do save you time. That said, they can save you 11+ hours of work per week, depending on which one you choose.


2. They provide detailed reports

You can perform manual outreach by yourself. However, keep in mind that you would need to dig into reporting yourself, as well. The thing is, it can take you hours to gather and analyze the metrics. On the other hand, LinkedIn automation tools do all this on your behalf.


3. They give you the option to A/B test—everything

Depending on which LinkedIn automation tool you choose, you will have the option to A/B test your:

Then, you can see which versions work best and use them in your future outreach campaigns.


4. These tools help you personalize your outreach

LinkedIn automation tools can also help you send personalized messages at scale. In other words, these tools use custom variables that allow you to reach out to your leads in a more natural way.

Some also allow you to use personalized images and GIFs, which can help you increase the response rate by 76%.


5. They let you run multiple campaigns at the same time

If you have different Ideal Customer Profiles or Buyer Personas, you can run multiple outreach campaigns at the same time. This way, you can be more productive, as you don’t have to wait to finish with one target audience to reach out to another.


6. LinkedIn automation tools allow you to focus on building relationships

With the most time-consuming tasks delegated to these tools, your focus can be directed elsewhere. 

In other words, you now have time to focus on more crucial tasks such as:


Types of LinkedIn automation tools

Not every LinkedIn automation software is built the same way.

Based on their infrastructure, there are a total of 4 types of LinkedIn automation tools:

A cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool store everything online. This also means such software can run even when your PC is off. What’s more, only cloud-based software can have multiple accounts and integrated inboxes

Extensions, desktop apps, and web browsers often leads to bulk messaging, which can be risky. They also don’t support managing multiple LinkedIn accounts, and your computer needs to stay on for campaigns to keep running.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


Should I use a LinkedIn automation Chrome extension? 

No. While LinkedIn automation tools based on Chrome extensions might be cheaper, they come with significant risks. These extensions are not safe as they inject code directly into LinkedIn, making it much easier for the platform to detect automation. If caught, you could get your LinkedIn account restricted permanently.

Web browsers and desktop apps are slightly safer than Chrome extensions since they don’t inject code into LinkedIn. However, they still lack the advanced features and security that cloud-based tools offer. Thus, if you’re looking for safety and functionality, cloud-based options are the way to go.


What should you look for in a LinkedIn automation tool?

When selecting a LinkedIn automation tool, it’s important to know which features will best support your outreach efforts.

So, here is what you need to consider when choosing the best LinkedIn automation tool for yourself.


1. Drip campaign functionality

Some LinkedIn automation tools help you send messages and follow-ups in form of drip campaigns. However, what you need to look out for are the outreach flows that have if/else conditions feature so you can combine them with other actions. This way, you can let tool follow your leads' behavior and act accordingly.


2. Hyper-personalized messaging

Think LinkedIn automation means losing the ability to send personalized messages? Think again. The best LinkedIn automation tools have gone above and beyond to make personalization easy and effective—and they’ve nailed it.

For example, if you wish to personalize the text of your follow-up messages, you can use native variables such as:

Moreover, some tools even let you create custom variables, giving you even greater control over your messaging. This way, your outreach stays personal, even when it’s automated.


3. Automatic stop feature when prospects reply

Worried about tools continuing to send messages even after a prospect responds? Don’t be. The best LinkedIn automation tools automatically stop follow-ups as soon as a lead replies. This lets you jump into the conversation or move them into another campaign without any awkward overlaps. So, keep this feature in mind when choosing the right tool for your needs.


4. Image & GIF Personalization

You can hyper-personalize your Images and GIFs with some tools, as well. And it’s worth it—this kind of personalization has been shown to boost response rates by up to 76%.

In the upcoming list of the best LinkedIn automation tools, we’ll highlight which ones offer this feature. So, stay tuned!


5. Advanced reporting capabilities

LinkedIn automation tools analyze your target audience’s behavior and give you detailed reports in real-time. That said, you can use them to track metrics like response rates.

Some tools, like Skylead, even let you label leads, making it easy to calculate conversion rates.

Either way, the idea is to make data-driven decisions quickly. Just be sure to choose a tool with the analytics features that best align with your needs.


6. Integrated inbox to communicate with prospects

If you’re already using multiple tools, you probably know how difficult it is to navigate between the platforms to communicate with clients. Therefore, one feature you really need to consider is an integrated inbox. 


7. Integration with other tools

If your workflow depends on a CRM, don’t worry—you don’t have to give it up when choosing a LinkedIn automation tool. Just look for software that supports CRM integration.

CRM integration is invaluable for keeping your data flow seamless. It allows automatic data transfers between your CRM and the LinkedIn automation tool, so you can avoid the hassle of downloading and re-uploading CSV files.

Some tools achieve this through Zapier webhooks, APIs, or both. Whichever route you take, remember that integration is a necessity for productivity, not a luxury. Therefore, prioritize tools that can connect to your existing setup.


8. Support for multiple channels

LinkedIn automation tools are great for lead generation. But let’s be honest. Sales teams do their best work when they take the multichannel outreach route. Relying solely on LinkedIn outreach just isn’t enough anymore, especially with the LinkedIn connection limit pushing teams to explore alternative ways to reach prospects.

So, to maximize getting in touch with leads, search for a tool that combines LinkedIn automation with email outreach.

Speaking of email outreach, if you want to reach even more leads and bypass the email-sending limits, why not look for a tool that lets you connect multiple mailboxes? For example, Skylead allows you to add unlimited email accounts to one campaign and send thousands of emails a month at no extra cost. In other words, it enables you to contact your leads more effectively and achieve your goals.


18 Best LinkedIn automation tools [+free options]

Now that you’ve got all the info you need to choose the right SaaS product, let’s dive into the list of the best and most popular LinkedIn automation tools.

We’ve personally tested each one and evaluated them based on the following criteria:

Let’s get into it!


1. Skylead


Dashboard of one of the best sales engagement tools Skylead

Audience score: ⭐4.8 / 5.0


Yes, that’s us. Hi! 🙂 

Skylead is your one-stop-shop sales engagement tool. It offers sales teams, marketers, agency founders, and recruiters a chance to streamline their multichannel outreach efforts. 

With this tool, you save 11+ hours of work per week. This way, you have a lot of time to focus on lead nurturing and closing 3x more deals.

Moreover, Skylead is a cloud-based solution. You know what that means - you get extra features and don’t have to keep your PC turned on for it to work. In addition, you can integrate it with your favorite CRM via webhooks using Zapier, or you can transfer leads’ data between the two via API.

Lastly, Skylead’s reporting system and A/B testing will help you analyze your campaign metrics. Thus, you can clearly see what works best for your target audience and make data-driven decisions. 

That said, let’s get into the main features.


Smart sequences 

Skylead was the first tool on the market that started using Smart sequences—a groundbreaking algorithm that executes steps in the order you set, depending on your leads’ behavior. To clarify, a Smart sequence is a combination of different activities you can perform on two channels. 

What makes the Smart sequences smart is the if/else condition, which you can use to define how leads react to your outreach, and decide on the next step based on the outcome. Here's one example.


Image of Smart Sequence feature in tool Skylead

Lastly, you can have as many touchpoints in the Smart sequence as you’d like. Or, if you don’t wish to create a Smart sequence by yourself, you can use some of Skylead’s pre-tested Smart sequence templates found inside the tool.

With Smart sequences, you don’t have to spend countless hours reaching out to each lead manually. Skylead does it all for you, making your outreach 5x more effective than any other tool from the list.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Unlimited email outreach

Having a multichannel outreach tool in your LinkedIn sales strategy is a must in 2025. It creates a more engaging and well-rounded lead-generation experience for your prospects. More importantly, it shows them that you genuinely care about solving their pain points.

And when you factor in email outreach’s incredible ROI—$36 for every $1 spent—it becomes even clearer why this combination is so powerful.

What may surprise you is that Skylead is the only tool on this list that allows you to connect unlimited mailboxes. This means you can send thousands of emails a month without risking your domain’s reputation and without any extra costs.

But there’s more. Skylead’s integrated Smart Inbox ensures that you can manage all your conversations in one place.

Additionally, with clear icons, labels, and a user-friendly interface, you’ll always know where your prospects responded and their current status.


Image of smart inbox in Skylead

Email discovery & verification

When we said Skylead is a one-stop solution, we really meant it. 

Along with multichannel outreach, Skylead includes a built-in email discovery and verification feature. You can seamlessly add this step to your Smart sequence, and the tool will discover and double-verify your leads’ emails without interrupting your outreach flow.

In fact, Skylead offers unlimited email discovery and verification. Most tools can only do one or the other. Others might collect publicly available emails, but only if the lead is already in your LinkedIn network. 


Infinite email warm-up

To make sure your emails land where they are supposed to, your mailboxes must be properly warmed up.

Luckily, Skylead has partnered up with an email warm-up tool, InboxFlare, to make this a reality.


The image of the InboxFlare dashboard, which is an email warm-up tool

This tool allows you to warm up infinite email accounts to keep emails away from SPAM and, thus, protect your senders’ reputation. Completely free of charge, as long as you are a Skylead user.

What’s more, with InboxFlare, you get top-tier features like:

InboxFlare is compatible with all major email service providers (Gmail, Outlook, Zoho, etc.). But just in case it isn’t compatible with yours, you can add a mailbox using a custom SMTP.


Image & GIF hyper-personalization

Once you finally get through to that lead, you want to make an impact, don’t you

That’s when Skylead’s Image and GIF hyper-personalization comes into play! 

You can use it to offer products and services in a less conventional way, wish your clients happy holidays, schedule a casual meeting, and so much more! What’s more, by using it, you can increase your response rate by up to 76%, as we managed to do with this GIF!


A GIF personalized using Skylead's native image and GIF personalization feature

An image showing a results table in Skylead where 76% response rate is shown

Skylead does the heavy lifting by automatically pulling details like your lead’s picture, company logo, and other information. This means no more wasting time creating endless variations of the same image.

What’s more, Skylead is the only tool on the market that has a native, built-in image and GIF personalization. Other tools may ask you to pay extra for it, but not us!


Image of Image & GIF hyper-personalization feature in LinkedIn automation tool Skylead

Pricing

All of Skylead’s native features + access to InboxFlare come with a monthly subscription of only $100 per seat.

This makes it the most cost-effective tool on this list.

But the features aren’t all you get. You also get videos, tutorials, sales hacks, support calls on how to perfectly target your leads, and a 1-on-1 onboarding with our customer success team to get you started!


Image of Skylead LinkedIn Automation Tool reviews

2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator


Image of Sales Navigator interface with advanced filters

Audience score: ⭐4.5 / 5.0


One tool that is familiar to all sales teams around the world is LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 

This LinkedIn Premium subscription plan is widely used for prospecting and social selling (as it has its own inbox).

Although primarily used by sales teams, including ours at Skylead, recruiters and marketers also use it to:


Pros

The main difference between Sales Navigator and LinkedIn Premium is in advanced LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters

You can choose among more than 50 Lead and Account filters, depending on whether you wish to find your ICP or Buyer Persona. 

Moreover, with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you: 


Cons

Even though Sales Navigator is perfect for prospecting, it is not ideal for outreach on autopilot.


Pricing

If you are wondering how much does LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost, know that it has 3 pricing plans:

PlanMonthly costAnnual cost
Sales Navigator Core$99.99/mo + VAT$959.88/year + VAT
Sales Navigator Advanced$149.99/mo + VAT$1,300/year + VAT
Sales Navigator Advanced Plus/$1,600 per seat a year + VAT

Sales Navigator masterclass banner with the quote from the Professionals movie.


3. PhantomBuster


Image of Phantombuster LinkedIn automation tool interface

Audience score: ⭐4.5 / 5.0


PhantomBuster is an extension-based solution for data extraction

It acts as a sales and marketing tool that automates the scraping of publicly available data from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and other social media platforms. 


Pros 

PhantomBuster is not a LinkedIn automation tool with the full package. However, it does come in handy, as we found, and saves you a lot of time when you wish to scrape particular leads from LinkedIn or anywhere else.

It is a nice addition to outreach tools, as it saves your automated scraped data in CSV and JSON formats. Therefore, you can download them and upload them elsewhere to create outreach campaigns. 

Moreover, it also includes an email enrichment feature, allowing you to find email addresses. However, we were saddened to find out it doesn’t offer email verification, which means you risk higher bounce rates that could harm your domain’s reputation.


Cons

Although PhantomBuster offers automation for some LinkedIn actions (sending LinkedIn connection requests or messages), it doesn’t have Smart sequences. In other words, you cannot create your advanced workflows. Lastly, it doesn’t offer email outreach automation, and it is an extension, so it is not the safest tool to use. 


Pricing

PhantomBuster offers 3 different pricing options. 

The difference between them is in the time software runs during a 1-month period and the number of automated actions it performs:

Starter69€/mo

*20h of execution time
Pro159€/mo

*80h of execution time
Team439€/mo

*300h of execution time

4. TexAu


Image of TexAu, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.2 / 5.0


TexAu is a data scraping tool with a Chrome extension and a desktop app. 

This is a direct alternative to PhantomBuster, which can send LinkedIn connection requests and messages and engage with posts on autopilot.


Pros

TexAu can scrape data from almost anywhere, including Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Google and LinkedIn search results, LinkedIn profiles, YouTube, Quora, and Twitter. We found this really useful, as it gave us more sources to find leads.

Moreover, this software offers email enrichment, which we also found helpful. In other words, it can analyze LinkedIn accounts and find and verify business emails. 


Cons

People on review websites reported having difficulty setting up proxies. What’s more, there are frequent bugs and a lack of tutorials for beginners, as pointed out in this review that says:

‘’There are some UI and UX improvements to be made, and there is also a bit of a learning curve.’’

Lastly, TexAu doesn’t have Smart sequences and an integrated inbox like Skylead does.


Pricing

Like PhantomBuster, TexAu has 3 plans, with pricing depending on the time software executes the activities, email verification credits, and more. 

Starter79€/mo

*30h of execution time
Teams199€/mo

*100h of execution time
Agency459€/mo

*250h of execution time

5. Dux-Soup


Image of Dux-Soup interface, LinkedIn automation tool

Audience score: ⭐ 4.1 / 5.0


Next in line, we have Dux-Soup. Originally a Chrome extension, it has since expanded to offer an additional cloud-based solution.


Pros

Dux-Soup is an easy-to-use LinkedIn automation tool that's a good fit for beginners or small teams. 

It allows you to create simple drip campaigns using the following steps:

It also supports both free and paid inMails, which we didn’t find to be the case with many other tools on the list, except for Skylead.

Moreover, it also integrates directly with some of the best CRM software for sales, Pipedrive and HubSpot

Finally, the cloud-based solution provides added flexibility and security, making it more reliable than the Chrome extension alone.


Cons

Dux-Soup lacks some advanced features like Image and GIF hyper-personalization, Smart sequences, and email automation. Additionally, the cloud-based option is only available on the highest-tier plan. This means lower-tier users are forced to rely on the Chrome extension, which isn’t the safest.


Pricing

Dux-Soup has Individual, Team, & Agency pricing plans available with multiple sub-plans:

Individual & Team plans
Pro Dux$14.99/mo per seat
Turbo Dux$55/mo per seat
Cloud Dux$99/mo per seat
Agency plans
Pro Duxfrom $337.50/mo, 30+ seats
Turbo Duxfrom $412.50/mo, 10+ seats
Cloud Duxfrom $371/mo, 5+ seats

6. LinkedHelper 2


Image of one of the LinkedIn automation tools, LinkedHelper 2 interface

Audience score: ⭐ 4.8 / 5.0


Unlike Dux-Soup, Linked Helper is a LinkedIn automation tool based on a desktop app. Unfortunately, this still means that it has no dedicated IP address and the possibility of running multiple accounts. In addition, your PC needs to be on for it to work in the background.


Pros 

LinkedHelper 2 offers the creation of a LinkedIn Recruiter-based campaign to help all recruiters out there manage potential candidates.

All processed contacts are stored in its internal CRM. Here, you can view the history of contacts through all your campaigns, search by tags, and add notes. LinkedHelper 2 also has an integrated inbox, which came in handy to us when we wanted to interact with leads manually.


Cons

LinkedHelper doesn’t have some other more advanced features that many other LinkedIn automation tools already have. 

These features include:

Additionally, it does not have email automation.


Pricing

For as low as $15 per month, you will get some basic lead generation options. 

However, bear in mind that you’re limited to sending 20 connection requests and 20 messages a day under this Standard plan.

Nonetheless, if your requirements exceed this, LinkedHelper 2 also offers a Pro plan at $45 that lets you send unlimited connection requests.


7. Zopto


Image of Zopto dashboard, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.3 / 5.0


This LinkedIn automation software is a cloud-based solution for social selling. 

Zopto is compatible with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Premium, and Recruiter accounts. 


Pros

Firstly, Zopto offers an email enrichment feature. In other words, it can find business emails, like Skylead, PhantomBuster, and TexAu, and verify them. 

Additionally, Zopto includes LinkedIn post scheduling and A/B testing, along with an integrated inbox and CRM integration via Zapier or API. 

Moreover, the recently added Smart sequences let users create dynamic outreach flows triggered by lead behavior that mix LinkedIn and email actions. Zopto also provides basic automation on X in the form of automatic post likes.


Cons

While Zopto includes email enrichment, it limits how many leads you can enrich based on your pricing plan. Moreover, despite its Smart sequences, Zopto lacks advanced features like image and GIF hyper-personalization. Not to mention, its X automation is limited to post liking.


Pricing

Zopto comes with a total of 4 pricing plans:

Basic$197/mo per account
Pro$297/mo per account
Agency & Enterprise BasicStarting at $156/mo per user

*min 2 users
Agency & Enterprise ProStarting at $237/mo per user

*min 2 users

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


8. MeetAlfred


Image of MeetAlfred dashboard, one of LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 3.2 / 5.0


MeetAlfred is a cloud-based software with automated social media features. 

It focuses on social selling via your LinkedIn profile. In addition, it can schedule posts on Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.


Pros

This LinkedIn automation tool lets you create drip campaigns combining:

Additionally, all processed contacts are stored in MeetAlfred’s internal CRM. This means you can easily access and manage all your 1st-degree connections information and filter the contacts by company, industry, type of LinkedIn account, X, and much more. 

MeetAlfred also offers integrated inbox and email automation.


Cons

MeetAlfred lacks Smart sequences, email discovery, and verification features. It also doesn’t include native GIF and image personalization. You can personalize visuals while using it, but only if you subscribe to a third-party tool, Hyperise, which they integrate with. Naturally, this will cost you extra.


Pricing

MeetAlfred offers 3 pricing plans: 

Basic$59/mo per user
Pro$99/mo per user
Team$79/mo per user

*min 3 users

And if you decide to take a Hyperise subscription alongside MeetAlfred, plan for an additional $69 a month.


9. Dripify


List of best LinkedIn automation tools, Dripify sequence builder

Audience score: ⭐ 4.6 / 5.0


This cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool works with Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite, and basic LinkedIn accounts. 


Pros

Dripify allows the creation of sales funnels on LinkedIn by automating some actions as a part of their sequence with conditions. These actions include viewing profiles, sending regular messages and connection requests, and skill endorsement. 

In addition, you can integrate other software, such as HubSpot, through Zapier. Lastly, it supports A/B testing and has a Recent activity feature on its reports page.


Cons

Dripify indeed offers Smart sequences. However, only Pro & Advanced users can use them. In addition, you don’t have the option to automate the paid InMail step.

Secondly, Dripify has no email automation feature. Thus, you can’t get to leads who aren’t active on LinkedIn.

Additionally, you cannot send more than 75 connection requests a day. And while there is activity control, you need to be an Advanced user to access it. 

Dripify also doesn’t offer Image & GIF hyper-personalization, nor can you create custom variables using it

Lastly, Dripify doesn’t have an email discovery and verification feature. So, if email is part of your outreach, you’d be better off with a Dripify alternative.


Pricing

Dripify has 3 different pricing plans:

Basic$59/mo per seat
Pro$79/mo per seat
Advanced$99/mo per seat

10. Expandi


Image of one of LinkedIn automation tools, Expandi smart sequence builder

Audience score: ⭐ 4.3 / 5.0


Expandi is a cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool with support for both LinkedIn and email outreach. 


Pros

Expandi published its Smart sequence feature a year after Skylead did, making it the second tool on the market to do so. They offer additional actions such as skill endorsement and following companies, which we found useful (though, not essential).

Like Zopto, and LinkedHelper 2, Expandi has the option of creating LinkedIn Recruiter-based campaigns. 

Lastly, Expandi can integrate with any other tool via Zapier webhooks. 


Cons

Expandi offers Image and GIF hyper-personalization, but like MeetAlfred, it outsources this feature to Hyperise. Thus, it will cost you extra. What's more, it’s worth noting that this Hyperise package is limited to 5 templates and 5,000 impressions, with each image view counting toward that limit.

In addition to the extra cost, Expandi lacks email discovery and verification. These features are essential for domain safety and verified multi-touch approach. Expandi can scrape publicly available email addresses from the leads’ LinkedIn profiles once connected to them. Unfortunately, these emails are almost always personal ones.

Lastly, many users on review websites report that this tool has become too buggy to use lately, with one user going as far as to say it’s:

‘’A whole lot of mess.’’

Thus, how about you opt for an Expandi alternative instead?


Pricing

Expandi has one pricing plan of $99 per month.

However, the Hyperise integration adds an additional $69 per month, bringing the total to $148 per month.


11. We-Connect.io


Image of WeConnect dashboard, LinkedIn automation tool

Audience score: ⭐ 4.6 / 5.0


We-Connect.io is a cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool. 


Pros

We-Connect.io has A/B testing, a convenient feature for those who are still researching their perfect outreach strategy or wish to test different outreach messaging.

In addition, the tool has a Smart sequences feature, which lets you combine different LinkedIn and email actions triggered by conditions.

Whether your prospects come from LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator, you’ll be able to see them, as We-Connect.io has an integrated inbox, too. 

Moreover, it has auto endorse and post-engagement features that we liked, as well as API and Zapier integration. 


Cons

Sadly, We-Connect.io doesn’t offer advanced features like Image & GIF personalization or email discovery and verification. Email automation, while there, isn’t available for users of their Starter plan. Finally, unlike Skylead, they don’t offer 1-on-1 onboarding sessions to every new user.


Pricing 

We-Connect.io has a total of 3 pricing plans available:

Starter$69/mo per seat

*LinkedIn only
Professional$79/mo per seat

*LinkedIn + email
EnterpriseContact sales for pricing

*for 10+ seats

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's Customer Success Manager, Nevena and text "Let's onboard you 1 on 1!"


12. Octopus CRM


Image of Octopus CRM dashboard, one of LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.5 / 5.0


This is another extension-based LinkedIn automation tool. 

As it is designed for LinkedIn automation only, Octopus CRM users can solely perform LinkedIn outreach once they connect their LinkedIn profiles.


Pros

One of the main features of Octopus CRM is that it allows you to send bulk messages to 1st-degree contacts. Moreover, the tool is capable of viewing your leads’ profiles, sending them invites to connect, and endorsing their skills.

In addition, its reporting page has very detailed analytics for the features it offers. The report page includes various activities, such as the number of connection requests sent or the current Social Selling Index. 

Lastly, Octopus CRM supports Zapier and HubSpot integration.


Cons

Firstly, as it is a browser extension, this LinkedIn automation bot is not the safest to use. Secondly, it doesn’t have Smart sequences, nor does it have an InMail message step.

Lastly, Octopus CRM supports all LinkedIn subscriptions. However, you need to pay the highest subscription plan if you use a Recruiter account. 


Pricing

Depending on the features available, Octopus CRM offers 4 pricing options:

Starter$9.99/mo
Pro$14.99/mo
Advanced$21.99/mo
Unlimited$39.99/mo

13. Salesflow


Image of Salesflow, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.2 / 5.0


SalesFlow is a cloud-based solution with an integrated inbox and its own CRM

It is adequate for anyone who wants to leave the campaign running to professionals, even though the features available are modest.


Pros

In SalesFlow, you can send up to 2,000 LinkedIn messages and follow-ups. The tool also supports email automation, meaning you get to take advantage of full multichannel channel outreach.

In terms of campaign sources, you can set up automated campaigns in SalesFlor using either:

You can also personalize your messaging with variables, both pre-set and custom ones.


Cons

Unfortunately, SalesFlow doesn’t offer email discovery, verification, or Smart sequences features. Furthermore, it doesn’t have any image personalization capabilities, so you cannot go all personalized for your prospects. 

Lastly, it doesn’t support Recruiter campaigns, nor can it send paid inMails, like most LinkedIn automation tools we tested.


Pricing

SalesFlow has 3 pricing plans: 

Single User99€/mo
TeamsCustom

*depends on the number of users
AgencyCustom

*depends on the number of clients

14. LinkedFusion


Image of LinkedFusion, LinkedIn automation tool

Audience score: ⭐ 4.3 / 5.0


Another LinkedIn automation tool worth mentioning is LinkedFusion. 

It is a cloud-based solution with an integrated inbox that perfectly works with any LinkedIn account. 


Pros

With LinkedInFusion, you can personalize messages with a few variables like name, company, and location. It also supports campaign creation from the CSV file.

You can also connect it with any other app through Zapier. 

What’s more, it natively integrates with Google Sheets, plus it offers native integrations with most CRM software (e.g., HubSpot). 

Lastly, LinkedFusion team provides many LinkedIn tutorials that explain advanced growth hacks. 


Cons

LinkedFusion doesn’t have Smart sequences, and some users reported on Capterra that the existing sequences are not easy to set up.

Furthermore, even though it offers image personalization, it does so through Hyperise, so you need to pay extra per month. 

Lastly, its pricing plan limits how many connection requests you can send per day.  


Pricing

LinkedInFusion has 3 pricing plans in store. They depend on other features and the number of connection requests and messages you can send per day:

Professional$65.95/mo per user
Grow$95.95/mo per user
Ultimate$135.95/mo per user

To personalize your images and GIFs using Hyperise, count on paying an additional $69 a month.


15. Lead Connect


Image of Lead Connect, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.2 / 5.0


Lead Connect is an extension-based tool that supports LinkedIn Basic or Sales Navigator search campaigns. It also lets you create campaigns from CSV files.


Pros

Lead Connect has a pretty simple drip campaign with only a few steps available. On the other hand, it offers various sequence and message templates, which we liked. However, the number of templates depends on the pricing plan. 

Integration-wise, you can link Lead Connect with HubSpot. In addition, you can even get the email discovery feature thanks to the integration with other tools such as Hunter.io. However, you will need to pay extra for it.


Cons

Lead Connect doesn’t offer Smart sequence like Skylead or Expandi does. In addition, it doesn’t support Recruiter integration and needs Zapier to integrate with other CRM software. Lastly, you can’t use it to personalize images or GIFs of any kind.


Pricing

LeadConnect offers 4 subscription plans based on the number of templates, connection requests, and messages you can send per day:

Free
Professional$25.95/mo
Grow$45.95/mo
Ultimate$85.95/mo

Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


16. Waalaxy


Image of Waalaxy dashboard, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 4.5 / 5.0


LinkedIn automation tool, Waalaxy, is a cloud-based software. 

However, its free version uses a Chrome extension to perform automated tasks. This means it’s not the safest to use since it injects code into LinkedIn and acts like a bot. 


Pros

With support for LinkedIn and email, Waalaxy lets you reach prospects through their preferred communication channels.

That said, you can use it to create automated campaigns from:

Furthermore, you can experiment with A/B testing using this software and use its AI assistant to craft messages.


Cons

As its free version is extension-based, Waalaxy is not the safest tool to use. In fact, many users on review websites have reported having their LinkedIn account banned once they started using this tool.

In addition, it doesn’t have image & GIF personalization, and it only has 3 text variables: company, first and last name. We found them limiting, to say the least.

They do offer Smart sequences, but the problem is you can’t build your own. Instead, you are limited to their sequence templates. Lastly, they don’t have native email discovery & verification features, and their integrated inbox costs extra.


Pricing

Waalaxy has 4 different pricing plans:

Free
Advanced$88/mo per seat
Business$131/mo per seat
TeamFrom $88/mo per seat

You also need to pay an additional $22 a month for the LinkedIn inbox.


17. Salesloop


Image of Salesloop drip campaign, LinkedIn automation tools

Audience score: ⭐ 3.5 / 5.0


As a fairly new cloud-based solution on the market, Salesloop works with all LinkedIn Premium account types.  


Pros

Salesloop lets you create a simple 2-step drip campaign with no conditions from LinkedIn search results or Sales Navigator lead lists. In addition, you can create a campaign using a CSV file, where you can define custom variables.

Salesloop also allows you to download a CSV report, which we liked.

And if you are not automation savvy, they also offer a done-for-you deal. Just bear in mind that you need to pay a steep price for it.


Cons 

Salesloop doesn’t have Smart sequences. Furthermore, the drip campaign doesn’t support many LinkedIn activities. In fact, it supports invite-to-connect and follow-up message steps only. What’s more, the tool has no email automation and doesn’t integrate with any CRM. Lastly, the option to personalize images and GIFs isn’t there, either.


