If LinkedIn prospecting, lead generation, and even marketing automation are a part of your job, you’ve probably heard of Dux-Soup. This tool helps you to find and engage with your target audience in real-time and on autopilot.

However, there is a lot of discussion about whether Dux-Soup is safe to use for your LinkedIn account, how effective it is, or if there is any better alternative. So, to resolve any mysteries revolving Dux-Soup, in this article, we cover everything you need to know, including:

• What Dux-Soup offers;
• How much Dux-Soup subscriptions cost;
• Is using Dux-Soup really safe;
• And the best Dux-Soup alternatives with the feature comparison table.

Let’s dive into it.

Dux-Soup or alternatives?

LinkedIn automation software, Dux-Soup, helps sales teams, recruiter specialists, and outbound marketers find LinkedIn prospects, reach them on autopilot, and close deals. In other words, it optimizes outreach workflow by streamlining some of the time-consuming tasks on LinkedIn. 

These tasks include: 

• Scanning your target audience’s LinkedIn accounts; 
• Sending connection requests, LinkedIn InMails, and regular LinkedIn messages; 
• And auto endorse feature. 

Dux-Soup also offers drip outreach campaigns that allow you to send messages and follow-ups in a simple sequence. In addition, you can add up to 12 messages in the campaign and set delays between them. However, these features are only available for Turbo plan subscribers.

Moreover, Dux-Soup is able to find email addresses of your 2nd and 3rd-degree connections. However, you will need to buy additional Dux-Soup points to do so. Prices of these points range from $11.91 for 100 emails, to $135.44 for 2000 emails.

For all those who wonder how it works, this LinkedIn automation software is a chrome extension. To clarify, you need to create your account and install a chrome extension to use it. Moreover, you need to keep your PC and browser on to run successfully.

If you use any CRM, like Pipedrive or Hubspot, you can integrate it via Zapier. If you need help with integration, you can always contact the Dux-Soup support team.

Lastly, Dux-Soup is considered one of the simplest LinkedIn lead generation software, as it doesn’t offer many prospecting and outreach features. So it’s suitable for small businesses that are just getting started and freelancers who are beginners.

Chrome extension disadvantages

Being a chrome extension, Dux-Soup does come with some severe drawbacks. 

Firstly, chrome extensions are unsafe since they automatically inject the code into LinkedIn. This code injection would’ve been fine if this social media platform didn’t like its users to use any LinkedIn automation. Thus, by injecting the code into this social media platform, LinkedIn can register if you’re using automation software. Furthermore, you risk getting your LinkedIn profile restricted.

Moreover, this LinkedIn automation tool doesn’t offer a dedicated IP to shield your activity. 

Secondly, chrome extensions cannot work unless your PC or laptop is on. This means you cannot set the software to run in the background, turn off your computer and forget about it for the day. 

Apart from these disadvantages, chrome extensions don’t offer an advanced reporting system or integrated inbox, nor do they mimic human-like behavior.

Due to the previously-mentioned limitations, you might find worth in exploring cloud-based LinkedIn automation tools. In other words, a cloud-based solution provides a dedicated IP address, doesn’t inject any code, and mimics human-like behavior. What’s more, with this type of automation, you can manage multiple accounts, have an integrated inbox, and, most importantly, it works even when your PC is turned off. What’s better than that? 🙂

Dux-Soup pricing

Dux-Soup offers 3 pricing plans and sub-plans, depending on team size and available features.

Individual Pricing Plan

Dux-Soup charges Individual pricing plans monthly or yearly, as per your choosing. In addition, if you’re looking to use the free version, you’ll soon notice that you cannot do much with it. So, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version if you wish to use this software for real outreach. 

Team pricing plan

To clarify, Team plans are only charged annually and use a tiered pricing model. For example, choosing between 1-10 seats will cost you $135 per seat. If, however, you select a seat number between 11 and 20, you’ll pay $121.50 per seat, etc.

Agency pricing plan

Pro and Turbo Agency sub plans have 10 and 30 prepaid accounts, respectively. You can always add more seats, which will be charged additionally. However, if you do not use some seats, you cannot refund them.

7 best Dux-Soup alternatives

Dux-Soup is a beginner-friendly LinkedIn automation tool with very limited features. However, if you wish to really step up your outreach game and protect your LinkedIn profile, we suggest trying out one of the following Dux-Soup alternatives.

Skylead

That’s us - Hello! It’s nice to meet you 🙂

Skylead is a LinkedIn Automation & Cold Email Software that helps sales teams, recruiters, and alike streamline tedious outreach tasks. It even serves as marketing automation, helping individuals with backlink outreach and network expansion.

It’s not like we’re praising Skylead for no reason, but it really is the best alternative to Dux-Soup on the market. Let us explain.

Firstly, Skylead is a cloud-based solution. It means it doesn’t inject any code into LinkedIn, so this social media can’t notice the automation. Most importantly, your LinkedIn profile gets threefold security: 

• You get a dedicated IP that shields your activity; 
• Skylead mimics human-like behavior, making it impossible for LinkedIn to detect it; 
• And your profile starts from warmup mode, slowly increasing the activity over time. 

In addition, with Skylead, you get to manage multiple accounts. Moreover, you get an integrated Smart Inbox to see all your correspondence with the lead from any platform.

Skylead integrates with LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, and Recruiter Lite. Therefore, anyone can use it to close deals - from sales teams, recruiters, marketers of any small businesses, agencies, and even freelancers. That said, you can create outreach campaigns based on 6 sources:

• LinkedIn search results; 
• Sales Navigator search results;
• Recruiter search results;
• Recruiter Talent Pool or Pipeline URL;
• Event attendees;
• People who reacted to the LinkedIn post;
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Lead Lists;
• CSV file with native or custom variables to increase response rate or acceptance rate.

Lastly, while we’re still on the integration train, you’d be happy to know that Skylead can integrate with any other app via API, Zapier, or Integromat. You can even integrate it with your favorite CRM, like Pipedrive or HubSpot.

Sounds amazing, right? We’re just getting started. 😀 

Let’s cover other amazing features of Skylead.

Change your LinkedIn outreach game with Smart Sequences

Unlike Dux-Soup's simple outreach campaigns, Skylead offers Smart Sequences - a ground-breaking algorithm that performs actions according to your lead's behavior. In other words, Smart Sequences gather all outreach activities in one place and execute them depending on your leads’ actions. 

The true benefit of this unique algorithm is that it optimizes your workflow by streamlining all time-consuming tasks in real-time. Skylead then continues executing further actions depending on your lead's behavior, thanks to If/Else conditions.

In addition, Dux-Soup limits your drip campaign to a maximum of 12 messages. However, with Skylead, you can send an unlimited amount of LinkedIn messages, InMails, and emails and perform other actions in a sequence. 

Whatsmore, you also get advanced analytics and reporting for each step and action in a sequence. To be precise, you can analyze:

• Graph Metrics for visual representations of the ratio between the actions;
• Table view for spotting trends that happen during specific days;
• Sequence steps to examine steps in detail.

Moreover, with Skylead, you can A/B test each part of the messages and see which one works best for you. 

Increase conversion rates with email outreach

Dux-Soup specializes in LinkedIn outreach alone. However, we all know that email is an essential means of communication. So, the best sales approach is to multichannel your outreach. That’s why Skylead introduced an Email Outreach, allowing you to expand your reach to leads who aren’t active on LinkedIn. With this functionality you will increase response rate and the conversion rate, as well.

Decrease a bounce rate with email discovery & verification feature

Dux-Soup offers an email finder feature. However, there is no say if these emails are verified. Thus, the validity of these emails might be compromised, and you can end up with a high bounce rate and damaged domain. 

With Skylead, you can find and verify leads' business emails with any connection type from the chosen lead source. In addition, Skylead can find and verify an unlimited number of emails, whereas, with Dux-Soup, you can only find 2000.

Lastly, unlike Dux-Soup, Skylead doesn’t charge extra for Email Discovery & Verification features. In other words, you can find and verify as many emails as you’d like at no additional cost.

Increase your response rate with hyper-personalized images & GIFs

Did you know that you can increase the response rate and the acceptance rate by simply incorporating a personalized image or GIF? Yes, it’s true. This feature demonstrates the alternative sales approach and shows that you’re a human, not just another salesperson. 

That’s why Skylead offers Native Images & GIFs Hyper-Personalization feature, so you can stand out in the crowd and need not pay for this feature to other platforms to do so. 

Connect with your leads faster by sending 500+ invites a week

With Skylead, you can send 500+ invitations per week and thus avoid LinkedIn’s limits. This way, you can reach leads faster than with any tool on the market.  Most importantly, you’ll also achieve your sales quota by closing more deals per month. 

Pricing

Skylead is an All-In-One tool that costs $100 per seat a month. However, unlike other LinkedIn outreach tools on the market, and from this list, Skylead doesn’t limit the number of features you can use. 

In addition, we offer different video and article tutorials, as well as sequence and message templates to get inspired.

Lastly, Skylead has a very dedicated customer support team that is ready to help anyone with the questions they might have. 

Zopto

Next in line for the best alternative to Dux-Soup is Zopto. This tool is another cloud-based Dux-Soup alternative sales teams use for LinkedIn prospecting and lead generation. 

Firstly, Zopto supports LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Recruiter, or Premium accounts. Moreover, being a cloud-based solution, it offers integrated inbox and integrations with Hubspot, Pipedrive, or other CRMs via Zapier or API.

Secondly, feature-wise, Zopto has an email discovery functionality, named Email Enrichment. However, unlike Dux-Soup, it can verify them. Sadly, Zopto limits how many leads you can enrich with the email, depending on the pricing plan, whereas Skylead doesn’t. 

What differs between Zopto and Skylead is that with Zopto, you can create and schedule LinkedIn posts and like Tweets on autopilot. 

However, Zopto doesn’t have Smart Sequences like Skylead, which is a significant disadvantage. Instead, it offers a simple 4-step drip campaign with no conditions available. 

Zopto offers 3 monthly-subscription-based plans. 

• Personal: $215 / month for 1 account
• Grow: $344 / month for 2 accounts
• Agency: $860 / month for 5+ accounts

As you can see, Zopto estimates their pretty basic lead generation tool at the highest price on the market. So if you're considering Dux-Soup alternatives, you should analyze this and other tools' cost VS features ratio to make the right decision.

WeConnect

WeConnect is another cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool that can be used with either LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter Lite accounts (it doesn’t support Recruiter accounts).

Firstly, WeConnect offers an integrated inbox where you can see all your messages. In addition, you can integrate WeConnect with any tool using API or Zapier and streamline your workflow to the fullest. 

As for other exciting features, WeConnect offers A/B message testing like Zopto and Skylead. 

Sadly, WeConnect, an Expandi alternative, doesn’t offer advanced features like Post Engagement Campaigns, Image & GIF personalization, or Smart Sequences. Even if they claim they have Smart Sequences, they do not since this sequence doesn’t have conditions, as Skylead does. Instead, they offer a simple drip campaign with a different action, including:

• Profile visit;
• Post like;
• Invite to connect;
• Follow;
• Regular and free InMail messaging;
• Message group members.

Lastly, the significant disadvantage of WeConnect is that you cannot use a multichannel outreach. In other words, it doesn’t offer Email Discovery & Verification and Email Automation features.

If you need some basic LinkedIn outreach campaign, such as from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite search, or CSV, then WeConnect could work for you for $49 per user/month.

Lead Connect

Another Dux-Soup alternative is Lead Connect - a chrome extension you can use with LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator accounts. 

Even though it’s not a cloud solution, you can use it to create a campaign via CSV file. In addition, Lead Connect offers a drip campaign with a few features and steps available: 

• Sending a connection request;
• And sending messages and follow-ups.

If you don’t know what to write in a message, Lead Connect has got your back. They offer various templates to get inspired. However, you should know that the number of templates available depends on your chosen pricing plan. 

Lead Connect has integration with Hubspot, or you can connect it with any other CRM via Zapier. Moreover, it’s integrated with other email discovery tools, such as Hunter.io, so you can find your prospect’s emails. Sadly, you’d need to pay an additional cost for it. 

Unfortunately, Lead Connect doesn’t have Smart Sequences, Image & GIF Personalization, nor does it support Recruiter. 

Price-wise, this tool offers 4 plans depending on the number of invites and messages you can send and templates you can use per day: 

• Free
• Professional: $25.95 per month
• Grow: $45.95 per month
• Ultimate: $85.95 per month

Linked Helper 2

As opposed to Dux-Soup, Linked Helper 2 is a desktop-based tool. In other words, it’s a bit safer since it doesn’t inject code into LinkedIn. However, this kind of software still doesn’t offer a dedicated IP address, nor can you manage multiple LinkedIn accounts. Furthermore, you need to keep a PC on to work. 

With Linked Helper 2, you can create Recruiter search campaigns. In addition, all contacts are kept in Linked Helper’s CRM, and you can search them by tags and add notes. 

Sadly, Linked Helper 2 doesn’t offer a list of advanced cold outreach features other tools have, such as:

• Smart Sequences;
• Image & GIF personalization;
• Post-engagement campaign;
• A/B testing;
• Email Automation;

Linked Helper 2 is affordable, and you can get some basic lead generation features for $15 a month. Needless to say that they limit this plan based on invites and messages you can send a day. 

If you wish to get rid of this limit, you can opt-in for a $45 subscription with unlimited basic features. 

Meet Alfred

Another cloud-based LinkedIn outreach tool that salespeople use for lead generation is Meet Alfred. What separates Meet Alfred from other tools is that it mainly automates social media activities such as scheduling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts.  

Even though they point out Email Outreach as their second main feature, it's worth noting that it is incomplete. To clarify, with Meet Alfred, you can only send emails to your 1st-degree connections. This means that if the prospects don't accept your LinkedIn invitation, you won't be able to reach them via email. So, you can't use multichannel to its fullest potential.

In addition, like other tools mentioned above, you can connect Meet Alfred with other software via Zapier's webhooks.

