9 Simple High ROI Shopping Cart Abandonment Prevention Tactics

How are you handling your shopping cart abandonment?

The first step is for you to track and recognize how many shoppers are leaving items in their carts without finalizing the purchases.

If you’re not addressing it, you’re missing out on sales.

Take a moment to ask yourself how you can improve the customer experience.

Is there a problem with your conversion funnel?

This is a basic visualization of how companies create conversions.

First, the consumer becomes aware of your brand, products, or services.

Next, they have a need or want that sparks interest in something more specific.

Once the consumer knows what they want, they consider the purchase.

Adding a product to their shopping cart definitely qualifies as the consideration part of this conversion funnel process.

They are just one step away—or even one click away—from finalizing the sale.

So, what’s the problem?

Let’s take a look at a conversion funnel with some holes in the process:

If customers are getting all the way to the shopping cart, I’m willing to bet you don’t have a problem with your homepage or product service page.

What about your contact page or customer service information availability?

It’s possible the customer doesn’t feel comfortable finalizing the purchase based on the provided information about your business, reputation, warranty, or return policy.

But again, they’ve already made it to the checkout page with items in the cart.

So, I think this is another unlikely scenario.

The issue has to be in the final step of your conversion process.

I’ll show you some techniques that will minimize shopping cart abandonment on your platform and increase your conversion rates.

1. Recognize that customers are price sensitive

Your prices may be deterring the consumer from finalizing their purchase.

Look, I get it.

Obviously, you’re trying to make a buck.

I’m not telling you to start giving everything away.

You should be making a healthy profit on each transaction.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some numbers:

Unexpected prices are the number one reason why customers are abandoning shopping carts.

So, the initial price of your item might be okay.

But the added charges are turning customers away.

Some examples of these extra charges may include:

• Sales tax
• Shipping
• Processing fees
• Any other hidden charges

Is there a way you can eliminate some of these?

Here’s an idea.

Maybe you can take on the shipping fee.

Instead of putting that burden on the customer, you can adjust the original prices of your products to account for the shipping charges.

Will the customer end up paying more?

Yes.

But it’s not an unexpected charge.

You’ve got to find a middle ground.

Based on the graph above, the price was a factor in three of the top four reasons why people abandon shopping carts.

Try to keep your prices competitive while still generating a nice profit.

You may end up making slightly less money each transaction, but it’s worth it if you can increase the transaction rate.

2. Make sure your website and checkout procedures are secure

In the last five years, 46% of Americans were victims of credit card fraud.

That’s an alarming number.

Americans are the targets of nearly half of all the credit card breaches worldwide.

Consider these numbers for a second.

Have you had a credit card breached?

Do you know someone who’s been a victim of credit card fraud?

This is a legitimate concern for people.

Your customers may have had a bad experience in the past, and that is making them hesitant about online purchases.

The purchase process on your website needs to be secure.

You are responsible for your customers’ credit card information.

Don’t be the reason for their accounts getting hacked.

Take the proper security measures and place the corresponding badges on the checkout page, similar to the graphic above.

Make sure your website is secure.

Is your website running on an HTTPS connection?

Look at the example from Dick’s Sporting Goods:

See the secure sign?

It makes the consumer feel more comfortable at the checkout page.

Personally, it’s a red flag for me if I don’t see this while I’m shopping.

I won’t be entering any of my personal or credit card information on a web page that’s not secure.

Quick side note: notice Dick’s offers free returns on its apparel?

I wanted to point that out as well. It makes the customer feel better about the checkout process.

A secure website and checkout process need to be a priority for your ecommerce store.

3. Allow your customers to check out without creating a profile

Obviously, you want customers to have an account with your company.

It’s a great way to track their behavior and keep them informed of special offers and promotions.

However, you shouldn’t be forcing people to create a user profile just to make a purchase.

Why?

1. It’s an extra step. People are in a rush, and you want the procedure to be quick.
2. They may have a fear of getting unwanted emails, text messages, or junk mail.

If your website doesn’t have a guest checkout option, you’re making a mistake.

Here’s an example from Lululemon of the guest checkout option:

It’s a really clean checkout page.

There are two clear options.

Returning users can easily sign into their accounts, and customers without an account can proceed without creating one.

This ensures you aren’t losing sales.

Here’s the thing, though. In order to complete the checkout process, the customer still needs to enter their information.

You’ll have their name, email address, location, and other information.

Once the sale is final, you can entice them to create an account.

All they need to do is create a password.

You already have everything else in your records, so they don’t need to submit information twice.

Here’s a great example of what this should look like:

Give the customer a reason to create an account.

Refer to the image above.

What’s the customer getting in return?

• Option to track the order
• Exclusive discounts

But they shouldn’t be forced to create a profile just to make a purchase.

Make sure that’s optional.

4. Accept a wide range of payment options for the customer

What kind of payment options are you accepting?

Visa only?

You don’t accept Discover cards?

I understand.

Certain credit card companies have higher processing fees than others.

Accepting transactions from PayPal or similar platforms could be even more costly.