Pricing

Salesloop has 3 pricing plans with the monthly cost of:

Solo$49 per user
Team$199 per 6 users
Managed Services$2,000

18. IFTTT


Image of IFTTT LinkedIn automation tool

Audience score: ⭐ 4.6 / 5.0


This tool is not your standard LinkedIn automation tool, as it’s not for lead generation. 

However, it is extension-based, and you can use it to automate your LinkedIn activities, such as publishing content, sharing a link, or an update. 

It was created mainly to automate activities on countless platforms, including WordPress, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Evernote, and others.

That said, it doesn’t automate LinkedIn messages


Pricing

The pricing of IFTTT is fairly simple. In fact, there are a total of 3 plans available:

Free (includes LinkedIn automation)
Pro$3.49/mo
Pro+$14.99/mo


Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

We’ve noticed some questions regarding LinkedIn automation tools burning online with no answers. At least not the precise ones. So, let’s change that.


Is LinkedIn a lead generation tool?

LinkedIn is a social media platform used by professionals. Marketers, salespeople, and recruiters also use it to find and generate new leads via LinkedIn campaigns. It is not a lead generation tool, per se, but, rather, a place where you can generate leads using different LinkedIn automation and generation tools.


Can you automate lead generation on LinkedIn?

Yes. For example, you can find the leads’ data through LinkedIn prospecting. Then, use automation tools to scrape the contacts and create a sequence to reach out to them on autopilot. In other words, with LinkedIn automation tools, you can automate parts of LinkedIn lead generation activities.


How do you automate in LinkedIn?

By using LinkedIn automation tools, you can automate LinkedIn lead generation tasks. The activities you can automate range from data scraping to sending connection requests, follow-up messages, InMails, follows, and profile views. Simply log into your LinkedIn automation tool and select the activities you wish the algorithm to perform. 


What is an automation tool in LinkedIn?

The automation tool for LinkedIn is software used to perform different activities on LinkedIn that you usually do manually. In other words, these tools automate LinkedIn activities such as profile views, following other LinkedIn users, sending connection requests, regular LinkedIn messages, or InMails.


Is Linkedin automation illegal? 

No. LinkedIn automation isn’t illegal. However, since LinkedIn doesn’t like its users to use automation, it carefully analyzes accounts’ activities. If it registers unusual activity, LinkedIn can restrict your account. So, be careful about which LinkedIn automation tool you choose and inform yourself of what is considered a cause for restriction.   


Does LinkedIn allow automation tools?

No. LinkedIn doesn’t like its users to use automation. That is why they imposed limitations, such as the number of connection requests sent per week. They even analyze users’ behavior and can restrict your account if they notice anything suspicious. Thus, if you want to use LinkedIn automation, it’s better to choose a tool that operates safely.


Is there a LinkedIn bot?

LinkedIn automation tools (also known as LinkedIn bots) are software that use bots to automate your activities on LinkedIn. Sales teams and recruiters around the world use LinkedIn automation tools to automate tasks such as sending connection requests, messages, and inMails to get in touch with the leads.


Ready to automate your LinkedIn outreach?

Now that you are familiar with the most popular LinkedIn automation tools, which one would you choose?

…Skylead, of course! 😉

Jokes aside, our advice is to go with the tool that gives you the most options you need for your business. And the more comfortable you get with automating your LinkedIn outreach, the more creative you’ll become in generating leads and setting yourself apart from the competition.

Not sure which features to prioritize in LinkedIn automation tools? Here’s a list of 7 must-have features for a reference:


Image of the list of features you need to consider when researching LinkedIn automation tools

Now, go and reach those ambitious goals!

Let’s chat! Drop by and say hi to our customer support team, and let them help you sign up for Skylead’s 7-day free trial. We can’t wait to meet you!


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

Did you know that over 80% of B2B leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn? This is no surprise, seeing as LinkedIn is home to over 1 billion professionals from over 200 countries. Nonetheless, scaling LinkedIn lead generation is anything but easy. And as an agency or owner of a SaaS business with limited time to spare, you definitely can’t do it manually. You need a tool that you could theoretically build, but at what cost? Or, at the very least, additional employees who further raise operational expenses. So, what’s the solution? White label LinkedIn lead generation tools and services

These solutions allow you to scale your lead gen without the complexity of doing it yourself. You get expert-built solutions that are ready to deploy under your brandsaving you time, money, and the hassle of reinventing the wheel.

We’ve built Skylead from scratch to help generate leads on LinkedIn at mass. But realizing that not everyone can do it, we decided to also offer it as a white label solution that you can immediately rebrand as your own and resell to your clients.

Of course, there are additional tools and services that you can white label. We’ve done the legwork for you, research-wise, and are bringing you what we personally believe are the best 8 on the market.

🛠️ White label LinkedIn lead generation tool/service🌟 Client score (Average from G2, Capterra, Product Hunt for tools, Trustpilot & Clutch for services)
Skylead4.8 / 5.0
Zopto4.3 / 5.0
MeetAlfred3.6 / 5.0
Salesrobot4.6 / 5.0
Expandi4.3 / 5.0
Cleverly4.4 / 5.0
Brandvidual4.5 / 5.0
Park Row Marketing4.3 / 5.0

But first, let’s get into the process of white labeling LinkedIn lead generation tools/services and the benefits of doing so in greater detail.


What is white label LinkedIn lead generation?

White label LinkedIn lead generation is a solution that allows agencies and businesses to offer LinkedIn lead generation tools and services under their own brand without having to develop or manage the technology themselves. 

You’re essentially leveraging a pre-built system or service created by an external provider. But to your clients, it looks like something your company created from scratch.

A white label provider handles the backend—building, maintaining, and sometimes even running the lead generation campaigns. In the meantime, you handle the client-facing side. 

So, yes, by opting for the white label route, you get a plug-and-play solution. One you can rebrand, resell, and customize to fit your business model perfectly.

White label solutions for LinkedIn lead generation typically fall into 2 categories:


Benefits of white label LinkedIn lead generation tools and services

Many would tell you to never take shortcuts in life. 

But when it comes to white label solutions, we say go for it, and here's why:


1. You get to save time and resources

Building your own LinkedIn lead generation system takes time and resources. Lots of it. What’s more, you have no guarantee of ROI. White label solutions eliminate these worries. You get an out-of-the-box tool or service that’s ready to go and frees you up to focus on what matters. Growing your business.


2. You can expand your service offerings

Clients love convenience. And being able to offer LinkedIn lead gen as part of your services can for sure help you unlock a new revenue stream and win more business. Plus, the ability to rebrand the solution makes it seamless for your clients—they’ll see it as a natural extension of your expertise.


3. You get to scale without growing pains

Let’s face it: hiring and training a team to manage LinkedIn campaigns or develop software isn’t just costly—it’s risky. Luckily, white label solutions let you scale your offerings without operational headaches. After all, the infrastructure to do so is already there. 

Not to mention, using such a solution lets you skip the upfront investment and ongoing costs. You get a fully developed system designed to deliver results. For a fraction of what you’d spend building your own, at that.


4. White label lead gen solutions take the pressure off

If something goes wrong, in most cases, the third-party providers will be the ones solving the problem. Not only do they usually offer customer support services, even for the white label version, but they also fix actual bugs and malfunctions in the product itself. Your job is only to handle the clients, as we already mentioned.


5. They let you focus on your core business

If you’re planning on adding LinkedIn lead generation to your offerings, why spread yourself too thin trying to master it when you can focus on your strengths? Opt for a white label tool or a service to delegate the technical and operational complexities to experts.


6. You get the luxury of choice

Whatever the product or service you want to white label, there are plenty of options out there to choose from. Yours is only to do the thorough research and decide which one will suit your and your client’s needs best and, then, sell it well. Instead of wasting time creating a single product that, at the end of the day, might not even be as developed and successful as some of the ones on the market, just pick the one that has all the right features for you. 


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


8 Best white label LinkedIn lead generation solutions

Speaking of choosing the right LinkedIn lead generation solution to white label, we’ve drastically narrowed down your options.

That said, we took the time to research and analyze 8 best on the market and divided them into 2 categories:

  1. Tools
  2. Services

The criteria we used for the evaluation included:

So, without further ado, let’s move on to our top picks!


White label LinkedIn lead generation tools


1. Skylead


Dashboard of Skylead, one of the white label LinkedIn lead generation tools

Client score: 🌟 4.8 / 5.0


If you’ve ever thought of incorporating outreach into your lead generation agency, or whether you are doing lead generation on LinkedIn or via email, we might have the perfect tool for you—Skylead.


Key features

Skylead is a sales engagement tool and cold email software that provides you with everything you need in one place and with no 3rd party tools.

What does that mean? 

To begin with, you can import your lead source into Skylead.


Available lead sources in Skylead white label LinkedIn lead generation tool

In other words, Skylead can help you with a part of LinkedIn prospecting.

Furthermore, Skylead has an email discovery & verification feature that finds your leads’ business emails even without being connected on LinkedIn. This allows you to do a cold email campaign or use multichannel outreach.

The latter is possible through our Smart sequences. We were the first tool on the market to introduce this groundbreaking algorithm, which combines outreach actions with if/else conditions. The result is coherent outreach flows that adjust according to your leads' behavior to reach them in the fastest way possible. In a personalized manner, at that, thanks to our image and GIF hyper-personalization feature.


An example of a Skylead Smart sequence

What’s more, we don’t put a cap on how many emails you can add or send through Skylead. You can connect unlimited email accounts (mailboxes) to the tool. Skylead will auto-rotate between them to help you send tens of thousands of emails a month at no extra cost

And thanks to our partnership with one of the best email warm up tools on the market, InboxFlare, you also get to warm up unlimited email accounts to keep your emails away from spam. Did we mention this is free for our users, as well?


InboxFlare dashboard

And to further reinforce your lead generation process on LinkedIn (and email) we have a Smart inbox. Smart inbox is home to all your LinkedIn correspondences and emails. Here, you can nurture your leads to conversion, leave notes, and label them to track conversions and ROI. 


Moreover, Skylead supports 2-way integrations with CRMs and other tools through Zapier webhooks and API. This makes it simple to incorporate into your (and your clients) existing workflow.

Lastly, you should know that Skylead is a cloud-based solution.

What more could you ask for?


White label capabilities

As you can see, this is your ultimate one-stop-shop tool. But if you decide to white label Skylead for LinkedIn lead generation purposes, what's in it for you?


New revenue streams

Skylead’s white label option opens doors to diversify your services. Offer a branded lead generation tool to your clients and create a steady flow of extra revenue without needing to develop a solution yourself.


Retain clients and stay competitive

By adding a top-tier LinkedIn lead generation tool to your portfolio, you make sure your clients get what they need directly from you. This not only increases retention but also sets you apart from competitors in the market.


Flexible growth on your terms

With our low entry requirements, you can start small and scale as you grow. Invite unlimited co-workers to collaborate easily, charge your own prices, and increase your profit margins with reduced per-seat costs as your client base expands.


Brand customization

Your version of Skylead will be customized entirely to match your brand. You’ll get a platform in your colors, hosted on the subdomain of your choice, all set up within 7 daysno additional fees required. If you want, we can also remove certain features to make sure you and your clients get exactly what you’re looking for. Nothing more, nothing less.


Seamless client support

Skylead’s support team will assist your clients via in-app chat and WhatsApp under your brand. Meanwhile, the help center, also branded to your agency, will be available on your subdomain to maintain a cohesive client experience.


Easy management and insights

The agency dashboard allows you to oversee all accounts effortlessly. Assign roles, manage admins, and track activity, all from one place. Skylead’s GTM integration further enhances analytics, letting you monitor user behavior, track registrations, and measure ad performance to optimize your efforts for conversions.


Personal guidance

You’ll have a dedicated success manager available to support you every step of the way during onboarding and beyond through a dedicated Slack channel or via WhatsApp. Therefore, help is always just a Slack message or a call away.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's Customer Success Manager, Nevena and text "Let's onboard you 1 on 1!"


Custom in-app banners and guides

Need a banner or a quick guide in your language to help your clients out? No problem! We can create it exactly the way you want and feature it directly on the platform without extra cost. It’s a simple way to streamline in-app communication and keep everyone on the same page.


Direct integration with other tools

Why send your clients bouncing between tabs? Let them open external tools directly within the platform with iFrame. No extra logins, no interruptions—just everything they need in one smooth, uninterrupted flow.


Advanced customization with API access

We offer over 70 API endpoints, thus giving you unparalleled flexibility. Access them to integrate external tools, automate additional processes, and tailor the platform to your clients’ specific needs for an even more personalized experience.


Pricing

Generally speaking, Skylead comes at a single price of $100 per seat.

However, our white label clients enjoy custom pricing solutions. This means the cost-per-seat is influenced by the number of active seats and client volume. Curious to learn more? Our sales team is just a call away - schedule yours today.


A custom banner for booking a Skylead demo to discuss our white label LinkedIn lead generation solution

Should you white label Skylead?

We say, absolutely!

Skylead offers advanced features that make it the perfect tool for agencies looking to provide LinkedIn lead generation under their own brand.

Denis Goyal, a Co-Founder & COO of the lead generation agency in India, agrees with this, having said that:

‘’Through Skylead, our prospecting and outreach have become very strong, so now we are thinking of doing it as a service for some of the businesses.’’

Combine one-of-a-kind features with full branding capabilities, seamless client support under your name, and advanced analytics through GTM integration, and you have a tool that not only scales with you but also helps you stand out among competitors.

So, if you’re serious about expanding your agency’s offerings, retaining clients, and building a profitable revenue stream, white labeling Skylead is a no-brainer.


2. Zopto


White label LinkedIn lead generation tool Zopto and its dashboard

Client score: 🌟 4.3 / 5.0


Zopto is a tool with a cloud-based infrastructure, making it a safer and more reliable solution for LinkedIn lead generation.


Key features

Zopto is compatible with all LinkedIn Premium plans, including Sales Navigator and Recruiter.

What makes it useful is that it doubles down not only as a LinkedIn automation tool but also as one of the best cold email software. This means you can use it for LinkedIn and email outreach simultaneously.

Similarly to Skylead, Zopto has Smart sequences feature that helps you build outreach sequences where LinkedIn and email steps are triggered based on conditions.

It’s capable of performing typical LinkedIn tasks on autopilot, including: 

Nonetheless, you can also use it to automatically like your leads’ posts, give endorsements, and send greetings.

Zopto also includes Zhoo, an AI assistant powered by ChatGPT-4 that helps you generate LinkedIn messages and emails. It comes with a global inbox where you can reply to all of these, too.


White label capabilities

If you’re interested in white labeling Zopto, here’s what you’ll get:

And while Zopto takes care of hosting and maintenance, their support stops there. So, if any issues arise, it’s entirely up to you and your team to handle them.

Moreover, you don’t get the ability to tailor the platform features to meet specific client needs, like you do with Skylead.

Finally, Zopto doesn’t support custom in-app banners or guides. Thus, it is harder to streamline communication and guide your clients directly within the platform.

For pricing and additional information, be sure to check out their website.


Should you white label Zopto?

Zopto’s white label option comes with a relatively high setup fee of $997. This might not suit smaller agencies or businesses with tighter budgets.

If you have the resources to manage technical challenges and your client base justifies the cost, this can be a reliable white label LinkedIn lead generation tool.

Otherwise, it might be worth exploring alternatives that provide more support and/or lower entry costs.


3. MeetAlfred


MeetAlfred team management page

Client score: 🌟 3.6 / 5.0

MeetAlfred is an automated LinkedIn lead generation software built for small businesses, salespeople, and agencies.

Key features

While primarily focused on LinkedIn, MeetAlfred also offers multichannel outreach capabilities. Namely, it supports email outreach and automatic post liking on X.

As for LinkedIn lead generation activities, the tool can automate:

One standout feature of MeetAlfred is its internal CRM, which simplifies lead management by keeping them organized in one place. 

Additionally, the tool includes an integrated inbox for managing LinkedIn messages, though this feature doesn’t extend to other communication channels.

To expand its functionality, MeetAlfred supports 3rd-party integrations via Zapier. Thus, it makes it easy to connect with other tools your users might already be using.


White label capabilities

MeetAlfred offers a white label LinkedIn lead generation option for teams with over 5 users under their Teams plan.

Here’s what you can expect from it:

That said, MeetAlfred’s white label solution for LinkedIn lead generation comes with notable limitations. While the option for customization exists, you’ll need to handle the entire process yourself. Their team won’t guide you through setup or assist with linking a subdomain, leaving all the effort to your internal team.

Although their support team is available to assist you if issues arise, client communication is entirely your responsibility. This means if a client needs help, you must first contact MeetAlfred’s support, wait for a resolution, and then relay the information back to your client. This can lead to delays and dissatisfaction.

As for analytics, MeetAlfred does provide admin insights, but these are fairly basic compared to the advanced analytics offered by Skylead and Zopto.

For more details, pricing, and white label conditions, consult their website.


Should you white label MeetAlfred?

MeetAlfred can be a good option if you’re looking for an easy way to start offering a branded LinkedIn lead generation tool. Its quick setup, custom branding options, and integrated CRM make it user-friendly and accessible, especially for smaller agencies or teams just getting started.

However, it’s important to note that MeetAlfred lacks some advanced lead generation features, such as Smart sequences or the ability to hyper-personalize images and GIFs. These omissions could make the tool feel too basic for agencies or businesses with higher requirements.


4. Salesrobot


White label LinkedIn lead generation tool Salesrobot and its dashboard

Client score: 🌟 4.6 / 5.0


Salesrobot is another tool with a white label option for lead generation on LinkedIn, suitable for all-size businesses.


Key features

The main difference between Salesrobot and other software we talked about is in its infrastructure. 

Namely, albeit cloud-based, it uses a Chrome extension to perform automated LinkedIn lead generation activities.

Speaking of activities, your users can authorize it to:

Salesrobot doubles as an email automation tool, meaning it can send emails on behalf of your users, too.

It provides multiple ways to pull prospects into your campaigns, making it possible to target leads from:

Moreover, it can easily fit into your users' existing tech stacks thanks to direct integrations with popular CRMs and 2-way integrations via webhooks.

It also includes a mini CRM equipped with smart reply detection. This feature makes it possible to manage conversations, tag positive leads, and apply advanced filters.


White label capabilities

Should you decide to make Salesrobot your go-to white label LinkedIn lead generation tool, you will get:

However, there are certain disadvantages to consider with Salesrobot's white label solution.

Namely, their feature flexibility is limited. This means you cannot ask to have certain features removed, as you can with Skylead.

Furthermore, their analytics lack depth. For instance, they don't integrate with Google Tag Manager (GTM). Therefore, they cannot provide detailed tracking or insight into user behavior.

But perhaps the biggest disadvantage is Salesrobot's infrastructure. Since it relies on a Chrome extension for LinkedIn automation, it's not the safest lead generation tool to white label.

Salesrobot offers dynamic pricing. This means how much you pay will depend on how many clients you have. Nonetheless, they don’t reveal the price of their white label lead gen solution. Thus, if you need more information regarding costs, get in touch with their sales team. 


Should you white label Salesrobot?

The more clients you have, the lower the cost per account. This makes Salesrobot a scalable option for growing agencies looking for a done-for-you LinkedIn lead generation solution.

But the catch is that Salesobot uses a Chrome extension to perform activities on LinkedIn. The platform discourages automation tools and has a system in place to detect extensions, seeing as they inject code into it. As a result, there's a real chance your clients will get their LinkedIn accounts restricted at one point or another. 

That said, you may want to explore alternative white label tools that rely on cloud-based infrastructure for multichannel outreach.


5. Expandi


Permissions setup in Expandi tool

Client score: ⭐4.3 / 5.0


Expandi is another cloud-based LinkedIn automation and email outreach software, that helps small businesses, salespeople, and marketing teams scale their lead gen.


Key features

While primarily focused on LinkedIn, Expandi is a multichannel solution. That’s because it supports both LinkedIn and email outreach as part of its automation workflows.

As for LinkedIn lead generation activities, the tool can automate:

Additionally, Expandi includes optional steps to enhance engagement, such as:

Much like Skylead, Expandi also has Smart sequences that determine which automated steps the tool will execute according to lead behavior.

Integration-wise, the tool integrates with other software via Zapier webhooks and API and can, thus, easily fit into your existing tool stack.


White label capabilities

Expandi offers a white label LinkedIn lead generation option under their Agency plan, designed for teams managing 20+ accounts. Here’s what you can expect from it:

However, there are certain limitations to consider with Expandi's white label solution.

For instance, while they allow for branding and integration customization, they don’t let you remove specific features from the platform. This could be a concern for agencies after advanced customization options.

Additionally, Expandi lacks support for creating in-app tutorials or onboarding banners. This means you'll need to rely on external methods for client education and onboarding.

Also, Expandi's white label solution requires a minimum of 20 accounts under their Agency plan. Thus, it might be unsuitable for companies just starting out.

Lastly, while Expandi provides the infrastructure and tools, they don’t offer direct client support under your brand. It’s up to your team to handle client inquiries, which may defeat the purpose of a fully done-for-you solution.

To learn more about their white label solution, along with pricing, reach out to their team for details.


Should you white label Expandi?

Expandi can be a good choice if you’re looking for a white label LinkedIn automation and email outreach solution that provides essential multichannel features. Its customizable dashboard, payment integrations, and affiliate management options make it a flexible tool for agencies managing 20+ accounts.

That said, Expandi isn’t exactly a one-stop shop tool for LinkedIn lead generation because it lacks certain features. Meanwhile, those it has aren’t as advanced—or native—as is the case with other tools on the list.

For instance, it doesn’t offer native Image and GIF personalization. Instead, this feature is outsourced through Hyperise. On top of that, Expandi can’t discover or verify leads’ emails. It only scrapes email addresses from LinkedIn profiles, and even then, only after you’ve connected with the lead.

Another potential drawback is the lack of client support. Agencies will need to handle this themselves, which could mean allocating extra resources to hire support staff—something smaller teams might find challenging.

Moreover, they don’t offer GTM integration, have few API endpoints, and have no iFrame.

With all of this said, it’s clear you may be better off white labeling one of Expandi alternatives.


White label LinkedIn lead generation services


1. Cleverly


Landing page of a white label LinkedIn lead generation service, Cleverly

Client score: 🌟 4.4 / 5.0


Cleverly is a B2B LinkedIn lead generation agency built for businesses that prefer a hands-off approach with a human touch.


Key features

Instead of relying on automation tools, Cleverly’s team of professionals manages the entire lead gen process.

At the core of Cleverly’s service is its ability to build highly targeted and qualified prospecting lists on LinkedIn. Once the lists are ready, their team crafts and sends personalized cold outreach messages.

Cleverly also provides real-time notifications when leads reply, so clients can follow up promptly and close deals while interest is high. 

Beyond lead generation, their team helps optimize LinkedIn profiles. They also offer content writing services on LinkedIn to help clients establish thought leadership.


White label capabilities

White labeling Cleverly doesn't differ much from using their services for your personal purposes.

That said, their team handles the same for your clients as they would for you, including:

The only difference is that your clients think it's you who does it all.

To inquire about costs, visit their website or get in touch with their sales team.


Should you white label Cleverly?

Cleverly can be a great choice if you want to outsource lead generation completely while retaining the human touch. 

Just bear in mind that since Cleverly doesn’t provide a product or platform, you won’t have control over the process or the ability to offer a branded solution to your clients. 

Additionally, their manual approach may feel limited compared to software-based solutions that can generate leads at scale.


2. Brandvidual


Brandvidual landing page

Client score: 🌟 4.5 / 5.0


Brandvidual is a LinkedIn outreach agency aimed at businesses, consultants, corporate professionals, freelancers, and even job seekers looking to land rewarding careers. 

Key features

Similarly to Cleverly, their team does all the work manually

They are in charge of performing LinkedIn profile audits to develop targeted outreach strategies to maximize results.

From there, they craft highly personalized outreach campaigns meant to help generate leads, complete with custom messages.


White label capabilities

Brandvidual’s white label LinkedIn lead generation service closely mirrors their standard offerings. 

Their team handles LinkedIn profile audits, develops outreach strategies, and crafts personalized campaigns with custom messages—everything done for your clients as if it were you managing the process.

Unlike Cleverly, however, they can adapt their offerings to meet the demands of your clients or business. However, it’s important to note that this customization refers to their service offerings, not branding or platform personalization. Brandvidual operates as a fully managed service without additional branding options.

Bradividual doesn’t publicly disclose the price of its white label LinkedIn lead generation service. Therefore, to inquire about the pricing, you’d need to talk to their sales team.


Should you white label Brandvidual?

You can consider white labeling Brandvidual if you prefer managed services over automated lead generation. You also get some semblance of customization in terms of their offerings. 

This customization doesn’t extend to branding or platform personalization, though. This means your clients won’t see a branded product—they’ll just experience the service under your name.


3. Park Row Marketing


Landing page of an agency called Park Row Marketing that provides white label LinkedIn lead generation service

Client score: 🌟 4.3 / 5.0


Park Row Marketing is a UK-based agency specializing in sustainable, multichannel lead generation services, including that on LinkedIn.


Key features

Park Row Marketing team conducts non-automated LinkedIn campaigns. They do it by performing LinkedIn prospecting and then sending personalized messages to generate high-quality leads.

If not responsive on LinkedIn, their team reaches out to leads via email. They can also perform both outbound and inbound calls.

What’s great is that they can connect to any CRM to push verified lead data.

On top of LinkedIn lead generation, Park Row Marketing provides 100% human web chat services on client websites to capture leads and provide customer support around the clock.


White label capabilities

This is another lead generation service, meaning their offerings for individual users extend directly to white label clients.

What sets Park Row Marketing apart, though, is the detailed reports they provide, which include verifiable contact details for each prospect. Naturally, you can “customize” these reports with your branding before sharing them, so it looks like you’ve done all the hard work.

Seeing as no business has the same needs, Park Row Marketing doesn’t have set prices for their white label service. Each business gets a custom quote, which warrants a conversation with their team.


Should you white label Park Row Marketing?

Park Row Marketing could be a great option if you’re looking for a managed service that combines multiple channels all under one roof. Their detailed reports with verifiable contact details make it easy to provide clients with actionable leads. Plus, the ability to add your branding to those reports adds a professional touch.

Still, we can't ignore the fact that Park Row Marketing relies entirely on manual processes. Therefore, it may not be the best fit for those looking to scale rapidly



Frequently asked questions (FAQs)


Should you choose a white label LinkedIn lead generation service or a product?

Choose a product if you want control over campaigns and can manage them in-house. Opt for a service if you prefer a hands-off approach where experts handle everything for you. The decision hinges on your resources, expertise, and whether you prioritize flexibility or convenience.


What are the risks or limitations of using white label solutions?

Risks include dependency on the provider for updates and support, limited customization, and potential compatibility issues with your processes. Additionally, ongoing fees may impact profitability. To mitigate these, choose a reliable provider and make sure their solution aligns with your business needs.


Are there any industry-specific recommendations for white label LinkedIn solutions?

Yes, certain white label LinkedIn lead generation solutions are better suited to specific industries based on their features and outreach capabilities. For example, industries like tech and SaaS often benefit from automation tools that can handle a high volume of messages because they target a broader audience. On the other hand, industries such as consulting or finance may find white label services more effective, as they provide a human touch.


Own the market with the perfect white label lead generation solution for LinkedIn

If you want to scale your business, grow your client base, and stay ahead of your competitors, white labeling just makes sense. It’s the easier, faster way to deliver results without burning through your time and budget.

We’ve shared some of the best white label LinkedIn lead generation tools and services out there, but now, the move is yours. Take a look, weigh your options, and pick what works best for you. Or, if you’d rather save yourself the hassle, you can jump straight to a tried-and-tested option: Skylead.

With Skylead, you’re not just getting another tool. You’re getting a reliable, customizable solution that’s ready to rebrand and start delivering value to your clients—from day one.

Curious? Schedule a demo with our team today and sign up for your 7-day free trial to see what the tool looks like!

We’ll walk you through everything and show you how Skylead can make LinkedIn lead generation simple, scalable, and totally stress-free.


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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

If you've ever wondered if there is a way to speed up lead-generation activities and overcome the time-consuming, repetitive nature of manual processes, we have a proposition. Why not automate lead generation?

Yes, that's right. Automation has been around for a while, especially for lead generation and management. And no wonder it's so effective since this way, you can find the most qualified leads and scale up your business. But, more importantly, you can generate your leads daily. 

Having automated our own lead generation process, we’ve witnessed its power firsthand. And now, it’s time you did the same. 

Not sure how to do so? Fear not! We’ll guide you on how to automate every sales and marketing lead generation task by showing you how we did it—step by step!

You’ll also learn the difference between automating inbound and outbound lead generation and get a rundown of the best tools to help you do it.  

🤖 Best tools to automate lead generation⭐ Average rating (Capterra, G2, Software Advice)
Skylead4,8 / 5
OptinMonster4,3 / 5
Moosend.com4,6 / 5
Mailchimp4,4 / 5
Tidio4,7 / 5

What is automated lead generation?

Automated lead generation is a process of using technology to perform time-consuming sales and marketing lead generation tasks on your behalf. To do this, you have different kinds of automation tools at your disposal. For example, you can use software to automate sending emails or LinkedIn connection requests.

Automated lead generation offers benefits such as:

That said, there are plenty of automation tools on the market to choose from. 

However, let’s first distinguish the types of automated sales and marketing lead generation activities to discover what tool you should use accordingly. 