Unlike Skylead, Meet Alfred doesn't have Smart Sequences but offers a simple drip campaign with more steps available than Zopto. Other disadvantages include a lack of email discovery and verification features. In addition, it doesn't have native Image & GIF personalization. However, since they are integrated with Hyperise, you can pay an additional monthly amount for this feature. 

Price-wise, Mee tAlfred offers the following plans:

• $49 for single users and limited features; 
• $89 for Sales Navigator users;
• $699 for large sales teams.

Salesflow

A cloud-based solution, Salesflow, is a tool that isn’t compatible with Recruiter, unlike other solutions from our list. So you can create the campaigns only from Sales Navigator or LinkedIn search results.

You can also import a CSV file with the customer’s info and create a campaign sequence based on that source. Speaking of campaign sequences, like Zopto, Salesflow doesn’t offer Smart Sequences. However, you can send as many LinkedIn messages as possible, whereas Zopto limits you to a 4-step campaign sequence. Moreover, they offer some message templates should you need any inspiration. 

When connection requests, with Salesflow, you can send 400 invites per month.

In addition, Salesflow doesn’t have an Email Outreach feature, nor does it have Email Discovery & Verification. So, you cannot use multichannel outreach to the fullest. 

Lastly, it provides CRM. However, if you don’t find it adequate, you can always integrate it with other tools via Zapier.

SalesFlow users can opt-in for one of the 3 pricing plans, depending on the number of users and features available: 

• For small businesses €89 per user/month;
• Teams can choose from €71, €57, and custom price per month, depending on the number of users;
• If you wish a Done-For-You subscription, prepare for a €429 per user / month;
• The Agency plan comes with custom pricing.

How to cancel Dux-Soup?

If you wish to try out any of the LinkedIn automation tools listed above, you need to cancel your Dux-Soup subscription first and link your LinkedIn account to other software.

Here’s a short tutorial on how to do it.

To cancel your subscription, you need to access your Dux-Soup dashboard. Simply click the Dux-Soup extension at the top of your browser, and click the Dux-Dash button. 

Then, from your dashboard go to Manage Account & Subscription.

Then click the Dux-Soup subscription button. 

Lastly, click the Cancel Subscription button. Yes- it’s that easy.

Final thoughts and feature comparison

As mentioned, Dux-Soup has a so-called feature starters pack for LinkedIn lead generation, outreach, and prospecting. However, if you wish to step up your game, it might be time to move on to the next LinkedIn automation tool on the market. 

Thus, here is the table with full feature comparison to help you choose the best alternative.

And remember, it’s about your business needs. So, take time to analyze the features, check for limitations, and integrations, calculate the price VS features ratio and inspect LinkedIn profile compatibility. Only then will you be able to find the right tool for your cold outreach that will help you with your outreach conversion rate.

Enjoy the research! 

If you have any questions about Skylead, feel free to contact our support team via chat. They’ll be more than happy to meet you and help. Or simply dive right in and try Skylead yourself by starting a 7-day Free Trial.

According to the ManpowerGroup survey from Q3 2021, 69% of companies and talent acquisition specialists around the globe reported talent shortage. Moreover, according to Officevibe*, some top candidates have a 10-day window before landing a job.  

Now, with the short time frame and a small pool to pick highly-qualified candidates from, talent acquisition specialists are in a difficult position. If they wish to hire the best employees, that is. This is more than enough reason to roll your sleeves and research talent acquisition and how to ace it. 

So, if you wish to help your company, and find the best talent out there, then get ready for the jolly ride. We will uncover everything there is to know about talent acquisition and reveal tips to help you hire the best talent out there.

What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is a process of recognizing and gathering the top employees for the company. In other words, talent acquisition means finding and nurturing the right employees according to the company’s needs.

The importance of talent acquisition has become evident to companies all over the globe, regardless the size. The reason is that talent acquisition specialists:

• Attract the most skilled employees on the market to fill the key roles according to company culture and strategy. This ultimately leads to the company’s improvement and reaching the desired results; 
• Nurture and keep employees motivated, which leads to high retention rates and company advocacy;
• Develop and provide education to help employees reach their professional goals; 
• Find the right employees and therefore save hiring time and money in the long run;
• Are advocates for the company and provide the best hiring experience, thus creating a competitive advantage in the labor market;
• Establish a talent pool for future hires, thus being prepared in advance.

And we just named a few 🙂

Recruiting and talent acquisition are often mistaken for one another. Yet, these two are the different sides of the same coin. Moreover, talent acquisition and recruiting may or may not be a part of the same sector. However, they are closely tied and cannot work without one another, which will cover in a second.

Talent acquisition VS recruitment

What is the Difference Between Recruitment and Talent Acquisition?

Talent acquisition is much more than just recruiting. It is a strategy on how a company should present itself in the labor market and become an ideal place to work in. Furthermore, the talent acquisition team is responsible for everything talent-related, including but not limited to:

• how to source the talent;
• supervise hiring;
• hire themselves in some cases;
• identify future leaders for the organization;
• lastly, they are responsible for screening candidates for leadership positions and the ones who need diversified training.

As opposed to the strategy, recruiting is the sole action of filling job vacancies and short-term company hiring requirements. In other words, recruiters:

• Find candidates or screen job applications;
• Interview candidates;
• Evaluate and select;
• Hire candidates. 

What is a talent acquisition specialist and what do they need for a job well done?

So what does the talent acquisition specialist need to have for the job? First, they need to have a psychology background and to know their way around people. Secondly, they also need to know how to nourish relationships inside and outside the company. Thirdly, they need to keep employer branding at the highest level.

Another thing someone needs to have is strategic thinking and the ability to know what the company needs or will need in the future. 

As their job is to find top talents, talent acquisition specialists need to know how to do their research. Moreover, they need to know how to track job search impulses, set candidate alerts, and find perfect candidates for the job at the right time.

Lastly, it is always handy to have a set of sales skills for interviewing top-tier candidates. To clarify, the sales skills will help you get the employee that does not necessarily wish to change their job but would be just perfect for the role.

Process of talent acquisition

Talent acquisition includes the following stages:

1. Strategy Development
2. Establishing/Updating Talent Pipeline
3. Lead Generation
4. Recruiting 
5. Interviewing 
6. References Evaluation
7. Candidate Selection
8. Hiring ( and Onboarding)
9. Succession Planning

Let’s get into the details with every one of these activities.

1. Talent acquisition strategy development

Before developing any talent acquisition strategy, one must first define: 

• The company’s position in the market; 
• Budget available for talent acquisition activities; 
• Who the competitors are; 
• Competitors’ labor market behavior and their funding (if available).

Once you establish the previously mentioned, you can use that information to plan your strategy carefully. 

There are two types of strategies that go hand in hand:

• Employer branding strategy
• Talent finding and acquiring strategy

The strategies can be any combination of activities. Participate in job fairs and universities, boost your employer's brand awareness and gather early talents, or referral programs, sponsor job fairs, and even outsource some parts of the process to RPO companies, for example. Only, whatever you decide your strategies are, be detailed, organized and mindful of your company’s industry, needs, and the budget. 

2. Establishing talent acquisition pipeline

As talent acquisition strategy depends on talent pipelines, you need to create a mechanism to keep them full at all times. If your talent flow for every position in your company is continuous, you will always have someone to pick and choose from, should the need arise.

Otherwise, you need to discover what makes your pipeline “leaky” so you do not waste additional resources to fix the damage every time.

3. Lead generation

Once you have your strategies and talent pool in place, you need to define the online (and offline) channels you will use to find and generate your leads, aka candidates. Next, you need to write an alluring job post and an application form to start filtering out and identifying the best candidates. Lastly, distribute them across defined channels and according to your strategy. 

4. Recruiting

If your company doesn’t have a separate recruiting sector, get ready to roll your sleeves. Recruiting is much more than just interviewing the candidates and choosing the right talent. Remember, they are also choosing you. 

So apart from standard recruiting and evaluating the applications that landed in your inbox, you need to do something extra. Firstly, establish ways to create a positive experience for your candidates. Secondly, nurture them throughout the process. Lastly, keep the relationship with those who are not currently your ideal match but someday they might be. 

5. Interviewing 

This is where your psychological background and sales skills really shine. When interviewing the candidates, talent acquisition specialist should ask a series of questions related to:

• the candidate's specialty;
• problem-solving skills;
• resourcefulness.

And not to forget, they need to figure out if the candidate has skills for any current or future positions. 

Interviewing is usually held between 2 to 4 instances, depending on position seniority. However, talent acquisition specialists are trying to shorten the number of instances to provide as pleasurable an experience as possible.

6. References evaluation

Talent acquisition specialists often forget to cross-reference the information their candidates provide during the interview. Reference evaluating can provide another perspective on your candidate, confirm your thoughts and opinions, or provide additional information you wouldn’t find anywhere else.

7. Candidate selection

Talent acquisition specialists and recruiters lean on many metrics and systems to make data-driven decisions and select the top candidate for the job. Some of them include candidate scoring, internal evaluating systems, and even software that can do that for them. So be sure to research these systems and choose one which works best for both you and your company.  

8. Hiring and onboarding

In some companies, talent acquisition teams also onboard new employees. Thus, apart from showing them around the office, or workflow, talent acquisition specialists are responsible for establishing new relationships. That said, incorporating efficient Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can greatly facilitate talent acquisition specialists in streamlining the onboarding process, ensuring new hires are integrated smoothly into the company's ecosystem.

9. Succession planning

The last activity that talent acquisition specialists need to do is succession planning. a process of identifying and finding substitute candidates for the leadership roles within the company in case something unexpected should happen or in case of retirement. 

Succession planning is beneficial due to several reasons. Firstly, the company is always ready for any unexpected events. Secondly, it encourages employee development within the organization. Lastly, succession planning allows filling the roles quickly without losing much of the workflow.

15 Tips and best-case practices to improve talent acquisition activities

1. Minimum requirements

When creating a job description, it’s best to define the minimum and the maximum requirements someone needs to have to be qualified for the initial interview. To clarify, the reason for the minimum requirements is that you might meet someone who doesn’t have the highest experience you need, but they might have it in the future.

This means you can put them straight into your talent pool and contact them at a later stage. Or perhaps the person with less experience is a perfect match according to other company parameters (e.g. cultural, behavioral), as opposed to the one with the maximum requirements.

2. Collaborate with other sectors

Every sector and job position within the company has its specialties and expressions different from what the talent acquisition team uses. It’s okay not to know them all, as long as you keep collaborating with the rest of the company during the previously mentioned process for individual positions. 

3. Write job post that is alluring

With each vacancy comes a special job description. So, be aware of what kind of talent you wish to draw to your company and write job posts to appeal to them. Spice it up with some benefits, perks, and employer branding testimonies, and you’ll be good to go for initial lead generation.

4. Remote or hybrid workspace

To stay competitive in the labor market, you must keep up with the trends. And one of the most popular trends now is precisely Remote or Hybrid workspace. Be mindful of this, and if your company doesn’t offer a fully remote position, at least offer a hybrid position, so you don’t lose top talents over this. 

5. Where to build a pipeline?

Different talent acquisition teams use different platforms to help them build their talent pipeline and keep track of the candidates. That said, the most widely used is LinkedIn Recruiter or Recruiter Lite, which allows you to get candidates inside the pipeline with just one click and to the appropriate pipeline stage.

6. Include your co-workers in the process

It’s nifty to discover alternative ways to find and generate your candidates. However, remember that you, as a talent acquisition specialist, are not alone in your company. Thus, think about creating a referral program for your employees. 

Your co-workers are the next best thing to know what kind of personnel your company needs, and if you set proper awards, you are more likely to find the right candidates quicker. After all, there is a “Six degrees of separation*” theory stating that any person can be connected to any other person in the world through six intermediaries at most.

7. Don’t rush  

Finding the right employee is not an easy task, especially if we talk about C-suite positions. Thus, take your time and do not rush any activity. If you are thorough and dedicate time to each part of the talent acquisition process, you will save resources in the future.

For example, most talent acquisition specialists use LinkedIn Recruiter, and the one thing they never rush is filtering the right candidates for the job. Thus, take advantage of every LinkedIn Recruiter filter and take your time zeroing in on the candidates you will reach out to. 

8. Research your candidates 

If, for example, you use LinkedIn to find candidates, you should consider the following advice.

Firstly, to laser-target your candidates, be sure to specify your search as much as possible. In other words, use filters to import the most relevant skills needed for the role. 

Secondly, when looking at LinkedIn profiles, observe the diversity of interests a person has. The information you find will contribute to your company and imply what you need to do to achieve employee satisfaction. 

Thirdly, if you are searching for the people to fill in higher-up roles, be sure to analyze the skills they possess that served them in the previous positions that can be usable for the one you are reaching out to. 

Lastly, if, for example, you're searching for a team leader for your programming team, you might consider how the team could contribute to the team leader’s development.

9. Streamline a part of your talent acquisition process

If you headhunt using LinkedIn Recruiter, then you must’ve experienced how tiresome it is to reach out to every person on the list manually. Luckily, you don’t have to. You can streamline your outreach process by getting a solution to do it for you and thus save so much time.

Take Skylead, for example. You can create an outreach campaign quickly and easily. Firstly, take your LinkedIn Recruiter pipeline or talent pool URL with all the candidates you found by prospecting on LinkedIn.

Then, go to Skylead and paste it into the respective field. Be sure to name your campaign, and select the type of campaign.

Next, create your Smart Sequence steps and your messages. To clarify, Smart Sequences are Skylead’s groundbreaking algorithms. They allow you to use multichannel outreach and personalization at scale.

And you are done!It is that simple.

Skylead can also help you schedule your interviews from the Smart Inbox, so there is no need to navigate between the platforms.

10. Personalize your messages

Nobody likes getting generic emails, nor will your ideal candidates for the top-level job. Thus, to provide the best experience for your candidates, make sure to personalize your outreach according to their resume or LinkedIn profile. For example, include their name, position, or the skills that stood out to you the most.