By not accepting certain payment methods, you could be turning customers away.

You might think that everyone has one of the credit cards you accept, but that’s not always the case.

Give the consumer lots of options.

Do you accept Apple Pay?

There are nearly 86 million iPhone users in the United States.

Last year, Apply pay transactions grew at a 50% rate.

These numbers show alternative payment methods are trending upward.

Don’t fall behind the curve.

If you’re accepting only one or two payment forms, it could be the cause for your shopping cart abandonment.

The customer gets to the checkout process only to discover you’re not offering their preferred payment option.

5. The process needs to be mobile friendly

Is your website mobile friendly?

Is the checkout procedure optimized for mobile devices?

It needs to be.

Research shows 84% of smartphone users have experienced a problem completing a mobile transaction.

And 40% of users will go to your competitor after an unsatisfactory experience on your mobile site.

What do these numbers tell you?

People want to shop on their phones.

Here’s some additional information about mobile users:

Nearly 5 billion people have a mobile device across the world.

Of course, not all these people are your potential customers.

But a large chunk of them could be.

Don’t alienate people from shopping on their mobile devices.

It’s estimated that half of ecommerce transactions take place on mobile platforms.

That number is only going to grow.

If getting to a laptop or desktop is the only way for your customers to shop, it could be hurting your sales.

Make sure your checkout procedure is optimized for mobile devices to decrease your shopping cart abandonment rates.

6. Don’t let your competitors steal your customers

How unique is your product or service?

Chances are, you don’t own the space outright.

You have plenty of competition.

It’s not always easy to compete with the big players like Amazon or Walmart.

Earlier we looked at a graph that said 36% of shoppers abandoned a shopping cart because they found a better price elsewhere.

If your prices are higher, that needs to be justified.

Make sure your quality and service are outstanding.

Your customer needs to understand this.

The website needs to load fast.

Don’t make the process too complex.

We know that 25% of shoppers will abandon their shopping carts if the navigation is too complicated.

They will go to your competitors instead.

Be aware of how your competitors are operating.

It’s always helpful to use competitor analysis tools to improve your traffic.

7. Send an email reminder if a cart is abandoned

Okay. So you may not be able to prevent everyone from abandoning their shopping carts.

Even if you decrease the abandonment rate, you won’t get that number down to zero.

Where do you go from here?

Don’t give up just because a customer abandoned their cart.

If you have their information, reach out and send them a reminder.

Here’s a great example from Saatchi Art:

This email accomplishes a few things:

1. reminds the customer of their shopping
2. creates a sense of urgency
3. offers an extra incentive

The reminder alone may be enough to get the customer to finalize their purchase.

But if it’s not, it creates a sense of urgency by saying “high sell-out risk.”

We’ll get into some more detail on this method shortly.

It also provides an extra incentive by offering a 10% discount.

Earlier we discussed that customers are price sensitive.

They may have abandoned the cart for financial reasons.

Giving the consumer a discount will show them you care.

That promotion may be enough of a reason for them to finish the checkout.

8. Use A/B testing to simplify your checkout process

How long does it take the customers to make a purchase on your site?

Every extra click they have to make gives them a chance to second-guess their decision.

You can run an A/B test to see which checkout procedure is more successful.

Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Here’s the checkout progress bar from Crate & Barrel:

It’s a quick checkout process.

• Shipping info
• Payment info
• Place order

Three steps and done.

Here’s an example from another website:

Their process is six steps.

That’s double the number of Crate & Barrel’s process.

If you have a long checkout system, I suggest you shorten the process significantly.

Still not convinced?

Run an A/B test.

Use your current system as the control group and a shorter version as the experimental group.

See if you notice a difference in your shopping cart abandonment statistics between these two groups.

9. Create a sense of urgency

Earlier I mentioned that Saatchi Art created a sense of urgency with their abandonment recovery email.

FOMO—the fear of missing out.

You can do this on your checkout page as well to reduce cart abandonment.

Some customers are just browsing.

New customers most likely won’t buy something on their first visit to your website.

But you can give them an extra incentive to finalize their purchases.

Create a sense of urgency.

• “Limited quantity remaining”
• “Sale price expires at midnight”
• “14 people booked this flight in the last 24 hours”
• “9 other people are looking at this room right now”

I’m sure you’ve seen phrasing like this before while browsing online.

Hotels and airlines do this all the time.

Act now, or miss out.

You can incorporate this psychological strategy into your checkout process to minimize cart abandonment.

Conclusion

Shopping cart abandonment is a problem for your ecommerce website.

You’re not alone.

It’s not too late to make changes to your checkout process to prevent future cart abandonment.

Follow the advice above to keep your abandonment rates low while increasing your conversion rates and revenue.

Customers are price sensitive. Don’t hit them with any unexpected charges.

You need to accept multiple forms of payment while also making sure the payment procedure is completely secure. Customers won’t shop on your website if they think their credit card information is at risk.

Don’t force shoppers to create a customer profile to check out. Instead, offer a user account as an option after they complete the process.

Make sure your site is optimized for mobile devices. If not, your customers will go to your competition.