Types of lead generation automation

There are 2 types of automated lead generation, but they best work when used in synergy.


1. Inbound lead generation automation

Inbound lead generation is a marketing strategy for attracting leads to your company. For example, a marketing team can create content that is valuable to the best leads for your business. The purpose of the content is to compel a lead to take specific actions first that will eventually lead to sales.

Since today’s leads often prefer to research independently, inbound lead gen aims to assist rather than sell. It guides potential leads to valuable resources, just like this blog, ebooks, and guides, allowing them to explore your brand and offerings at their own pace.

That said, the purpose of inbound lead generation automation is to streamline the said process using automation tools.

For example, you can use the following types of tools to automate your inbound tasks: 


HubSpot homepage with the chatbot highlighted
Chatbot example on HubSpot

A pop-up form example
Pop-up form example on Marketer Milk

2. Outbound lead generation automation

Outbound lead generation is about finding and reaching out to your ideal leads directly. Rather than waiting for leads to find your website and reach out like in inbound lead gen, you are the one who makes the first move. 

That said, to automate your outbound lead generation tasks, you can use the following types of tools:


B2B lead generation automation vs B2C lead generation automation

Business-to-Business (B2B) lead generation automation is a process of using software to generate potential leads who work in a company to offer them your services.

On the other hand, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) lead generation automation uses software to streamline and generate leads who are individual customers

Even though they have different potential customers, both B2B and B2C companies use the same lead generation automation for a similar purpose. 

With that in mind, here is how different companies use automation tools for their purpose.


Image that shows difference between automated B2B and B2C lead generation

How to automate lead generation

It’s not enough to know the difference between inbound and outbound lead generation automation. You need to know HOW to execute the process successfully.

To help you do just that, we’ve prepared a step-by-step lead generation automation guide. It’s informed by experiences and tactics that proved effective to us and is designed to get you immediate results.


How to automate outbound lead generation


1. Define your ICP and buyer persona

Your outbound lead generation needs a good basis to get quality leads that convert. That’s why sales teams start their lead generation process by creating their Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona, as we have. This way, you can generate the best leads and guide them through the sales funnel. Not to mention, these documents can help with the lead scoring.

What worked best for us when it comes to the creation of both of these documents was to analyze current customer data and gather users who:


2. Find contact data

Once you establish your ICP and Buyer Persona, it’s time for prospecting.  

Almost all sales teams use LinkedIn prospecting to find the best leads for their sales funnel. Moreover, there are a lot of proven LinkedIn lead generation strategies out there to find quality leads. 

However, when it comes to gathering the leads’ contact information, we’ve learned it’s best to automate the process using: 

This way, you can build your lead lists, send them to your CRM, and prepare for email or LinkedIn outreach. 


Sales Navigator masterclass banner with targeting options and Boolean search query


3. Craft a compelling message

Whether you wish to use LinkedIn outreach or any other medium, consider your messaging carefully. Cold outreach is hard when you know nothing about the person. That said, it’s important to include research into the lead generation process and figure out what your leads are all about.

In other words, comb through their LinkedIn profile and find the About section, posts they published, or what they shared. This way, you can personalize your communication and appear genuine when explaining how you can solve their problems.

For successful messaging, we found mentioning your unique selling point tailored to your leads’ exact pain point, particularly useful.  That said, if you need help crafting such a message, you can always use Chat GPT for sales messages.


4. Send cold emails

It’s easy to let the cold email mistakes slither into your outreach. However, you reduce the chances of some of these mistakes by using automated lead generation tools to send cold emails. 

Just keep in mind that 70% of salespeople stop at one cold email. Meanwhile, incorporating follow-up messages into your sequence increases your chances of hearing back by 25%. That’s why we make sure to send follow up emails as well, as you should.


5. Automate LinkedIn lead generation

LinkedIn and email outreach have been part of the sales funnels for years. And with hundreds of leads we reach every week via LinkedIn, it’s time-consuming and nearly impossible to get the desired results. Unless you use different automated lead generation tools, that is.

That’s why various sales engagement tools are there to help you streamline different outreach actions on LinkedIn. For example, our very own Skylead can automate sending connection requests, messages, free and paid inMails, and even emails. In addition, you can combine these actions and create scenarios based on your leads’ behavior. But we’ll talk more about that later on.


6. Gather lead information

Once you start conversing with your leads, you need to keep track of them. 

This is where CRM, like Hubspot or Pipedrive, comes into play. To clarify, Customer Relationship Management is a software that helps you automate gathering all the information about your sales leads in one place, such as:

This way, you can check where your leads are in the funnel and what level of nurturing they need.


7. Nurture leads

Speaking of nurturing leads, you can do so by integrating your CRM with your outreach tool and exchanging the information between the two. Then, you can label leads or send them to outreach campaigns

We commonly use Skylead for our customer-nurturing program. Why? Because you can use it to send automated outreach campaigns for: 

Moreover, our Smart Inbox also helps with nurturing by consolidating all conversations across email and LinkedIn in one place. You can use it to respond to leads directly and label them to monitor conversions and ROI.


How to automate inbound lead generation


1. Set up your lead generation website

The first step towards automated lead generation is creating a website to connect all your lead generation automation tools. We can write an entire blog on creating a website, but we’ll mention 3 most important things.

Firstly, good practice here is to create a website that will provide the best user experience with UX/UI design that converts

Secondly, your content marketing team must prepare visuals and copy for the website. The copy needs to provide information about your product or service. However, it should be presented in a way that describes how it solves the problem and removes pain points your high-quality leads have. 

Lastly, it would be best to create an SEO plan to rank your website better.


2. Create a lead magnet


Lead magnet example

The next step is for your content marketing team to create a lead magnet. 

A lead magnet could be a guide, eBook, or mini-course that you publish on your website, available for leads to download in exchange for their contact information, like their name and email.

This lead generation strategy helps you gather emails, allowing you to send newsletters to leads or pass the contacts to your sales team to reach them out. Just remember, though—you shouldn’t ask for an email unless you’re offering something genuinely valuable.

Once your lead magnet is ready, you can automate the process by connecting your forms to a CRM like HubSpot or Monday. This way, new leads are automatically added to your pipeline. And if your CRM is integrated with sales outreach tools, you can even send leads straight into campaigns.

Lastly, to promote your lead magnet, you can publish ads to generate a large pool of leads. Alternatively, use pop-ups to promote the content throughout the website depending on users’ behavior.


3. Set up your landing page

To attract high-quality leads, whether organically or through ads, you’ll need a landing page that offers a seamless user experience. In other words, it must contain concise information tailored to your high-quality leads. 

A good approach is to have dedicated feature pages that highlight the main features and explain the problems they solve.

Say you’re offering a project management tool. In that case, one feature page could focus on “Efficient task management.” This page could detail how your tool enables teams to assign tasks, track progress, and meet deadlines. Include a step-by-step walkthrough of the feature, screenshots of the interface, and testimonials from teams that have successfully used it to build credibility.

Moreover, your landing page should have a converting design and messaging that motivates visitors to take action. Make sure it’s properly optimized for SEO to increase visibility as well.

Finally, don’t forget a clear call to action and a contact form or lead magnet to capture those valuable leads.


4. Capture leads with a chatbot

Another way to generate leads via your website is to use a chatbot. It allows you to turn your website visitors into leads and qualify them for future sales or marketing activities. 

You can set up a chatbot to offer lead magnets or some free service depending on users’ website behavior. Or, if a person wants to contact your customer support, develop a list of questions a chatbot will pose before connecting. This is a perfect automation system for lead scoring and qualifying


Zendesk chatbot workflow

Many chatbots can also automatically gather information like email addresses, company size, and other relevant details. Once collected, you can set it up to create a new deal in your CRM and seamlessly add those leads to your outreach campaign, just like with lead magnets.


5. Get traffic to your page

Once you’ve set everything up, the next step is getting leads to visit your website. 

There are 2 main ways to bring in traffic:


6. Nurture the leads automatically

When you start getting leads to your website, you need to nurture them to some sort of conversion. Therefore, look no further than using pop-up forms or chatbot conversations personalized to their web-behavior.  

You can personalize automated messages and offer relevant content based on things like:


7. Use marketing automation for lead generation

Once you gather your leads’ emails, it’s time to use marketing automation to reach out to them. You can create email campaigns to offer personalized content on a mass scale according to your leads’ behavior

For example, you can send certain messages depending on whether they opened an email. In other words, you can create outreach sequences with different scenarios to offer tailored content that will lead to conversion.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


The good practice here is to start with valuable educational content. Then, offer a solution to the particular problem, and then present your product or service. But by all means, never start the first message with a pitch!


Best tools to automate lead generation

You know how to automate your lead generation, and now’s the time for action.

But to actually do it, you need the right tool for the job.

Lucky for you, we’ve tested several lead generation software on the market. Based on our findings, we’ll name a few of the best and their average ratings, as per Capterra, G2, and Software Advice.

Nonetheless, you are free to research other tools and check review websites should you feel the need to do so.


1. Skylead


Skylead Sales Navigator campaign 1

Yup. As we previously mentioned, that's us. 🙂 

Skylead is a sales engagement tool and cold email software that streamlines the most time-consuming marketing, recruiting, and sales outreach tasks

In fact, Skylead is a one-stop-shop cold outreach solution that allows you to:

Moreover, you can connect Skylead to any tool, such as your CRM, using webhooks or API and push or send data. 

Now, let’s take a closer look at groundbreaking Skylead features.


Features


LinkedIn & email automation

Skylead seamlessly combines LinkedIn and unlimited email automation, allowing you to reach your leads through the channel that suits them best.

This wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for our Smart sequences

In fact, Skylead was the 1st tool on the market to introduce this feature, which has changed how everyone performs outreach.

But what are Smart sequences? 

Simply put, they are coherent outreach flows you create using different LinkedIn and email actions and if/else conditions. These if/else conditions allow Smart sequences to operate in real-time, adjusting as they go according to your leads' behavior to find the fastest path to them.

That said, here is an example of one Smart sequence.


Smart sequence example in Skylead tool used to automate lead generation

What’s really great is that the number of outreach scenarios you can create with Smart sequences is truly limitless.

You can play around with different actions and conditions as you see fit. Or you can use our pre-tested Smart sequences inside our tool, which have been proven to work. The choice is yours.


Email discovery & verification

Setting up a Smart sequence with email steps is easy when you have your leads' addresses. But what if you don’t? 

You rely on our email discovery and verification!

With this feature, you can find and double-verify your leads’ business emails to:

This functionality is built into the platform, meaning we don’t rely on third-party services to perform it. Thus, you can add an email discovery and verification step into your Smart sequence to find and verify emails without breaking the outreach flow.

Moreover, Skylead offers unlimited email discovery and verification credits at no extra cost. This allows you to expand your outreach without worrying about added expenses.


Infinite email warm-up

InboxFlare dashboard - an email warm-up tool that's available to Skylead users

Speaking of features that come at no additional cost, Skylead has partnered with InboxFlare, one of the best email warm-up tools, to bring you another one: Infinite email warm-up. 

Compatible with all major email providers and custom SMTP, InboxFlare lets you warm up an unlimited number of email accounts to make sure your emails always reach your leads.

That said, here’s what Skylead users can take advantage of thanks to our partnership with InboxFlare:

As you can, with this powerful tool and Skylead, your outreach remains secure, effective, and truly limitless.  


Native image & GIF personalization

Image and GIF editor in Skylead tool

If you want your messages to stand out and be memorable, visuals are a powerful tool.

Luckily, our native image & GIF personalization makes it easy to create eye-catching visuals that are bound to get noticed.

You can use our built-in editor to customize images and GIFs with your and your prospect’s name, profile picture, company logo, or any other detail that speaks directly to them. However, you don’t have to customize one by one.

This hyper-personalized approach doesn’t only look good; it actually gets results! In fact, our users have seen response rates soar by as much as 76% simply by adding personalized images and GIFs to their outreach. 

So, if you want to make a lasting impression and boost engagement, this feature is your go-to.


Skylead use cases

Skylead users include:

Now, let’s see how these teams are using Skylead:


Image of how different teams use automated lead generation with examples

Pricing

Skylead has an all-in-one pricing plan of $100 per seat/month.

Average rating: 4,8 / 5


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


2. OptinMonster


Automated lead generation tool example, OptinMonster

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This is another tool you can use to automate lead generation. Marketing teams typically use it for e-commerce lead capture. However, B2B marketers frequently use it for their lead-generation efforts as well. 

OptinMonster is a software that offers automated lead generation forms presented as pop-ups, slide-in windows, and gamified spin-to-win wheels. Moreover, you can place these pop-ups or forms on any landing page. 

That said, these automated forms help you gather contact information to: 


Features

OptinMonster’s main advantage is that it turns your website visitors into paying customers, webinar attendees, or newsletter subscribers

That said, many B2B marketing teams use these forms to increase any conversion rate, thanks to:

💡 Pro tip: Create a synergy between your marketing and sales teams. Once you generate leads through OptinMonster, you can push them automatically to your Skylead sales or marketing campaign through API.


Pricing

OptinMonster has 4 pricing plans:

Basic$18/mo

*Use on 1 site
Plus$48/mo

*Use on 2 sites
Pro$73/mo

*Use on 3 sites
Growth$123/mo

*Use on 5 sites

In addition, they offer around 40% off per month if you opt-in for an annual subscription.

Average rating: 4,3 / 5 


3. Moosend.com


Example of automated lead generation tool, Moosend

In general, Moosend is an email automation tool that helps you create and send personalized newsletters to your leads. It’s most suitable for small businesses specializing in e-commerce. However, this automation tool can be used for B2B email campaigns as well.


Features

One of the best things about Moosend is that you can create newsletters or pop-up banners with a simple drag-and-drop

In addition, they leverage AI to analyze the data from your website, such as your subscriber behavior. This way, you can send more personalized messages or email notifications and maximize customer experience and retention.

That said, similar to Skylead, you can use this marketing automation tool to create a sequence with if/else conditions such as “if the purchase was made” and so on. This way, you can check for your subscriber’s actions and send suitable follow-up messages.  

Moosend offers a vast library of templates for creating newsletters or landing pages for email marketing campaigns. Whichever you choose, you’d be glad to hear that every template comes with device optimization functionalities. 

Next, you can group leads from your email list and send separate messages. You can divide the leads based on keywords, if they clicked on the link in the previous email, etc. 

Like OptinMonster, Moosend can help you gather new leads and increase your lead generation efforts. In other words, it offers customizable forms like pop-ups to promote your lead magnets, like webinars, and create email lists. 

Lastly, you can integrate Moosend with your CRM, such as Hubspot, or other apps to streamline your related tasks.


Pricing

Moosend has 3 pricing systems:

Average rating: 4,6 / 5


4. Mailchimp


Automated lead generation tool example, Mailchimp

Another email automation software on our list is Mailchimp

This marketing automation tool started as software that helps marketers create newsletters in the e-commerce environment. However, it has developed into a more well-rounded automated lead generation tool. 


Features


Email marketing

Firstly, Mailchimp offers an email automation tool for sending newsletters or other messaging material to your subscribers. You can create your own message design or use the template

Regarding targeting, you can segment your leads based on their behavior, such as: 


Lead generation

Mailchimp offers a couple of features that are perfect for B2B lead generation. 

Firstly, they have their own website builder to create beautifully designed landing pages for your new leads. In addition, you can make it from scratch or from the numerous templates they offer.

Secondly, they offer sign-up and pop-up forms for your website to generate potential customers. Moreover, you can also integrate their free appointment scheduling tool so potential leads can book calls with your sales team. 

Lastly, Mailchimp offers a campaign manager that combines social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, into one dashboard. This way, you can target potential leads with interests similar to those of your current contacts. You can also retarget visitors as they browse the web or social media. 


Automated customer journeys

Last but not least, Mailchimp has a function to enhance user experience with Customer Journey Builder. In other words, you can automate activities, such as emails and follow-ups, according to your leads’ behavior and nurture them to conversion. 

Moreover, you can integrate Mailchimp with any app, including your CRM of choice or LinkedIn outreach solution for omnichannel presence.


Pricing

Mailchimp offers 4 plans with the following highlighted features:

Average rating: 4,4 / 5 



5. Tidio


Automated lead generation tool example, Tidio

As mentioned before, one of the best ways to capture leads is via live chat or chatbot. And Tidio is one of many on the market. 

This tool can automatically collect and qualify leads based on their website behavior. For example, let’s say a visitor lands on your pricing page. A chatbot can then ask if they are interested in a custom quote, and if they are, invite them to leave their contact information. 

Moreover, you can set Tidio to answer FAQs, offer news, or upsell your users. This way, you’re leaving time for your support team to focus on burning problems while improving your customer experience. 


Pricing

Tidio offers a couple of plans, respectively:

Free*Up to 50 handled conversations
StarterStarts at $29/mo

*Up to 100 handled conversations
GrowthStarts at $59/mo

*Up to 2,000 handled conversations
PlusStarts at $749

*Custom quota of handled conversations
PremiumStarts at $2999/mo

*Unlimited handled conversations

Average rating: 4,7 / 5


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's Customer Success Manager, Nevena and text "Let's onboard you 1 on 1!"


Automated lead generation examples

So, you know how to automate your lead generation and the tools to use when doing so.

Now, let’s walk you through real-life examples of automated inbound and outbound lead generation. And what better way to do so than to use our very own?


a. Outbound lead generation automation example

In October 2023, we launched Skylead 3.0 on Product Hunt and received an incredible 2nd place.

But that wouldn't have been possible if we didn't automate our outbound lead generation.

Namely, what we did several months before the launch was find leads using Product Hunt LinkedIn groups

Why these groups, though? Because they’re filled with individuals already interested in Product Hunt. And since the purpose was to generate leads who’d vote for us once we launched, these individuals were highly valuable.

The first step was to identify such groups. Then, we took advantage of LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters, specifically the ''Group'' filter, to isolate their members so we could add them to our campaigns. 

Sales Navigator group filter

The next step was to create a targeted outreach campaign using Skylead.

To do so, we copied the search URL from Sales Navigator. 

Then, we visited a Campaigns page in Skylead and clicked the ‘’Create’’ button.


Create campaign button in Skylead tool used to create automated lead generation camapigns

We gave the campaign a name, selected the Sales Navigator search result as the campaign type, and pasted the URL. We also decided to go with 2nd and 3rd-degree connections and clicked Next.


Create campaign page in Skylead


Here's an example of a Smart sequence one of us created for this purpose.


A smart sequence used to automate lead generation for Skylead's Product Hunt launch

Moreover, since Skylead supports A/B testing of up to 5 different subject lines and messages, we decided to add a few variants to see what drives the best results.


A/B testing in Skylead for Product Hunt launch outbound lead generation automated campaign

To maximize the number of leads we got to and get more votes, each member of our team kicked off their own campaign. But first, we turned off the option to include leads from other team campaigns to avoid contacting the same individuals.


Targeting option in Skylead tool

b. Inbound lead generation automation example

To naturally attract leads, we decided to create a lead magnet our audience would find genuinely useful. That’s how our sales eBook came to life—built on the same principles and strategies we used to scale Skylead.

The eBook was a collaboration between our marketing and sales teams. Alongside creating the content, we also designed a brand-new landing page with a form to collect lead information. Once someone would fill out the form, they'd be instantly redirected to a page where they could download the eBook for free.

However, the eBook didn’t benefit only those who downloaded it. Thanks to the lead generation form, we were able to capture the email addresses of inbound leads that we later used in outreach.

We compiled them all into a CSV file and used it to create a CSV-based campaign in Skylead. As a result, we managed to convert a high percentage of warm leads into paying customers.


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Frequently asked questions (FAQs)


Can you automate lead generation?

Yes, you can automate lead generation using a variety of tools designed to perform repetitive tasks like prospecting and outreach. By setting up automated workflows, you can streamline these processes and generate leads consistently, thus saving time and boosting efficiency.


What is the fastest way to generate leads?

The fastest way to generate leads often involves combining inbound and outbound automation. Using targeted ads, automated outreach emails, and multichannel sales engagement tool allows you to quickly identify, engage, and convert leads with minimal manual effort.


What are the ethical considerations when automating lead generation on LinkedIn?

When automating lead generation on LinkedIn, it's vital to maintain transparency and respect user privacy. Avoid spamming and ensure all automated interactions provide value to potential leads. Ethical automation respects LinkedIn's terms of service, focusing on building genuine connections rather than exploiting the platform.


How can businesses ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools?

To ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools, you should define clear target parameters and continuously refine your ideal customer profile. Utilizing advanced filtering options and personalized outreach messages can significantly increase the relevance and quality of automated lead generation efforts.


Can automation tools integrate with other CRM platforms, and how does this affect lead management?

Many automation tools like Skylead are designed to integrate seamlessly with CRM platforms, enhancing lead management processes. This integration allows for the automatic update of lead information and activities, providing a unified view of the sales funnel and enabling more efficient tracking, nurturing, and conversion of leads.


Automate lead generation to skyrocket your leads

80% of marketing automation users experience an increase in the number of leads, and even 77% an increase in conversion. That is no small number to ignore. 

That said, we hope this article helped you understand how you can automate your lead generation activities.

However, before you do, create a good-quality basis for the automation, starting from your website, content strategy, and LinkedIn profile. Only then will you be able to pave the way for successful lead generation automation. 

Once you go automation, you will also start looking at your other tasks and ask yourself:

‘’Can I automate that?’’

So, don’t wait a second longer! Sign up for Skylead’s 7-day free trial and automate your lead generation away!


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

You were ready to subscribe to LinkedIn Premium only to find out there's another option: Sales Navigator. Now, you're wondering—are they the same? If not, how do LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium features compare? And which one is right for you?

While many sales reps recommend Sales Navigator for prospecting, it's not always the clear winner. Nonetheless, our job is to compare LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium, and yours is to decide which fits your needs.

One thing's clear, though: LinkedIn Basic is too limited for professional use. To make the most of LinkedIn, an upgrade is essential. 

Now, let's find out which option is best for your business.


What is LinkedIn Premium?

LinkedIn Premium is a paid subscription that offers enhanced features that go beyond LinkedIn’s Basic, free account.

It is designed to help professionals unlock more networking, career advancement, and business growth opportunities.

With Premium, users gain access to features like InMails, insights into who viewed their profile, LinkedIn Learning courses, etc. 

No wonder LinkedIn cashes in $1.7 billion annually from LinkedIn Premium alone!


Who is LinkedIn Premium for?

LinkedIn Premium consists of 2 sub-plans: 

Premium Career is created specifically for job seekers interested in advancing their career or switching it altogether.

Meanwhile, Premium Business helps individuals grow their LinkedIn network and scale their business. As such, it’s perfect for prospective entrepreneurs and small to medium business owners.



LinkedIn Premium features

Both Premium Career and Premium Business plans have their clientele. 

However, since the Business plan has a broader application, today, we’ll be covering the Premium features it comes with.


Monthly InMail credits

LinkedIn Premium gives you 15 paid InMail credits a month that can be accumulated to up to 45 credits in 3 months

Any LinkedIn member can receive a paid InMail. However, only LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter users can send them. Each time you get a reply, you get that InMail credit back. 

Premium users can also send up to 800 free inMails monthly to members whose profiles are set to ‘’Open’’.

And while 15 paid inMail credits are a minimum, truth be told, the exact number of these you can send depends on your plan. This is where Sales Navigator surely wins the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium “battle.” But more on this below.

Moreover, since each LinkedIn member can receive a paid InMail, we advise our users to use it as the last resource. Therefore, LinkedIn InMails are usually one of the very last steps in our Smart Sequences

InMails also turned out to be a clever move if you want to get in touch with members who are hard to reach—typically, decision-makers. Check out these LinkedIn inMail examples to get inspired when reaching out to these individuals.


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


“Who Viewed Your Profile” feature

If you are a Premium Business subscriber, you’ll have a detailed insight into LinkedIn members who viewed your profile. 

You may have appeared in their feed or their search results. Maybe someone recommended you, or they came across your name while checking your company’s website. Your profile could also have appeared in their “People also viewed” or “People you may know” section. 

Either way, they showed some kind of interest in you. And reaching out to them turned out to be a LinkedIn prospecting practice that brings results. 

This is where you can see who viewed your profile on LinkedIn. 


Profile views button on LinkedIn

Company insights

All LinkedIn Premium members can visit any LinkedIn company page and check out the company insights.


Company insights on LinkedIn

Companies that hire, grow, and receive funding are generally more likely to consider innovative solutions, hire counselors, and automate certain processes. That's why taking into account specific company insights can be valuable for your next business move. 

Here, you can see data like:


Company insights growth on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is LinkedIn's free online learning platform. It provides video courses taught by industry experts and is available to all Premium users. The main goal of this platform is to provide different skill sets necessary for scaling your business and/or advancing your career. 

This is what your LinkedIn learning platform dashboard looks like. 


LinkedIn Learning dashboard, a feature available on all paid subscriptions making it tougher to decide between LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium

At the very top of the page, there is a search bar that you can use to search for the specific course by name. However, right below it is another search bar. But, this time, one where you input a prompt that LinkedIn’s AI will use to suggest a course for you.

Now, before you go fishing for courses, we advise you to set up your ‘’Career Journey’’. You can find this option in the sidebar menu on the left.


My career journey button in LinkedIn Learning

This is where you should set up your ‘’Career goal,’’ a.k.a. what you wish to accomplish in the next 6 to 12 months


Career goal button in LinkedIn learning

There are a total of 3 goals you can choose from.


Career goal types available for both LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Premium subscribers

Once you’ve decided on the one, LinkedIn will create a personalized Learning plan complete with the best coursework to help you achieve it. 

Of course, you can build upon it by adding more courses or remove those you find irrelevant.


LinkedIn Learning personalized learning plan dashboard

How fast you go through these is up to you. But if you want to keep yourself on track, we recommend setting up a weekly goal. 

This isn’t something that LinkedIn asks you to commit to. It’s more of a personal goal you set for yourself. 

To set one up, click the ‘’My Library’’ button in the left sidebar, and then tap on the ‘’Set my weekly goal.’’


Weekly goal setting in LinkedIn Learning

These are the 4 weekly goals available.


Weekly goal types in LinkedIn Learning

Now, moving back to the LinkedIn Learning homepage, you can also see recommended courses. LinkedIn suggests these based on your professional path, previously set preferences, and what’s currently trending among fellow LinkedIn learners.

For example, this is what LinkedIn’s top picks look like for me.


Example of recommended courses in LinkedIn Learning, one of the features covered in LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison

LinkedIn Premium pricing

The LinkedIn plan price and the VAT depend on the country where your account has been registered. 

To give you an example, our team, which is based in Serbia, is paying the following amount for LinkedIn Premium Business: 

Monthly cost$59.99 + 20% VAT, as specified by our country
Annual cost$575.88 + 20% VAT, as specified by our country

For more pricing details, be sure to check our blog, which talks about LinkedIn Premium cost in greater detail. 

Also, bear in mind that certain individuals can get LinkedIn Premium free of charge. So, be sure to check if you fall into this category before subscribing.


What is LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a specialized LinkedIn subscription plan. It's meant to help streamline LinkedIn lead generation and prospecting with features that help you find, track, and connect with potential leads more effectively.


Sales Navigator masterclass banner with the quote from the Professionals movie.


Who is LinkedIn Sales Navigator for?

As its name suggests, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is primarily built for sales teams

However, it’s also useful for business development professionals, account managers, and anyone else looking for an efficient way to find, engage, and track leads.

So, if you are in a role where discovering new business opportunities, building relationships with decision-makers, or managing a high volume of leads is critical to your success, Sales Navigator is your perfect LinkedIn subscription.


Sales Navigator dashboard

LinkedIn Sales Navigator features

What may position this subscription plan as a winner of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium debate? Well, it’s the unique features it comes with.

With that in mind, let’s uncover the most prominent ones.


Advanced filtering

LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters are one of its greatest benefits.

Namely, Sales Navigator comes with 29 Lead Filters and 15 Account Filters, 27 of which are exclusive to the platform. Yes, LinkedIn Premium members and those using Recruiter can’t access them!

That said, if your niche requires pretty specific lead profiles, Sales Navigator is the right subscription for you.


Sales Navigator filters that make it the winner of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium battle

The Saved Search option allows you to save specific criteria that get you as close as possible to your ideal customer profile and buyer persona.

You can name your Saved Search in any way that helps you distinguish between other saved searches you have. 

Every time you enter the Saved Searches dashboard, you will see the number of leads added since the last time you opened that specific saved search. You can also see when you last accessed that particular list.


Sales Navigator saved searches that make it superior in the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison

Lead and account lists

Something similar to the previous feature is the Lead List and Account List options. Here, you can keep specific leads or accounts that match your criteria in one place and under one name. 


Sales Navigator lead lists

InMail credits

The concept of free and paid InMail credits is the same as explained above. The only difference is that Sales Navigator offers 50 paid InMails credits that can be accumulated to up to 150 in 3 months. LinkedIn gives you back InMail credits each time a user answers. 

Additionally, each Sales Navigator subscriber gets 800 free InMail credits that can be sent only to users with open profiles. Therefore, when it comes to the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium battle, Sales Navigator is surely a winner in this regard.