11. Don’t forget to proofread 

Typos, wrong names, and grammatical errors in your email can come across as unprofessional and can put your company in a bad light. So, to avoid this, edit, proofread your messages, and double-check contact information for any mistakes before sending.

12. Timing is everything

Good timing is a desired virtue for talent acquisition specialists to have. Timing to recognize and outreach candidates at just the right time according to their job search impulses. 

However, there is one other timing equally if not more important than that - responding to your candidates on time. If you wait too long, especially if you hire management roles, you risk losing your candidate’s interest and someone else taking them over.

13. Choose your questions carefully

Sometimes the candidates won’t be as direct as you would like them to be. So, to get the information, you need to get creative during the conversation. The best-case approach here is to ask so-called probing questions to specify their response. In other words, you can ask them a series of questions like:

- Tell me, how did you manage a group of people to achieve the best productivity throughout the day?

- What objectives did you set for the group?

- How did you motivate them?

- What was the most difficult part of this task?

In addition, take note of what the candidate asks you in return, how they prioritize their interest for the role, and what they are curious about the company (benefits, conditions, market share, organization culture, etc.).

14. How should talent acquisition team choose the best candidate?

Selecting the right candidate for the job can be a hard decision for a talent acquisition specialist. If you are lucky, you can pinpoint the person you wish for your organization. However, what to do if you have two or more top talents in your hand? 

Hire them all 🙂 

Jokes aside, here is what you can do to ease your decision. 

The first thing you need to pay attention to is authenticity and synchronicity between the candidate's personal preferences and the information you get from the interview. In other words, analyze verbal and non-verbal communication, and the thought process and write your observation down.

The other thing you can also do is to walk the candidates through questions about personal preferences of informal, trivial topics and get to the main questions later. Using this method, the candidate could reveal themselves through potential incoherence. 

Once you have all data in place, choose the candidate with the smallest amount of discrepancy and highest compatibility. 

15. Honesty is the best talent acquisition strategy

Somehow in the business world, we always come back to honesty, and talent acquisition is no exception. I mean, have you heard about Microsoft’s promise to disclose salary ranges in January 2023?

Many talent acquisition specialists are true advocates for honesty, and there are major reasons for that. Firstly, it adds to the authenticity. Talent acquisition specialists often share why they work in a particular company, their motives, and what motivates them the most to be where they are. This way, candidates can see the true passion in the conversation and wish to work in that company, as well. 

Talent acquisition specialists and recruiters thus act as a live banner of the company. If the candidates do not resonate with the passion, it’s best to reveal it from the start - it will save you so much time in the future.

So, keep in mind that being honest and believing in your company is one of the best things you need to show to your candidates. Not only will you filter and acquire the best candidates, but you will also contribute to the Employer branding strategy. 

Lastly, your honesty and passion will be such a strong argument that negotiations and whether someone wishes to work for the company won’t even be a question anymore.

Summary

Talent acquisition and the labor market are one of the most changed segments due to technological development in the last couple of years. Apart from company Goodwill, talent acquisition sectors are the ones that represent a company directly to the outside world.

Speaking from the company’s point of view, it pretty much became a standard to have talent acquisition specialists simply because of all the benefits it comes along: from resource savings to reaching higher goals by finding a perfect match and employee satisfaction.

However, none of it comes without the talent acquisition team’s hard work and activities that involve:

1. Strategy Development
2. Establishing/Updating Talent Pipeline
3. Lead Generation
4. Recruiting 
5. Interviewing 
6. References Evaluation
7. Candidate Selection
8. Hiring ( and Onboarding)
9. Succession Planning

And let’s not forget that our trusted talent acquisition specialists are go-to guys for everyone in the company. They are somewhat of our genie in the bottle for professional development.

Nonetheless, talent acquisition specialists can perfect their craft by following the tips and best-case practices mentioned above. Lastly, people are dynamic, so if you, as a talent acquisition specialist, help others develop their talents, don’t forget about yourself.

Wish to discover how to streamline your talent acquisition process? Check out Skylead and schedule a Demo!

Whether a complete beginner in LinkedIn prospecting or an experienced sales rep in search of a fresh approach, this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison is aimed at giving insight into the valuable features of each plan, so you can make informed decisions on which subscription suits your LinkedIn lead generation best. 

The majority of sales reps would probably tell you to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator right off the bat. This LinkedIn subscription was, indeed, originally created to help you find qualified prospects for your business through its advanced filtering options, placing prospects into lead and account lists for a more personalized approach, creating alerts so you know what your target users are up to, and many more that will be listed and thoroughly explained down below. 

However, this doesn’t mean that LinkedIn Sales Navigator always wins in the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium “battle” or that merely investing in it will bring you the desired results. The majority of outcomes will depend on your social selling skills and certain market factors. Ours is to make a LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison. Yours is to pick which one makes sense for YOUR lead generation. 

The one thing we know for sure is that you must give up your LinkedIn basic account. The free plan doesn’t support a higher number of searches, let alone anything more than that. If you wish to just be there on LinkedIn and wait to be discovered, sure, go ahead. Stick to your free plan. For anything more than that, you will need to upgrade to pretty much any other LinkedIn subscription. 

Now, let’s see which one suits your business needs the most. 

LinkedIn Premium: Best features for lead generation 

LinkedIn Premium consists of two sub-plans, LinkedIn Premium Careers and LinkedIn Premium Business. The first one is created to help you get hired. The second one to build a strong LinkedIn network and advance your business. That’s why we will be focusing on LinkedIn Premium Business. 

Both the LinkedIn plan price and the VAT depend on the country in which your account has been registered. 

Our Team which is based in Serbia is approximately paying the following amount for each LinkedIn Premium Business. 

• monthly cost - around $60 per month + VAT as specified by our country. 
• annual cost - around $570 + VAT yearly as specified by our country. 

Let's go through LinkedIn Premium Business features that are useful for lead generation.

Monthly InMail credit

LinkedIn Premium gives you 15 paid InMail credits per month that can be accumulated to up to 45 credits in 3 months. Any LinkedIn member can receive a paid InMail, but only LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter plans can send them. Each time you get a reply, you get that InMail credit back. 

Each Premium user gets 800 free InMails that can be sent only to members whose profiles are set to “open”. If you wish to be able to receive an InMail from any member on LinkedIn, set up your profile for it. 

The number of Paid InMails varies depending on the plan. This is where Sales Navigator for sure wins the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium “battle” (more on this below). 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 as one of the very last steps/conditions in our Smart Sequences. InMails also turned out to be a clever move if you want to get in touch with members, usually, decision-makers who are hard to be reached out to. Check out our InMail templates for sales to get inspired.

The “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. Maybe you appeared in their feed, their search results, maybe you came as recommended by someone, they were checking out your company’s website, or your profile was shown in the “People also viewed” or “People you may know” feature. Either way, they showed some kind of interest in you. 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. 

Unlimited search 

LinkedIn Premium offers unlimited search unlike LinkedIn basic that limits you to 10 searches per month. If you are a LinkedIn free plan user, you’ll need to wait until you can continue browsing other LinkedIn profiles. 

Company insights 

All LinkedIn Premium members can go to any LinkedIn company page and check out the company’s insights here. 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. 

This can be useful for lead generation because you can see data such as:

• Total employee count
• Total employee growth in the last 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years
• Employee distribution and head growth by function
• And other data that could be significant for your lead generation. 

LinkedIn learning 

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

This is what your LinkedIn learning platform dashboard looks like. 

You can see the skills you choose to improve, you can add new skills on your right, while in the top right corner you will find the preset weekly goal. The weekly goal is not something that LinkedIn asks you to commit to, it is more of a personal goal you set for yourself. 

Click on Learning history. Then, click on Show recommended courses. LinkedIn will suggest specific courses based on your professional path and the previously set preferences. 

This is what LinkedIn’s top picks for me look like. 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Best features for lead generation 

In this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison, we must highlight right away that LinkedIn Sales Navigator for sure has more lead-generation-oriented features since it’s been created specifically for it. 

So, yes, to answer your question, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is for sure the most suitable for lead generation and sales in general by all parameters. 

However, we decided to write this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison so you can make informed decisions about whether to invest in something as advanced as Sales Navigator or stick to LinkedIn Premium features for lead generation. Why is that? 

The truth is, that a great number of Sales Navigator subscribers don’t use the platform to its full potential. Some of them are not familiar with it enough. The others actually don’t need all super-advanced Sales Navigator features for their lead generation. And the Sales Navigator is pretty pricey… 

When you upgrade to Sales Navigator from your existing plan, you will NOT be paying for both plans. This can be quite confusing for the first-timers since Sales Navigator seems like a completely different platform. However, you will have at your disposal all the above LinkedIn Premium features in addition to the following perks offered by Sales Navigator only. 

Our Team which is based in Serbia is approximately paying the following amount for Sales Navigator Core. 

• monthly cost - around $79 per month + VAT as specified by our country. 
• annual cost - around $877 + VAT yearly as specified by our country. 

Advanced filtering 

The first benefit of Sales Navigator is its 29 Lead Filters and 15 Account Filters, out of which 27 total are Sales Navigator only. If your niche requires pretty specific lead profiles, Sales Navigator is the right subscription for you. 

Saved search

The Saved Search option allows you to save specific criteria that get you as close as possible to your ICP and then send leads and accounts that match those criteria to one place. You can name your Saved Search in a way to help you distinguish between other saved searches you have. Every time you enter the Saved Searches dashboard, you will see the number of leads that were added since the last time you opened that specific saved search. You can also see when you last accessed that particular list.

Lead lists and account lists  

Something similar to the previous feature is the Lead List and Account List options. Keep specific leads or accounts that match your lead generation criteria in one place and under one name. 

Monthly InMail credit 

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, LinkedIn Sales Navigator number of InMail credits for sure wins the LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium battle. 

Connect your CRM

Among the three plans, Sales Navigator Core, Sales Navigator Advanced, and Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, only the last two 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 to consider, we’ve listed the top 10 CRMs on the market with all their advantages and disadvantages to help you out with this choice. 

Set alerts for leads & accounts 

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. It could be anything from job changes, post shares, growth insights for companies, etc. Save your leads into a lead or account list, bookmark them, leave a note, or reach out, directly from your feed. 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 

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. Choose View Similar. Sales Navigator will list other companies whose attributes match as close as possible the ones of the original one. 

Leave notes

Sales Navigator gives you an 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. 

Set up your sales preferences

Sales Navigator offers the opportunity to set up your sales preferences and choose the types of leads and accounts you wish to see more of on your feed. This option will give you significant insight into people and companies from your target industries, without you having search them manually. Sales Navigator will automatically push up to 100 leads that match your Sales Preferences into a list named Recommended Leads. The system generates this list and automatically refreshes every week. 

Blacklist specific leads and accounts 

Blacklisting specific leads, accounts, or Lead or Account lists 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, you can create one by taking advantage of the possibility to exclude certain parameters or entire lists from your search. 

Smart links

A Smart Link is a link to a document (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or image file) or a downloadable (a video, zip file, CSV, etc.) that you can insert in a LinkedIn InMail message.

Only Sales Navigator Advance and Advance Plus support Smart Links. 

The main advantage of the smart link is the option of tracking link clicks, the amount of time the recipient spent viewing the content, the date and the time that the recipient accessed the content, etc. 

Also, if the user that clicked on your content logged into their LinkedIn account first, you will be able to see basic info from their profile such as name, title, company, and public profile picture. Additionally, you'll have the option of sending a free InMail, if they have an open profile, or a paid one.

If they didn't log into their LinkedIn accounts, they must insert their full name and email address before accessing your content. 

This is an awesome way for sales and marketing teams to collect significant insights into people that are showing interest in their product. 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium: Downloadable comparison table 

Summary

At the end of this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison, we must emphasize that the choice of your LinkedIn Account will highly depend on your intentions on LinkedIn. Not all Sales Navigator users know these hacks nor are they taking full advantage of the platform itself. 

Whether you opt for LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator after reading this LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison, or maybe even Recruiter, if you are searching for the best talent for your business, know that Skylead supports all three plans and can make your outreach faster and easier. 

Skylead is an AI-inspired Sales Engagement Platform that takes over all boring and time-consuming sales tasks and allows you to focus on closing the deal. 

Do you wish to know more about how to use Skylead? Are you curious how Skylead can get you faster to your sales goals? Check out our website or schedule a FREE demo appointment with our Sales Reps. 

We’re waiting for you! 

Creating the perfect call to action (CTA) for your email can be tough. It can ruin your outreach efforts or skyrocket your conversion. 

In other words, if your call to action isn’t compelling, clear enough, or doesn’t resonate with the overall email message, it will go over your prospect’s head. As a result, your lead won’t perform the desired action, and you will lose that lead or have to work twice as hard to convert them.

Thus, in this article, we are diving deep into the meaning and importance of CTAs in emails and showing you how to craft a perfect CTA. In addition, we will provide you with the call to action examples that you can use as inspiration for your outreach. 

What is a call to action?

A call to action (CTA in short) is a phrase that serves as a directive for target groups or leads to perform the desired action. 

As a motif used for sales and marketing efforts, a call to action usually shows up in the ads, emails, websites, and other types of content geared towards the target group. For example, you’ve probably seen the following phrases in the ads a thousand times by now: 

• Watch; 
• Shop Now; 
• Buy;
• Download, etc.

Yup, those are all CTAs.

Now, a call to action can manifest in distinct forms, such as:

• A button on a landing page or ad;
• Hyperlinked text on a landing page or email;
• Long, plain text, often found in an email;
• As a short sentence that acts as a preface to another call to action.

A perfect call to action helps you capture leads, directly influences and improves conversion, and drives other desired actions depending on the goal. 

However, if we talk about B2B sales emails, crafting the call to action is more complicated than B2C. Why? Because you cannot just link the word Buy at the end of the email and expect people to... Well, buy it. In other words, you need to take an entire buying experience (longer than B2C one), sales funnel, and your message into consideration. 

