Insights about Buyers on LinkedIn you can sell smarter to

5 Insights About Buyers on LinkedIn Right Now You Can Use to Sell Smarter

Authored byPaul Petrone
LinkedIn Sales Editor

May 30, 2022
Home to more than 830 million professionals across 200 countries and territories, LinkedIn’s membership includes buyers and decision-makers spanning every industry, in every corner of the globe.

Opportunity awaits, and the time has never been better to embrace it.

New insights around the makeup and behavioral changes we’ve seen in LinkedIn’s user community in the past several years can help you better connect with buyers.

Let’s dive in.
1. New hires are skyrocketing on LinkedIn amidst the Great Reshuffle.

What to know: Confirmed hires on LinkedIn are up more than 110% year-over-year.

What to do: Data shows that prospects are 65% more likely to accept an InMail if they switched jobs in the past 90 days. Reaching out to a new hire is a great way to start a conversation and build a new relationship.

Here’s a great template to use when reaching out to new hires. Bottom line – this turnover can be disruptive, but it can also be a great path into a new account.
2. Firstline worker engagement is growing fast.

What to know: Engagement among firstline and hourly workers is growing 2.9x faster than the rest of LinkedIn’s membership, and 54.8% of new signups on LinkedIn are now firstline workers.

What to do: Rethink the idea that LinkedIn is only for white-collar professionals. Firstline workers are using LinkedIn to look for jobs, connect with others, and learn more about solutions and providers.

What this means – you might assume, if you sell into an industry like manufacturing, LinkedIn isn’t where your clients are. The insights suggest otherwise – and, if you start now, you’ll gain an early adopter’s advantage.
3. Buyers are paying more attention to their feeds than ever.

What to know: We saw a 31% increase in the number of feed updates viewed in 2021 compared to 2020.

What to do: The more frequently you can show up in these feeds, the better. As Kim Orlesky put it so well – “top of mind is now top of feed.”

Focus on growing your network with valuable connections – not just buyers, but influencers, industry experts, and others. Share your thoughts and perspectives to build a credible reputation. And support marketing’s efforts to grow the following for your organization’s LinkedIn Page, because prospects are 181% more likely to accept your InMail if they already follow your company on LinkedIn.
4. Buyers are participating in more professional conversations on LinkedIn.

What to know: We saw a 30% increase in public conversations happening on LinkedIn in 2021, compared to 2020.

What to do: Be a participant in this increasingly active community! It’ll help you show up on more feeds and generate more productive conversations with buyers.

Don’t just post your own content; share content you like from influencers and thinkers you respect in the industry. Comment on other posts and respond to comments on your own posts, and encourage your followers to do the same.

You can also keep an eye on relevant hashtags to find conversations that are already happening and add your own thoughts or insights. This is a great way to discover and engage new prospects.
5. LinkedIn members are receiving more messages than ever – stand out by making yours relevant to them.

What to know: In the last 5 years, messages sent on LinkedIn have more than quadrupled.

What to do: So, there are more messages than ever being sent on LinkedIn. How do you break through the noise?

It’s about relevance. That means, both a personalized message to a buyer and a clear call-to-action that makes sense for them.

One data point that supports this – LinkedIn Sales Navigator users who visit a person’s LinkedIn profile before sending them an InMail are 86% more likely to receive a response than a seller who doesn’t. Why?

It suggests the seller likely personalized their InMail, as they’ve done at least some research on the person by looking at their LinkedIn profile.

Take heed – the spray-and-pray approach doesn’t work. Instead, take time to write a clear, concise InMail that speaks to that specific person. Do that, and you will stand out.

For more insights into how you can get the most out of LinkedIn when selling, subscribe to the LinkedIn Sales Blog.

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