CRM integration

Among the 3 plans, Sales Navigator Core, Sales Navigator Advanced, and Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, only the last 2 support the option of connecting your CRM

Once you’ve connected your database, Sales Navigator will match the list of leads with their LinkedIn profiles and enable you to perform any action you would normally be able to through a regular Sales Navigator. 

Sales Navigator supports the majority of CRMs. If you don’t have one—or are not sure which one is for you—we’ve listed the 10 best CRM software for sales with their advantages and disadvantages to help you choose.


Lead alerts

Set alerts for leads and accounts of your choice, and Sales Navigator will make sure to regularly update you on every activity the platform finds relevant. This could be anything from job changes, post-shows, growth insights for companies, etc. It is an excellent way to know what your leads of interest are up to and wait for the right moment to approach them.


‘’View Similar’’ feature

The View Similar option is available for accounts only. It is the right choice once you’ve defined your ICP down to the smallest detail. 

Let’s say you found that ideal company that you would like to replicate if you could. In a way, you can. 

Click on the three dots next to the company name in the Sales Navigator search results. Then, choose ‘’View Similar’’


View similar feature available in Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator will list other companies whose attributes match the original one as closely as possible.


Leave notes

Sales Navigator gives you the option to leave notes next to the leads and accounts of your choice. This way, you know at any moment what stop they’re at on their buyer’s journey. 


Personas

If you want to zero in on leads that perfectly match your buyer persona, the Personas feature in Sales Navigator has you covered! 

That said, this feature lets you create customized profiles based on key factors like:

Once you've set up your Personas, Sales Navigator automatically finds leads that align with those profiles within your target accounts, making your outreach faster and more focused. It also gives you valuable insights, like tracking the growth of specific Personas within a company, to help you spot potential opportunities.

By default, Sales Navigator provides 2 Personas: Director + and CXO

However, you can create up to 3 additional custom Personas to suit your LinkedIn sales strategy better. 


Personas feature that makes Sales Navigator a better option for sales teams in the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison

Buyer Intent

This feature is available for Sales Navigator Advanced and Advanced Plus subscribers only. 

Nonetheless, it’s very useful as it lets you identify which accounts or leads have shown interest in your product/service. 

Buyer intent gives you full insight into where a buyer is in their journey, from checking out your company page to accepting your messages. No other tool offers such detailed intent data. Plus, it shows you the exact activities people are doing that signal interest, so you know exactly where to focus your targeted outreach efforts.

To set up Buyer Intent, you need to contact LinkedIn support. 

But once it's set up, you can access Buyer Intent insights in these places:


Buyer intent option in search filters in Sales Navigator

Blacklist specific leads and accounts 

Blacklisting specific leads or accounts can be an excellent way to avoid certain leads. These can be people you already spoke to, your competitors, partners, existing customers, etc. 

Sales Navigator doesn’t have the Blacklist feature per se. 

However, our tool, Skylead, does. 

Connect your Sales Navigator account to it to take advantage of the possibility of excluding certain individuals from your outreach campaign


A Smart Link is a shareable link to a document (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or image) or a downloadable file (a video, zip file, CSV, etc.) that you can include in a LinkedIn InMail message. 

Smart Links are only available with Sales Navigator Advanced and Advanced Plus plans.

The main advantage of these is that they allow you to track engagement—things like link clicks, time the recipient spent viewing content, access date, etc.

Also, if the recipient is logged into their LinkedIn account when they click, you can see their basic profile details, including their:

Additionally, if they have an open profile, you can send them a free InMail or a paid one if necessary.

However, if they're not logged in, they must enter their full name and email before accessing the content.

This is a great way for sales and marketing teams to collect significant insights into people showing interest in their product/service.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator pricing

How much does LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost?

Much like with the Premium plans, the Sales Navigator subscription cost varies depending on your geographical location.

However, this is how much you can expect to pay for it in general:

Sales Navigator planMonthly costAnnual cost
Core$99.99/mo$959.88/year
Advanced$149.99/mo$1,300/year
Advanced Plus/$1,600 per seat a year

⚠️ Beware: These prices do not include Value Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (GST), and other related taxes. For a detailed breakdown of additional, country-specific fees, consult this LinkedIn help center article.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium: Key differences

While both LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator offer advanced tools for LinkedIn users, they serve different purposes

For example, LinkedIn Premium is ideal for individuals looking to build their network, access LinkedIn Learning, and gain insights into who’s viewing their profile. 

On the other hand, Sales Navigator is meant for professionals focused on lead generation and sales in general. It provides more robust filtering options, lead management tools, CRM integration, and tracking capabilities that are unavailable in Premium.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium features

FeaturePremium BusinessSales Navigator Core
Unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning✔️✔️
Private browsing✔️✔️
Applicant insights✔️✔️
Direct messaging✔️✔️
Who viewed your profile✔️✔️
Who's viewed your profile insights availability365365
InMail credits1550
AI tools✔️✔️
Custom button✔️✔️
Business insights✔️✔️
Premium Service Page features✔️
Top choice job✔️
Advanced search✔️
Standalone sales interface✔️
Custom lead and account lists✔️
Lead recommendations and saved leads✔️
Real-time updates and alerts✔️

To see how different LinkedIn Sales Navigator plans stack against each other, consult LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator comparison page.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium pros and cons


LinkedIn Sales Navigator pros


Premium pros


LinkedIn Sales Navigator cons


Premium cons


LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium pricing

PlanMonthly costAnnual cost
LinkedIn Premium Business$59.99/mo + VAT$575.88/year + VAT
Sales Navigator Core$99.99/mo + VAT$959.88/year + VAT
Sales Navigator Advanced$149.99/mo + VAT$1,300/year + VAT
Sales Navigator Advanced Plus/$1,600 per seat a year + VAT

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)


1. What is the difference between LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Premium?

Sales Navigator is focused on advanced prospecting and lead generation, with advanced filtering and CRM integration. Meanwhile, Premium is designed to provide general networking opportunities, business, and career insights.


2. What does LinkedIn Sales Navigator allow you to do?

Sales Navigator provides powerful features to help you find, track, and engage with leads.


3. Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator useful?

Yes, especially for those in sales, thanks to its filters, lead lists, tracking abilities, saved searches, CRM integrations, and more.


4. Is LinkedIn Premium worth it?

It depends on your needs. For job seekers and general networking, it's a valuable investment. However, Sales Navigator may be better for serious sales efforts.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium: The final verdict

At the end of this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison, we must emphasize that the choice of your LinkedIn plan will highly depend on your intentions.

Either way, whether you opt for LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, or even Recruiter (if searching for the best talent), know that Skylead supports all 3 plans and can help you reach out to your leads faster…and easier!

Skylead is a one-stop-shop tool that takes over boring and time-consuming sales tasks. As a result, it can save you +11 hours a week and allow you to focus on closing the deals and deals only. 

Curious about how it can make this happen?

Check out our website, schedule a FREE demo with our sales team, and sign up for your 7-day free trial now!

We can’t wait to show you what Skylead’s all about!


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
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LinkedIn, as the main professional network, with 1 billion users, is the number 1 tool to help you find leads. 

Using LinkedIn lead generation is great. However, there are other sources you can use and combine with LinkedIn to reach more high-quality leads. Extra targeting work always pays off.

We’ve done the work, researched, and analyzed creative ways to find these leads for your business besides our favorite targeting hacks on LinkedIn. This blog will show you lead generation sources that can be beneficial for your outreach efforts, match your ICP and Buyer Persona, and actually convert.

Let’s jump right in! 🏊


What is a lead?

A business or sales lead is a potential customer who is interested in your product or service. Salespeople use lead generation methods to find leads from multiple sources. Then, they reach out and follow up with each one continuously to warm up the lead and convert them.


Leads vs. prospects

A prospect is a qualified lead. For a lead to become qualified, they have to match your ICP, and you need to interact with them. Once they show interest in your product/service, they become qualified and can continue their journey through the sales process.


How to define and find leads 

If your goal is to find leads of high quality, cold outreach can be a powerful tool for building solid relationships. If done right, it could help you close more deals. This could depend on multiple factors, ranging from a catchy email subject line, a LinkedIn inMail subject line, and a powerful call to action to creating a strong follow-up email after no response campaign flow.

However, before you get into outreach, your first job is to define your target audience. Here are the 3 main things to consider. 👇

1. Build your inbound strategy

To maximize results, you should consider investing time and effort into building your inbound strategy as well, as inbound and outbound work well together. 

Make sure to build your website and fill it with educational content, such as blogs, downloadable templates, lead generation forms, case studies, and documents. Your support team should always be available, and the support chat icon should be visible on the homepage.


2. Define your ICP and Buyer Persona

Both the Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona are your essential documents for defining the type of company or person you’ll target with your outreach. Before you go out to find leads, you should define both.

Just a reminder, the Ideal Customer Profile describes the company that would benefit the most from your product or service. These companies should have the fastest conversion cycle, highest LTV, and highest customer retention and be willing to refer your product or service to others. 
On the other hand, a Buyer Persona describes your perfect decision-maker. In other words, a Buyer Persona is a collection of an individual’s personal data such as age, location, likes, dislikes, goals, wishes, challenges, and motivations.


find-sales-leads-what-to-do-before-finding-b2b-leads-create-ideal-customer-profile-and-buyer-persona

Ideally, both Buyer Persona and ICP should be based on existing customers and data, as it will help you create these documents more precisely.


3. Create your sales leads personalization document

Social selling is about building relationships and helping your sales leads reach their goals with your product or service. But before you can dive into relationship-building, you should gather personal info about your leads.

To personalize your outreach at scale, you would need to do extensive research on what they do and the content they publish or get more personal by finding their hobby. Start by creating an Excel file with columns like:

Then, continue by inserting information, such as:

In other words, create a column for everything you can find while researching. This document contains actionable data for your outreach. So, read on to see how you can use and benefit from it.

Pro tip: Before you start your outreach be sure you have your LinkedIn prepared to sell for you.


Set up your LinkedIn profile compete guide banner with text: Earn the LinkedIn all-star status


Why you need to update your lead generation strategies

LinkedIn is still our #1 platform for generating leads, right? However, by using different strategies and sources to find leads apart from LinkedIn, you will gain even deeper insights into your potential ICP or Buyer Persona. This will ultimately help you maximize your sales efforts and results.

Below, we will review a list of 30 ways to find leads online and how to use them. We’ll show you how to automate outreach, save 11 hours per week on manual work, and focus on closing deals. Sounds good? Keep reading! 🤓


30 ways to find leads


1. Find leads on company websites

To find leads on company websites, you identify target companies and visit their official websites. Then, you explore the “About us” and “Team” pages to find the decision-makers. While you’re at it, you should also check the “Contact us” page for general contact info.


find leads on company websites 1

Once you click, you’ll usually get to names and titles, sometimes, even with LinkedIn icons, do you don’t have to look for them manually.


Find leads on company websites 2

After getting leads on these pages and finding them on LinkedIn, you can send connection requests for a more natural and personalized outreach.


find leads on company websites 3

You can also use operators like “site.com email” to find employee email addresses. Or, even better, use an automation tool to Find & verify business emails. Lastly, you can use content to engage and comment on blog posts to get noticed by content creators, start conversations, and get recommended to their colleagues, who are your target audience.


2. Find leads on live events

To find leads at live networking events, you should find relevant events first: industry conferences, trade shows, and meetups. Our advice is to register early to ensure your spot. Also, make sure to review the attendee list if it’s available. Before the event:

In case of a live event, you can go as an attendee, or you can have your own booth. As an attendee or guest, you should attend sessions and participate in all discussions to connect with other attendees. The main goal is to learn about industry news, meet new people, and build relationships with potential leads

If you have your own booth, you will have a chance to talk to interested parties, distribute marketing materials, and start meaningful conversations. You can also exchange digital cards or connect on LinkedIn immediately. 

After the conference, in both cases, you should follow up with new contacts shortly after to keep the conversation going and nurture newly built relationships.


find leads on live networking events

3. Find leads on digital events

With digital networking events, such as webinars, LinkedIn events, and online meetups, the rules are a bit different. Come prepared, research everything about the event and the attendees, and plan your approach.

You should join Q&A sessions, breakout rooms, and chats to connect with attendees. After the event, be sure to reach out on LinkedIn or email and mention your interaction or a specific topic from the event. By keeping the conversation going, you’ll easily generate and nurture B2B leads.


4. Find leads via referrals

You can find leads with a little help from your existing customers. Reach out to satisfied clients, colleagues, and industry contacts for referrals.

To get the most out of your referrals, our advice is to create strong incentives or a reward-based referral program. This will encourage referrers and keep leads coming in. You should also always keep in touch with your network through LinkedIn chat or email.

When you do get the leads from referrals, our advice is to always make sure to follow up and show appreciation to both the referrer and the new contact they brought in.


Find leads via referrals

5. Find leads via industry associations

Another way to find leads is to join industry associations and actively participate in their activities. Attend association meetings, conferences, and events to network with other members on LinkedIn or via email.

The trick is to pick associations relevant to your business that have active memberships and ongoing events. For example, if cloud-based companies are your ICP, you could join the Cloud Software Association.  

find leads via industry associations 1

After that, go to their directory and search for businesses of interest. You can use numerous filters to narrow down your search.


find leads via industry associations, 2

After that, you know the drill. Go to LinkedIn, find the company of choice, go to their people section, find decision-makers, and outreach away!


find leads via industry associations, 3

6. Find leads on X

Finding leads on X can be a real game-changer! For example, you can search for your competitors and find negative Tweets or comments. Then try finding them on LinkedIn (if they have their full name and a legit picture) and add them to your CSV file for future outreach. Don’t forget to personalize your outreach and reference how you’ve found them.


find leads on x

7. Find leads in Facebook groups

Facebook is a perfect place to find your Buyer Persona. However, you just need to dig a little deeper to find them, and join a couple of groups here and there.

The first thing you need to do is to research and find the Facebook groups your sales leads follow. Then, join these groups and wait for approval. From there, you can find your sales leads by the posts they have published. The only thing you need to do is search the group by the keyword.


find leads on facebook

You then search sales leads by, for example, the exact pain point they experience or the goal they want to achieve. This is where you find potential interested parties for your product/service.


find leads on facebook 2

You can message the people who posted directly on Facebook or, better yet, connect with them on LinkedIn and begin your outreach campaign. 


8. Find leads on Instagram

Instagram is all about good visuals, hundreds of followers, but also finding leads. Yes, we’re not kidding. Go to the profiles of companies that are your competitors or have similar ICP and Buyer Persona, go to the followers section, and scroll down to find leads. 


find leads on instagram 1

Once you get to them, we’re using our favorite lead gen ally - LinkedIn 👇


find leads on instagram 2

9. Find leads on Reddit (Specific Subreddits)

If done right, finding leads on Reddit can be incredibly effective. Here’s what you’ll need to do:


find leads on reddit

From what we’ve learned from our own experience, people will see your comment as useful and reach out to you themselves, asking for more information. This is usually a sign that you’re providing value where value is needed, so keep up the good work!


find leads on reddit, 2

10. Find leads with gated content

You might know this already, but using gated content with lead capture forms is a smart way to get leads. The marketing team creates:

Then, they send the list of leads to the sales team, who creates outreach campaigns. In fact, this is how we did it: We’ve offered a sales book that helped us grow our business from 2,500 to 10,000 users in just 9 months. In exchange, people leave contact information through a simple sign-up form on our website. We’ve also promoted our gated content through blog posts, social media, and email campaigns to drive more traffic and capture more leads.


find leads with gated content

Here are our tips on how to attract leads with quality gated content:

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


11. Find leads on review websites

Review websites can be very useful for finding leads. Here are a few review website examples:

Just go to the review website of choice, find your competitor, and then search for people who posted negative reviews. For example, here’s a person who is not satisfied with calendar software. Find them on LinkedIn and put them in your CSV file so you can include them in your automated outreach campaign.


find leads via review websites

12. Find leads using a LinkedIn X-Ray Search

LinkedIn X-ray search, a.k.a. Boolean search, is a method that allows us to research our leads on Google without using LinkedIn’s internal filters. But why would you do that if you have LinkedIn? Well:

  1. You’ll get more search results
  2. You’ll get to see 3rd-degree and out-of-network connections, too
  3. More relevant search results, thanks to Google’s different algorithms
  4. A more comprehensive search (thanks to the * symbol (Asterisk) that includes missing words in your search results.

Now, to find leads using LinkedIn's X-ray search, use Google with specific search operators. Enter "site.com" followed by relevant keywords, such as job titles or industries (e.g., "site

.com marketing manager"). This narrows down the LinkedIn profiles that match your criteria. Refine your search by adding location or company filters to target specific leads effectively.


Find leads with x-ray search

After you’ve pinpointed your leads, you go to LinkedIn and copy-paste their info to your CSV file for future outreach.


13. Find leads in CRM databases

Up until now, we’ve been talking about finding leads elsewhere, but you should not forget to look for leads among your own clients. Or rather, the ones that ended up in the churn box. Go to your CRM database and find the email addresses of clients who went in another direction, so to speak.

Think about why they might have left and use a new feature or update to start the conversation again or rather a check-in message. Since you’ve already had a relationship with them, restarting the conversation should be easier than with cold leads. 

Our advice is to review your earlier conversations and create a separate automated outreach campaign tailored for these old/new leads.


find leads in crm databases

14. Find leads via partnerships and alliances

It’s time to partner up! Start by identifying potential partners whose services complement yours or similar businesses that are not your competition. Reach out to these companies to find out about mutual benefits and opportunities for collaboration. Partnering up can open doors to new networks, which will increase your lead pool.

Here’s an example. Our partner included this image in their newsletter when we launched Product Hunt. It was a perfect opportunity to show us off to their user base and inform them about our special event.


find leads via partnerships and alliances

This also works for sharing gated content and referrals through mutual B2B marketing strategies.


15. Find leads via job listings

When a company is hiring, it usually means one of these 3 things:

  1. They have a bigger budget for the department
  2. Something is not right in the current process
  3. Or a person from the team is leaving for a certain reason.

Job postings mean a department change, and you should seize that opportunity. This is where recruiters usually spill the beans, so keep an eye on the department and industry of interest.

For example, let’s say you are selling team management software for remote teams. You can go to any job search website like Indeed and filter the jobs by industry, job type, and remote work.



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This is a great place to find your ICP and go from there. In addition, if you have a LinkedIn Premium account, you can check out the company’s growth insight on LinkedIn and move on to find your decision-maker.


find leads on job postings

You can do this process on LinkedIn, as well. However, keep in mind that if your ICP is a small company, you might not be able to see their job posts unless you are their 1st-degree connection or they promote these posts on LinkedIn.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


16. Find leads using LinkedIn topics

Another place to look for leads on LinkedIn is LinkedIn topics. You get to go through industry related questions, discover key contributors and find your Buyer Persona. You can also filter topics by industry and narrow down your lead search.


find leads on linkedin topics

Once you click on a topic, you’ll see different sections and related subtopics you can access. You can go through the contributors listed on the right. Then, you can find the ones you’ll reach out to easily since you’re already on LinkedIn. Our advice is to reference their contribution to a certain topic as an opener. It’s that easy.



17. Find leads through recently funded companies

Another great way to find your ICP is to research what companies recently got funded. Since we know they’ve got money to invest, make sure their priority is growth.

So, to find these companies, you can choose one of two ways. First, you can use company data websites, such as Fundz, TechCrunch, or Crunchbase. Crunchbase makes it easier to find information as you can filter the companies using the free Funding Rounds feature.


Secondly, you can Google search for companies using Boolean search operators.


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Whatever approach you pick, making the connection with the person from the company that just got the funding and building the relationship can result in a long-lasting partnership.


18. Find leads through Slack communities

Slack channels offer many possibilities, from finding leads to learning something new. The best part is that you can contact each member privately via chat.

There are different communities all over Slack, and you can explore and find the ones your Buyer persona joined. For example, a B2B content director must be following the content trends, so you will most likely find them in the Superpath Slack community under the content-b2b channel. 

What’s best is that Slack channels like RevGenius or The Trenches are very educational, supportive, and welcoming. So, apart from finding sales leads and reaching out to people who face a problem your product can resolve, you can enjoy your stay and learn about the changes in the market.


find leads through slack communities

19. Find leads through YouTube comments

To find leads in YouTube comments, all you need to do is find the videos your sales leads might be watching and look in the comment section. Our advice is to find someone with a legit profile, meaning with their full name and picture. You can use this information to find these individuals on LinkedIn.

Let’s say your sales leads are SaaS founders. Consequently, you would find a video related to SaaS, such as this one. 👇


find leads through yt comments

Now, scroll down to find a comment such as this one:


Youtube comment example for finding leads

Now go to LinkedIn and search for the person. You can contact them there directly or save their profile in a CSV file with remarks for a perfect conversation starter.


find leads through youtube comments, lead on linkedin

20. Find leads via LinkedIn events

Using LinkedIn events for lead generation is a great strategy for connecting with potential leads and clients. Go to LinkedIn’s search bar, type in a keyword of choice, and select “Events” as your main category.  


Find leads on LinkedIn events

To access the attendees' list and find those leads, you have to click on “Register.”


find leads on linkedin events 2

After that, you should click here 👇


Use filters to narrow down your search to match your Buyer Persona as closely as possible. The only thing left to do is attend the event and use some of the topics and information mentioned in the event to break the ice with your leads.


21. Find leads via Product hunt

Your journey on Product Hunt begins with discovering new and trending products in your industry. There are two ways to find leads here. Firstly, you can go to relevant discussions, watch out for questions from your target audience, and find them on LinkedIn.


find leads on product hunt 1

Secondly, if SaaS is your industry of choice, you can watch for new software or releases and find makers.


Then, the only thing left to do is to find them on LinkedIn and put the data and personal reference to your CSV file for outreach later on. 


find leads on product hunt 3

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's Customer Success Manager, Nevena and text "Let's onboard you 1 on 1!"

22. Find leads on Medium

Many people of all occupations share their stories and thoughts on Medium, and your sales leads could be one of them. Medium is a blogging platform with over 100 million active monthly readers and 175,000 authors who are thought leaders, journalists, and experts, so you have a deep pool of sales leads to search from.

Also, Medium is pretty easy to use. You just need to type the topic of interest in the search bar and comb through articles.


Once you find an interesting post, go to the author's profile. You will usually see their LinkedIn profile or other Social Media URLs in the About section, so it is easy to find leads right away. 


Additionally, you can see the comments and the profile of the person who posted that comment. Your sales leads could be one of them, so you can find them on LinkedIn and put them in your personalized document for further outreach.


23. Find leads on podcast guest lists

Use a simple Google search to find podcasts relevant to your industry or target market. Then, examine video titles and write down the speakers so you can find them on LinkedIn. Once you're ready to reach out to them, use personalized messages where you reference their podcast appearance and explain how your services can benefit them.


find leads via podcast lists

24. Find leads on Discord

Discord is a place where people can communicate with each other via either text or voice chat. Unlike Slack, Discord was initially created as an informal place to hang out with your friends or even play massive multiplayer online games.

However, Discord grew to be more. Now, it is a new hotspot where people all around the world gather to share their experiences and thoughts on all kinds of topics. Thus, many so-called servers, aka groups, have emerged, and you will be able to find the ones of your target audience.

For example, here is what the Salesforce discord channel looks like.


find leads on discord

Once you find your niche, join that server, and you’ll get to see a list of all members you can message privately or ask to connect on LinkedIn and take it from there.


25. Find leads on forums and online communities

Online communities such as GrowthHackers or SalesHackers are another place where you can find sales leads. With plenty of topics to search from, you will be shocked by how many discussions and users you will find.

For example, the nice thing about the GrowthHackers community is that you can find the user, see their publications and topics they follow, and choose to follow them or contact them directly. You can also always find them on LinkedIn and reach out from there.


find leads through forums and online communities

26. Find leads in LinkedIn groups

Despite the common belief, LinkedIn groups can still be useful for something - lead generation. To find leads in LinkedIn groups, you should look for relevant ones from your industry and join.


find leads in linkedin groups

Once you join, you’ll get access to a members list. Click on “Show all.”


find leads in linkedin groups

Then, extract the leads from the People section by copying the URL from your browser.


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Now, this only works if you use Skylead to help reach out to these particular group members. Just paste the link and create a dedicated campaign for these group members only.


27. Find leads via LinkedIn posts

Lastly, you can also find leads via LinkedIn posts. For example, find a viral post on LinkedIn and go through the comment section and likes. Comb through them, find decision-makers, and put them in your personalization document. Here’s what that looks like 👇


find leads in linkedin posts

Once you click, this is what you’ll see:


The next step is to use automation tools like Skylead to create an automated outreach campaign, and target leads from that specific post. Isn’t that amazing? Yes, we think so too. 😎 Here’s a connection request message example you can use in this case:

Hey,

I’ve noticed you liked this post on how volume creates abundance. 

Just wanted to check what your thoughts are on the subject.


28. Find leads with LinkedIn polls

You can also use LinkedIn polls to attract and find leads. Just create a poll that has a relevant industry pain point, and once you get your replies, go through those people and reach out to them. It’s that simple. Here’s an example:


find leads through linkedin polls

In this case, since users opted for one of three answers, we have three groups of leads: the ones who said "always," "never," and "it depends." You can adapt your outreach efforts to each answer group. 


29. Find leads by discovering startups

If your ICP consists mostly of startups, you should visit websites such as ProductHunt, BetaList, AngelList, or Crunchbase. BetaList is the place for recently launched internet startups. It cleverly segments startups by industries, so you’ll find the one you need easily.


find leads by discovering startups

Another advantage is that you can contact the founder directly by finding their social media account on the profile listed beneath the company description or manually on LinkedIn.


30. Find leads by researching niche platforms

Not all companies are alike, and many niche businesses have buyer personas with unique jobs. So, it’s important to research and visit platforms where the target audience has a profile.

For example, if your target group is videographers or graphic designers, you would most likely visit Behance or Vimeo. On the other hand, if your sales leads are music artists, then SoundCloud is the place for you. Looking for developers? Give Github a try. 

If, for example, you are selling an invoice management tool and need to reach out to freelancers, go to Upwork. The more information you have on your sales leads, the easier it will be to start the conversation. Here’s an example:

Hey, 

I have seen the ratings on your Upwork profile, they are amazing. 

I bet you get a lot of work as a freelancer. I was just wondering what tool you use for the invoice.

The possibilities are pretty much endless here.


Leads found, now what? Streamline your outreach to optimize time

Your leads are found, so now it’s time for outreach. Using an automation tool can help save time, track your outreach results better, and give you more time to focus on building relationships with prospects. So, what’s your choice of tool? Skylead, of course - a sales engagement and email outreach platform that streamlines your outreach process.

Now, remember when we said there’s a good use for the personalization document with actionable data? Well, this is where we teach you how to use it. 

To streamline the process and reach out to the sales leads you’ve found and researched, you should create a CSV file out of the gathered data. The only condition is also to paste the lead’s LinkedIn profile and/or email address. 

Skylead already offers the following native variables for message personalization based on the sales leads’ LinkedIn profiles:

Nonetheless, you can insert personalized information into columns, such as a reference to a certain post, comment, or any other place you’ve found them, and create your own custom variable for more personalization. For example, let’s take a customized intro that references how you’ve found them as a custom variable. Now, here’s what your CSV file should look like.


From here, you proceed with automating the outreach process. Here’s how 👇


Create a campaign in Skylead

It’s time to launch our first Skylead campaign, and we’ll go over it step-by-step.

First, go to your Skylead dashboard and click the Create new campaign button.


csv campaign creation, step 1

The second step is to choose your campaign type - Import


CSV campaign creation, step 2, choose campaign type

The next step is to set up additional settings, like date, email tracking metrics, etc. In this section, you can add an unlimited number of email addresses at no extra cost. Skylead will auto-rotate them for extra safety. Once you’ve made your changes, you can proceed.


CSV campaign creation, step 3, adjust settings

Now, all you need to do is create an action path for your outreach that Skylead will follow automatically. This is where we introduce our first-to-market Smart sequences. With them, you can combine LinkedIn and email action with if/else conditions. This will help you reach your leads while maximizing touchpoints with them. 

This is what a Smart sequence looks like in the tool:


CSV campaign creation, step 4, Smart sequence

Lastly, don’t forget to create personalized messages for the actions, such as an invite to connect, LinkedIn InMail, LinkedIn message, or email message. From our experience, adding personalized image to your outreach flow increases the response rate to 63%.


personalized message example

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


FAQs


How to find leads?

Identify potential customers through content marketing, social media engagement, and networking. Create valuable content, participate in discussions, and connect with prospects at industry events to generate interest and build relationships.


How to find B2B leads?

Use LinkedIn, industry associations, trade publications, and networking events. Leverage content marketing, email campaigns, and partnerships to attract and engage business clients.


How do I measure the effectiveness of each lead generation strategy?

To measure the effectiveness of each lead generation strategy, you need to track and analyze key metrics. Start by setting clear objectives for each strategy, such as the number of leads generated, conversion rates, and the quality of leads.

Tools like Google Analytics, CRM software, and marketing automation platforms are used to monitor these metrics. Look at the engagement levels, such as open rates and click-through rates for email campaigns or the level of interaction on social media posts. By comparing these metrics against your goals, you can determine which strategies are most effective and adjust your approach accordingly.


Can you provide examples of successful lead generation campaigns using these strategies?