And yes, catchy email subject lines and attention-grabbing opening lines will help you increase the open rate and get your emails to be read. Still, a call to action combined with a well-crafted message will directly impact your desired action. 

Email call to action types

Before jumping into actionable tips that you can use to craft the call to action for your email, let’s first look at what email call to action types are at your disposal. Instead of analyzing B2C CTAs, we will focus only on B2B calls to action that salespeople can use in emails.

1. Sign up

This call to action type serves as a little nudge. It is often used for Freemium services, so leads can understand what the product is all about. The good news is that this type of action doesn’t cost a person anything, and it is easier to achieve than a demanding conversion, such as starting a subscription.

2. Resource

Using this CTA, you are offering your potential clients the resource you think they will benefit from the most. In addition, the resource is often free, and if you get them to open your email and if you hit the right pain point with your message, you can expect a high resource visit rate.

3. Discovery

From time to time, you will need to send more information about your product/service. Luckily, you, a well-skilled salesperson, already have a special landing page that your trusted marketing team created for you that you can send out. 

4. Schedule a meeting/demo

This is a type of CTA that you can use after the lead has responded to your cold outreach.

5. Free trial

Responding to this call to action, leads will have the opportunity to test out your product or a service, before deciding whether or not you wish to commit. 

6. Subscription started

After the leads have tested your product, you will try to nurture them to start the subscription. In this case, you will use said CTA.

7. Follow-up

This Call To Action type serves as a reminder to the prospect they didn’t respond to your email or didn’t do the necessary action. 

8. Review

If you wish to ask your customers to leave a review on a listing website, you will use  this CTA.

9. Event promotion

Using this call to action, you can gather attendees for the upcoming special event, such as webinars, training, courses and gatherings.

Call to action (CTA) performance metrics

Crafting and using the right Call To Action in your emails can be effective. However, how would you know if the certain CTA actually worked and brought you the results? Why, with your trusted metrics, of course.

In addition, depending on the type of conversion you wish to get, the metrics will differ. Thus, here is a table with metrics corresponding to the call to the action type.

Finally, do not forget to use  UTM parameters in your emails for the metrics that include website data.

Tips to create call to action

Like CTA in marketing, Calls To Action in sales emails need more thinking through, as well. In other words, they need to be easy on the eyes, clear, comfortable for the prospects to say yes to, and much more. Thus, here are the tips that will help you craft the best CTAs in emails that work.

1. Email message and call to action in synergy

We cannot talk about Call To Action and not mention your entire email message. Email messages and CTAs go hand in hand, and you cannot expect one to work without the other. After all, your email needs to help your prospect accomplish their goal or solve the problem. 

So, you need to specify the pain point or goal you wish to address. Once defined, only then start crafting your CTA accordingly.

Example:

Let’s say you wish to book a meeting with the prospect and share how your service can help them precisely. Thus, your email and CTA can go something like this: 

So don’t be the one who cannot see the forest from the trees and expect your CTA alone to work. Define your pain point message, and work on your Call To Action so they match.

Additional tip: You should always write your email message around your CTA. Let's say, for example, the idea is to book a meeting. Then you should write the email that gives the reason to the prospect to take that call.

2. Write call to action as a part of conversation

While we are still on the subject of an email message and CTA synergy, let’s glance at the previous example one more time. 

Do you notice that we didn’t use a Call To Action such as Book A Meeting at the end of the email? Standard CTAs that you can find on landing pages or ads do not work well in sales emails as they create a sense of abruption in communication. 

So we created Call To Action as a seamless part of communication. The reason is that these CTAs note better performance in sales emails. Why? The answer to this question is because of the social selling principles.

3. CTAs that are easy to say yes to

Sometimes getting the conversion is tough, and prospects often feel that you ask too much of them. This happens if we talk about conversions, such as starting a free trial or service subscription, in particular. So, the objective is to always craft your Call To Action as defined as possible.

Examples:

a. Does Thursday at 2 PM work for you?

b. Can you give me the contact information of a person who I can talk to about…?

c. If you are interested, just respond with “Yes” and I will send you the free audit of your business.

4. Use one clear call to action per email

Nowadays, we have a lot on our minds, and we process a large amount of information per day. So naturally, our attention span got shorter over the years. This goes with your prospects as well.

Thus, when writing an email, use only one Call To Action. Using multiple CTAs is one of the biggest email mistakes and can confuse your prospects. In addition, it can make them unaware of the next step and cost you the desired conversion.

5. The power of words

If, for example, we say I love your work, or I like your work, which one do you think is more effective? You are right - the first one is. You see, words alone bear meanings that can impact us emotionally and mentally. Therefore, choosing the spot-on words for your CTA can really make a difference in how your prospects feel.

So, to make your Call To Action more impactful, choose more uplifting words. In addition, always read your CTA and check how you feel afterward, as this way, you will get a sense of how your prospects will feel. Here are a couple of examples.

6. Use first-person POV when possible

Personalization is everything when it comes to sales and marketing. If you are already personalizing your email outreach with variables such as name, occupation, or custom introduction, you might as well do it with your CTAs. Still unsure? Here is our leverage: 

Company ContentVerve experienced a 90% increase in click-through rate by using the first-person point of view. They managed to do it by using the phrasing “Start MY free 30-day trial” instead of “Start YOUR free 30-day trial” *.

The reason why first-person point of view works is that your prospect will receive more personalized communication and will feel more connected to your brand.

7. A/B test your call to action

A/B testing is the only proof of outreach effectiveness, whether we talk about subject lines, messages, or opening lines. Thus, naturally, testing applies to the Call To Action as well. 

In addition, if you use a sales engagement tool, such as Skylead, you can set up your email outreach testing as easily as 1, 2, and 3. Simply add your sequence steps, and message variants.

Once you launch the campaign and results start coming in, you'll see the step-by-step analytics showing which variant worked best.

Extra call to action examples

Now that you know how to craft your perfect Call To Action, let’s go over additional examples and reasons they work. 

The one with the calendar 

“What do you say? Would you be up for a quick chat?  If your answer is “Yes”, here is a link to schedule the time that suits you best. I’ll be the one waiting with the coffee :)”

So, we have a couple of benefits here. Firstly, this type of call to action is an easy win since your prospects are one click away from scheduling a call when it suits them most. Secondly, the other perk is that there is no back and forth communication if either party is not available at the other one’s proposed date. Lastly, speaking of “the words that have power’ implying the answer, such as Yes, will give a more positive connotation to the email.

As mentioned before, just be sure to give them a valid reason why they need to take the meeting, so by the time they reach your Call To Action, they will actually wish to take the meeting with you.

Additional tip: This CTA simply calls for a personalized image or a GIF at the end of an email. In other words, you can place your image holding a coffee cup with your lead’s name on it.  

Stir the CTA pot with a pinch of the theme

Everybody loves when they notice a specific theme woven into the email that is tailor-made just for them. Hence, the best way you can do it is to find the idiom or a topic and build your Call To Action around it. 

As an example, here is our idea for salespeople:

"Are you still interested in our offer, or did Elvis leave the building? I hope not, as I sure want to sing with you after you experience the amazing benefits of our product."

In addition, this particular Call To Action can be a good idea for the follow-up when the prospects haven't responded yet, and belong in the Free Trial or Subscription pipeline stage.

Call to action examples that offers empathy

Sometimes prospects may not know what exactly they are looking for unless you point it out. By describing the actual pain point and offering a solution immediately, you show your prospects that you are here to help.

Here are the two CTA variations you can use to share a resource or schedule a call.

a. Sometimes sales people cannot concentrate on closing the deals because of spending too much time manually searching for the prospects.

If this is you, then this read will help you greatly.

Check out our article on 3 things you should automate in your outreach.

b. Sometimes sales people cannot concentrate on closing the deals because of spending too much time manually searching for the prospects.

If this resonated with you Debbie, then, we need to talk. I can share a couple of tips you can apply to reduce manual work.

Does Wednesday at noon work for you?

Short and precise call to action example

If for some reason, you do not have a meeting scheduler, this CTA is for you. It is short and detailed since it offers the exact date and time. 

I’d love to hop on a meeting and chat about how we can work together. Does Tuesday at 1 PM sound good for a quick 20-minute call?

Specifying the exact CTA with time and date is always a win. However, there are two extra cherries on top of this CTA cake. Firstly, you show that you care about your partnership.

Secondly, there is any indication, a promise if you will, of how long the meeting will last. In other words, everyone likes short calls, especially the decision-makers. Also, if the future meeting lasts longer than 15 minutes, well then, things are looking up to close that deal.

Checking the status CTA

If you wish to throw a ball in your prospect’s courtyard, you can do so by asking them what is the next step on their behalf. As opposed to asking whether they will do something, you are asking them what they are going to do. Here are the examples:

a. Will your next action be {{Action}}? Or did I get that wrong? Just wanted to check if there is anything else I can help you with.

b. I wish to make the process super easy for you. Is there anything I can do so you can fully make the transition to our product?

By responding, the prospects keep you in the loop, and the conversation will move on. Furthermore, this example is the perfect idea for figuring out what stops them from starting the subscription process. In addition, this can be an example of the conversation-starting CTA as a part of the follow up email after you received no response.  

Value exchange call to action example

If, for example, you have churned customers or the leads that never converted, you might want to think about offering a limited-time discount. In this case, you can use CTA such as:

Nothing feels more like Christmas than family, friends, and gifts. So, accordingly, we’ve prepared a special gift for you. Let’s unwrap it together. 👉 Claim My 10% Discount

This Call To Action is motivating for a couple of reasons. Yes, you are offering a discount which can be alluring, but you are also personalizing with a first-person point of view. In addition, by choosing the word Claim and implying friendship, you show that something belongs to them. And it won’t take long until they take it.

Furthermore, you can create a similar Call To Action if you wish to ask your customers to write a review for your website or leave it on a listing website. It can go, for example, like this:

We value your opinion, and it would be amazing to hear your voice in the form of a review.

As a small gesture for your effort, we have prepared a $25 Amazon gift card that you can spend on your friends and family.

What do you say?

Would you be up for it? 👉 Write My Review

In conclusion

It is important to look at your Call To Action as a part of the bigger picture. For example, the composition of still life entirely depends on beautifully painted fruits, flowers, and glasses. Thus the effectiveness of the entire email is decided by its subject, opening line, message, and CTA and can influence your overall lead generation. When perfectly crafted together, conversion is imminent. 

Once you understand this, you can easily follow the tips for writing the perfect Call To Action:

1. Write Email messages and Call To Action in synergy;
2. Weave CTA as part of the conversation;
3. Create Call To Action that is easy to say Yes to;
4. Use one and clear Call To Action;
5. Choose your words in CTA carefully;
6. Use the first-person point of view where possible;
7. A/B test everything.

With these tips and examples mentioned above, your Call To Action will point out what is the most important to your prospects. In addition, your CTA will give your prospects the reason for conversion.

Now, go ahead and create your amazing CTAs!

P.S. Wish to automate your LinkedIn prospecting, activities of generating leads on LinkedIn, or use multichannel outreach? Drop by and try out Skylead for free!

What would you say is the first thing that catches your prospects' attention in their inbox? That is right, email subject lines. They are undoubtedly the most integral part of your cold email outreach. In just seconds, the faith of your outreach success is determined.

How? Well, if you do not create catchy email subject lines, you risk getting your email deleted, your open rate becomes much lower, and you will be disregarded as Spam. Consequently, this ultimately leads to a lower number of warmed-up leads and closed deals. Furthermore, effort and time spent will go to waste.

Don’t panic. We’ve got your back.

In this article, we are explaining what the subject line is and why it is important for your email outreach. Furthermore, we are digging deep into catchy email subject examples, why they work, and help you create your golden subject line that catches your prospects’ attention immediately.

What is an email subject line and why is it important?

Let’s start with the basics. When you open up email inbox, you can notice the 3 following components of the email message:

• Senders’ name,
• Subject Line, 
• And Preview text. 

Email subject line is a text line next to the sender’s name, describing the title of the email message. In other words, it is an indication of what the message is about and why you should read it. 

Email subject line communicates value, sets expectations, and entices recipients to discover more about the topic by reading the email message. 

Getting your email subject line just right will make you stand out in the sea of other emails and increase the open rate. In sales terms, this means increasing the chances of getting your message across and warming up leads so you can close more deals.

Another thing worth mentioning is the importance of the Preview Text.

A preview text, aka preheader text, is a line next to the subject line that shows the beginning of your email message. In some cases, preview text can be custom-made if you use newsletter software or similar tools, but in most cases, it shows a preview of your message. That is why it is important to perceive them in synergy rather than separate components to make your outreach as effective as you can (but we will talk more about this below).

How to write catchy email subject lines: Tips to get started

Email subject lines’ first and foremost purpose is to get your prospects to open up your email. In other words, you need to catch their attention and entice them towards this action. 

Therefore, make email subject lines mean something. Let’s go through a couple of steps to get started. 

1. Determine the type of subject lines

As a salesperson, especially when doing a cold outreach, your job is to set the tone of the email subject lines. There are many ways to do it - making bold, sweet, or commanding statements - but first, you need to figure out the email content. After that, write down the email core meaning, and choose the type of tone which best fits your outreach message, personality, and prospects’ preferences. 

The usual subject line types for sales are:

2. Straight to the point 

Be clear and concise about your email subject lines whenever you can. The reason is that often prospects prioritize the emails by their subject line and order of reading/replying. For this reason, the email subject line should communicate what the message is all about and its importance. 

Avoid vague subject lines, such as “While I wait for your response”, that doesn't show anything about the email content as it will end up at the bottom of the priority list, and prospects will eventually forget it.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t get crafty with it. You can create wordplay such as “Let’s Taco ‘bout your performance”, create a theme as “Let’s schedule a coffee chat”, or even use the power words to enhance your catchy email subject lines.

3. Power words in email subject lines

Specific words can trigger an emotion in us on a conscious or subconscious level. Let's take the word “happy” for instance. After reading it, you suddenly felt a slight uplift in your mood, didn’t you? What happens with the word “Sad”? You felt slightly down there, correct? 

