How To Generate Leads on LinkedIn
By Niraj Kapur, 3rd October 2024
Let me say something upfront. Knowing how to convert leads to sales is a more important question than how to generate them in the first place. I'll cover that in full over at how to convert leads to sales on LinkedIn - but you need leads before you can convert them, so let's start here.
One thing worth knowing about everything I share on LinkedIn lead generation. The approach has to work for me first. Then it has to work for my clients. Then I share it. No theory, no guesswork.
LinkedIn is harder than it's ever been. More people are posting, more businesses are competing for attention, and buyers are more sceptical than they were two or three years ago. Quick fixes don't work. What does work is less exciting but far more reliable.
Get the basics right before anything else
In a world obsessed with growth hacks and instant results, consistency is genuinely undervalued. Writing quality content three times a week or more - content that speaks directly to your audience's challenges and the solutions you provide - is still one of the most effective ways to generate inbound interest on LinkedIn.
Your profile matters just as much as your content. If someone reads your post and clicks through to a profile that looks like it hasn't been touched since 2018, you've lost them. Your headline, your about section, your featured posts - all of it needs to be working in your favour before you start worrying about reach or engagement.
Get this right first. Everything else builds on it.
Use calls to action in your content
Reading a post and moving on is the default behaviour on LinkedIn. Most people scroll, maybe hit like, and carry on with their day. A call to action at the end of your post gives them a reason to do something different.
I include a call to action once or twice a week at the end of my posts. Not on every single one - that gets exhausting for your audience - but regularly enough that people know what to do when they're ready.
Research used to say it took seven touch points to get someone's attention. That number is now closer to twelve. Which means showing up consistently, giving value consistently, and reminding people what you do consistently isn't optional. It's the whole game.
LinkedIn direct messaging that actually gets responses
Cold outreach on LinkedIn is harder than ever. Most people's inboxes are full of copy-and-paste messages from people they've never spoken to, selling things they didn't ask about. Standing out in that environment takes a bit more effort.
I send a lot of my outreach using LinkedIn voice notes and video messages. The reason is simple - your tone, your energy and your personality come across in a way that typed text just can't replicate. A thirty-second voice note from a real human being is a different experience from another generic message that could have been sent to five hundred people.
It takes longer. It's worth it.
Why AI-generated outreach is damaging your results
LinkedIn is the platform where I built my business. I take it seriously, and I think most people who use it properly do too. Which is why I'd encourage you to be very careful about leaning on AI for your outreach and content right now.
LinkedIn's own AI tools are still developing. They're not where they need to be yet. And the broader problem with AI-generated messages is that people can spot them. The phrasing is off. The personalisation is surface-level. It reads like it was written by someone who's never actually spoken to you - because it was.
If your outreach sounds like everyone else's, it will get the same results as everyone else's. Which, for most people, means being ignored.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator - when it's worth it and when it isn't
After visiting LinkedIn's San Francisco office, I attended a session on Sales Navigator and came away with a clearer picture of what it's actually good for.
The benefits are real. It helps you identify key decision-makers within target companies. You get notified when contacts change roles or leave organisations - which is a genuinely useful trigger for outreach. And it saves meaningful time on research if you're doing a lot of prospecting.
But here's the thing people miss. Sales Navigator is a tool that amplifies what you're already doing. If your emails aren't landing, if you don't know how to write a follow-up that gets a response, if your basic outreach approach needs work - Sales Navigator won't fix any of that. It'll just help you do the wrong things at greater scale.
Get the basics right first. Then consider whether Sales Navigator makes sense for where you are.
If you prefer to learn by video, the 7-minute LinkedIn lead generation video is worth a watch.
You might also find these useful:
- What is LinkedIn training and why does it matter?
- LinkedIn group training - if you'd rather have someone show your team how to do this properly
- Get in touch to talk about what results you want from LinkedIn