Yes! A SaaS company used content marketing by creating a series of whitepapers and e-books targeting specific pain points in their industry. They promoted these resources through blog posts and social media, capturing leads through gated content forms. Another example is a B2B firm that utilized webinars and online events. They hosted industry-specific webinars, offering valuable insights and networking opportunities, which helped them gather high-quality leads.

A third example is a small business that leveraged email marketing and CRM automation. They segmented their email list based on customer behavior and engagement, sending personalized follow-ups and nurturing leads effectively, resulting in a significant increase in conversions. These examples highlight the importance of targeted content, engaging events, and personalized outreach in successful lead generation campaigns.


Ready to get those leads?

Now that you’ve seen 30 ways to find leads, it’s time for you to put your newly found knowledge to the test. Pick a couple of sources that hit close to home, and begin expanding your lead generation strategy. 

While you’re at it, remember to incorporate an automation tool into your sales strategy. After you’ve found your leads, you can check out Skylead, schedule a demo, and get a 7-day free trial to explore all the outreach possibilities we offer. Saving time on manual outreach doesn’t seem so bad, does it? Outreach away!


30 smart ways to find leads and generate sales

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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

Lead acquisition is the process of obtaining potential clients or leads and guiding them through the sales funnel toward conversion. Additionally, it involves capturing, filtering, and nurturing leads until they are ready to make a purchase.

For businesses, lead acquisition is decisive as it forms the foundation of their customer acquisition strategy. With a steady stream of qualified leads, companies can sustain growth and profitability.

That’s why, to keep their lead acquisition process afloat, businesses primarily utilize lead generation systems. To clarify, a lead generation system is a comprehensive software designed to help you gather, attract, speak with and convert leads into paying customers. 

Now let’s dive into what lead acquisition is and how it differs from lead generation, and why they are inseparable. Also, we will show you some highly effective tactics that you can use to get more clients in the future.


What is a lead?

A lead is an individual or organization demonstrating an interest in purchasing the products or services offered by a business. In other words, it represents a potential customer who has engaged with the company. This could involve filling out a form or subscribing to a newsletter.


What is lead acquisition?

Lead acquisition is the process of obtaining potential customers and guiding them toward becoming qualified leads. It involves capturing, filtering, and integrating leads into the lead acquisition funnel for further nurturing and conversion. 

Lead acquisition may include activities such as, 

The primary goal of lead acquisition is to build a pool of qualified leads and convert them. 


1. Lead generation

This is about attracting possible customers, getting their contact details and reaching out to them. For example, you can do this by sharing content, reaching out on social media, and making your website visible to search engines manually. 

However, you can also automate part of your lead generation process. 

Automated lead generation involves using software tools and processes to gather, attract, and engage potential leads without manual intervention. In other words, these tools streamline the outreach process in lead generation, enabling businesses to reach a larger audience more efficiently. 
Skylead is one such tool that facilitates automated outreach in lead generation, particularly using LinkedIn and email. To clarify, Skylead is a sales engagement tool and cold email software designed to streamline and optimize outreach efforts for businesses. It offers features such as:

FeatureDescription
Multichannel OutreachIt also enables users to combine different channels, maximizing touchpoints with leads and enhancing engagement possibilities.
Smart SequencesSkylead offers Smart sequence capabilities for building personalized multichannel flows with if/else conditions, ensuring effective lead acquisition.
Email Discovery & VerificationIt provides a native feature for discovering and double verifying email addresses of potential leads, ensuring accurate contact information for successful outreach efforts.
Image & GIF PersonalizationSkylead allows users to personalize outreach with images and GIFs, enhancing response rate and memorability for potential leads.

But more on this later. 😊


2. Market dominance

Apart from getting leads, you should also become a top player in your field. In other words, this means being known as a reliable source of information and solutions in your industry. It also involves establishing trust in your field. You can do this by consistently offering valuable content and engaging with your leads.

You can easily do this by using simple lead acquisition marketing tactics. 

Again, you either do it manually (that will take a lot of time) or automate the entire process using smart tools like Skylead. 

With Skylead, you can effortlessly establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry by automating the expansion of your LinkedIn network. Here’s how 👇

ActionDescription
Become a Thought LeaderExpand your LinkedIn network on autopilot to establish yourself as an industry authority.
Share Content CampaignsUse campaigns to distribute posts on LinkedIn and other content to your network. Thus, ensuring engagement even if they missed your posts.
Promote Events with Smart SequencesUtilize Smart Sequences to promote events and connect with attendees through LinkedIn and email.
Manage Conversations in Skylead's Smart InboxStreamline LinkedIn conversations by managing them all within Skylead's Smart Inbox feature.
Re-engage Network with View & Follow StepsIncorporate View & Follow steps in sequences to maintain engagement and re-engage your network.

3. Lead qualification, nurturing and conversion

In this step, firstly, figure out which leads are most likely to buy from you. For example, look at things like how interested they are, their budget, and how much say they have in their organization. By scoring and dividing leads, you can focus your efforts on the ones most likely to become customers.

Once you start talking to your leads, personalize your messaging and address their pain points precisely to successfully nurture them. Lastly, prepare your objection handling rebuttals to ensure lead conversion.


What are lead acquisition models?

Businesses deploy various lead acquisition models to optimize their customer acquisition process. Some of them are as follows:

  1. Firstly, Inbound marketing and sales attracts leads through valuable content, SEO, and social media engagement. This model focuses on drawing prospects to the business naturally for sales.
  2. Secondly, outbound marketing and sales means reaching out to possible customers by calling, emailing, or advertising to them directly. It's a proactive way for businesses to connect with potential buyers for selling purposes.
  3. Thirdly, the referral-based lead acquisition model relies on leveraging existing customer networks to generate new leads. Businesses can tap into a network of pre-qualified leads by incentivizing current customers to refer others.
  4. Fourthly, the strategic partnerships model allows businesses to collaborate with complementary companies to access each other's customer bases. This model leverages shared audiences to expand reach and acquire new leads.
  5. Lastly, the event-based lead acquisition model involves participating in industry events, conferences, and trade shows to connect with potential leads face-to-face. These events provide opportunities for direct interaction and relationship-building with prospects.

Lead generation Vs. Lead acquisition - Difference between lead generation and lead acquisition

In the customer acquisition process, people often interchangeably use lead acquisition and lead generation, but they represent distinct phases.
Lead generation involves collecting contact information from potential customers interested in a product or service. Additionally, depending on the organization, lead generation may be handled by either the marketing or sales department. Here’s how they differ:


Difference between marketing and sales lead generation

On the other hand, lead acquisition involves filtering and nurturing these leads to convert them into qualified prospects.

The primary difference (between lead generation and acquisition) lies in the timing and scope of engagement with potential customers. 

Lead generation focuses on initiating contact and capturing interest, while lead acquisition goes one step further. It encompasses a broader set of activities aimed at qualifying and nurturing leads until they are ready for conversion. 

Essentially, lead generation is about generating raw leads, while lead acquisition involves refining these leads for the sales process.

Here’s a summary of the main differences between the two terms. 

AspectLead GenerationLead Acquisition
DefinitionLead generation involves capturing potential customers' interest.Lead acquisition encompasses gaining, filtering, and incorporating leads into systems.
FocusEmphasizes attracting leads through marketing and sales efforts.Focuses on obtaining, filtering, and preparing leads for conversion.
ProcessInvolves activities like, 
Marketing > content, SEO, and PPC.
Sales > prospecting, initial contact, qualification and booking a meeting.
Includes lead nurturing, segmentation and closing.
OwnershipBusinesses generate leads internally or through campaigns.Leads can be acquired internally or through various channels and partnerships.
TimingHappens before the lead enters the sales funnel.Occurs after lead generation, preparing leads for conversion.

Best lead acquisition strategies for improved ROI & conversion

Maximizing ROI through lead acquisition strategies involves a mix of tactics customized to your target audience and industry. Here are a few methods you can consider.


1. Quality over quantity

Prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to lead acquisition. 

Focusing solely on generating a high volume of leads may be tempting. But, as we previously mentioned, it is important to ensure that these leads will be genuinely interested. 

Invest time and resources in targeting prospects who align closely with your ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer persona. By focusing on quality, you can increase the likelihood of securing valuable conversions and improve your return on investment (ROI).

Trust us—from our experience, a smaller number of high-quality leads can yield better results than a large volume of unqualified leads. Moreover, a large volume of leads can exhaust your time and resources with significantly worse results.


2. Qualify your leads

The more you qualify your leads, the better results you will get. So, to sort out leads for proper lead qualification, determine the following: 

  1. Your business’s ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
  2. Buyer Persona.

Your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) outlines the characteristics of your ideal company, such as industry, company size, and specific pain points your product or service addresses. 

Similarly, creating buyer personas helps you understand your potential customers better by identifying their needs, challenges, goals, and purchasing behaviors.

After you have established your ICP and buyer personas, you'll determine which leads are most likely to buy from you. 

You can take into account factors such as, 

By scoring and categorizing leads, you can focus your efforts on those most likely to convert into customers. 

Once you have a clear understanding of your leads, nurture them by providing personalized content and valuable resources. Personalize your communication to address their specific needs and interests, guiding them through the sales funnel. 


3. Check for intent

Some platforms, such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator or G2 offer information about Buyer Intent. This allows sales professionals to identify and prioritize potential leads based on their level of interest in your business. 


Sales Navigator Buyer Intent feature for lead acquisition

That said, if you have the budget, you should check out these platforms and test their power. We know we have. 🙂 


4. Monitor entire customer journeys and use attribution

To improve ROI, it's important to monitor entire customer journeys and utilize attribution effectively. Attribution lets you connect marketing efforts and channels with actual purchases. This can give you ideas on how to get more customers in a smarter way. 

Here's how you can monitor everything, depending on whether you belong to sales or marketing departments.


Steps how marketing teams can monitor customer journey for lead acquisition

Steps how sales teams can monitor customer journey for lead acquisition

5. Lead segmentation

Segmentation is key to enhancing lead acquisition effectiveness. Sorting your leads based on various criteria such as demographics, acquisition channels, and behavioral traits. This helps you treat each group differently for better results.

For instance, leads from different channels may have varying levels of interest or engagement, requiring different nurturing strategies. Sorting leads helps you focus on the ones most likely to buy from you.

Segmentation also lets you give people content that suits them best, making them more likely to buy from you.


6. Do proactive lead acquisition for marketing and sales during the acquisition process

Businesses can employ a series of consistent strategic steps to enhance ROI through proactive lead acquisition marketing and sales efforts.

StrategyDescription
Create personalized offerCraft a unique offer custom to the audience's needs to entice action.
Warm-up leadsProvide value through educational content or insights to build trust and rapport.
Create lead magnetsDevelop resources like eBooks or webinars to capture contact information and provide solutions.
Email marketingImplement personalized email campaigns to nurture leads with relevant content and offers.
BloggingAttract and engage potential customers by regularly publishing high-quality blog posts addressing their interests.
Sales ProspectingIdentify potential leads through various channels, including networking events, referrals, and social media platforms.
Conduct sales presentationsDeliver compelling sales presentations to educate prospects about your products or services and demonstrate how they can solve their problems.
Follow up consistentlyEstablish a systematic follow-up process to maintain communication with leads, answer their questions, and address any concerns they may have.

7. Do what's been successful before

Figure out what has worked well in the past and focus on doing more of that. You can easily discover by analyzing your marketing campaigns, GA4 or outreach campaigns.


8. Make your lead interactions better

Improve how you communicate with potential leads to get them more interested and responsive. Adjust when and how often you reach out to them.


9. Look at the entire journey of your customers and identify patterns

Study how people become customers, noticing any common paths they take. This helps you understand what works and what doesn't in your marketing and sales efforts.


10. Get help from experts in lead generation or use outreach tool to generate leads

If you’re not sure how to set up and conduct lead acquisition, network on LinkedIn and reach out to some experts in the field. They might have advice that can make the process smoother and bring better results. After all, that’s what LinkedIn is all about. 

Or, you can use an outreach tool like Skylead by yourself to generate leads to start with. These tools often provide access to advanced features that can streamline the process and bring better results.


Actionable example and steps to improve lead acquisition process

To help you out with your lead acquisition improvement, let’s go through actionable steps you can take. We will focus on the beginning stages of the lead acquisition process for sales up until the lead nurturing phase.


1. Lead qualification and prospecting

Lead qualification and prospecting are like creating a map for your sales journey. It involves understanding your potential customers and identifying where to dig for treasure.

Lead qualification is the process of determining how likely your leads are to buy your product or service. Prospecting, on the other hand, is about finding those potential customers in the first place.

To make this process effective, you need to define your Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona. Be sure to check out both articles with easy and actionable steps to creating these documents. 

This will help you gather the necessary information to revise your approach and increase the effectiveness of your lead qualification process.

Once you have your ICP and Buyer Persona clearly defined, you'll have a roadmap for your marketing and sales efforts. 

Now, you can use that roadmap to begin LinkedIn prospecting

To start with, use LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator filters to narrow down your search and identify potential leads. Ensure that your shortlisted leads fit your ICP and Buyer Persona criteria. If you’re using Sales Navigator, use Account filters to find your ICP, and Lead filters to find your buyer persona. 


Image of Sales Navigator Lead and Account filters

Once you have a list of your ideal prospects, copy that search URL for the next step.


Sales Navigator masterclass banner with targeting options and Boolean search query


2. Lead generation using Skylead 

Once you have shortlisted your leads, you can create your outreach campaign. 

As we said, you can use the different outreach tools. However, to demonstrate how to create a campaign, we’ll use our sales engagement tool and cold email software, Skylead.

Go to your campaign dashboard and hit the Create campaign button.


Image of how to automate part of lead acquisition process, step 1, Create campaign

Choose among various sources to import leads into your campaign, and paste the URL you saved from the previous step. Next, name your campaign and move on to the following step. 


Image of how to automate part of lead acquisition process, step 2, Choose campaign type and insert lead source

Here, you can set your additional email and LinkedIn settings. 


Image of how to automate part of lead acquisition process, step 3, Set up campaign settings

One of Skylead's feature is that you can add unlimited email accounts at no extra cost. Then, you can select all the emails you added, and Skylead will rotate them, bypassing the email limit. In other words, you can send thousands of emails and reach more leads faster. 


Image of how to automate part of lead acquisition process, step 4, choose emails for outreach

When you've finished tweaking your settings, hit Create Sequence

This is a page where you create your Smart sequence. To clarify, a smart sequence is an algorithm you create, and Skylead will follow it to reach out to your leads, making your outreach more efficient and targeted. 

To create one, drag and drop steps and conditions to create different scenarios, and Skylead will execute steps depending on each lead's behavior. However, if this is your first outreach campaign and you're unsure how to create one, you can also use our Smart sequence templates. 


Image of how to automate part of lead acquisition process, step 5, create smart sequence for outreach

Your finished sequence should look something like this.


Smart sequence, outreach flow example

To make your lead acquisition process successful, personalize your outreach messages with variables such as the prospect’s name, company, etc. 


Outreach tool personalization example

We also advise including personalized images and GIFs to stand out and get a higher response rate.


Outreach tool image or GIF personalization example

Once your messages are in place, the only thing left to do is to hit the Start campaign and watch the magic happen!


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


3. Utilizing CRM and Smart inbox to nurture leads

Once your campaign is live and the leads start responding, go to Skylead's Smart Inbox page. Here, you can manage all of your prospects' LinkedIn and email messages. This way, you can interact with them, nurture and convert without navigating between different platforms.

Moreover, you can save reply templates for quicker replies and create labels to prioritize leads. It's as simple as that.


Image of outreach tool Smart Inbox

If you feel you need more organization with your leads, you can also use a CRM system to keep track of them. 


Why should your business choose a lead generation tool as part of your lead acquisition process?

If you're a business looking to generate leads, you have two options: 

However, there are several reasons why automated tools may be a better choice for you.


1. You’ll get better ROI.

Firstly, Using an automated outreach tool as a part of your lead acquisition process can significantly enhance your return on investment (ROI). These tools streamline connecting with potential clients by automating repetitive tasks, allowing your team to focus on more strategic activities. 

Automated outreach tools increase engagement rates and conversion potential by ensuring timely, consistent, and personalized communication. This efficiency not only saves time and reduces labor costs but also maximizes the impact of your marketing efforts, ultimately leading to higher ROI.


2. You’ll receive stronger opportunities for lead development.

Secondly, lead acquisition provides stronger opportunities for lead development. Acquired leads often come with a higher level of engagement and interest. Thus, your sales and marketing teams will have more to work with in terms of nurturing and conversion.


3. Lead acquisition becomes more cost-efficient.

Additionally, lead acquisition becomes more cost-efficient because acquiring leads through outreach tools come at a fraction of the cost. 

This cost-effectiveness allows businesses to stretch their budgets further and allocate resources more strategically.


4. You’ll get more time to nurture your leads.

By streamlining a part of the acquisition process, you can devote valuable resources to building relationships and guiding prospects through the sales funnel. This allows for a more personalized approach, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased customer loyalty.


5. You’ll get more control.

Finally, automating a part of lead acquisition gives you more control over your LinkedIn lead generation efforts and ability to scale. 


What is the lead acquisition cost? Lead acquisition cost formula

Lead acquisition cost (LAC) refers to the expenditure incurred in acquiring a new lead for a business. It encompasses all expenses associated with attracting, capturing, and nurturing leads until they become customers. 

The formula for determining LAC is relatively straightforward: 

LAC = Total Cost of Lead Generation Activities / Number of Leads Generated

To compute LAC accurately, start by identifying all costs related to lead generation, including,

Then, sum up these costs to obtain the total expenditure. 

Next, tally the number of leads generated during the same timeframe. 

Finally, divide the total cost by the number of leads to derive the LAC per lead.


Lead acquisition Vs. Customer acquisition - Differences

Lead acquisition is a subset of customer acquisition. Lead acquisition focuses on identifying and gathering information about potential customers (leads) who have shown interest in your product or service. This process involves activities such as generating interest, capturing contact details, and nurturing these leads until they are ready to make a purchase decision.

Customer acquisition, on the other hand, encompasses the entire process of converting leads into paying customers. It includes lead acquisition as the initial step but goes further to involve strategies and activities aimed at nurturing leads, closing sales, and retaining customers.

Here are the core differences between lead acquisition and customer acquisition.


Image of differences between lead acquisition and customer acquisition

What are lead acquisition channels?

Lead acquisition channels are the different ways businesses attract, engage, and convert potential customers into sales.

Here are some of the lead acquisition channels you can opt for. 


1. Email

Email is a powerful channel for acquiring leads and driving sales. It involves:


2. Organic Social Media interaction

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram play an important role in reaching potential customers. Sales teams can leverage social media by:

As a go to strategy, you can simply use and rely on LinkedIn as a lead acquisition channel. 

LinkedIn has proven to be highly effective for B2B lead prospecting and generation. Its professional network offers unparalleled opportunities for businesses to connect with potential clients, establish thought leadership, and generate quality leads. 

You can share helpful content regarding your services or portray the problem-solving nature of your product. And then, share that helpful content with potential prospects to build trust and credibility.


3. Social Media advertising

For marketing teams, advertising compliments organic social media efforts by:


4. Search engine optimization [SEO]

Another great channel for attracting customers is through online searches. By optimizing website content to match search intent, businesses can:

Each of these lead acquisition channels plays a vital role in the sales process, from attracting potential customers to converting them into paying clients.


Why is it hard to acquire leads?

It's challenging to acquire leads due to various factors. Marketers face difficulties in capturing potential customers' attention amidst the vast array of marketing channels available. 

Cold calls, once a common tactic, are now largely ignored, with 97% of recipients disregarding them. Generating leads also requires investment; the mean cost per lead across industries is $198.44

Additionally, not all organizations have a clear understanding of their lead generation efforts, with 12% of marketers admitting uncertainty about the number of leads they generate. Moreover, accessing accurate data is crucial for effective lead generation, yet nearly 40% of marketers believe their efforts could improve with better data. 

Lead quality is another concern, with sales teams frequently encountering issues such as poor lead readiness to buy or difficulty in contacting leads. 

Time constraints pose a significant challenge as well, with sales reps often too busy to promptly follow up with leads, hindering the conversion process. 


Why does lead acquisition matter?

One key reason why lead acquisition matters is its direct impact on sales revenue. 

When a company gets leads, it increases its chances of turning potential customers into paying ones. Also, good ways of getting leads help companies get more customers and find new markets. If a company doesn't consistently get leads, it might struggle to make sales and keep up with other businesses.

That's why businesses of all sizes utilize automated tools to streamline their sales processes. And this is where Skylead comes in to manage your lead acquisition process effectively! 

Register for a free trial today and take your lead acquisition to new heights with Skylead by your side!


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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

Ideal Customer Profile? Say what?

Are you outreaching your leads and the efforts are just not paying off? Chances are you’re targeting the wrong crowd and your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn’t right.

Andrea, our Head of sales, says that pitching to the wrong crowd only means wasted time and resources. Luckily, we are here to help you create the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This article will show you:

Our teams have worked hard to do the research, and now we present our findings, so pay close attention. 💡

What is an ICP?

The Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a firmographic description of companies that would benefit from your product/service the most. These companies should have the fastest sales cycle, highest LTV, and retention rate. ICP guides your targeted marketing and sales strategies to attract and keep valuable prospects efficiently.

Your ICP is a company that:

Pro tip: From our research, an Ideal Customer Profile can be positive and negative. We will focus on the positive ICP, but creating a negative ICP can help you outline all prospects that are a poor fit for your product/service. By keeping an eye on the negative ICP, you’ll surely avoid wasting your budget and time on the wrong companies.

The difference between an ideal customer profile and a buyer persona

ICP and Buyer Persona are crucial documents for sales, targeting, and prospecting on LinkedIn. Despite being similar, they serve different purposes.

Firstly, an Ideal customer profile combines firmographic and demographic data that best describes a company ideal for your business. This data can include: 

Secondly, a Buyer Persona is a document that describes an individual profile of a person involved in the buying process. While ICP outlines the perfect company, Buyer Persona details the individuals within. The data from your ICP might mention the decision-makers and their positions, but the data we need to create a Buyer Persona is a bit more personal:

Basically, the Buyer Persona focuses on more psychological and personal details, while the Ideal Customer Profile focuses more on the company itself and the metrics.A single ICP may contain several Buyer Personas, which means you can target multiple roles within a single company. Additionally, businesses can have various ICPs, which typically differ by industry, highlighting a layered approach to market segmentation. Here’s how it looks:


Image that describes difference between ideal customer profile and buyer persona

Now, back to the ICP and Buyer Persona. Here is a simplified example of their main differences.


Image demonstrating difference example between ideal customer profile and buyer persona

Pro tip: If your company is new, it’s better to start by creating an Ideal Customer Profile and then move on to a Buyer Persona.


Key Benefits

Now, let’s look at how your outreach will change after clearly defining your ICP:

  1. Personalize your outreach - The main and most obvious benefit of customer profiling is that it can help every sales team personalize communications for each prospect. This can only lead to more engagement, a better experience for your prospects, and improved sales.
  2. Target a relevant audience - You will target more relevant prospects for your business that actually have a need for your product/service.
  3. Improve response rates - When you’re speaking to the right crowd in the right way, you experience better results and boost lead nurturing. A tailored approach can boost response rates significantly.
  4. Optimize customer acquisition - A good ICP can help you understand your best customers so you know what characteristics to look for in the future, helping boost customer acquisition.
  5. An informed market expansion plan - With a good ICP, you can easily determine your current market share and plan to expand your reach and discover untapped revenue, only to grow your business even more.
  6. Nurture brand loyalty and profitability - Knowing your audience and presenting a solution to their problem at the right time can help boost your brand image, thus attracting more loyal customers.

How to create an ideal customer profile?

An Ideal Customer Profile needs to be as detailed as possible to identify all aspects of your target companies, create a good base for your Buyer Persona, and help your LinkedIn lead generation activities. Here is how to create an ICP in case you:

  1. Already have an Ideal Customer Profile as your customer
  2. Don’t have an ICP as your customer or customers at all.

If you already have an ideal customer profile as your customer


1. Analyze your current customers' data

When creating an ICP, data is your best ally. You can easily spot patterns and anomalies from which your business can benefit. In this case, you should start with your existing customers’ data.

What we’ve learned from our experience is that the trick is to pinpoint your best customers. Here’s a list of questions you need to answer to find them:

  1. What company became your customer the fastest?
  2. Who are the customers that have the highest retention rate?
  3. What customers have the highest LTV?
  4. What company did refer your product and service elsewhere?

2. Identify the patterns

Once you have a list of companies that are your current customers according to previous criteria, it is time to analyze. The key here is to notice patterns and similarities between these companies.

Here is the list of patterns to keep in mind when analyzing:


Analysis pattern for creating an ICP

Pro tip: Open Google Sheets for this step, note customers listed in rows, and put patterns in columns. Once you have them neatly written down, you can find similarities more easily.


ICP Google Sheet table with noticeable patterns

3. Have a chat with your customer

By now, you should have rough data, which means it’s time to get personal and go deeper into the analysis. To gather more personal information, you can book online meetings and chat with your existing customers.

Here’s a list of questions you can ask:


Image of template questions to ask current customers to create ideal customer profile

Keep in mind that not all customers have time to talk to you, or your meeting may not be their priority. If you did the social selling part right, you would have instant positive feedback because of your well-established relationship with them.

From what we have learned so far, you need to find an alternative motive for the customers so they are willing to hop on this meeting. This is where discounts or gift cards come into play. You will get valuable information, and they will gain something in return—a win-win.


4. Assemble information about your ICP

You are almost done. The last step is to assemble all this information in one place. As we mentioned before, it would be easier to start with ICP industry segmentation and go on from there. 

Now that you have defined an Ideal Customer Profile, you can adjust your sales and marketing efforts to target the right companies for your business. If you create an ICP in this way, you’ll have actionable data to find your profile right away and pointers on how to personalize outreach, but more on that second part later.

Note that later in this blog, you’ll get a chance to download our ready-made template you can use, so keep reading. 👇


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


If you do not have an ideal customer profile using your product or a service

In this case, we don’t have much data to go on, so we will create the ICP from scratch. If you don’t have an ICP as your customer or any customers at all, follow the steps below to create the profile.


1. Identify your ideal customers 

One of the best ways to start creating an Ideal Customer Profile in case you don’t have any customers is to zero in on the companies you believe will most benefit from your product or service. You can do this by identifying a couple of things on your end:

Now, choose a group of ideal companies to research. Follow their founders or other decision-makers and discover what they write about. Are there any pain points they often talk about? Visit their websites or check out their LinkedIn pages. This approach will help your sales and marketing team narrow down the target group and be more effective in their activities.


2. Identify the key aspects

Similarly to the previous approach, you should add firmographic and demographic data to the companies list. Here is the information you can gather about these companies and add to the list next to the companies’ names: 

Pro tip: When creating an ICP, our best advice is to make your ICP as detailed as possible since it will provide the best options for LinkedIn lead generation targeting. 


3. Finding personal information about the company

To make your ICP as detailed as possible, you need to find more personal information about the companies, which means you need to reach out to them. 👋

Do not underestimate the power of LinkedIn - most people will be glad to chat with you and share experiences. You can go one step further and use this opportunity to reach out to their decision-makers and start your social selling while you gather data.

Here’s a template example of a conversation starter invite to connect and a follow-up:

Hey {{firstName}},

Your profile struck a chord with me, particularly your role as {{occupation}}. How about we connect and share a few unscripted insights since we work in similar fields?

From there, you can continue the conversation like this:

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for welcoming me into your network! I noticed your impactful role at {{currentCompany}}, and I'm curious—what challenges do you face in your position? I'm in the midst of creating a solution tailored for professionals like you, and your insights could be incredibly useful.

Looking forward to hearing your perspective!

Here are a couple of questions you can ask if they are on board:


4. Build an ideal customer profile

The last step is to assemble the information you gathered, which we will show you in our template below. 👇

Note: If you choose companies that work in different industries, start with industry segmentation first, and import the rest of the data to create multiple ICPs. Otherwise, you will have only one.


Ideal customer profile template

Here’s what an assembled Ideal Customer Profile should look like for a fictional company that offers a time-tracking system to other companies.


ICP template

If you want to download this template, be sure to click here and make a copy.


How to use ICP for lead generation

Now that we have an Ideal Customer Profile, it’s time to use it to identify your ideal leads. Note that, from what we have learned over the years, companies that don’t perfectly match your ICP are still worth a shot. The retention rate will possibly be lower or the buying experience longer, so optimize and adjust your efforts accordingly.

The Ideal Customer Profile is easy to apply for lead generation. The idea is to search for and create a company leads list to match your ICP and then reach out to them. Here’s how to do it. ⬇️


Step #1 - Find your ICP via LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful lead generation tool. So, what you need to do now is use your ICP by going to LinkedIn and doing a similar companies search. Here’s how:

Go to your LinkedIn account and research the industry or type of companies defined in your ICP document. Then use additional filters available to narrow down the search according to your ICP.


LinkedIn basic search example

When the search is complete, make sure to jot down all the companies. Then, continue from there by clicking on every company page in the People section, as shown below, to find your qualified leads. 


Company profile, People section

Create a CSV file with every lead’s first name, last name, profile URL, and email. And then save this file for the next step.


csv-file-from-ideal-customer-profile-to-use-for-lead-generation-campaign

Hacks to find leads using Sales Navigator

There are two ways you can filter your leads if you have a Sales Navigator subscription.