Words are indeed powerful. So using specific words in subject lines can do the same for your prospect. To be more precise, using Power words can really catch your prospects’ attention and activate an emotion. Furthermore, if you put the Power word at the subject line beginning, it will draw even more attention.

Here are power words example list to catch your prospects’ attention and get them to open up your email:

Note: The important thing is to set expectations with power words, but be careful not to overpromise, as this will only annoy your prospects. And do not go overboard with them.

4. How long should email subject lines be 

On average, email subject lines should ideally be 4 to 7 words. If you need more words, aim for a subject line no longer than 9 words, which is the upper limit. Furthermore, contemporary inboxes can reveal up to 60 characters on average, depending on the email provider. 

Also, keep in mind that some people check their emails on mobile devices, which show only 41 to 50 characters. This roughly translates to 7 to 8 words. Therefore, to lower the number of characters, you need to remove any filler words, such as just, hi, thanks, going to, etc.

Note: If you plan to reach out to your prospects using LinkedIn InMail, you should know that the subject line character limit is 200 characters. Check out our complete guide on how LinkedIn InMail works and 13 InMail templates for a better response rate.

5. Use subject lines and preview texts in synergy

As we mentioned earlier, the preview text is a line of text found next to the subject line. It shows the first couple of words of your email message. In addition, it can show custom text if you use a newsletter software tool. 

Preview text is just as important as the subject line - it is your chance to deepen the message and make it more effective to get your prospects to open up an email. 

Preview text is usually 35 to 90 characters long, depending on the email provider. To make a subject line and preview text work together, it is best to perceive a preview text as a collection of details that didn’t fit the subject line. Here is an example:

Subject line: 🎁 A discount gift for you

Preview text: Happy Women’s Day! Up until the end of March, you get a discount of […]

Note: To convince a prospect to keep on reading the email and perform the desired action, make sure you get your opening paragraph and a Call To Action right.

Email subject lines best practices [and some worst ones to keep away]

Now that we’ve set the email subject lines basic steps, let’s go through the best practices and what you need to avoid.

Subject lines best practices 

1. Personalization

Did you know that personalizing subject lines can increase the open rate by 22.2%? The increase in open rate happens because personalization creates a sense of familiarity in leads. Especially if you found those leads by prospecting on LinkedIn. Furthermore, it comes across as genuine and that you care for them. 

Personalize your email subject lines using the following demographic, psychographic, and firmographic data:

• Interaction with your brand
• Their location
• Years in the company
• Current company
• Interests and values

To gain a full understanding of how powerful personalization in outreach can be, check out our blogs on how to increase the level of personalization in outreach and how to personalize image and GIF to improve response rate.

2. Use emojis In email subject line

In modern days times, emojis can be a nifty tool to spice up your subject line. They are a friend in need to get your point across, make your email stand out in the inbox, and they cost only one character (speaking of saving the space in the subject line :).

To back this up, take a look at the following statistics:

Emojis in subject lines had an open rate of 56% higher than those without them.

Not bad, ha 🧐?

3. Include numbers

Catchy email subject lines that include numbers achieve 45% higher open rates. This way, prospects will perceive your subject line as more precise and attract their attention. Use numbers to state how many tips you send them, time stamps, or statistics to increase the value.

4. Email subject lines specifying time

Providing your prospects with the right information that is in correlation with time will attract their attention as it represents information that is a “current trend”. Nicely timed subject line will increase an open rate, as well as response rate depending on the email body.

Example: 

Here is how to boost your April’s website performance

5. Hint the valuable content

One of the perfect ways to increase the open rate is to give your prospects a sneak peek into the body of the email. This catchy email subject lines’ teaser can be in the form of content that prospects will value, such as images, infographics, and guides with top 5 tips.

Example:

Why Sales Needs To Get Out There And Use Social Selling More (Webinar)

6. Subject line testing

You need to test your email subject lines to be sure you got them just right, and there are a couple of ways you can do it.

A/B testing

Every audience is different, and in some cases, one subject line that worked previously won’t be that effective anymore. And then, there is the following fact:

A/B testing can increase email open rates by 49%.

That is why you need A/B tests as much as possible. In order to do this, take 3 to 5 subject lines and send out those cold outreach emails to check which one has the highest open rate.
For example, in Skylead, you can test different subject lines for your outreach campaigns on autopilot and see which one works best for you.

Online email subject line testers  

Online email subject line testers are nifty tools to have at hand if you are not sure about the effectiveness of your subject lines. Whether you wish to test the emotional tone of voice or the overall effectiveness of your subject lines, you can use tools such as Send Check It, EMV Headline Analyzer, or GradeMyEmail.

Email subject lines DON’Ts

1. Hi there

Avoid phrases such as Hi there, Greetings George, or Hello. The reason is they aren’t specific enough and do not show any hint of what the email message is all about. Instead, draw your prospect’s attention by clearly stating the purpose.

2. Misleading prospects

Being deceptive and promising your prospect one thing in the subject line and showing them another will annoy them. Consequently, you will lose trust and respect instantly. Not to mention, you will fail to close the deal with the prospect forever. Therefore, avoid click baits, or RE: and FWD: entirely just to get them to open up an email.

3. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS OR BUNCH OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!

See how that was unnerving and frenzy-like? Using letters in Caps Lock or with multiple exclamation points is a synonym for spammers these days. It also looks aggressive and distasteful, and you do not wish that for your brand, trust us. Furthermore, if you use this kind of email subject line, you risk getting your emails in the Spam folder. However, Caps Lock and exclamation points are not prohibited - you can always use one from time to time to emphasize your statement, but please do not go overboard.

4. Avoid spammy words

Similar to all-caps-lock words and multiple exclamation points, spam words can also ruin your outreach efforts. These words have been all over the internet for many, many years (not to mention billiards in the 80s) and are now considered repulsive and plain out pushy. 

Here are a couple of examples to watch out for:

• Act Now
• Cash 
• Cheap
• Credit
• Double your ROI
• Earn Extra cash
• Millionaires
• Free
• Fast money
• Get it today

Catchy email subject lines examples and templates

Follow up email subject lines

1. Had a {{Topic}} idea for you since we last spoke 

Example:

Had a social selling idea for you since we last spoke

2. Been thinking about what you said 

3. Should I give up on you and close the file? 

4. I forgot to mention in our meeting that…

5. The final and easy step…

6. Tuesday meeting at 10PM

7. Sending info I promised 👉

8. I spoke with {{ReferredName}} and they said…

Example:

I spoke with Mark, and he said…

9. Down to business - How we can help

10. Need any help?

11. {{firstName}} I need your advice

12. Have 5 minutes for a quick call?

13. I don't expect you to open this email but…

General cold outreach email subject lines

1. ❤️ how you contribute to {{DesiredResult}}

Example:

❤️ how you contribute to closing the deals faster

2. {{firstName}} let’s connect

3. Are you completely happy with {{CompetitorName}}?

4. Get lifetime access to {{SoftwareName}}

5. What are your insights from {{Event}}?

6. The most exciting opportunity for {{Industry}} companies in 2024

Example:

The most exciting opportunity for insurance companies in 2024

7. Saw your amazing post - Interested in creating shared content?

8. Exclusive for {{CompanyName}}: 3 tips to get conversion faster 

9. Congrats on {{Achievement}} 🥳

Example:

Congrats on becoming CEO 🥳

10.  Join forces? 👊

Urgent email subject lines 

1. Do you have these numbers and analytics yet?

2. Hot conversion data insight for {{CurrentMonth}}, 2024

3. Resource on {{Topic}} that’d go great in your {{Topic}} post

Example:

Resource on Email Statistics that’d go great in your Outreach post

4. Omg {{firstName}}...

5. It doesn’t look good

6. 10 must-know trends to keep up on the market

7. Your Free Trial is ending!

8. Save 30% before the New Year

Email subject lines that entice curiosity

1. Everyone’s favorite {{Occupation}} trick is…

Example:

Everyone’s favorite Sales trick is…

2. 🤫 Real secret to {{Task}} or {{Benefit}} is…

Example:

🤫 Real secret to outperform outreach is…

3. About your approach…

4. I have a question about how {{DoingRelevantTask}}

Example:

I have a question about how you handle budgeting

5. Does Thursday work for you? 

6. New year, a new strategy to {{Goal}}

Example:

New year, a new strategy to achieve 50+ conversions a month

7. Are you taking advantage of your detailed reporting?

8. How we accomplished {{DesiredResult}} in 2 months

Example:

How we accomplished 6x more sales in 2 month

9. {{RelevantTopic}} trends that are the talk of the town

Example:

Sales strategy trends that are the talk of the town

10. Save 5 hours a week with {{Task}} on autopilot 

Example:

Save 5 hours a week with outreach on autopilot

11. 56% of {{JobPosition}} use this trick to improve conversion

12. A cheat-sheet for better conversion — Interested?

13. {{Topic}} resources that can help you at this time

Example:

Cold outreach resources that can help you at this time

14. 4 tips to help increase sales during hard times 💪

15. It’s that simple 😃

16. Few in the {{IndustryType}} know about these hacks

17. Pick one out of these 2 strategies

Email subject lines that address pain points

1. How to survive {{PainPoint}}

Example:

How to survive working 10 hours a day

2. 5 easy steps to beat {{PainPoint}}

3. How to deal with {{PainPoint}} 

Example:

How to deal with LinkedIn algorithm

4. 5 Ideas for {{PainPoint}}

5. A resource to help you with {{PainPoint}}

6. How happy are you with {{Department}} performance?

Example:

How happy are you with Sales performance?

7. Steal this strategy from us - It will work for {{PainPoint}} 😁

8. 7 tips for turning {{PainPoint}} around 

9. Proven solution to {{PainPoint}}

10. Tired of {{PainPoint}}? Let’s have a chat

Subject lines that relieve pain and offer solution 

1. The fastest way to reach your Q2 target 💹

2. Here is the shortcut to {{Benefit}} 🙌

Example:

Here is the shortcut to tracking performance easier 🙌

3. Help is on the way - best strategies for LinkedIn lead generation

4. Problem with closing the deals? Here is how to fix it easily

5. Save up 5 hours of work per week

6. {{ProductOrSolution}} empowers companies such as {{CompanyName}} 

7. Ready to implement {{Tool}} to eliminate {{PainPoint}}?

Example:

Ready to implement Skylead to eliminate wasting time on manual outreach?

Personalized email subject lines

1. {{firstName}}, I was researching {{CompanyName}} and…

2. {{ReferredName}} said to reach out to you… 

Example:

Your colleague Steve said to reach out to you…

3. {{ReferredName}} think you’ll love us too

4. {{firstName}} I loved your post on LinkedIn about {{Topic}}

Example:

Sandy, I loved your post on LinkedIn about how to modernize sales

5. Does this work for you {{firstName}}?

6. {{firstName}}, a quick question regarding your performance

7. {{firstName}}, I notice you try to achieve a 50% increase in sales

8. Opportunity for {{CompanyName}}

9. Partner up with {{CompanyName}}

10. {{firstName}}, I have a story for you

11. {{TheirCompetitorName}} VS {{CompanyName}}

12. {{firstName}} perform {{Task}} better from Now on 💪

Example:

Andy perform outreach better from Now on 💪

13. New managing employees strategy for {{CompanyName}}

14. Loved the blog you wrote for {{CompanyName}}🔥

15. {{firstName}} I missed you at {{Event}}

16. What is your expert opinion on {{Topic}}, {{firstName}}?

Example:

What is your expert opinion on social selling, {{firstName}}?

17. {{firstName}} is there a lot on your plate r/n?

Humorous email subject lines

1. 🌮 Can we Taco ‘bout your growth?

2. ⚽ I wondered why the ball was in my court, then it hit me

3. I tried an elevator pitch - it was great on so many levels 🆙

4. 🐝 You are likely an indecisive bee. Might I call you maybee?

5. 🤝 Connect with you in present or future? It’s kinda tense

6. 🪐 Should I organize a space for our meeting and planet?

7. ⛵ Need a {{Topic}} strategy arc? I Noah guy.

Example:

⛵ Need a Sales strategy arc? I Noah guy.

8. My coffee is mugged and waiting for your call 😅

9. I'm gonna make him an offer you can't refuse…

10. May the Force be with you, and {{YourCompanyName}}🌌

11. {{ReferredName}} said to say hello to his little friend 🙋

12. “You can’t handle the truth!” Or can you?

13. Shaken, not stirred. 🍹 A {{Resource}} you asked for.

Example:

Shaken, not stirred. 🍹 A Guide To Outreach you asked for.

14. I like {{ProductOrAService}} as my wine - sweet and victorious. Do you? 🍷

Frequently asked questions

How can one effectively A/B test different subject lines to find the most effective one for their audience?

A/B testing for email subject lines involves sending two variants to a small segment of your audience to see which performs better, then using the more successful one for the broader audience. Monitoring open rates for each variant provides actionable insights. You can automate A/B testing by using the LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software with such a feature, like Skylead.

Are there specific strategies for crafting subject lines that improve click-through rates, not just open rates?

To improve click-through rates, subject lines should create curiosity or offer value that compels the recipient to discover more inside the email. Personalization and urgency can also encourage clicks by making the email feel more relevant and time-sensitive to the reader.

How do the recommended subject lines perform across different industries, such as tech versus creative fields?

The performance of subject lines can vary by industry due to different audience expectations and content relevance. Customizing subject lines to reflect the specific interests and language of your target industry is crucial for maximizing engagement.

Summary 

Strong and catchy email subject lines are mesmerizing and alluring to your prospects. They are links between your leads and your message. For this reason, it is important to make it as perfect as you can so you can increase the open rate, nurture the prospect and ultimately close the deal. And when you pass through the importance of it all, creating email subject lines and testing them can be fun indeed. 

Here is a quick throwback of what you should and shouldn’t do when writing the email subject lines.

Now it’s your turn. Go and rock out those subject lines! 

Wish to use Skylead for your outreach campaigns and A/B test your emails? We would be glad to hear from you and chat. Say hi by scheduling a Demo with us.

Hi!
My name is

Huh?

My name is

Who? 

My name is

Slim Shady?

No? 

Then nobody cares what your name is. 

So stop starting your emails like that. 

Cold emails: Business scale-ups or annoying practice? 

Let’s be honest. The battle for attention in the Inbox is real. 

That’s why you shudder at the very thought of cold emailing. Maybe you wonder if it even works. Well, statistics show it does. And pretty well too. 

Now when you know that your email outreach efforts are not necessarily in vain, put in some time and wit to write them well. You have only few characters to catch their attention, so why waste them on repeating yourself. If you do believe that your name, your company name, and other info of that kind can be a game-changer to generate sales, use the signature section. You are afraid that your leads won’t get till the end of it? Write a killer copy then. 

But write it from the start. Actually, write it from the very subject line. 

Subject line: Why it matters and how to make it better

The subject line of your email is like the cover of the book. Unless you are drawn to it, you won’t buy it. The same applies to emails. If the subject line is not attractive enough, your email will end up in the trash folder. Unless, of course, you are Eminem. ‘Cause, who would not want to know what Eminem wants from them? 

That being said, if there was a one-size-fits-all recipe for writing killer subject lines, all emails of this world would be opened. But not everyone’s the same. Therefore, different subject lines affect different individuals. All we can do is help you out with several tips (that work. Not for everyone, of course).  

Make it catchy, but not misleading

Your subject line should have a maximum of 9 words or up to 60 characters. In those 60 characters, you need to find a way to summarize what your email is all about and make it attractive enough for your prospects to open it. 

What lots of people do, and is strongly frowned upon, is write catchy, yet misleading subject lines. In case you are considering it, just think about the consequences. It might work once, but the next time you send an email, it will immediately end up in the trash. 

Examples

1. 8 ways to find somebody’s email address (numbers work)
2. Why you should invest in Sales Automation platform (use catchy words such as why, how, what)
3. Original ideas for personalizing Invites to Connect (people are always on the lookout for something new and different)

Convey urgency 

Putting a deadline on what you are offering conveys importance and limited availability. It leaves an impression in a world where everything is utterly accessible. 

That’s why subject lines that work usually have some kind of an urgency indicator. If your offer really does expire in a week or your content is available for a certain period of time, mention it right away. Otherwise, don’t delude your prospects. 

Examples

1. Last chance for 15% off for additional seats
2. Expires tonight - download top experts’ sales book
3. 10% off if you purchase within the next 24h 

Make them feel the FOMO

The fear of missing out is the driving force of today. Write an email that contains valuable information and/or industry updates for your prospects. Then tell them so. Use the subject line to make your prospect understand that, unless they open your email, they will be missing out on something important. Something that would potentially change their lives for the better. 

Examples

1. LinkedIn Lead Generation trend everyone is talking about
2. You don’t want to miss out on this offer!
3. Uh-oh, your subscription is expiring.

Preview text: Why is it as important as the subject line 

The preview text is what you see below or next to the subject line before opening the email from your Inbox. It is the first several words of your email body, 35 to 90 characters to be precise, depending on your email provider. However, the majority of people open their emails on the phone. That means that you are limited to around 45 characters of the preview text. Sometimes even less! Therefore, make your email opener matter.

It’s your second chance to make the first impression. 

Make it an extension of your subject line 

Your subject line and preview text should be a cohesive unit. The flow has to be logical and stylistically unified to drive the desired action. Otherwise, no matter how compelling individually, your readers will be confused. The best way to go about it is to think about the preview text as the opportunity to provide a detail that did not fit into your subject line. 

Examples

1. Subject line: Andy, did you know?
   Preview text: More than half of your leads read emails on their phone. This [...]
   
2. Subject line: Free gift for any purchase! 
   Preview text: Until the end of October, with every new account your buy [...]
   
3. Subject line: LinkedIn template that scaled up Skylead
   Preview text: Don’t miss out to get original message copies that made our [...]

Reference something about the lead

Just like on LinkedIn, the best way to get somebody’s attention is to make a concrete reference about them. It can be a post they’ve made or reacted to on LinkedIn, bring up a colleague or an industry professional you have in common, or simply congratulate them on the promotion they’ve recently got. Your leads will appreciate that you’ve done your homework before reaching out. 

Examples

1. Hi {{firstName}},
   Love the post you made on LinkedIn...
   
2. Hey {{firstName}},
   I saw that you attended {{nameOfEvent}}...
   
3. Hi {{firstName}},
   Congratulations on the promotion! ...
   
4. Hi {{firstName}},
   We recently connected on CompanyTinder... I mean on LinkedIn...

Highlight your value proposition

Use the preview text to communicate the most compelling benefit of your product or service. Highlight the value that you bring to the table that already starts with opening your email.

You don’t know what to point out? Think about why you decided to send the email in the first place. Tell your leads what’s in for them and how it will make their lives easier and scale their business. 

Examples

• Save 11 hours a week while generating 6 times more leads. 
• Increase the email deliverability rate by using [...]
• 1000 more visitors on your website each week. 

***

A/B test your subject lines/preview text

If you are not sure what to go for, split test different subject lines/preview texts. See what your audience reacts to best. Is it a question, an intriguing statement, or a direct and clear call to action?

A/B testing (aka split testing) is a randomized experimentation process where two or more versions are being sent to different target users at the same time to determine which one makes results and influences the desirable business action. 

When deciding on the “winner”, take into consideration other factors as well, such as your response rate and click rate, for example, depending on what your end goal is. 

Maybe down the road you realize what works best for your prospects. Or go ahead and segment them. 

Segment your audience

Not all of your leads will appreciate the same type of content. And that’s totally fine. If you don’t think that one subject line/preview text would produce the same effect for everyone, segment your leads list or use different LinkedIn prospecting method. Tweak the subject line/preview text according to their interests, business goals, and what you think might pique their curiosity. 

Summary

Yes, these are some tips that will most likely work to your advantage. 

But do you know what else will work to your advantage? Like, for sure? 

Being prospect-centric. 

Your prospects don’t care how something worked for you. They want to know how it will benefit them instead. This perspective will get you far ahead of your competition. 

Do you know what else will get you far ahead of your competition? Trying out Skylead. 

When doing Lead Generation on LinkedIn or generally networking, a genuine back-and-forth conversation works more to your advantage. 

Not only do you show interest in other users and their businesses, but you also find out so much about their needs and preferences. Furthermore, even if you don’t close the deal immediately, you understand better how your target audience perceives you, your brand, and generally the entire industry. 

One of the ways to “examine your market” that, if done properly, can be quite engaging is conducting a LinkedIn Survey. Namely, LinkedIn Polls seem to be the new trend that is taking over our LinkedIn feeds. 

Not only. This type of content seems to be LinkedIn’s favorite. Therefore, it can push it to reach even ten times more users than you have in connections. Of course, on the condition that it is engaging enough and that the algorithm recognizes it as important to your audience. Long story short, if you make it interesting and valuable enough to your leads, they will reward you with visibility and extensive reach. 

In this blog, you will learn: 

• How to make a LinkedIn poll;
• What questions incite Lead Generation;
• How to use Data Miner to scrape data from a LinkedIn Poll;
• Tricks and hacks for a fast and effective outreach campaign. 

How to make a LinkedIn Poll? 

Go to your LinkedIn home page. Click on “Start a Post”. 

Then, click on the graphics icon. 

Type in the question. Offer a minimum of two and a maximum of four answers. Set up the timeframe. It can last for a day, three days, a week, or a maximum of three weeks. 

After you’ve done setting up the LinkedIn poll, the “Done” button takes you to create an accompanying LinkedIn post. 

Make a brief appealing introduction to your survey or give an extra explanation, if necessary. This is optional. If you wish, you can post the Poll as it is.  

In the bottom right corner, there is the option of allowing comments or customizing who can post on your Survey. 

Click on “Anyone”. Then, choose one of the following options. 

All set. Now sit back and wait. 

What to ask in a LinkedIn survey that benefits lead generation? 

First of all, define well what you want to explore through your LinkedIn Poll. Just like A/B testing, examine one aspect at a time. Give precise answers in a multiple-choice form for more accurate results. Then, if you want to investigate further a certain option, conduct another Poll. 

Here are several ideas on what to focus on if you want LinkedIn Surveys to benefit your business. 

1. Gain knowledge on the market expectations

If you are launching a new product or service or trying to improve the existing one, create a poll to understand what your audience expects from you and the industry in general.

It helps you place your product on the market scale, realize what your customers need, or even pinpoint a unique selling point that you didn't know about. 

Effectively listening to your audience is essential for your business. The biggest mistake is not talking to your customers enough and assuming that you know what they need. You would be surprised how much you don't. 

2. Build interest in an upcoming product or service 

Let’s say you are launching a new Sales Automation platform. Carry out a LinkedIn survey to see how much time your clients spend targeting and reaching out to leads manually. This is your hook. 

Maybe this information is not relevant to you, as you already know the answer, but it makes people aware of how convenient it is to use Sales Automation. Consequentially, once you launch the product and use the obtained data in your product description or an intro, many of the LinkedIn poll participants will be interested in what you have to say. 

Point out the problem. Build excitement. Offer a solution. 

3. Get feedback on your product or service

Nowadays, people are more likely to answer a LinkedIn poll than to fill out a survey. 

Let's be honest. The last time you sent out a survey, what was your response rate? When people receive a survey request, they don’t know what to expect and how much time it will take them to complete it. That’s why they rather stay out of it. 

On the other hand, when users see a LinkedIn poll, it takes a second to pick an answer. It almost goes by default for some. Additionally, the higher the engagement the bigger the exposure on other users' feeds. This alone instantly boosts your products' online presence. You are getting instant visibility.

How to scrape data from a LinkedIn Poll?

The information gained from the LinkedIn Poll doesn’t need to be limited to the “winning answer”. This type of content is quite a Lead Generation gold mine. 

After you’ve tallied all of the votes, you can use any data collection tool to gather the information from all the poll participants. 

For example, the tool Data Miner is a free web extension and in this blog, we are showing you how to use it to serve your needs best.

Step #1 Open the LinkedIn Poll you would like to scrape  

The LinkedIn Poll must be finished for you to scrape data. Click on “{number} votes”

In this case, since users opted for one of three answers, we have three groups of leads: the ones that said "always", "never", and "it depends". Open the ones that replied with "always". Then, scroll all the way down so that Data Miner can pick up all of them. 

Step #2 Open Data Miner

Turn on the Data Miner. Since we will use Skylead for outreach, all we need is their LinkedIn profile URLs. That’s why we move forward and choose the “Make your own recipe” option. 

Choose the type of recipe. In this case, we go for “List/Search Page: multiple rows”. 

Go to the “4 Rows” tab. Follow the instructions. Select any of the users as "Row #1", and the one below him or her as "Row #2". As long as you have scrolled all the way down, as mentioned at the beginning, Data Miner will scrape everyone from that group of leads. 

In the case of the LinkedIn poll, it is better to scrape one answer at a time, so that you can later use it and personalize it in Skylead. 

After we selected the rows, let’s move to tab #5 “Columns”. 

Name the column “profileUrl” written exactly like this - lowercase and attached. 

Click on “Easy Column Finder”.

Choose “URL”. Then, select the entire box just like you did at the beginning and click C. Lastly, once the Data Miner found the profile URL, confirm. 

Go ahead and save this recipe as a template for future LinkedIn poll scraping. 

We named it “LinkedIn Poll Scraper” and saved it for future use. 

After this step, click “Scrape in Data Miner”. 

This is how your scraped LinkedIn profile URLs look like. 

Download the results in a CSV file.

You’ve made it. 

In this case, we are repeating the same process from the beginning till the end for the remaining two answers. We want to use their votes to personalize outreach accordingly. 

Skylead: How to personalize outreach based on a LinkedIn Poll? 

There are several ways to make outreach campaigns aimed at users who participated in a LinkedIn poll work. 

We’ll show you one of them. 

Step #1: Prepare for the Skylead outreach campaign? 

First, you scraped all the participants and downloaded the data. Copy-paste them in one CSV file. Then, highlight the last link of each group so you know when to change the content of the message. In this case, we divided them into those who replied with “Always”, “Never”, and “It depends”. 

Lastly, we added a column “Personalization” which, once uploaded, becomes a variable in Skylead. The content of the column varies based on the participant’s answer in the LinkedIn poll. 

This is how it looks in practice. 

Step #2 Make your Skylead outreach campaign faster and more effective

Give a name to your campaign and import your CSV file. 

Click “Next” and go all the way to the “Create Smart Sequence” section. 

We will make a really simple Smart Sequence just for the sake of showing how to use a LinkedIn poll for personalization that won’t go unnoticed. 

In this case, users receive the following messages: 

Group #1

Hello Adam (varies),

I saw that you participated in my poll. I am also always personalizing Invites to Connect! In my opinion, this is a key practice for improving your acceptance and response rates.

Anyways, I would love to connect! 

Group #2

Hello Ivy (varies), 

I saw that you voted in my poll. I find it so interesting that you are never personalizing your Invites to Connect! Do you still manage to expand your network or generate leads at the desired pace?

Anyways, I would love to connect!

Group #3

Hello Steve (varies), 

Thank you very much for participating in my poll. I saw that sometimes you personalize your Invites to Connect, and sometimes you don’t. I am curious to know how you make that decision!

Anyways, I would love to connect! 

Summary

LinkedIn Poll is the new content on the rise. 

Therefore, use it wisely. It will not only serve the instant market research, but online promotion, opportunity for prospecting on LinkedIn and lead generation as well. 

Finally, if you are new here and want to know more about how Skylead can make your sales (and life) easier, talk to out wonderful Customer Support Team. They will answer all of your questions and show you how to start 7-day free trial. Test it out for yourself and decide. No strings attached! 

You’ve done a serious outreach effort. 

You came up with a well-thought-of marketing strategy, engaging copy, and targeted leads meticulously. 

Still, it hasn't brought the results you’ve expected. 