1. Find leads from the company profile

Go to your Sales Navigator search, apply Sales Navigator filters, and see the results. Find your ideal company from this list, and click on the three-dots button. Then, click on “View Similar”. 

"View Similar" is a useful Sales Navigator feature that will try to find companies most similar to the company you choose according to industry, company size, etc. It will show you up to 50 similar companies.
You can also usethe existing customer you selected as your ICP, type theirname in the Sales Navigator search bar, and click on the “View Similar” button for that company.


Sales Navigator search 1

From there, click on the company you are most interested in, find your decision-maker, and save them to the lead’s list. Repeat the process for every company.


Sales Navigator search screenshot 2

Step #2 - Create an outreach campaign

You can reach the leads you find manually, but to make this process even easier, you should use a sales engagement tool to do it for you. Let’s take Skylead, for example–a sales engagement and email outreach software.

First, to create a campaign, choose your lead source. If you've written down all the decision-makers from your ICP in Google Sheets, you can upload it as a CSV file. However, if you used LinkedIn or Sales Navigator filters to find them, copy the search URL and paste it into Skylead. 👇


create a campaign in Skylead, step 1 screenshot

The next step is to adjust the campaign settings, such as start date or LinkedIn and email settings preferences, and click on the “Create sequence” button. 🧰


Create sequence screenshot

Note that what makes Skylead’s first-to-market Smart sequences special is that you can combine LinkedIn and email action with if/else conditions. This will help you get to your prospects one way or the other while maximizing touchpoints with leads. 

How? Through a carefully thought out and placed a set of actions. Here’s what you can drag and drop in the sequence builder to create an outreach flow 👇


Actions and conditions

A clear ICP will allow you to determine which steps or communication channels to use in your outreach campaign. Plus, you can use personalized visual elements that match your ICP thanks to our Image & GIF personalization feature to increase your response rate to 63%.


Image and GIF personalization

Lastly, once you’re done combining elements and personalizing, your sequence will look something like this:


Smart sequence example

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ


How do you measure the success and accuracy of an ICP over time, and what metrics are most important?

To measure the success and accuracy of an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) over time, companies should track conversion rates, sales cycle lengths, customer lifetime value, and retention rates. Adjustments to the ICP may be necessary as these metrics are analyzed to ensure alignment with market conditions and customer needs.


Are there industry-specific variations in creating an ICP, and how should companies in different sectors adapt the template provided?

Industry-specific variations in creating an ICP do exist. For instance, the factors that define an ideal customer in the technology sector may differ significantly from those in the manufacturing sector. Companies should consider their unique industry trends, challenges, and customer behaviors when adapting the ICP template.


How can small businesses or startups with limited data or customer interactions effectively create an ICP?

Small businesses or startups with limited data can still effectively create an ICP by leveraging industry reports, competitor analysis, and qualitative feedback from initial customers or stakeholders. These insights can form the basis for a preliminary ICP that evolves with more customer interactions and data accumulation.


Ready to find your ideal prospects?

In conclusion, an Ideal Customer Profile allows you to narrow down, analyze prospects, and optimize your approach. It shows precise challenges—valuable information to help you adjust unique selling points and offer tailor-made solutions to your prospects’ problems.

To jog your memory once again, here are the 4 easy steps you need to take to create an ICP:


ICP table

Pro tip: After creating an ICP, the next step is to create a Buyer Persona

Did you make your ICP? Good, then use Skylead to get to your prospects faster and save up to 11 hours of manual work per week. Come, say hi via chat on our website, and test our all-in-one tool during a 7-day free trial. Let’s get to those perfect prospects together and enjoy the results of hard work. 🤝


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.
A well-crafted LinkedIn connection message can make a busy decision-maker click Accept to yours and leave pending the other 50+ connection requests they received that day on the platform. 

With over 65 million decision-makers, LinkedIn is THE #1 professional social network that made it possible for the entire world to connect business-wise

However, while it’s true that, today, you can find anyone you need on the platform, the volume of messages certain professionals get on a daily basis is so high that you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd to get their attention. 

To understand how important connections are on LinkedIn, bear in mind that 98% of sales representatives with more than 5,000 LinkedIn connections mostly surpass their selling quotas.

The maximum size of your network on LinkedIn is limited to 30,000 connections, so you want to use that number to connect with LinkedIn members relevant to your business (and you want to do so before your competitors, so… ⬇️ )


In this blog, we will: 


How to send a connection request on LinkedIn?

To connect with a LinkedIn member from the search result, click on the Connect button in the top right corner of the member’s LinkedIn profile section. 


How to send a linkedin connection request from a linkedin search result

OR

Open the LinkedIn member’s profile. Click Connect


How to send LinkedIn connection message from LinkedIn profile

How to cancel a pending LinkedIn connection request?

Not a lot of people monitor their pending LinkedIn connection requests, which is wrong because the integrity of their LinkedIn profile could get damaged. Essentially, good pending-request hygiene can save you from LinkedIn jail and improve your acceptance rate on the platform. 

That’s why, we wrote a complete guide on How to cancel your LinkedIn invite, and, above all, explained in detail:

Skylead users have the benefit that you can set up Skylead to withdraw pending requests to safeguard their LinkedIn profiles and allow them to send invites to connect to other people relevant to their business. 


How to delete pending invites in LinkedIn automation and cold email software, Skylead

In the meantime, if you just wish to cancel a pending LinkedIn connection request,  first click My Network on your LinkedIn profile home page. 


How to cancel pending LinkedIn connection request on LinkedIn, step 1

Choose Manage or See all.


How to cancel pending LinkedIn connection request on LinkedIn, step 2

Choose Sent and the Withdraw option that’s next to the LinkedIn member’s name.


How to cancel pending LinkedIn connection request on LinkedIn, step 3

If you cancel a LinkedIn connection request, you won’t be able to send it again to the same member for the following 3 weeks


How to cancel pending linkedin connection request, the Withdraw invitation pop-up

How to message someone on LinkedIn who is not a connection?

There are 3 types of connections on LinkedIn, and here is how to message every one of them.  


How to write a connection message on LinkedIn [5 best practices]

So, as mentioned above, it takes only a few people to deny your LinkedIn connection request and click I don’t know this person for you to be flagged on LinkedIn. 

So, we decided to share 5 guidelines followed by our sales team when writing a LinkedIn connection message. 


Look for common ground.

Mentioning any common ground turned out to be a positive practice. It could be a community you both belong to, a shared interest, a school, an industry, or even the same point of view on a specific topic.


Stay professional. 

Reach out to other members in a professional manner. Avoid making personal references or giving compliments that are not business-related or argued.


Personalize your LinkedIn connection messages.

Addressing your lead by name is a must. Then, any other detail that you can mention, such as - the company name, the exact job title, set of skills, or job description, shows that you did your research. The more you know about your lead, the higher the chances of getting accepted on LinkedIn and turning that lead into your customer.


No generic nor irrelevant LinkedIn connection messages.

Even a blank LinkedIn connection request is better than I’d like to add you to my network.

Also, it’s hard for a pharmaceutical sales representative to be interested to read your article on SEO. Know who you are talking to.


Avoid selling straight out the gate.

Even if they need and like your product or service, no one will purchase anything without any additional info, chat, or call.


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


25 LinkedIn connection message examples [Up to 78% acceptance rate]

Tailor-making a LinkedIn connection message to each lead might seem a bit time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be (not if you’re using Skyleaaaad 😂 ). 

Jokes aside (or not!), the results of sending personalized LinkedIn connection messages are pretty rewarding. 

Once you get used to the principles of writing in a compelling, LinkedIn-friendly way, your LinkedIn outreach will become a much more enjoyable experience. 

Until then, use the LinkedIn connection message examples below that our team and users tested to grow their networks with relevant prospects. 


Mention a mutual connection


Template

Hello {{firstName}},

I noticed that you are connected with {{mutualConnection}}.

{{mutualConnection}} and I worked together at {{company}}. I really loved {{whatYouLovedAboutMutualConnection}}.

I see that we are both in the {{industry}} industry and would love to have you in my network. 


Example


LinkedIn connection message example, Mutual connection

OR 

Template

Hello {{firstName}},

{{mutualConnection}} pointed me your way for B2B lead generation services – would love to connect.

Example


LinkedIn connection message example, Mutual connection version 2

Reaching out to a candidate (as a recruiter)


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

It seems that you’ve been a great addition to your team at {{company}}. Way to go! 

I would like to talk to you about a business opportunity. 

But even if you’re not interested, it would be great to have you as part of my network!


Example


LinkedIn connection message example, Recruiter to candidate

OR 


Template 


Hello {{firstName}},

I am reaching out to you for your vast experience as a {{occupation}}.

{{company}} is currently searching for a {{position}}.

If this sounds interesting to you, let’s connect. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Recruiter to candidate, version 2

Reaching out to a recruiter (as a job seeker) 


Template 


Hello {{firstName}},

I saw that you are a recruiter at {{company}}.

I am a {{occupation}} with {{number}} years of experience in the {{industry}} industry, currently seeking new opportunities.


I’d like to connect and chat to see if my background fits any of your openings. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Candidate to recruiter

OR 


Template 


Hello {{firstName}},

I see that you’re the recruiter in charge of the {{occupation}} position at {{company}}. 

I am very interested in applying but would like to ask you a few questions first. 

Let’s connect. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Candidate to recruiter, version 2

Intro to a collaboration proposal


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I am a long admirer of your work. 

I followed your advice regarding {{topic}} that you shared {{where}}. {{achievedResult}}.

Thank you once again! 

Would love to connect! 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Collaboration proposal

Connect with a member of the community


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

Your post in {{mutualCommunity}} was quite insightful. 

I particularly liked the part where you said {{quote}}. 

I would like to discuss it further with you. Let’s connect. 


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Shared community

OR 


Template

Hello {{firstName}}, 

I saw that you are also a member of {{mutualGroup}}.

I would love to connect with you since we both work in the {{industry}} industry.


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Shared community, version 2

Approach an event attendee


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

It was great speaking to you at the {{eventName}} {{when}}. 

What you do at {{currentCompany}} sounded fascinating and it totally inspired me! 

I’d definitely like to stay up-to-date with your work.

Thank you in advance for connecting!


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Event attendees

OR

Template 

Hey {{firstName}},

I saw you at the {{eventName}} but I didn’t get the chance to approach you and introduce myself. How did you like the {{eventName}}? Would love to connect here and stay in touch! 


Example 

LinkedIn connection message example, Event attendees

Reach out to a LinkedIn event attendee


Template 

Hello {{firstName}}, 

I saw that you too attended the {{eventName}} LinkedIn event. 

Learning {{what}} was particularly useful for my business. 

Anyways, I would love to connect and exchange feedback on the event. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, LinkedIn event attendees

Reach out to an author of a LinkedIn article or post


Template 

Hi {{firstName}},

I came across your LinkedIn article on {{topic}}. 

I really resonated with your thoughts on {{topic}}.

I’d love to keep in touch and learn more about your work. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, LinkedIn article author

Break the ice using industry humor or a joke

Here are 35+ industry jokes that you could use in your LinkedIn connection requests as an icebreaker.


Template 

Hi {{firstName}},

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? 

Just one - but the light bulb has to really want to change.

Jokes aside, I would love to connect!


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Industry humor

OR (something as silly as this) 


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I noticed we both breathe oxygen. 

Sounds like a perfect fit to me, let’s connect! 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Industry humor, version 2

Connect with a former colleague 


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

Remember me?

We used to work together at {{company}} back in {{year}}.

Let’s connect and catch up, I would love to hear how it is going at {{currentCompany}}! 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Previous colleague

OR 


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

It was such a pleasure working with you at {{company}} back in {{year}}. 

Let’s connect! I would like to hear what you’ve been up to professionally since. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Previous colleague, version 2

Reach out to a colleague 

If a company is big, knowing everyone you’re working with is hard. 

However, connecting with colleagues is a good practice for expanding your network on LinkedIn. 

Remember that they also might have some interesting connections, and you never know who they could introduce you to. 


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

Good news travels fast! I heard about you {{achievement}}. Great job! 

Anyways, I am {{yourName}} from the {{department}} team and would love to connect! 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Connect with colleague

Connect with former alumni


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I see that we graduated from the same university. Go {{school’sSportsTeam}}! 🙂

I would like to connect and learn more about your experience at {{company}}. 

I myself majored in {{major}} and currently work in the {{industry}} industry. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Connect with an alumnus

Reach out to members who reacted to your or someone else’s LinkedIn post


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw that you are also a fan of {{name}}’s content and just wanted to connect with you. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, LinkedIn post


 

OR


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw that you also liked {{Name}}’s post on {{topic}}. I am a big fan of his/her work. 

His/her advice worked well for me!  

Anyways, I would love to connect and maybe even discuss it further. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, LinkedIn post

Connect with a member who asked a question in the post comment


Template 

Hi {{firstName}},

I saw that you commented on {{name}}’s post about {{topic}} and asked {{question}}. 

I would like to connect and share some resources with you that could be helpful. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, LinkedIn post, version 2

Reach out to members suggested by LinkedIn

The People also viewed feature displays a list of LinkedIn members that the platform’s algorithm found important for your LinkedIn experience, whether you are using it for networking, job search, or lead generation

Use this template to reach out to them. 


Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

Your profile came as suggested through the People also viewed section, so I was curious and checked it out. I saw that we’re both in the {{industry}} industry, so I thought we connect and exchange experiences. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Question in the comment

OR 

Template 


Hello, {{firstName}}

LinkedIn suggested your profile several times now, so I was curious and checked it out. I saw that we’re both {{occupation}}, so I thought it would be good to connect with professionals from the industry. Let’s exchange experiences:) 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Reach out to members suggested by LinkedIn

Start with a genuine compliment 

Template 


Hi {{firstName}}

I have been following your work for some time now, and I must admit your career path in the {{industry}} industry impressed me. I would love to connect with you and ask you a few questions about your beginnings in the field. 


Example 


LinkedIn connection message example, Include a genuine compliment

LinkedIn Connection Message: FAQ


How can one effectively track and measure the success rate of these LinkedIn connection message templates, especially in terms of resulting in meaningful professional relationships or business opportunities?

To effectively track the success of LinkedIn connection message templates, monitor acceptance rates and follow-up interactions. Analyzing these metrics can provide insights into which templates foster meaningful connections and opportunities. Adjust strategies based on this data for improved outcomes.


What are the best practices for following up on a connection request if there's no response initially, without coming across as too persistent or spammy?

Following up on a LinkedIn connection request requires a delicate balance. If there's no initial response, a polite and concise reminder after a reasonable period can be appropriate. Avoid being overly persistent; one InMail or email follow-up is generally considered tactful to maintain professionalism without seeming spammy.


How do you politely ask for a connection on LinkedIn? 

Asking to connect with someone on LinkedIn has become as common as asking or giving your business card to someone. Many professionals include links to their profiles in the paper or QR code business cards or in the signature section of their emails. 


Should I send a message with a connection request on LinkedIn? 

Adding a message with a connection request on LinkedIn is generally considered good practice that increases your acceptance rate. However, sending a blank request rather than a generic message is better if you decide not to use a personalized approach. Check out our examples above.


What message to write with a connection request on LinkedIn? 

Mentioning something that you have in common with the person you are trying to connect with is generally considered good practice that increases your chances of getting accepted. However, there are many other LinkedIn connection request messages that you can use. Check out our examples to get inspired. 


How do I send a cold connection request on LinkedIn? 

The cold connection request is not “as cold” as it seems if you follow the golden rule of connecting to people relevant to your business or with whom you have something in common. Therefore, the best way to connect on LinkedIn is by mentioning something relevant to both of you. 


Did someone reject my connection request on LinkedIn? 

You can ignore someone’s connection request on LinkedIn by clicking “Ignore” instead of “Accept” or by ignoring it and letting it pend. LinkedIn does not notify the sender when their connection request has been declined. Also, LinkedIn automatically deletes pending connection requests after 6 months. 


What happens when you ignore a connection request on LinkedIn? 

To decline someone’s connection request, just click “Ignore”. LinkedIn will not notify the member of their request being declined, but they can send you another connection request. If you literally ignore the request and leave it pending, LinkedIn will automatically delete it after 6 months. 


Do LinkedIn requests expire? 

Yes, LinkedIn requests expire. All pending LinkedIn connection requests will be automatically deleted after 6 months. After that, the member whose request has been deleted can ask for another connection again. 


Can people see withdrawn LinkedIn requests? 

Your recipient won’t be notified if you withdraw your connection request on LinkedIn. To do that, go to My Network > Manage (top right corner) >  Sent > Withdraw. If the LinkedIn member already accepted your invitation to connect, they can be removed as a connection. 


How do you know if someone accepted your LinkedIn request? 

You will get a notification when someone accepts your connection request. To set up notifications, go to Settings & Privacy > Notifications > Connecting with others > Invitations to connect. Or, go to My Network > Connections (top left corner) > Recently added > See the list of recently added connections or search them by name.


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Disclaimer: Skylead is not affiliated, endorsed by, or connected with LinkedIn in any way.

Did you know that LinkedIn lead generation is one of the most vital activities for the sales departments of B2B companies?

“Why?” you ask.

Well, because LinkedIn is the #1 social media for generating leads. Its lead conversion rates are 3x higher than any other major social media platform. Moreover, LinkedIn alone generates 80% of B2B leads coming from all social media channels a company uses.

We can go on with the metrics, but you get the gist. LinkedIn is one of the best social media platforms for generating tons of qualified leads that convert successfully.

Sadly, many people do not take advantage of this social media platform. Or they do not have the desired results using LinkedIn lead generation and just give up. 

So, in this complete guide, we will walk you through everything you need to know about LinkedIn lead generation. To be more precise, you will learn: 


Let's do this LinkedIn lead generation meme

What Is LinkedIn Lead Generation?

LinkedIn lead generation represents activities associated with identifying, gathering, and warming up potential clients on LinkedIn. Sales and marketing teams do so by using ads, forms, various tools, strategies, and outreach to generate qualified leads. It is an ongoing process that creates steady income for all B2B companies.

Why LinkedIn?

With the competitive market, generating high-quality leads has become somewhat of a challenge for B2B companies. Thus everyone needed to step up their lead generation efforts to stay relevant in the market.

That is where LinkedIn comes in. With 875 million members from 200+ countries, this #1 social media for professionals became a goldmine for B2B marketers and sales executives. 

Due to a large pool of professionals, 4 out of 5 LinkedIn users drive certain business decisions. Hence this audience has 2x buying power of the average web audience. Therefore, LinkedIn has been recognized as a perfect place where companies can find ideal leads and offer a solution to their problems. 

To make it easier for you to find the perfect lead, LinkedIn provides insights such as job titles, company they work in and its size, content they like and more. Moreover, this social media platform offers many ways sales and marketing teams can use to acquire qualified leads. So we will talk about all of them today.


How To Generate Leads From LinkedIn?

To generate high-quality leads on LinkedIn you need to perform different sales and marketing activities, leverage performance data, and improve. These activities include but are not limited to defining target audience, outreach, creating or sharing gated content, communicating benefits, and lead nurturing. 

Depending on whether you are a salesperson or B2B marketer these activities may vary but do have the same goal. So let’s break them down and check out what is the main focus for each professional.


LinkedIn Marketing For Lead Generation

LinkedIn marketing is a form of digital marketing where B2B marketers use LinkedIn to promote businesses, share content and generate leads. In most cases, marketing managers use LinkedIn to provide value and raise awareness through posting educational or gated content on the company page, thus generating more leads.

In other words, marketers use LinkedIn to:

As a part of their marketing strategy, some content marketers even become influencers or thought leaders themselves. This way, digital marketing managers can expand their network and have an additional channel to share their content. 

The previously-mentioned activities are heavily based on organic content marketing. However, as a part of LinkedIn marketing, you can get paid traffic, engagement or generate leads by publishing sponsored content, aka ad campaigns.


LinkedIn Ads

Digital marketers often publish sponsored content through the LinkedIn campaign manager as part of lead generation efforts. They do so by specifying their target audience with certain demographics or other parameters and presenting them with the purposeful ad they create. 

For example, they can create an ad campaign with a call-to-action button to visit a landing page with gated content. The target audience then goes to a landing page and leaves contact information. 

For those who don’t know, gated content is digital material, such as educational videos, ebooks, or other documents that request users to fill out a contact form before they can download or access them. This is one of the classic ways marketers use to generate leads. 

Therefore, to get their lead gen forms to a wider audience and gather potential customers for their sales team, digital marketers can opt-in for sponsored content on LinkedIn as a part of their marketing strategy.

What does this mean in terms of activities? Well, marketers can use LinkedIn campaign manager to:

They say a visual is worth more than a thousand words, so here is how sharing gated content or launching a lead generation campaign works in real life.


Example how using LinkedIn ads and gated content can generate leads

Even though LinkedIn ads are a part of overall LinkedIn marketing, they are not mandatory for LinkedIn lead generation, as you can do certain things organically. However, they can be immensely beneficial if you wish to go all in.

That said, here is what all LinkedIn marketing activities would look like in a funnel.


Image of LinkedIn lead generation funnel for marketers

Using LinkedIn Outreach For Lead Generation

LinkedIn outreach signifies contacting and warming up potential customers on LinkedIn. It is the next step in the lead generation process, once salespeople finish with LinkedIn prospecting or after the marketing team acquires contact information through gated content. LinkedIn is the preferred social media for outreach due to communication simplicity.

Salespeople can outreach two types of leads to generate and qualify them: inbound or outbound leads. Inbound leads are the ones who have already interacted with your company (e.g. gave their information due to lead generation strategy or contacted via chat). On the other hand, sales professionals outreach outbound leads by themselves after finding them via prospecting.

Outreach on LinkedIn is definitely a long and separate subject on its own. However, there are definitely a couple of main principles we must mention for the sake of this article.


LinkedIn Outreach Principles

Firstly, LinkedIn outreach is the main part of the social selling strategy. In other words, it focuses on building relationships, offering a solution to problems, and nurturing leads throughout the buying journey.  

For example, you will usually find sales professionals starting the conversation on LinkedIn by asking about the lead's workflow. Or they will offer educational content or case studies long before they pitch their product or service.

Secondly, LinkedIn outreach is about quality, not quantity. So make sure to find and outreach the right people according to your ICP or Buyer Persona.

Lastly, as marketing can retarget website visitors, salespeople can use retargeting of their own. To clarify, they can reach out to people they already had contact with in some shape or form and didn’t convert. The outreach message can be a simple follow up to catch up after a while or a full product update, depending on where they left off the conversation. 

With that in mind, here is a funnel with all the activities that sales people go through regarding LinkedIn lead generation.


Image of LinkedIn lead generation funnel activities for sales

If you do not have time to do the above-mentioned activities, you can always hire a LinkedIn lead generation agency to do it for you. However, if you wish to do it yourself, stay tuned as we will show you tips, tricks and strategies on how to do it right. 

What Do You Need to Do Before LinkedIn Lead Generation?

As previously stated, LinkedIn lead generation is undoubtedly the main focus for B2B companies. However, you can’t just dive right into LinkedIn lead generation without first establishing the basics.

If you do, you will generate a miserable number of leads and not the good ones either. The reason for such an outcome is poor LinkedIn lead generation basic steps, strategy, targeting, and outreach method. Luckily we will cover everything below.

Are you ready? We will start with what you need to do first. 


Create Highly Converting LinkedIn Profile

Before you start any LinkedIn lead generation activity, you must improve your LinkedIn profile and optimize it for conversions. If you do it thoroughly, it will stand out from other profiles and attract more people to visit it.

For example, your LinkedIn URL optimized for SEO and the LinkedIn headline created to boost LinkedIn lead generation will get you more profile views. Even a profile and LinkedIn cover photo can get you 14x more profile views. More visits will result in a lot more connection requests and engagements. 

Let’s take a look at this way. What profile photo captures your attention first in the following example?


Image of LinkedIn profiles that demonstrates the importance of fully set up LinkedIn profile for LinkedIn lead generation

We would guess that your answer is the lady with the orange background.

The reason she captured your attention is the fact that she implemented steps that more than 80% of LinkedIn users don’t. 


Set up your LinkedIn profile compete guide banner with text: Earn the LinkedIn all-star status


People are more prone to send you a connection request if they like your profile. Furthermore, they will accept your requests frequently. Thus, your success in generating new leads, acquiring new users, and even selling will increase significantly.

Marketers, this goes for the company’s LinkedIn page, as well. Set the high-quality logo as your profile picture, add a high-quality cover photo that mirrors your branding, and import as much info as possible. Lastly, don’t forget to optimize your LinkedIn public URL for SEO, as LinkedIn users and search engines will use it to find your page.


Image of LinkedIn company page URL optimization - example

So, to stand our case, optimizing your profile will improve the conversion rate. Thus, it is one of the most important first steps to successful LinkedIn lead generation.


Define Your ICP And Buyer Persona For LinkedIn Lead Generation

Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona are complementary documents that define your perfect customer and their company. In other words, they contain lead specification variables such as job title, the industry they work in, company size, or location. 

You should create your ICP and Buyer Persona based on your current customer data. This way, these documents will contain what type of lead: 

If you do not define your ICP and Buyer Persona, you won’t be able to: 

In other words, you can’t do all these things because you don’t know who you are doing it for, to begin with. So be sure to define both to make your LinkedIn lead generation strategies more effective.


Become A Thought Leader

Here is an interesting fact for you. Did you know that many decision-makers, 54% of them to be more precise, claim they spend 1+ hour per week reading and reviewing thought-leadership content

Being someone others follow to discover more about their position-related news is one of the essential activities of LinkedIn lead generation. Keep in mind that being a thought leader is a continuous process. Once you get started with it, you need to be consistent to grow your network.

The best hook for any thought leader is offering valuable and actionable content to your network. Moreover, you will have better engagement if you add proof of success, for example, the exact results you achieved.

By offering a lot of valuable content, you’re earning people’s trust and building the image of an expert in your field. This will help you gain influence status in your market and get tons of leads through your posts. 

Whatsmore, you will connect with people on a much deeper level by being proactive and initiating different conversations based on your content.


How To Become Thought Leader?

Provide people with actionable steps to implement in their business. In addition, these steps should demonstrate your experience in improving your own or someone else’s business. Or, you could share stories about tools and strategies you used to get incredible results. 

To clarify the previously stated, let’s go through an example.


Post example demonstrating LinkedIn lead generation strategy through leadership

Why did this post work?

Firstly, the opening line promises a lot and entices readers to discover more about the story.

Secondly, the author showcases the astonishing results and what they could bring to anyone who follows the same steps.

Thirdly, by explaining how the content they share helped his company, the author provides the direct benefit and why people should read the document.

Lastly, they include an alluring CTA so people continue engaging with the post. Moreover, said CTA plays the main role in increasing this post’s tremendous reach (98,910 people).

How?

Well, this post uses the LinkedIn algorithm to its fullest potential. To clarify, when you publish a post, this is what the LinkedIn algorithm does:

That’s how the wider audience can see this post and engage with it. 

What the author asks of people who want to see the guide, in this case, is to first engage with the post by commenting on it. 

That’s why the post became viral. And not only did the post become viral, but it paved the way for network expansion and lead generation. All that from the post alone. Wow! 


Build Your Network And Relationships On LinkedIn

Being a thought leader is all nice and fun. However, you won’t get far unless you use this social media for what it truly is for: building a network and nurturing real relationships with other members. 

There is no workaround for this one. The only way to build a relationship with your network is to reach out and start a conversation with them (read between the lines - LinkedIn outreach). Talk about their work experience, and what they find most challenging or exchange tips. You can also have a digital coffee with them.

That said, establish a habit of finding new people to interact with each day. After all, from honest and good relationships, great customers are born. And that is Social Selling for you folks.


Create A Personalization Spreadsheet

Speaking of Social Selling, you should know that its backbone is actually personalization in communication. Nobody would want to talk to you if you appeared generic or dishonest. Thus, if you wish to do LinkedIn lead generation right, you need to first hyper-personalize your communication on this social media.

So, when you start generating leads on LinkedIn, you need to research what that person is all about so you can start a genuine conversation. The one thing that will help you keep organized in this detective work is a lead personalization spreadsheet. It is a simple yet effective document where you will gather everything about your leads, such as: 

Keep in mind that this spreadsheet functions as an actionable document you can use in your LinkedIn lead generation efforts. Don’t worry. We will explain how it actually becomes actionable, so stay tuned.  


Image of spreadsheet example with leads' information to personalize outreach

Understand Buying Signals When Doing LinkedIn Lead Generation

If we needed to label the urgency of what you should do before LinkedIn lead generation, this would be Very Urgent on our list. Why? Because marketing and sales change their approaches rapidly. So you must keep up with these changes to stay relevant in the market. 

To be more precise, you need to be aware of this change called buying signals. It is the activity that leads perform to indicate buying intention for a specific product or a service. Or a buying signal can be an event that has taken place within the company that changed the company’s needs. 

For example, a prospect can post about a service explaining their good or bad experience and demonstrate their (dis)satisfaction.

Content marketers and sales are already using buying signals to generate high-quality leads with specific intent because it is a way to faster and better conversion. Consequently, LinkedIn is no exception. 