How? You’ve followed every how-to guideline for successful outreach. 

But have you read through a no-no manual as well? 

Yeah. We thought so. 

Inspired by our users’ questions and practices we read about on numerous Lead Generation discussion platforms, we decided to dedicate this blog to 6 common outreach mistakes that you are probably unaware of. 

Not testing different channels

The most senseless mistake you can do in the times of sales engagement platforms and multichannel outreach is to rely on only one means of communication. 

New approaches continue to arise and so should your business flexibility. 

Don’t assume that a certain path of getting to your leads is the only one worth a shot just because it gave a positive outcome in the past. 

Sure, there is nothing bad in going for what brought valuable results. But keep your mind open. Your perfect leads might be using other, already acclaimed or emerging, platforms as well. Testing them is the best way to find what works best for a particular campaign. 

You would be surprised how going bold leads to conversions that otherwise wouldn’t happen. 

Making it all about you 

Your potential customers don’t care how something worked or played out for you. 

They don’t want to listen to how awesome your product or service is unless you show how that awesomeness applies to them. Therefore, blurting out a rehearsed monologue about you and your product turns out to be a mistake that could cost you a valuable lead.

Prove to your customers that what you’re offering is a game-changer for them. It will solve their problems, spare their time and money, and make their lives better. This is how you earn somebody’s attention. 

Therefore, when writing a product brief or an outreach copy, make sure to do your homework first. By approaching with a concrete solution to a challenging part of their business, you are more likely to be heard out. Even if they don’t buy something right away, your proposal will gain the advantage in the sea of impersonal offers. 

Not taking into consideration a buyer’s journey 

Not all people you reach out to or who visit your website are in the same stage of their buyer’s journey.

Some of them are in the phase of researching different options, some of them bumped into your brand for the very first time or heard about your company after you cold-outreached them, and now they are inquiring by checking out your online presence or asking questions to you directly.

Each lead needs to be approached depending on their buyer's journey. 

Give a chance to those who are hearing from you for the very first time to learn more about your business. Asking them to make a purchase right away is one of the most common LinkedIn lead generation mistakes.

Those who already short-listed your company may want an educational kit, free course, templates, something that will provide them with industry valuable information. 

Some of them will be ready for a demo. 

Therefore, segment your leads depending on their buyer’s journey. Adjust your language and have different types of content ready to attach and offer. If someone doesn’t buy right away, it doesn’t mean you should write them off. Nurture those leads. 

The feeling of being taken care of makes a difference. 

Non-strategic CTAs

The research has shown that landing pages that have two or more call-to-action buttons help close fewer deals than the ones with only one, clear CTA, usually at the end. 

That is, the website visitor gets distracted when bombarded with too many invites to purchase or book a demo. The same stands for an outreach message. It is far more effective to write an engaging and well-thought-of copy first and then leave a clear call to action for the end. If you keep your CTA the main focus, it is more likely people will click on it. 

On the other hand, not putting a CTA on a page is a big mistake. When a website visitor gets informed about your product or service, they should not browse around and search for a call to action. 

First of all, it costs you nothing to put one on each landing page. Second of all, it takes a second for your lead to lose interest. Imagine if you had to give someone your money and put an effort into finding a way to do it? 

Making assumptions about your audience

You are not your client. And you are biased.

Prospecting on LinkedIn, or anywhere for that matter, on the assumption that you know what they need is a big mistake. 

Instead, reach out and talk to your leads first. Find out what they like or dislike, get into discussions with them, and collect valuable information before you even mention your product. 

Not only will you gain more insight into the market you are trying to get into but will know how to position your brand and customize your service to your client’s best interest. 

This brings us back to the above-mentioned mistake #2 - making it all about you. Just forget about it. There are so many other companies out there providing the same service. Unless you prove that you genuinely care, you will be positioned low on the list of available options. 

Asking too much too soon

True, we’ve just recommended talking openly to your potential clients and finding out as much as you can about their way of doing business. 

However, it is all about when and how you ask them. 

Mutual trust grows with time and proper nurturing. 

Don't make a mistake of asking your leads to overshare or disclose information that might expose their business. Not only will you not get an answer but you will be marked as suspicious. Because, why would anyone want to tell their biggest weakness to a complete stranger? 

Therefore, nurture your leads and don't run. Crawl your way into their uncertainties. Once you're there, justify their trust. And yes, ask only what's absolutely necessary to make the sale.

Summary 

Making the above mistakes will cause you to waste time, budget, and energy. 

The good news is that we've cracked the code for you. 

Now when you know what to avoid, start doing so and enjoy the increase in high-quality leads. 

Over the years, cold email marketing turned out to be the right choice to unleash the full potential of outreach as a Lead Generation strategy - apart from LinkedIn lead generation, that is. 

With its minimal cost and extensive reach, it is clear that cold emailing has probably the highest ROI compared to other marketing approaches. 

In the present day, modern email marketing drifted away from the one-size-fits-all model. It is now based on consent, segmentation, and personalization. Consequently, the response rates went up and so did its value.

However, the minimum requirement for cold email marketing is to have your leads', preferable business, emails. If you run into their private ones, it is only up to you to use them for outreach purposes. 

Here are 8 easy ways to find your leads' business emails that work. 

Ask them for it 

There are different ways of asking for your lead’s email. 

Make an online form for people who visit your website and would love to be updated on a regular basis through your newsletter. 

Or, insert a pop-up asking your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter first to access your website’s content. This one can be a bit annoying, as many people might give up unless whatever you have to offer is absolutely worthy of sharing their information. 

If you don’t have a newsletter or it is not aimed towards your leads, try giving your website visitors a free gift in the form of a pdf or audio file that will bring value to their business in exchange for their email address. 

Lastly, you can do a LinkedIn prospecting of your own and reach out to people who would be interested in subscribing to your newsletter.

Subscribe to your lead’s newsletter 

Yes, that’s correct. If your lead doesn’t want to subscribe to your newsletter, you can always do vice-versa. You will eventually get an email from them that you can use to reach out. 

Check their website 

Each brand most likely has a website. If not, there is for sure some kind of an online presence in the form of a LinkedIn, Facebook, and/or Instagram account (see below). 

When you visit your lead’s website, search the “Contact”, “About Us”, and/or “Team” pages. 

These are the places where their general email or a message form is located. It might not be the contact of the person you would like to speak to. However, by reaching out to them, explaining who you are, and asking for a specific person’s email address, you might actually get it. 

Check their social media 

As mentioned above, if not a website, there is for sure some kind of a social media presence. 

LinkedIn

Start with LinkedIn, the biggest professional network out there. If a lead has a publicly available email, it will most likely be on their LinkedIn profile. If not, try finding their company’s LinkedIn page, search for the generic email, and ask for the target lead’s direct contact. 

Anyways, there are two ways of scraping a publicly available email from LinkedIn - manually and with Skylead. 

Depending on the number of leads and your company’s outreach policy you can decide what works best for you. 

Scraping emails manually

There are three places you should look up for an email address on LinkedIn. 

1. Click on the “Contact Info” section. 

2. Check out their LinkedIn cover picture, especially if a corporate one. 

3. Read the Profile Summary. 

Sometimes users leave their business email at the end or in the middle of their LinkedIn bio section to make it seem as a call to action. Make sure you read it to the end. 

Using Skylead to scrape emails 

Collecting publicly available information of your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connections tends to be quick and effective with Skylead. 

Check out how it works. 

Turn on the “Collect Contact Info” option. 

What Skylead does is visit each of your lead’s LinkedIn profiles and collect their publicly available data. 

Once the magic has been done, use the “Export Data” on the “Campaign Tracking Page” to export emails and other information in a CSV file.

Have in mind that the “Collect Contact Info” can be just one of the steps of your automated outreach. Skylead’s Smart Sequences allow you to combine different actions based on your leads’ behavior while serving your business goals and creating a valuable database that you can export and reuse at any moment. Therefore, building an outreach campaign with Skylead can serve multiple purposes. 

Or you can decide to make a campaign with the sole intention of collecting your leads publicly available emails and other valuable data. 

Facebook

Go to the company or individual’s page on Facebook and check out the “About section”. 

Step #1

Step #2

Instagram

There are two options for finding somebody’s email address when it comes to instagram.
The first one is only available and visible in the app.

Click on the “Contact” option. 

This action will take you to see the following information. 

The second option is available in both desktop and app versions.

Just check the “Info” section of the targeted profile. 

Try following the pattern 

There are two ways to "guess" your lead's business email. 

The first way starts with knowing the name of your lead’s company. Try composing a generic email such as info@domain.com or contact@domain.com. Reach out and ask for the direct contact of a person you would like to talk to. 

The second way is knowing the company’s business emails pattern. If one of the employee’s emails goes like john.smith@domain.com, there is a great chance that your desired lead’s email is also composed of name, dot, last name, at sign, domain. 

Then, try inserting it in your email provider and see if it will be recognized or if the picture will show up. However, have in mind that not having a picture doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not the correct one. 

Use Email Permutator 

Using an Email Permutator is one of the options.

Go to the main page and type in your lead’s name, surname, and domain.  

The Email Permutator produces all the possible email combinations based on the inserted data.

How will you know which one is the right one? Insert all of them in the recipient's field of your email and see which one will be recognized by your provider. If there is one with a profile picture, it is most likely to be the right one.

Search on Google  

There are several ways through which Google can help you find someone’s email address. 

Here are three. 

• Search “james.johnson@amazon.com” 

By using quotation marks in your query, you’re telling Google to search for results that contain that exact keyword. If your lead's business email ever showed up anywhere publicly, it will be displayed.

• Type site:amazon.com James Johnson email address in Google search

By using site: domain Google will give you results only from that domain. 

• Search [James Johnson] + email 

Google will find your lead’s email address if ever published somewhere on the web. 

Use Skylead

Use Skylead’s Email Discovery & Verification feature to find your prospects’ business emails even without being connected on LinkedIn. 

With a Smart Sequence as simple as this one, Skylead will provide you with verified business emails, implying the lowest possible bounce rates. 

After the sequence was executed, you can go ahead and export all the collected data in a CSV file. 

In case you didn't know, Skylead is an automation tool, email finder, and scraping tool, all in one platform. 

Sure, you can use it to find and verify emails and scrape publicly available data. But you can also opt for LinkedIn, Email, or combined outreach (LinkedIn + Email) that will serve your business goal best while bringing down the manual work to the minimum.

This is just one of the numerous options you have with Skylead. Check out our templates to get the idea of Smart Sequences and to get inspired for unleashing the full potential of your outreach. 

Summary

Finding somebody’s email address doesn’t necessarily have to be difficult, but it can be time consuming. 

The best approach will depend on the number of leads you want to reach and your company’s outreach policy. 

However, with nowadays software development, have in mind that automating the process of finding somebody’s business email and getting through to that person can be a quick and painless process. 

Think about it. 

Or schedule a demo call with our team member and hear out all the possibilities you can have with Skylead. 

If you’ve ever wondered if switching from LinkedIn Basic to LinkedIn Premium Account would change your filtering options, the answer is no. 

However, going for the LinkedIn Premium Account is highly recommended because of an Unlimited Profile Search and 5 InMails Credits per month. Not only. You also get to view and engage with a much greater number of profiles when having a Premium account, as you decrease the chances of getting jailed or restricted on LinkedIn. 

However, if you want an ultimate filter experience, we recommend signing up for Sales Navigator. Of course, this implies learning how to use Sales Navigator Filters for better targeting.

In this blog, we will cover all the options you have for narrowing down your search results on LinkedIn Basic and Premium Accounts. 

Let’s get started! 

Where can I see LinkedIn filters? 

Type your keywords in your LinkedIn Search Engine or just hit “Enter” while leaving the Search Engine blank. 

This action will lead you to the following choices that help you further narrow down your LinkedIn search. 

• People;
• Jobs;
• Courses;
• Posts;
• Schools;
• Event;
• Groups;
• Companies;
• Services. 

You can also click the “All Filters” option and see them in one place. 

In this blog, we will cover the three filter blocks that we recommend for better LinkedIn prospecting - “People”, “Posts”, and “Events”, and reasons why we consider them quite convenient. 

“People” filters on LinkedIn 

Connections

The “Connections” filter allows you to filter leads based on the type of your LinkedIn relationships. 

You can be somebody’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connection.

1st-degree connections are members that you are already connected with on LinkedIn. 

2nd-degree connections are 1st-degree connections of your 1st-degree connections. They are available to be added through an Invite to Connect and are perfect for expanding your network. 

3rd-degree connections are 1st-degree connections of your 2nd-degree connections. They are also excellent for expanding your network. The only difference is that LinkedIn doesn’t recommend reaching out to them through Invite to Connect, rather getting in touch via LinkedIn InMails.

You can send paid InMails to anyone who is not your connection on LinkedIn while only those who set their profile to “Open to InMails” can be reached out via free InMail. 

You can also check out our guide on 13 LinkedIn InMail examples to improve your response rate.

Connections of

Filter your leads by choosing only those that are 1st-degree connections of your 1st-degree connections.

You can put in more than one contact. 

Locations

The “Locations” filter narrows down your leads based on the city, region, geographic area, and country. 

Current company 

Use this filter to narrow down leads based on the company they currently work at. 

Past company 

Filter your leads based on their past company. 

School 

You can filter your leads based on the school(s) they attended/are attending.

Industry

Track your leads based on the industry they listed on their profiles. 

Industries are predefined. 

Profile language

LinkedIn Profile is available in 24 different languages. 

However, this filter offers only a 5-language search. 

Open to

The “Open To” option filters your leads depending on whether they are open to “Pro Bono Consulting and Volunteering” and/or “Joining a Nonprofit Board”. 

Service categories 

Service categories are also predefined. 

You can go ahead and target your leads based on the services they offer listed on their profiles. 

Keywords

You can use the following option to search your leads via keywords. 

This filter supports the so-called “Boolean” search. That is, it gives you the option of combining keywords with modifiers such as AND, NOT, and OR to produce more relevant results. 