For example, marketing may notice a buying signal if visitors from LinkedIn go to several pages and end up on a pricing page in one session. Marketing then can post sponsored content on LinkedIn, retargeting those who ended up on a pricing page with another highly-converting landing page.

The sales team, on the other hand, can notice a person liking a case study they shared. After checking if the person has interacted with the business in some other way, they will outreach them on LinkedIn to connect or follow up on the said topic. 

That is what is happening in sales and marketing at the moment. People are figuring out holistic high-intent and signal-based approaches, and you should be one of them. So if you plan to work on LinkedIn lead generation, first learn to detect these signals on LinkedIn and use them to their fullest potential.


Top LinkedIn Lead Generation Strategies To Generate More Leads in 2025

Do not worry if you are still unsure of buying intent and how to create your strategy based on it. We’ve got your back. Some of the LinkedIn lead generation strategies listed below will give you an idea of how to do the prospecting on LinkedIn to detect these signals, find them, influence them, and reach out to your leads at just the right moment. 


1. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator Search For Lead Generation

LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a platform for sales executives, is a the first method for B2B lead generation. 

Apart from the leads they get from marketers, who use LinkedIn lead gen forms, sales executives can generate their own leads using Sales Navigator’s extensive list of filters.

Sales Navigator offers Lead filters to search for your Buyer Persona and Account filters if you wish to find your ICP.

However, amidst all the filters, we wish to highlight one in particular that every sales expert in SaaS or BaaS companies would like to see - the Technology used filter. This filter allows you to find people who use software similar to yours or even your competitor's products and reach out to them.

Simply go to your Sales Navigator Account filters and find Technology Used or search by keyword.


Image of where to find Technology Used account filter in Sales Navigator

Once you do, go to that company page and find the decision-maker and reach out to them. 

You can also send them gated content that will act like a LinkedIn lead gen form for your marketing team. They can use it to target the leads with other beneficial content. Whatsmore, you will raise awareness and establish contact with them without pushing them to buy, but rather pulling them towards your company. 


2. Search According To Your ICP Or Buyer Persona

One of the well-established ways for B2B lead generation is to use the LinkedIn search filters to their fullest. 

Dear sales teams, this is where your ICP and Buyer Persona come into play. If you read our guides, then you already know that each piece of information in these documents should be actionable.

Set the filters according to the documents using either LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator accounts to narrow your search. Once you do, copy the search URL. You are going to need it soon.

Trust us. By combining LinkedIn lead generation with your ICP or Buyer Persona, you will notice far better results than before since your leads will be more qualified.


3. Use LinkedIn InMail Templates For Lead Generation

LinkedIn InMails are direct and private messages you send or receive from a LinkedIn account that is not in your network.

InMails is a nifty feature for salespeople to use if they cannot get a hold of the lead using other methods (e.g. by sending a connection request). To clarify, once you send an InMail, the person will receive a notification as they would for regular messages.

If you are unsure what type of message to write to generate leads and get additional contact information via InMail, stop by our other blog and check out 13 LinkedIn InMail examples with a 25% response rate formula.


4. Job Posting Search

If a company publishes a job post, it usually means that they: 

Whatever happened here, this is your chance to investigate and detect the buying signal. 

In other words, this LinkedIn lead generation strategy focuses on job vacancy search, adding companies to a spreadsheet, and then finding decision-makers and reaching out to them. 

Here is how you can generate leads by discovering specific job posts. For example, let’s say your company outsources sales specialists. To find these job posts, simply type that keyword in the LinkedIn search field. For example, you can search for a Sales Manager and use all filters to get as close to your ICP as possible. 


Image of LinkedIn lead generation strategy that detects buying signals through job post

Once you find the desired company, go to their LinkedIn page and search for decision-makers within those companies. Lastly, write them down in your Personalization Spreadsheet so your outreach can later be more effective.


5. Team Up Sales And Marketing Efforts For Ultimate LinkedIn Lead Generation

We cannot talk about LinkedIn lead generation and miss mentioning the marketing and sales synergy. Today people research services of interest first before contacting sales or support. Thus, it became essential for marketers to cater to these research needs by creating content and working alongside the sales department to generate leads with personalized sponsored content.

On the other hand, salespeople are responsible for inbound contact and outbound activities. They do this through thought leadership, prospecting, and personal contact once the lead lands in the funnel.

Here is an example of how sales and marketing activities should be in synergy.


LinkedIn lead generation strategy to align sales and marketing activities

Thus, one of the main LinkedIn lead generation strategies should be aligning their activities on LinkedIn too. In other words, marketing and sales should:

It is essential to align your sales and marketing teams since they are equally valuable. In other words, if the sales team targets the leads using buying signals, marketing should do the same as one of their activities. For example, if sales send the leads to a book-a-demo page, marketing can create a LinkedIn lead generation ad to target people who visited the demo page but didn’t convert. 

Note: To reach the ultimate results using lead generation, the best-case practice is to extend your lead research beyond LinkedIn. In other words, discover other places to find B2B sales leads according to buying signals and trace them back to LinkedIn for outreach.

6. Check For Buying Impulses By Searching LinkedIn Hashtags

LinkedIn offers many holistic ways to generate leads. Thus, searching for the leads who shared their pain points or someone who wasn’t satisfied with your competitors via hashtags is one way to do it. 

This strategy is perfect for zeroing in on the leads based on buying signals. However, it might need some time as it requires manual work.

All you need to do is type your competitor’s name to find dissatisfied customers, search for the hashtag. Or explore hashtags to find a person who asked for advice on their pain point. 


Image of post example where competitor's customers didn't like their product which is considered buying signal; LinkedIn lead generation strategy

Once you do, write down everything you discover in your personalization spreadsheet. This way, you will gather all the information you need to personalize the message for the outreach.


7. Combing Through LinkedIn Groups 

You can also find the leads by searching through LinkedIn groups - the themed places for professionals of all caliber to share their thoughts and experiences or ask questions about the group topic in one place. 

Unfortunately, post-engagement-wise, LinkedIn groups are dead. However, that doesn’t mean that your leads aren’t there or their content. In other words, these groups still hold a place for LinkedIn accounts that joined the group in the first place. So go ahead and find the groups your Buyer Persona would be in. Join those groups and leverage them for LinkedIn lead generation by reaching out to its members or finding a post that demonstrates buying signal or intent.

For example, if your target group is marketers, you can search the group by keyword and find your ideal leads.


Image of example how to use LinkedIn groups to generate leads

From there, you can invite them to connect with you by writing a message such as this:

Hey Aanya,

I’ve seen your interesting posts on the right partnership in digital marketing in the Software/Technology group. So I’m reaching out in hope to connect with you on that topic.

8. LinkedIn Lead Generation Strategy That Includes Targeting Posts 

One way to jump over gatekeepers and reach decision-makers directly is to find content that appeals to them. Let’s take a look at the following post, for example.


Image of viral post to use for LinkedIn lead generation

If you click the reactions or comments, you will for sure find some decision-makers out there.


Image showing how to generate leads from viral posts; LinkedIn lead generation strategy

This is a valuable LinkedIn lead generation strategy, as you will have the perfect conversation starter once you outreach the decision-maker. For example, your conversation starter, based on the previous example, could be:

Hey Tomer,

I noticed you liked Gary Vaynerchuk’s post on making decisions easier by watching consumer behavior, being customer-centric, and putting in the hours. I wanted to ask you how you make decisions in your company. Are there any obstacles and challenges in what Gary mentioned? Let’s connect on this.

Furthermore, you can check the post reactions a dissatisfied customer wrote on your competitor and generate the people who agreed with their opinion. The possibilities are endless.


9. Generate Leads From Event Attendees List

If you wish to research your leads’ buying signals, you need to start thinking about what LinkedIn events your ideal audience attends. Whatsmore, you can find them all in one place. Attending an event of this kind gives you valuable insight into their problems and needs. 

To target event attendees, you need to first search for the events. Then, choose the event and click the Attend button. 


How to apply LinkedIn lead generation strategy that generates leads who attended events

Next, click the Attendees button and check for the list.


Image of how to find and generate leads from LinkedIn events, LinkedIn lead generation strategy

Once the event is live, be sure to write down all the questions, concerns, or comments your leads have so you can personalize your outreach later on.


10. Referral Program For LinkedIn Lead Generation

LinkedIn’s main benefit is networking. So why shouldn’t you use this benefit for LinkedIn lead generation?

The key here is to connect with your customers and offer them an incentive to refer your service to people who might be interested in using it. In other words, you can create a referral program for your current customers. 

Here is an example of how the LinkedIn lead generation referral program works. First, you can offer a 20% discount for 1 month to your customer for every LinkedIn user who comes to your demo. If they find three people, that’s a 20% discount for 3 months. 

What happens, in this case, is that if the recommended leads convert, they can branch out and find other leads for you to contact and convert. 


Image of how LinkedIn lead generation strategy that uses generated word-of-mouth works

This referral program acts as word-of-mouth and a passive LinkedIn lead generation. You get leads with the buying signal, and your clients become your advocates. In return, they receive an incentive. Win-Win.


11. Generate Leads From Your LinkedIn Post

Posting content on LinkedIn as a thought leader is the most beneficial way of attracting the leads you wish. The type of content you post is your decision and creative liberty. However, for LinkedIn lead generation purposes, be sure to post in a way to appeal to high-quality leads in a unique and personalized way. 

Once you see the reactions piling in, you can gather the LinkedIn profiles in one place, and outreach them manually or use the sales engagement tool to do it for you. But we will talk about this soon.


12. Gated Posts As LinkedIn Lead Generation Strategy

Another thing you can do for LinkedIn lead generation that includes posts is to create a piece intended for acquiring new B2B leads. 

To clarify, B2B marketers publish lead generation campaigns to boost their overall lead generation efforts. The type of sponsored content they publish the most are gated content and LinkedIn lead gen forms with call to action.

Similarly, salespeople can share gated content with their network. The catch is to write about the benefits of said content within your post. At the end of your post, you can share a landing page that leads to a form. Or you can ask the network to leave a comment on your post for two reasons:

Here is an example. Do you remember the post example from the How to become a thought leader section? Yes, that was gated content designed specifically for starting a conversation with new leads who are already interested in seeing the valuable content. What’s best is that they are the ones who initiated the contact. Thus social selling can go upright from here on now.

To post about gated content for LinkedIn, you can share any valuable piece your marketing team prepared for you. Or you can write one from your experience – the choice is yours. However, keep in mind that this content needs to showcase good results as proof, be industry-specific, and aim to cater to your prospects’ pain points. 

Just try it, and you will see why this strategy is one of the best for B2B lead generation. 


13. Linkedin Lead Generation Forms (Lead Gen Forms)

LinkedIn lead gen forms are a type of LinkedIn ad where the leads need to fill in a form to access the promoted material. It is similar to gated content on the website. However, the only difference is that LinkedIn alone hosts the lead gen form.

Once the lead clicks on the call to action, LinkedIn prefills the form, making it easier for leads to submit the information. You can then easily access the leads list, download it, and import it into the preferred automation tool. Or send it to your sales team. 🙂

LinkedIn charges this type of ad by cost per lead. In other words, you pay once the lead fills out the form. However, it can get quite expensive. It all depends on the industry and other parameters, but the projection for 2023 is that the average cost per lead on LinkedIn will be $75

In addition, please keep in mind that not all LinkedIn lead generation ads need to have a LinkedIn lead gen form. They can be a single image or a video that leads to another landing page with the form. So let’s talk about them.


14. LinkedIn Lead Generation Ads

As we previously stated, LinkedIn ads are powerful thus, they are one of the best strategies marketers can apply. However, many shy away from launching the ads due to their complexity at first glance.

However, marketing teams, to be fair, LinkedIn lead generation ads are not for a scare. They are just a tad more expensive. 🙂 

So here is how to launch any other type of lead generation ads in 7 simple steps.


7 Steps To Create LinkedIn Lead Generation Ad

Go to the Work section and navigate to the Advertise button.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad -step 1

Next, if you already have your account set up, choose your account and click the Create button and choose Campaign.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad step 2, campaign manager Create button

Then, select the goal of the campaign. You can choose among awareness, website visits, engagement, video views, and conversions. If, for example, you wish to promote your LinkedIn group or company’s LinkedIn page, choose the engagement campaign type. Or, if you wish to publish the LinkedIn lead gen form, use the Lead generation under Conversion.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad, step 3, choose objective

Next, define their target audience. While choosing who you wish to see your LinkedIn ads, you can set parameters such as demographics, job titles, or similar parameters. Or, you can opt-in for retargeting your website visitors via LinkedIn Insight Tag. In both cases, do not forget to set conversions to track metrics.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad step 4, setting up the targeting

Then, select ad format and placement (should you wish for LinkedIn to distribute your ad elsewhere). Keep in mind that message type ad acts as LinkedIn InMails, and will be labeled as Sponsored (unlike regular InMails). Moreover, the recipient will receive a notification for a message but won’t be able to respond or follow up with you. They can only interact with your call-to-action button.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad step 5, choosing an ad format and placement

Your next step is to select the budget and conversion tracking if needed. 


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad step 6, setting up the budget and scheduling the campaign

Create Your Ad

Now the real fun begins. Once you click Next, you will arrive at the ad dashboard. To start, click the Create new ad button.


Image of how to create a LinkedIn lead generation ad step 7, creating an ad itself

Lastly, create your message, enter the website URL where your gated content is and define a call-to-action button. Here, you are making sure that the core message resonates with the selected target audience, depending on where they are in the buying journey.


Image of how to create LinkedIn lead generation ad step 8, creating a text copy

What’s more, keep in mind that this interface differs depending on the ad form you choose. Here is how it should look if you wish to create a LinkedIn lead gen form.


Image of LinkedIn lead generation form looks like when creating it in LinkedIn campaign manager

Once you insert the ad details, click Create at the bottom right of the screen, and your ad will be ready. You can then track your metrics and success back in the campaign manager.


LinkedIn Lead Generation Ads Examples

One of the shortest and sweetest ads we’ve seen must be the LinkedIn lead gen form that Hubspot published. It carefully emphasizes benefits - everything one needs to promote their business on Instagram and offers a cheat sheet as an easy solution. Moreover, the LinkedIn lead gen form auto-populates the fields, and the leads need only to click the Submit button.


Image of LinkedIn lead generation form ad example

Next on our list is GetResponse, who asked one of their customers to create a short video.


Image of LinkedIn ad example for generating leads, GetResponse

This ad is a win because of three reasons. Firstly, they used video format, which is the preferred format nowadays. Secondly, their customer gives a testimonial, a live word, and their experience with the product. Lastly, they promote their forever-free account, so it’s easier for the leads to sign up without any obligations.

Last, but not least, we have Atlassian’s webinar promotion.


Image of LinkedIn ad example, Atlassian's webinar promotion

Not every lead generation ad needs to have a service sign-up as the ultimate goal. Webinar sign-ups work for different buying cycles just as well, and Atlassian recognized it.

What is a win in this situation is not the copy above, nor a visual (though it helps), but the wording “on-demand”. You see, many of us do not have time, or have different schedules. So it makes it harder to fit one webinar by the time it is up live. The phrase “on-demand” makes it easier for leads to sign up, as they can watch the webinar whenever they find the time.


15. Use Sales Navigator’s Buyer Intent Feature For Lead Generation

Lastly, Sales Navigator introduced its Buyer Intent feature. It offers insights into accounts showing the level of interest. Buyer Intent helps sales professionals reach out to the right people and companies at the right time.

How it works is that LinkedIn tracks accounts that interacted with your business on many levels (e.g. if the leads viewed your profile or a company page, accepted your request, etc). It then labels them by the level of interest and recommends them to you. It is a perfect way to generate leads that previously showed some level of interest in your company.

However, keep in mind this feature is only available for Sales Navigator Advance and Advance Plus users. Thus if you have a Sales Navigator Core account, you won’t have this functionality.


Best LinkedIn Lead Generation Tools

LinkedIn lead generation tools are automation tools that streamline your lead generation activities on LinkedIn, help you track metrics, and optimize your efforts for success. In other words, these somewhat done-for-you tools automate the processes, such as prospecting and initial outreach, that you’d otherwise do manually. In addition, they help you with time-consuming tasks, thus saving you time to focus on closing the deal.

What’s more, LinkedIn lead generation tools are data-driven. To clarify, they provide you with precise metrics of your activities and show you how to optimize them for better results.

So what tools and platforms are the best for your LinkedIn lead generation efforts?


Campaign Manager For The LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms Ads

Unlike the Sales Navigator platform created for sales executives, LinkedIn’s campaign manager is a tool created for marketers. It basically allows marketing specialists to publish a different kinds of ads on LinkedIn, 

As we previously mentioned, one of the best ad types is the Lead Generation Form ads. However, they are and will be expensive as they directly generate the leads’ contact info on LinkedIn. 

Thus, you are probably wondering if you can use something less expensive. Yes, you can generate leads on LinkedIn via outreach, which is a cheaper method, even if you use the tool with it.


Sales Navigator For Prospecting

We cannot stop gushing about Sales Navigator simply because it offers many possibilities for sales professionals to streamline prospecting efforts as part of LinkedIn lead generation. In other words, Sales Navigator offers:

And these are just to name a few, as there are many other Sales Navigator features for lead generation. However, be aware that the features you'll have at your disposal entirely depend on the type of Sales Navigator plan you use. Thus, read about all the plans and choose the one that will suit you best. 

So, once you find your ideal leads, you can outreach them directly from Sales Navigator or use the Sales engagement tool.


Sales Engagement Tools Designed For The Outreach

You could outreach the leads manually. Simply define the personalized message according to the info you gathered about them in the document. Then, outreach them one by one via LinkedIn or email. 

However, I have a question: What would happen if you generate hundreds or even thousands of leads? Would outreach them manually and watch over each step of the outreach process for every lead? 

Well, the good news is you don’t have to. You can use a sales engagement tool to do it for you.

Sales engagement tools are software that helps you save time by streamlining the most time-consuming part of the outreach process

To clarify, let’s take our very own Skylead, a sales engagement tool. With Skylead, you can streamline the process of:

1) Finding your target leads;

2) Building your network to accelerate becoming Thought Leader;

3) Outreaching and establishing the first contact with your leads according to their behavior via Smart Sequences (this is one of the best Skylead’s functionalities);

4) Sending native hyper-personalize messages with variables, Images, and GIFs to increase the response rate;

5) Finding and verifying your leads’ email addresses to multichannel your outreach;

What’s more, you can integrate Skylead with your CRM and send data via Zapier webhooks or by using API. The choice is yours.

That said…


How Should You Approach Outreach After Previously-Mentioned LinkedIn Lead Generation Activities?

Our third and final part of the ultimate guide to LinkedIn lead generation will show you how to leverage a sales engagement tool to streamline your outreach process. Moreover, we will cover how to approach your leads and start converting them seamlessly. 

Let’s go!


Save The Time And Outreach Smart

Here is how you can use Skylead to get the outreach done easily and quickly. Firstly, go to your Skylead dashboard and click the Create new campaign button.


LinkedIn automation and cold email software tool, outreach campaign creation using generated leads

Next, choose the lead source, aka where Skylead will pull your leads from. For the sake of this article and to show you how to use a Personalization Spreadsheet, we will choose to upload a CSV file. In addition, don’t forget to name your campaign.


LinkedIn automation & Cold Email software, outreach campaign creation from generated leads step 2, choosing the source

Be sure to create a new CSV file out of the information you gathered about your leads. The only condition here is to insert a person’s LinkedIn profile and/or email address. If you cannot find the person’s email address, you can use one of these ways to find emails yourself or let Skylead take care of that. 

Skylead provides the following native variables you can use to personalize your messages:

In addition, you can insert other information in columns, such as the topic of the article they wrote, and Skylead will recognize them as custom variables. In other words, this column becomes actionable data you will use in your outreach. 

For example, your CSV file can end up looking something like this:


Image of CSV file example with personalized information to outreach leads with LinkedIn Automation & Cold Email software

Once you click next, set up your additional campaign settings and when you wish to launch your campaign.


LinkedIn Automation & Cold Email software outreach campaign creation step 3

Smart Sequence Creation

Welcome to the Smart Sequence builder page. Here, you need to create an action path that Skylead will follow once you launch the campaign. This action path (Smart Sequence) will observe the leads’ behavior and act accordingly until they respond to your outreach. 

Simply drag and drop actions and use different conditions based on their behavior to maximize getting in touch with your leads.


Image of LinkedIn Automation & Cold Email software smart sequence creation, outreach campaign step 4

Do not forget to write personalized outreach messages for an invite to connect, InMail, LinkedIn, or Email message steps. 

The good practice here is to connect with your leads on a deeper level. So, craft your outreach messages to be as genuine as possible. For example, if you wish to send an invite to connect, try one of our invite-to-connect templates with up to a 78% acceptance rate, such as:

Hello {{firstName}},

I’ve noticed you have {{MutualConnectionName}} in your network. I worked with them at {{CompanyName}} a while back. I really loved {{whatYouLovedAboutMutualConnection}}.

That said, I see that we are both in the {{IndustryName}} industry and would love to have you in my network. 

Or, if for example, a lead doesn’t respond, get inspired by our follow up after no response templates and write something thematic like:

Hey {{firstName}},

 I’ve just seen your fantastic LinkedIn post on {{Topic}}. The thing that really resonated with me was {{Quote}}. 
 It would be great to hear more about how your business operates in this regard and also share some of my tips if you’re up for it. 

 What do you say? Would you like to chat about this?

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


After you define all the steps and messages, you can finalize the process by clicking the Start campaign button and your campaign is ready. Easy peasy.


Frequently asked questions about Linkedin Lead Generation

Oh, what a journey has been so far, hasn’t it? However, we still want to cover everything there is to know about LinkedIn lead generation. Therefore, here are a couple of FaQs to sum up LinkedIn lead generation.


What specific challenges do companies face when implementing these strategies, and how can they overcome them?

Companies may face challenges like creating engaging content and measuring ROI. Overcoming these involves using analytics for insights and continuously refining strategies based on performance data.


How do these lead generation strategies integrate with other marketing tools and platforms for a cohesive campaign?

Integration with other sales and marketing tools can be achieved through CRM systems and marketing automation platforms, ensuring a seamless flow of lead data and consistent messaging across channels.


Can small businesses or solo entrepreneurs effectively implement these strategies on a limited budget, and if so, how?

Small businesses and solo entrepreneurs can effectively use these strategies by focusing on highly targeted outreach and leveraging free or low-cost tools available on LinkedIn for engagement and networking. They can also get a sales engagement tool and cold email software that has an excellent price-to-feature ratio, like Skylead.


Which LinkedIn Ad Format Is The Best For Lead Generation?

The LinkedIn ad format best for lead generation is a Single Image ad because it looks organic with other content you see in the newsfeed. Moreover, if combined with Lead gen form, it can bring amazing results. The next best thing is to promote gated content on your website. 


How Do I Target A Lead On LinkedIn?

You can target leads with your ads by using LinkedIn campaign manager. All you need to do is to define demographics, firmographics, and other parameters of your target audience or choose to retarget your website visitors via LinkedIn Insight Tag. Then create an ad, and publish it.


How Do I Generate B2B Leads On LinkedIn?

You can generate B2B leads on LinkedIn by using any of the strategies mentioned in this article, such as posting gated content, using lead generation form ads, and generating leads from event attendees. Moreover, you can generate leads from job postings, leveraging Sales Navigator’s buying intent feature, and more.


Why Is LinkedIn Best For Lead Generation?

LinkedIn is best for lead generation because it’s the #1 professional network in the world. According to LinkedIn, lead conversion rates are 3x higher than any other social media. Moreover, 4 out of 5 LinkedIn users drive certain business decisions and have 2x buying power of the average web audience. 


Ready To Scale Up Your LinkedIn Lead Generation?

LinkedIn is the #1 place to generate new leads by creating valuable content and reaching out to new connections.

However, before you get started with LinkedIn lead generation, you need to make sure to:

Once you do, you can apply one or all LinkedIn lead generation strategies to generate leads.


Image of list of 10 best LinkedIn lead generation strategies

LinkedIn lead generation works best if you combine it with other lead generation methods outside of LinkedIn and then circle back to LinkedIn to outreach them.

However, you don’t have to do the outreach alone. Skylead can help you out with that. So come by, check out Skylead, and start your 7-day Free Trial!


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
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To follow up or not to follow up?

Your first email got ignored. We’re sorry to hear that. Most of the time, that will be the case, and that is why you should focus your attention on follow-up emails. But why bother?

What if we told you that by sending a single follow-up, you increase your response rate by 9-13%? And if you keep sending more follow-ups, you can increase the response rate by three times?

We’ve come to find that crafting a good follow-up can be challenging. First, you must grab your prospect’s attention and point it to your email in an overly crowded inbox. Second, you need to make sure to put the right information in all the right places. Why? Well, to get a response and, hopefully, book a call.

Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? Do not despair. We’ve got you covered! Our sales and marketing teams came together to write this article only to help you learn and explain:

Bonus: You also get to enjoy tested-for-efficiency follow-up email after no response templates.

To follow-up or not to follow-up, Shakespeare

What is a follow-up email?

A follow-up email represents a message sent to a prospect you’ve already contacted before. Usually, the main intent behind a follow-up is to remind the prospect of your first email, request additional information, or remind them of an important meeting or event

Follow-up emails are a star of the show in the B2B world, which includes sales, marketing, job hunting, recruiting, and customer communication. When it comes to sales, you can use them for lead generation, warmup, and lead management. The same goes for recruiting and job hunting, too. 

Why is it important to send follow-up emails?

Always remember that there could be a number of reasons why your prospects aren’t responding after the initial email. Here are some:

What we can conclude from our experience and the experience of others is that sending follow-up emails pays off.

When it comes to sales, our sales team assured us that this statistic is true: sending follow-ups can increase the chances of a response by 25%. If we know that 70% of salespeople stop after one email, then you can use this info to your advantage and incorporate follow-ups into every outreach attempt. 

In fact, we’ve witnessed firsthand that follow-ups are crucial for B2B sales outreach, and if you’ve done prospecting on LinkedIn right, you will have a higher chance of hitting that sales quota in no time. Just ask our sales team!

When applying for a job, sending follow-up messages after a one to two-week wait can be a professional way to further underline your interest in the position. Moreover, you’ll get to find out the stage of the hiring process. Lastly, this could encourage HR to take another look at your resume, thus possibly giving you a second shot at the job.Lastly, lead management is only done right with a handy CRM and when follow-ups are heavily involved.

When should you send a follow-up email after no response?

In sales and outbound marketing, sending cold emails creates a need for follow-ups. In outbound email marketing, you are reaching out to potential prospects for the first time without them stating their interest prior. This is why follow-up emails are necessary, but the question is when should you click send your email for the second or third time?

From our experience, picking the right time to send a follow-up email can affect the open and response rates significantly. The norm is to wait anywhere from 2-5 business days before you touch base with your prospects again. The trick is to put yourself in your prospects’ shoes - they might be busy, or they still haven’t had a chance to read or respond to your email. 

Sending premature follow-ups can make your prospects lose interest and end potential communication before it even starts. For example, you can send the first follow-up after 5 days, giving them enough time to read the email. In case there’s no response after the initial wait, you send a second follow-up for a gentle bump-to-top in their inbox.

How to write and send a follow-up email after no response

Andrea, our Head of Sales, once said: “A follow-up email after no response should be powerful enough to offer the right value and inspire the desired response at the same time.” The question is, how do we deliver an email with such strength? Our sales team has the knowledge and experience, so open your notes, people. The class on “Writing and sending follow-up emails by Skylead” begins now. 👇

Subject line 

Have you heard? Crafting an eye-catching subject line is directly correlated to a higher open rate. Good email subject lines and pre-header text combined are what help prospects make the decision whether or not to open and read the email. If you didn’t have a chance to catch their attention the first time around, use your follow-ups for a second chance for a first impression.

When creating compelling subject lines, our sales team recommends following these simple rules:

Pro tip: Always A/B test your subject lines for efficiency. From our testing, we found that a high open rate is an indicator of a good subject line. Subject line optimization based on real-time results can significantly improve your response rate over time. 

Follow-up email subject line examples

For Web Inboxes (55-60 characters):

  1. {{firstName}}, this is your future workflow using SaaS! 🚀
  2. VIP sneak peek: You unlocked new features 😎
  3. {{firstName}} I need your advice
  4. {{firstName}}, let's make Q4 legendary together
  5. Your Q4 game-changer inside
  6. {{firstName}}, let's co-create magic for {{companyName}} ✨
  7. Tick-tock! Your Free Trial is Ending 🕰️
  8. Marco? Polo! Seeking Your Response

For Mobile Inboxes (under 30 characters):

  1. Your secret SaaS weapon 🌟
  2. Let’s join forces 👊
  3. Shortcut to {{benefit}} 🙌
  4. {{firstName}}, get started 🆓?
  5. Time to grow, {{companyName}} 🌱
  6. Does this work {{firstName}}?
  7. Supercharge your {{workflow}}! ⚡
  8. Missing chat: Still tuned in?