For ultimate targeting, consider using “Posts” and “Events” filters. 

“Posts” filters on LinkedIn 

“Posts” filters can be quite useful to gain insight into the latest industry trends and hot topics. You can also benefit from it to learn what kind of posts your ideal leads like to engage with and then use it for your outreach.

Targeting users who reacted to a certain post

There are two benefits of targeting users who reacted to a certain post. 

The first benefit is that it implies that these users are active on Linkedin and most likely interested in that particular subject or have jobs in the same or adjacent industry. 

The second benefit is that you can use their interest to ultimately personalize your outreach. Your pitch can be based on the fact that you both liked the same post and then develop your conversation from there. 

This kind of approach increases the acceptance and response rates. 

Automating post engagement campaigns 

If you want to target prospects who reacted to a certain post but would also like to save time and reach out to as many of them as possible, automating this process could be the right decision! 

Skylead offers the opportunity to automate targeting users who reacted to a certain post thanks to its “Post Engagement Campaign” options. Yes, there is a type of campaign dedicated exclusively to these types of leads! 

To use a post as a source for generating leads all you have to do is click on the 3 dots at the top right corner of said post and choose the “Copy Link to Post” option. 

Paste the generated URL to the Skylead dashboard.

From here, Skylead will take you to the Campaign Settings page. You will be able to adjust your campaign in a way that fits your business needs best.
Here is an example of a multichannel Skylead campaign.

As you may see, Skylead will not limit your Lead Generation to LinkedIn only. Thanks to its multichannel outreach and “if/then” condition, you are able to build as many possible paths to your lead.

For example, in case someone is not answering on LinkedIn, Skylead’s Email discovery & verification feature will enable a business email outreach.

The above campaign is just one of many options at your disposal thanks to Skylead’s Smart Sequences. 

Also, the dashboard allows you to create the sequence and write out message copies all in one place. 

Just by clicking on the step, you will have an option to insert your messages.

If you would like to see a step-by-step guide on how to create your first Skylead campaign and have an insight into all the steps/options, check out our complete outreach campaign guide for every professional.

Filters for posts

The following filters will allow you to narrow down countless posts on LinkedIn to the ones that are of high interest to your target audience. 

Thanks to LinkedIn’s filtering options, you will be able to find a post that your ideal prospects find relevant to their business and/or interests. 

The most important filter is the keyword. It is your best bet for finding the industry’s most relevant posts. 

Then, you can further narrow them down by using: 

Posted by

You can search posts depending on whether you posted it or someone from your network. 

Date posted 

You can search posts depending on the timeframe within which your leads posted them.

Sort by

Author industry 

Search by the author’s industry. You can add multiple industries. 

Author company 

Search by the author's current company. You can add multiple companies. 

“Events” filter on LinkedIn

Just like with “Posts” filters on LinkedIn, reaching out to prospects attending a specific LinkedIn event can be beneficial for two reasons.

The first reason is that users attending a particular event on LinkedIn are most likely highly interested in the subject and therefore make a perfect target audience. 

The second reason is that you can use the event reference to ultimately personalize your outreach and be more appealing to those to whom you reach out. 

In case you would like to target a larger number of leads, Skylead has a solution for you! 

Automate targeting leads attending a LinkedIn event

First, choose the event which leads you would like to target and click on “Attend Event”.

You will not be able to see the list of leads attending the specific LinkedIn event unless you are one of the attendees.

Once you’ve signed up, you will see the list of people who attended or were planning on attending the event. 

You can further narrow down your leads list by including other filters. 

Once you are satisfied with your search result, copy - paste the URL to Skylead’s Campaign Creator. 

Check out our step-by-step guide on how to target leads attending a specific LinkedIn event and you will see all the options and tips when it comes to automating this outreach with Skylead. 

Use this reference to highly personalize your outreach.

This filter doesn’t have options of being further narrowed down except using a specific keyword in the search engine.

Summary

Targeting is the first and most important step in your LinkedIn lead generation.

By taking the time to get to know LinkedIn or Sales Navigator filters, you will narrow down your audience to people who are most likely to be truly interested in your products and services. 

This will automatically affect your lead generation and conversion in the most positive way. 

And if you ever decide to scale your business and opt for a Sales Engagement Tool, schedule a demo call with a Skylead representative and get to know the range of options available to you!

You already have your marketing agency and a few prosperous clients. Lately, you’ve been thinking of expanding your service list and offering more. What is it that would fit your clients’ needs best and still be in line with your industry? It’s outreach. Here’s why. 

If you already offer social media management, content writing, copywriting, SEO, web development, or similar, it is high time to start thinking one step ahead of your competitors. By adding outreach, you will undoubtedly keep up with the times and give your customers a valuable reason to stick around longer. 

Not only. 

There are a series of reasons why incorporating outreach into your Lead Generation Agency would be the right call. Here are a few. 

Customer loyalty

By adding the service of identifying and nurturing potential customers for your client’s products or services, you will be covering probably the most important segment of their prospecting. If they confide in the way you do their outreach, the chances of them staying loyal to your Lead Generation Agency increase, as you are controlling an additional sales channel of their business.

Furthermore, incorporating outreach in your marketing business will give your clients a well-rounded experience of generating leads on LinkedIn or via other methods. 

Outreach as a new marketing segment 

Adding outreach to your service list can also be a great way to attract new customers. Initially, newbies might only be interested in you identifying and nurturing their potential clients. However, if satisfied with your way of doing business, they might extend their request to other services that your Lead Generation Agency offers. 

Additional revenue growth 

By introducing a new marketing segment, you are raising your revenue stream.

Simply, adding an extra service means company growth. It also implies greater economic security, as your Lead Generation Agency doesn’t depend only on one or a few services. 

Stand out in the lead generation industry

By incorporating outreach into your Lead Generation Agency, you might be making one step ahead of your competitors. 

In case they thought of it first, draw attention to yourself by offering an impeccable, high-quality service. Better service attracts and retains better clients. 

Also, think about your and your competitors’ Value Proposition. What is it that makes your outreach service stand out in comparison to your competition’s?

Outreach is easy to incorporate 

You are probably already doing outreach to get more clients for your Lead Generation Agency. Therefore, you are familiar with the entire process of attracting new prospects and nurturing the old ones. All you need to do is expand your expertise to your clients. The more you develop this service for yourself, the better it will become for your customers as well. By growing your Lead Generation Agency, you will be growing an entire service within. Also, the better you become at doing outreach, you will most likely attract more clients for your Marketing Agency as well. 

Minimal cost

The only things that you need for outreach are a laptop and internet connection.

Create your client’s ICP (Ideal customer profile) and a cold outreach template with several follow-ups, and you can already start.

However, if you want to make this process far easier, you will need an Automation Tool, Scraping Tool, and an Email Finder. 

Luckily for you, there is a Sales Engagement Software that has all of these incorporated for as low as $100 per month. Long story short, it will save you both time and money.

Namely, Skylead combines LinkedIn Messages, LinkedIn InMails, and Emails scrapes publicly available emails of your 1st-degree connections, has an “Email Discovery & Verification” feature for discovering and verifying your leads’ business emails, as well as “Image and GIF hyper-personalization” tool in case you want to do a bit of an unconventional outreach. 

Therefore, Skylead contains an Automation Tool, Scraping Tool, an Email Finder, and more. 

If you would like to know more about Skylead, feel free to schedule a demo call with our team specialist.

White-labeling a solution 

Think about white-labeling the Sales Engagement Tool that you are using. 

A white-label product is a product or service produced by one company that other companies rebrand to make it appear as if they had made it.

By white-labeling the Sales Engagement Tool of your choice, you will:

• Boost your brand’s visibility;
• Enhance your customers’ loyalty;
• Eliminate the need for a development team of your own;
• Save time and money on your outreach;
• Upgrade your service;
• Scale your business;
• Strengthen your revenue stream.

That being said, know that you can white-label Skylead. To know more about this option, schedule a demo call with our team specialist. 

How to start implementing your outreach?

Start with offering your service to the most loyal customers first 

The advantage of offering your new service to the already existing and most loyal customers first is that you are very familiar with their business. That is, by handling other marketing segments for their companies, you have already gained a major insight into their business goals, targets, and preferences. This allows you to do prospecting on LinkedIn and outreach leads with major precision and manage their outreach with more efficiency.

Furthermore, your already-established business relationship and cooperation will most likely reinforce. Upgrading your customers’ service package increases the possibility of enhancing their loyalty to your marketing agency. Additionally, you will be giving them a well-rounded Lead Generation experience.  This approach, often adopted by top advertising agencies in the US, ensures that your clients receive a comprehensive service.

Attract your new customers by offering outreach first 

In case you don’t want to introduce a new service before “testing it out”, try attracting new customers by using outreach as a bait. This way you don’t risk losing loyal customers in case something doesn’t go as planned. Additionally, you have space to learn, grow, and perfect your service before you offer it to your long-time clients. 

Summary

In conclusion, incorporating outreach into your Lead Generation Agency has more upsides than downsides for sure. 

By deciding to go for it you will:

• Enhance your customer loyalty;
• Attract new clients;
• Strengthen your revenue flow for introducing a new marketing segment; 
• Stand out in the Lead Generation Industry. 

Additionally, you have the option of making your life easier by going for a Sales Engagement Tool that has all the necessary features for a top-notch outreach.

Why Skylead?

For as low as $100 per month, with Skylead you can have an Automation Tool, Scraping Tool, and an Email Finder, all in one software. 

Furthermore, thanks to the implementation of Smart sequences, Skylead allows you to create the highest number of personalizable touchpoints with your prospects. 

Five times more in comparison to other tools, to be precise. 

It gives you the chance to combine LinkedIn Messages, InMails, and Emails with other LinkedIn features such as View, Follow, and Invite to Connect. Additionally, it has an Email Discovery & Verification feature. Therefore, no need for a separate Email Finder or Scraping software. 

Actually, white-label it and make it your secret weapon!

To know more about the advantage of Skylead over other Sales Engagement Tools and to get to know its features, schedule a demo call with a specialist from our team.

If already our customer, feel free to reach us out on the Support Chat or schedule a success call with our Customer Support and Success Manager. Improve your service by knowing Skylead better. 

Multichannel outreach implies using different channels to get in touch, connect, and engage with your target leads.

First and foremost, it is important to find out what platform your prospects prefer to use when interacting with other brands and businesses. 

Clarifying your message and communicating it in the way your leads want to hear it will make them interested in finding out more and potentially doing business with you. 

As it turns out, the multichannel outreach obtains the best results. 

However, have in mind the importance of seamlessly integrating different channels of communication for an optimal outcome.

Advice for a more effective multichannel outreach:

• Focus on at least 2-3 channels;
• Create personalized messages;
• Set up reasonable time between sending them;
• Analyze results and stay with the strategy or change it. 

What are the benefits of a multichannel outreach?

A well-planned multichannel outreach campaign will bring brand awareness, lead generation, and conversion. Also:

Your lead will not feel like some mistargeted recipient

The best case practice is to do the prospecting on LinkedIn well and know what kind of approach or content will most likely draw their attention of your target audience. Have in mind that you are the one required to know your prospects' preferences and communicate them in an authentic and trustworthy way. 

Customers that notice that you “have done your homework” and reached out to them on their preferred channel will perceive you as loyal and forward-thinking. Additionally, if you share targeted content (as you should be doing) you are giving your leads an extra opportunity to engage valuable information.

Excuses, excuses! 

Exactly, no more excuses! 

Let’s say you choose to reach out through LinkedIn, but your lead does not answer for whatever reason. You always have the option of sending a follow-up Email and checking up on your prospect.

Maybe they did not see the first message. Or LinkedIn is not their preferred platform. Have you ever thought that their LinkedIn or Email is overloaded and therefore it makes it hard for you to get noticed among numerous messages? The reasons are infinite. 

Skylead, for example, has LinkedIn Messages, Emails, and LinkedIn InMails integrated and at your disposal at any time. The additional benefit lies in the automated messaging stopping at each platform the moment the lead answers. You have the option of replying manually or getting the prospect back to the campaign. 

Furthermore, Skylead has an advantage of an all-in-one-place chat room filtrable by the campaign and conversation independently from the channel you used. No need to log in and out of a LinkedIn account, Sales Navigator, or Email Inbox to manage different conversations, just switch from one lead to another and see where you stand.

By knowing their interests you will conquer their hearts 

Using different channels allows you to get to know your leads’ habits, interests, and preferences. Sending targeted content via messages, Emails, LinkedIn InMails, or other channels, such as social media, will increase customer engagement and conversion rates. 

Why is customer engagement so important, you might wonder. 

Let’s say you publish a post on LinkedIn and lots of people comment, share, or like it. Thanks to Skylead’s “Post Engagement” campaign, where just by copying the URL of the post, you can collect the available leads’ data and connect to those interested in this type of content. Every now and then take some time to send out similar material via Email or LinkedIn messages. Feed your prospects’ interests. 

By building this kind of relationship, your clients will feel loyal to your business. Therefore they will be more prone to purchase from you than from your competitors. There is nothing more valuable than conquering your prospects’ loyalty and keeping your brand on top of their minds. And that's part of generating leads on LinkedIn or via email done right.

Patience, patience, please! 

Multichannel Outreach is especially useful if you are a small business and don’t have many resources to invest in advertising. The multichannel approach allows you to broaden your reach to an enviable number of clients with little or no extra cost. 

If you are a small business indeed, here is an extra tip to make your outreach campaigns stand out.

Think about some creative ways to draw attention to your product/service and make your outreach fun, easy, and moving! Check out Skylead’s Image and GIF hyper-personalization feature and let your creativity flow.

Analyze and adapt

By reaching out through multiple channels you get the chance to analyze which one of them brings the best results and if they interfere with each other in any way. You will easily spot where you need to make improvements or maybe even consider removing a channel that continuously underperforms. 

Extra tip: Whatever channel (or more) you opt for, make reasonable time in between messages. You don’t want your leads to know that you are using an automation tool or bombard them with content and make them mark you as a spammer.