Opening

Once you’ve caught their attention, our sales account executive, Pavle, says that how you greet them is what determines whether they’ll keep on reading. Avoid intros like “Just checking in to see if you’ve read my last email” or “I’m just following up on my previous email.” Such intros are overused and could imply blaming the prospect for not responding, which is a big no-no in sales communication. Instead, say something like this:

  1. I know we’ve talked about {{painPoint}}...
  2. As we quite recently connected, I thought it’s only fair you know something about me as well…
  3. Hi {{firstName}}! I can’t believe how time has flown by since the last time we spoke. I just saw your post on {{topic}} and thought it was amazing. Anyway…

Let’s review the follow-up email after no response opening rules:

Bonus hack: Personalize intros - by adding some personal information about your prospect, you show them general interest and that you’ve done your homework. People want to feel special, so be sure to go that extra mile to show them that they are not just another prospect to you. 

Our sales team tested our hyper-personalized sequences, and the results show that the response rate increased from the industry standard of 8.5% to a staggering 35%.

Follow-up email opening examples

  1. Hey {{firstName}}!

Between caffeine doses and back-to-back meetings, my previous email about {{ToolName}} might've slipped through. Thought I'd pop back into your inbox. How does it look from your end?

  1. Morning {{firstName}}!

Did my last email decide to play hide and seek in your inbox? 😅 I chatted about some exciting rates and am curious to hear your thoughts.

  1. Hello {{firstName}},

Knowing how swamped we can get, I figured I'd circle back. Our conversation about a possible partnership had me excited. Where do you stand on it?

  1. Hi {{firstName}},

Last time, I dropped a hint about {{ToolName}}'s shiny new feature. Just like waiting for the kettle to boil, I'm here, curious: Any thoughts brewing on your side?

Still having trouble with your email opening lines? Try reading our guide to attention-grabbing cold email opening lines. Don’t skip out on the templates!

Body

We’ve covered the follow-up email openings after no response. Now, let’s dive into our sales team's tricks of writing a great email body:

Our pro tip: “Do not think of each follow-up as spam. Think of them as added value with each new message you send.” 

Closing & call to action

Our sales team says that when you write a closing and a final CTA, you need to create a perfect environment for your prospect to respond. That means:

Follow-up email closing examples

  1. How about next week? Does Wednesday at 11 PM work for you?
  2. Dive into the feature's details by hitting reply.
  3. Plot our next collaboration chapter? Choose your preferred time here.
  4. Respond with "Let’s do this," and I’ll send more educational content your way.

Still feel like you need some help with your CTAs? Check out our guide on creating a powerful sales email call to action in sales emails, and don’t skip the CTA examples part!

Using automation tools to send follow-up emails

Now that we’ve covered crafting follow-up emails after no response, let’s look at the next step - sending follow-up emails. Outreach emails might be hard to track, especially if you have a lot of prospects in your inbox. Plus, keeping track of the number of follow-ups sent, the context, and the goals for each specific lead can be challenging.

Now, before your outreach turns into a huge mess, you should ask for some help. And you know what? It sounds like what you need, dear salesperson, is sales engagement tool for lead organization and follow-up email sequences.

Let’s look at the numbers one more time. Andrea says that from our experience, the first and the last follow-ups get the most attention:

  1. with the first follow-up, the response rate increases by 43%
  2. the last follow-up - “breakup email” receives a 53% response rate

That’s a lot of follow-ups to keep track of. However, by using automation and email message sequencing, you can rest assured that all your messages are being delivered in a particular order. Now, your question is: where can I find such a platform or tool? 🤖

Drum roll GIF

How to do it?

This is where we come in, with a big grand entrance, only to introduce Skylead and our all-star, first-to-market feature Smart Sequences. With the help of our Smart sequences, you can use multichannel outreach messaging and personalization to supercharge your sales efforts! Smart sequences are algorithms that allow you to combine if/else conditions with outreach actions. This way, you can create scenarios based on your prospects’ behavior, ensuring you get a response from them one way or the other.

Skylead, example of a multichannel outreach smart sequence for follow-up email after no response

Use Skylead to:

Apart from follow-up message sequences for sales, marketers can also benefit from our tool. By using marketing automation, you can get more web traffic, drive conversions, collect event attendees, and raise brand awareness.

Either way, using SaaS tools or doing the work manually, you can organize your follow-up emails after no response in a sequence and incorporate a multichannel outreach. In Skylead, setting your follow-ups in a sequence is as easy as 1,2,3, and the sending process itself is done for you. Let’s show you a simple, multichannel sequence in Skylead if the lead didn’t respond.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions

Example of a follow-up sequence when you are connected with the lead on LinkedIn:

Why it works

Setting up your sequence to include an outreach channel other than email works best, as it shows your prospects that you care about making a connection with them, and they are more likely to respond to you.

Furthermore, in this sequence, LinkedIn acts as a powerful and supportive lead generation tool, as you can interact more with your prospects and increase the chances of them seeing your message and responding. Just make sure to prepare your messages for the outreach carefully.

Kevin, Home Alone, Yes GIF

But how do you write them? Well, the next chapter is where we unveil the tips and tricks, so keep reading to find out. 🙌

Tips for writing effective follow-up emails

Our sales force, Andrea and Pavle, are back to help you by spreading their knowledge and gifting you with more tips on how to write effective follow-up email copy. Keep this in mind: hard work does not stop at the first email - it continues and increases. First off, let’s look at the do’s.

Start with a strong opening.

A strong opening is like a good first impression. Well, in this case, it's a second first impression, so make sure to avoid overused phrases and email cliches at all costs.

Use storytelling in the follow-up sequence

There are many approaches you can take with your sequence strategies, and one of them is storytelling. For example, you could invite them for an online coffee, and the entire sequence can have a coffee conversation theme.

The idea is to reveal one value to the pain point at the time in every following email, enhancing its value as you go. You can speak about the value in ascending order of importance, with each email being more important than the last.

Follow-up email with personalization
Personalization element, image, coffee

Personalize your follow-up emails whenever possible.

Personalization shows you’ve made an effort to get to know your leads. And despite the fact that you’re reaching a certain target group, it doesn’t have to seem automated. You can use Skylead and our image & GIF personalization feature to add some sparkle to your follow-ups. You can also add dynamic text to follow-ups to increase the level of personalization in outreach.

Get to the point quickly.

From what we’ve seen and from what you can tell from your own experience as an email reader, losing your prospect's attention is easy. It only takes a few mistakes, and your email is done for. Avoid all this by getting to the point quickly. No long sentences, no short novels, just facts and a little bit of creativity to keep them reading and ultimately doing the CTA.

Space out your follow-up emails.

If you’re being too salesy and aggressive, you’ll lose a good portion of your prospects. No one wants to be bothered, especially in the case of cold outreach. Make sure to space out your follow-ups anywhere from the standard 2 to 5 business days.

Pro tip from Skylead’s sales team: Give your prospects enough time to respond. Some of them might be too busy to go through your emails and have not had a chance to read them yet. Sending too many follow-ups after no response doesn’t seem like a friendly reminder or check-in but rather a pushy salesman trying to shove their product/service down their prospect’s throat.

Show credibility.

Cold outreach can be tricky. It’s hard enough you’re trying to establish contact out of the blue, but you’re also asking for something. Prospects are usually not so trustworthy with cold emails, so in order to show them that you’re serious, you need to show credibility

We’ve mentioned that every follow-up email should add extra value. Use each follow-up to show them your accomplishments - link to credible sources, testimonials, and case studies that can help them decide whether or not to trust you.

Offer value.

Your prospect’s first thoughts are usually, “Why is this person contacting me?” or “What is this person trying to sell?”. By following our rules of writing follow-up emails after no response from the section above, you’ll lead them straight to the point with your follow-up email, underlining the value of your product or service. 

Throw some numbers around. People respond to numbers and statistics well. Prospects appreciate value, and if you offer them a solution to a niche problem, the conversation will just keep flowing. 

Be empathic.

Another pro tip from our sales team: You need to listen to your prospects carefully and truly understand their issues. If you know they have a problem your product can fix, try approaching them in a subtle way where you show them compassion. Once you get a reply, your work doesn’t end.

Create urgency.

You can probably guess that creating urgency is what makes your prospect believe he should take immediate action by replying to your message. However, if it did not work for the first time, you can create more urgency in your follow-up, but be subtle. 

Our pro tip: Don’t use sensational subject lines and promises you can’t keep only to lure them into replying.

Common mistakes to avoid

Andrea and Pavle are full of knowledge when it comes to the dos of sending follow-ups after no response, but after years of sales experience, they can also easily spot cold email mistakes. The list below shows what you shouldn’t do if you want a high reply rate with your follow-up email sequence. 👇

Following up too quickly.

One of the main rules of cold outreach is not to spam your prospects with messages! Be patient. Nobody likes an overly aggressive approach. The industry standard is to spread your follow-ups out by roughly 2 to 5 days. If you wait for more than that, it will probably reduce your chances of getting a reply. 

It’s a good idea to map out your follow-ups inside your Smart sequence in the correct order and wait for a reply. You can thank us later.

Sending too many or not enough follow-up emails.

What is the optimal number of follow-up emails you can send to a prospect before that final “breakup” email? We know for sure that sending just one email isn’t enough. So, we take into account that by sending each follow-up after no response, you increase your chances of a reply. That said, it’s safe to say somewhere around 3-6 follow-ups is enough

From our own experience, a prospect says “no” 4 times before saying “yes.” That’s why this range works perfectly and might get you that desired result.

Being too pushy or aggressive.

We’ve mentioned this before - people do not respond well to aggressive salesmen and aggressive job seekers. Being direct and pushy are not synonyms. It’s one thing to show prospects or employers your interest in them, but another to demand and be borderline rude about your approach. It’s all about setting a fine line between being subtle yet decisive and direct. You can sell without sounding too salesy.

Missing important information.

You’ve probably received an email that’s missing crucial information in the past. Heck, we all did at some point. Sometimes, the email is very catchy and inspires immediate action, but wait. Parts of it are missing. It could be a missing attachment, a link, or some other information. That means you’re creating an additional step for the prospect. They will have to ask you for that information, but as you know, most of them won’t. The lack of crucial or promised information can be very offputting to prospects, so make sure to double-check if all the info is in each follow-up.

Not proofreading.

This one is tied closely to the previous advice. We’ve noticed that mistakes are not tolerated by prospects, so make sure to go through your follow-up sequence and maybe get a second pair of eyes on it. Mistakes show sloppiness and a lack of interest in the prospect. Plus, they can also be perceived as spam.

Check for typos and grammar, and if all attachments and visuals are there, along with all the necessary information, then you can click send.

Writing too much text.

If the email body is too long, your prospect won’t read it. It’s that simple. Our sales team has tested longer and shorter versions of the same follow-up sequence and saw significant differences. Shorter emails have received a higher response rate.

Not having a clear call to action (or too many of them)

Our head of sales, Andrea, always reminds us that you have your prospects’ attention for a very short time. Make sure to have only one and a clear call to action. Otherwise, you’ll lose their attention quickly, and you won’t get the desired action from them.

Not offering an unsubscribe option.

Given the fact that you’re contacting these people without their consent, some of them might feel the urge to unsubscribe (hopefully not if you’ve done your prospecting right). Nonetheless, adding an unsubscribe option is good manners. Plus, you’re helping deliverability, reducing spam rates, and improving your reputation. You want active users/subscribers in your email lists, so adding an unsubscribe option is how you help yourself.

Sending emails to the wrong person.

This is a part where we talk a little bit about prospecting. Knowing your product/service is where you begin before you think about your audience. Thought about it? Good. Now it’s time for prospecting. However, if you have trouble with this step, here is a guide to the best LinkedIn prospecting strategies so you can get to the right person every time.

Skylead tip: If you’re sending emails manually, make sure to spell their name correctly.

Sending a follow-up email after no response samples & templates

We’ve come to the part of the article where our sales and marketing teams put their knowledge to the test. Get ready for follow-up email examples after no response (salespeople, recruiters, and job seekers, take notes!). Feel free to use them and test their efficiency yourself. 🤓

Squinting dog with glasses meme

#1 Reminder email after no response (first follow-up)

Subject: Tap Tap: Is This Thing On? 🎤

Hey {{firstName}},

Sending a cheerful nudge your way! Seems like our chat about {{topic/Issue}} decided to take a little vacation. Ready to welcome it back whenever you are.

Eager for the sequel to our chat,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Reminder email after no response, first follow-up

Why it works: One of the major rules of writing follow-ups is not to be afraid to have fun. Being humorous is something that most people respond to well. 

#2 Reminder email after no response (second follow-up)

Subject: RE: Mic Check for Round Two? 🎤

Hey {{firstName}},

It looks like we keep missing each other over and over again. I know things get busy, but I believe that a productive exchange is worth every second!

How’s {{date/Time}} for an encore of our previous productive chat?

Real-life example:

Reminder email after no response, second follow-up

Why it works: In the second follow-up, you are showing your prospect that you are consistent. It’s short, and it shows your outreach efforts clearly.  

#3 Follow up sales email after no response

Subject: Green, Yellow, or Red for {{product/Service}}? 🚦

Hi {{firstName}},

Our chat from last week about {{product/Service}} seems to be idling at a traffic light. Which color are we on?

If you're stuck at yellow, need more green insights, or hitting red, I'm all ears.

To clear signals,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

follow-up sales email after no response

Why it works: Avoiding boring lines and overused sentences is crucial for any outreach email. Plus, this one shows you got inspired and took the time to write a creative follow-up with a witty comparison. 

#4 Follow-up email after no response (formal)

Subject: Revisiting Our Lost Thread

Hi {{firstName}},

The daily email cluster must have pushed our thread regarding {{topic/Issue}} down the inbox black hole. This note is a gentle nudge, hoping to push our conversation back to your attention.

Eagerly waiting for your reply.

Best,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Formal follow-up

Why it works: Although most business communication nowadays tries to steer clear from generic and cliched email communication, being formal has nothing to do with that. This follow-up email shows that you’re polite and well-mannered but also clear with your intentions.  

#5 How to bump an email politely

Subject: An Elevator Pitch: Bringing Our Chat Up Again

Hi {{firstName}},

In the vast sea of daily emails, I’m sending this note as a gentle elevator, hoping to lift our previous discussion on {{topic/Issue}} back in focus.

Looking forward to your insights!

Ready for your reply,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

bump follow-up email

Why it works: Your email got lost in the daily bunch. How to get it back into the limelight? By sending a polite follow-up email and replying to your primary thread and stating your purpose once more. This one works because it’s a creative way of showing the recipient that you demand their attention.

#6 Follow-up email after no response from a client (sales)

Subject: Piecing Together Our {{product/Service}} Puzzle 🧩

Hi {{clientName}},

Seems our dialogue on {product/Service}} took a quiet turn. Are there missing pieces I can help with?

If adjustments or additional support is needed, I'm ready to jump in. Just give me a sign.

Awaiting your cue,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up to a client

Why it works: Offering your help and support is sometimes just what a client needs to clear their confusion. This is not a potential client but a doubtful client. If the client is doubtful, you could lose the account, so make sure to follow up frequently and gently. 

#7 Follow-up email after sending resources (sales)

Subject: Resource Roundup: Hit or Miss? 📚

Hey {{firstName}},

Dived into the resources yet? Would love to know if anything clicked or raised an eyebrow about {{product/Service}}.

Got any questions or an 'aha' moment to share? I’m just a call away: {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

Warmly

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after sending resources, template

Why it works: Gentle reminders in email form are much needed in the cold outreach game. This template is not aggressive, has a friendly note, and just the right amount of pressure on your end.

#8 Follow-up email before free trial (sales)

Subject line: Dropping A Quick Present 🎁

Hey {{firstName}},

Just wanted to say thanks again for the call. As we talked about {{painPoint}} and explored your company's current strategies for dealing with it, my belief was reinforced that {{yourProduct}} can help with achieving {{metricValue}}.

That’s why I included a little gift for you: {{giftRegardingFreeTrial}}, so you can fully try our product out and experience {{MetricValue}} firsthand.

Let me know when you start the Free Trial so I can send it to you.

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template before free trial

Why it works: This is a short, precise email that the prospect doesn’t waste time reading. With exact value and a gift to top it off, which everyone likes to get, you will be sure to get a high response rate.

#9 Follow-up email after demo (sales)

Subject: Post-Demo Checkup 🧐

{{Date}} was not just another crossed-out meeting. Let’s recap:

{{yourProduct}}: Not just a tool, but a {{benefit}}.

{{theirChallenge}}: On our radar now.

If you’re wondering what's next, have any doubts, or need more details, let’s discuss.

How about a second quick chat on {{date/Time}}?

To making ‘just another day’ count!

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email template after demo, sales

Why it works: Checking in with your prospect after a demo is just as important as the demo itself. Demos can be confusing for some, and not everyone is prepared to process all the given information. This is your chance to remind them that you can clear any confusion they may have and ultimately lead them to the next step - conversion.

#10 Follow-up email after a missed call (sales)

Subject: Call Missed: Ready for Redial? 🤙

Hi {{firstName}},

Seems our phone lines played hide and seek earlier when I called about {{product/Service}}.

Let's hit redial and aim for a good connection. How does {{suggest a specific day/time}} work for a quick chat? Or simply shoot me a time that works for you.

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email template after missed call

Why it works: Missed calls and meetings happen all the time. This is where this template comes in handy. It’s short and direct but has that tiny bit of informality that you need to get another chance at an online encounter. Remember: sales follow-ups are important!

#11 Follow-up email that mentions the competition (sales)

Subject line: Wish to know the truth about {{competitorName}}? 🤫

“You can’t handle the truth!” said Jack Nicholson.

Just kidding, {{firstName}}.

Hope you are doing well. Just thought of knocking on your door and leaving a comparison page - {{yourProductName}} vs {{competitorProductName}} since I know you’ve been testing them as well.

Are you up for a quick chat to discuss the main differences and the benefits I sent previously?

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email that mentions the competition

Why it works: In case you already sent your prospect benefits and your prospect has been considering your competitor as well, this is the second follow-up email you send. Show them your benefits before they make a decision and run over to your competitors.

#12 Personalized follow-up email after no response (sales)

Subject line: Tailor-made strategy for {{company}}🧵

Hey {{firstName}},

{{painPoint}} must be tedious for you. Luckily, you are not alone in this. 

Since my last email, I have created a couple of strategies tailor-made for your company on how you can {{result}}. Want to hear them? 

If so, does {{date/Time}} work for you?

Real-life example:

Personalized email template after no response

Why it works: Adding personalization, such as name, image, or pain point, achieves the best results. However, if you have a low-buying-intent prospect who didn’t respond to your email, you need to go the extra mile. In other words, you need to create something applicable and tailor-made for their company to warm them up to your product.

#13 Follow-up email after sending a contract (sales)

Subject: Contract Follow-Up: Let’s Turn Pages Into Progress 📑

Hey {{firstName}},

The contract for {{product/Service}} is now on your desk. Peeked inside yet?

If any question marks or clarifications are needed, I’m just a call away. Contact me at {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

To turning pages,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email template after sending a contract, sales

Why it works: After writing thousands of emails, we can say that finding the right balance between formal and informal communication is the key to success. Being too stiff and talking in a manner that wouldn’t reflect a live conversation is outdated. When writing, think about what you would say if your prospect were sitting in front of you.

#14 Follow-up email after a couple of months (sales)

Subject line: Hello from the other side - With exciting news 🗣

Hi {{firstName}},

I haven’t called a thousand times, as Adele, but as promised, I am checking in after a while.

How have you been? How did {{reasonForReachingOutLater}} go?

I have super exciting news to share with you. We have just {{companyNews}}. I  thought you might like it as it can help you {{achieveResult}}. 

Let me know if you are available for a quick call to catch up on everything that has been going on. Here is my calendar link.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email after a couple of months

Why it works: In case you haven’t had communication with your prospect for a while, you can send this or a similar follow-up. For example, the lead might have told you to reach out in the future. When you asked when exactly, they didn’t respond. The good practice here is to reach out after a month and check-in. They might be more open to hear what you have to say and offer.

#15 Follow-up email after a LinkedIn connection request

Subject line: Bridging Barriers: From LinkedIn to Real Talk 🌉 

Hi {{firstName}},

It seems we missed each other on LinkedIn, so I’m reaching out via email. Your stance on {{topic/IndustryTrend}} is a real conversation starter, and it works!

I believe there’s a bridge to be built here and a productive conversation to be had. How about we put words into action? Is {{time/Date}} okay for you?

Looking forward,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after a LinkedIn request

Why it works: Use a follow-up email to reach out to a member of the LinkedIn community that you tried contacting by sending a connection request, but the prospect hasn’t accepted it yet. Having another conversation channel and putting an effort into starting a conversation there is what your prospect might perceive as determination

Remember: putting a smile on your prospect’s face is one last step before a reply happens.

#16 Follow-up email after sending a quote (sales)

Subject: Quote Mission: Countdown to Decision? 🚀

Hey {{firstName}},

Hope the quote for {{product/Service}} landed well. Any thoughts or roadblocks?

Let’s not leave things hanging. A quick call might clear it up: {{phoneNumber}}.

Waiting for your signal,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after sending a quote

Why it works: The email is short, precise, and with a touch of spice. Just the way your prospects like them. Not being generic goes a long way in cold outreach + adding a phone call option for some busier prospects is also a plus!

#17 Follow-up “breakup” email (sales)

Subject line: Perhaps it is better this way… 💔

Hi {{firstName}},

I sense that now might not be the ideal time for {{yourProduct}} to address {{painPoint}} at your company. No worries at all – timing is everything.

If the future calls for a revisit, I'm here. Until then, I wish you and your team all the best.

Cheers, and until the next time.

{{firstName}}

Real-life example:

Breakup email

Why it works: If you've sent a couple of emails already and none of them worked, this is your sign to stop reaching out. While sending a so-called breakup email, it is best to evoke an emotional reaction from the prospect, as demonstrated in the email below. The key is to stay genuine.

#18 Follow-up email after a free trial (sales)

Subject: Free Trial Verdict: Thrill or Kill? 🧟‍♀️

Hi {{firstName}},

Just checking in after our thrilling free trial of {{product/Service}}. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

Were there highlights, or perhaps something you missed? I'm here to clear any fog or explore possibilities.

For a quick chat, just ping me at {{phoneNumber}}, or let me know a convenient time for you.

Eager to hear your take!

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template after free trial

Why it works: Comparing your demo pitch to the best-selling album of all time? We say yes! Everyone likes a well-crafter themed message in their inbox, and chances of a reply are significantly higher.

#19 Follow-up email after no response to a job application (job seeker)

Subject: Resume for {{jobTitle}}: In Your Hands

Hi {{hiringManagerName}},

Wanted to confirm my resume for the {{jobTitle}} position has reached you. Looking forward to exploring how my background can contribute to {{companyName}}.

Awaiting your guidance on the next steps.

Warm regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template for no response after a job application

Why it works:

This is a very common scenario: it's been a couple of days or weeks after you’ve applied for the listed job, and nothing happened. So what do you do? You send a polite reminder and ask the hiring manager to give you details about the hiring process. That way, you’ll know where your application stands.

#20 Follow-up email after sending resume (job seeker)

Subject: Resume Dispatch: {{jobTitle}} Role

Hi {{hiringManagerName}},

I want to ensure my application for the {{jobTitle}} has landed in your realm. Ready to discuss how my unique skill set could add value to {{companyName}}.

If a brief chat would help, I’m all ears. Here’s my direct line: {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

Warm regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email follow-up after sending resume

Why it works: When a position is open, hiring managers usually get hundreds of resumes daily and from various channels. Therefore, it’s easy for some resumes to slip through the cracks and go unnoticed. Politely asking the hiring manager if he had a chance to take a look at your accomplishments should do the trick, and give them a slight nudge they might need to notice you.

#21 Follow-up email after an interview (job seeker)

Subject line: Post-Interview Reflections: {{jobTitle}}

Dear {{interviewerName}},

Thank you for the thought-provoking interview. Our conversation opened new horizons, bringing the role and {{companyName}}’s vision into sharper focus.

Looking forward to any updates or next steps.

Warmest regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after an interview

Why it works: Employers want present and engaged employees. If you’re interested in a position at a certain company, don’t hesitate to follow up after an interview. Ask questions, clarify everything that wasn’t clear while the interview happened, and seek out the hiring manager's opinion on how it went. Most job applicants don’t take this extra step, so don’t make that mistake if you’re really aiming to get the job.

#22 Follow-up email after no response after interview (recruiter)

Subject line: Here's the complete offer

Hi {{firstName}}, 

Time really does fly by, doesn’t it? It’s already {{DayOfTheWeek}} 😄

Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you and go over our offer once again.

As we discussed, your conditions will be:

- {{Condition1}}

- {{Condition2}}

- {{Condition3}}

In addition, here are the benefits mentioned during our meeting. As our {{position}} you will have:

- {{Benefit1}}

- {{Benefit2}}

- {{Benefit3}}

Let me know how this sounds to you.

Kind regards,

{{yourName}}

Follow-up for recruiter

Why it works: We cannot talk about follow up email and not mention our recruiters. If you are an HR person and find yourself in a situation where your ideal candidate didn’t respond to you after the interview where you presented your offer, here is a template you can use to give them a nudge.

#23 Sample follow-up letter for job application status (job seeker)

Subject: {{jobTitle}} Application: Next Coordinates?

Dear {{hiringManagerName}},

I hope this message finds you well-rested and productive. In the quest for the {{jobTitle}} role, I'm writing to seek updates on our current position. Have we reached a new checkpoint, or are there further details I can provide?

Your status update is greatly appreciated.

With respect,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Sample follow-up letter after no response for a job application status

Why it works: Knowing where you stand in the hiring process is crucial when applying for jobs. Plus, it shows your interest in the position and your determination to fill in the vacancy.

Frequently asked questions

What specific strategies can be employed to personalize follow-up emails for different industries or roles to increase engagement?

Personalizing follow-up emails can involve referencing specific interests, recent accomplishments, or industry news relevant to the recipient's field. Tailoring your message to their unique context fosters a more personal connection.

How does the timing of a follow-up email impact its effectiveness, and are there optimal times of day or week to send these emails for better results?

The effectiveness of a follow-up email can be significantly influenced by its timing. Sending emails during business hours, especially mid-week, may improve open rates. However, considering the recipient's time zone and work patterns is crucial for optimal timing.

Beyond the provided templates, what are some creative examples of follow-up emails that have successfully converted initial non-responses into positive outcomes?

Creative follow-up emails often incorporate humor, personalized GIFs & images, comments, or interesting questions that relate to the recipient's interests or industry. Such approaches can help break the ice and engage the recipient more effectively, turning a lack of response into a positive conversation starter.

How do you politely follow up on an email with no response?

Make sure to wait the standard 2-5 business days before reaching out again. Your tone should be professional yet direct. Finally, you should add more value and information. Underlining that your product or service fixes their issues creates the right amount of urgency, which in turn makes them hit reply.

How do you follow up professionally after no response?

If your first email went unnoticed, your follow-up should start off with restating your goal briefly. Avoid using cliché phrases and slang. Also, try changing your approach in each new email. Finally, send each follow-up in a new thread to avoid ending up in the wrong part of the inbox. 

What to say in a follow-up email when someone hasn’t responded?

Make sure to briefly remind them of your previous touchpoint and continue by adding additional value to your initial email. It also helps to create a sense of urgency by mentioning a challenge they might be facing daily and that your product or service can fix it for them.

How soon should you send a follow-up email after no response?

The standard waiting period for sending a first follow-up email after no response is 3-5 business days. Sending a premature follow-up can come off as spammy and overly aggressive, so make sure to wait a minimum of 3 days.

How do you follow up without being annoying?

To avoid being annoying and ending up in your prospects’ spam folder, make sure to wait the appropriate amount of time before sending another email. Also, make sure to keep each follow-up short and straightforward, with clear intentions and a strong CTA.

How long is it acceptable to wait to reply to an email?

If the email is urgent or deadline-driven, clearly state that in the subject line. The appropriate amount of time between your first email and a follow-up is 24 hours. Otherwise, give your prospect 3-5 days to respond. Also, if it requires an immediate response, consider using another communication channel.

Conclusion

We’ve come to the end of our follow-up learning journey. Our sales and marketing teams worked really hard to bring on the email campaign knowledge and experience we’ve gathered from years of constant testing and adapting, and hard work. After all, it’s how we’ve grown our user base from 2,500 to 10,000 users in nine months!

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software

So, what have we learned about follow-up emails after no response so far?

  1. The more follow-ups you send, the higher the reply rate, but know where to stop.
  2. If you spend time crafting your email copy, the more likely you will boost open and response rates.
  3. If you build your follow-up sequences, you’ll save time.
  4. If you automate your outreach and create email follow-up sequences, you’ll keep better track of your prospects and the outreach phase.
  5. If you use other communication channels and practice multichannel outreach, you’ll boost your conversion rate.
  6. The more value you add, the more likely you’ll get a higher response rate.

And the next step? Choose Skylead to help you automate lead generation and your email sequences, plus add LinkedIn as another communication channel. By tapping into the possibilities of automated outreach, you double your chances of getting desired outreach results. Besides, you can always return to this article and reread the rules of crafting the perfect follow-up email, or simply use our follow-up email templates if you need a head start.

So, how do you get to Skylead? Test out Skylead today and discover the beauty of an outreach that thinks and works for you! You’ll see how our all-in-one tool can simplify your outreach efforts and get you where you need to be in no time. Trust us. Once you try it, you won’t know how you lived and worked without it! 🤩

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