The checkout process needs to be short. You can run an A/B test to play with different options and formats.

Create a sense of urgency to avoid cart abandonment: if the customer doesn’t act now, they may not be able to get this product in the future.

Even if someone abandons their cart, it’s not too late. Send them an email to remind them about the product.

You can also offer a discount or promotion as an extra incentive to finalize the sale.

How will you implement these methods on your ecommerce checkout page to minimize shopping cart abandonment rates?

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How to Create a Content Upgrade That Will Automate Your List Building

I am a big champion of the power of email marketing.

There’s no better way to build a community and nurture a relationship with your audience.

It’s hands down the most authentic way to prime your prospects, sell them your work, and grow your revenue.

So, when a powerful list-building technique comes along, I get excited.

After all, a thriving email list is the foundation of email marketing.

I’m sure you’ve noticed this, but I’ll point it out anyway.

Content upgrades are what’s hot right now if you want to accelerate the growth of your email list.

Take a guy like Bryan Harris, for instance. He sees a conversion rate of 20-40% on blog posts with content upgrades.

He now averages almost 80 subscribers a day.

That’s amazing!

Blog posts typically do not convert as well as landing pages because they’re not designed for that purpose.

The point of a blog post is to educate, entertain, and inspire. There’s too much going on to get someone focused enough to sign up to your email list.

Content upgrades have changed that completely.

You can now transform your blog posts into powerful list-building assets. All you have to do is uplevel your posts with a targeted free resource.

Don’t worry—I’ll show you how.

First, let’s define a content upgrade.

What is a content upgrade?

It’s a type of lead magnet you give your audience in exchange for their email addresses.

The typical lead magnet, like an ebook or an email course, stands alone.

It is not attached to any specific piece of content. It has its own thing going on.

A content upgrade is unique to a piece of content.

It’s usually tied to a blog post. But there are other types of content you can uplevel with a free resource.

Webinars, podcasts, and videos are examples.

The point is to enhance the value of your content with this additional resource.

As you can imagine, there are several ways to achieve that.

You can create a resource that helps readers implement what you just discussed. An action sheet, workbook, or toolkit are excellent examples.

You can give away something that saves them time, like templates or cheat sheets.

The ultimate strategy is to create something that will help them delve deeper into the topic.

This is where you give additional strategies, tutorials, case studies, etc.

Your options are endless.

Let’s look at some examples.

CoSchedule published a post “How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most of Your Marketing.”

The content upgrade?

A content repurposing guide and infographic:

If you read this post and were interested in implementing this content repurposing technique, you’d sign up for this upgrade in a heartbeat.

And that’s why content upgrades are so powerful for growing your email list.

They offer something you can’t say no to: value.

I’ll give you more examples later. For now, let’s get into how you can create your content upgrades.

Step #1: Identify your top-performing content

Can’t you just create content upgrades for your new content?

Yes, but it’s not where you should start.

If you haven’t created upgrades, you should first capitalize on the traffic you’re already receiving.

This is the fastest way to see results.

You can identify your top posts with Google Analytics or Buzzsumo.

If you have GA fired up, go to the Reports section and click on “behavior.”

Go to “site content” and then “all pages.”

You’ll find the website pages with the most traffic.

You can also find this info directly from your WordPress dashboard if you have GA set up there.

Buzzsumo is even simpler.

Plug in your site URL and press “Go.”

You’ll find the posts with the most social shares.

Record these in a spreadsheet. They’ll serve as your targets for your new content upgrades.

These are for finding your top blog posts, but the same can be done for your podcasts, YouTube videos, webinars, etc.

Step #2: Find the gap in your content

To deliver that extra value, you need to pinpoint the gap in your content.

Otherwise, your upgrade won’t be worth opting in for.

Select one of your top content pieces found in the first step. Go through it from top to bottom, and consider the following questions.

Q. 1: What problem does your content solve?

If you’ve created something of quality, it should solve a problem.

I understand not all content is instructional or how-to, but the question remains.

Think about what knowledge you’re trying to deliver and what purpose it serves for your audience.

Let’s look at this post.

My goal is to give readers the fastest and easiest strategies to grow their email lists.

If I were to create a content upgrade for that post, it would:

• be easy to implement
• deliver on the promise of being fast
• help you gain more subscribers

This may sound futile. But without going through this exercise, your content upgrade can flop.

When I talk about types of upgrades later, you’ll understand why.

For now, figure out what your content is trying to accomplish.

And your job will be half done.

Q. 2: What’s missing?

You know the goal of your content piece.

Is there a strategy you didn’t mention? A tool required to implement your tactics? Something that fulfills the goal but was not covered in-depth or at all?

Find the gap between the objective and what your content does.

Q. 3: How can you expand the value?

Think of what could’ve been included to make your content more valuable.

You want an upgrade that accomplishes the same goal you established earlier, but with an extra kick.

When people consume new information, they’re thinking of the ways they can implement it for a positive result.

Your audience wants to achieve that outcome better, faster, and cheaper and with more precision, less error, and less effort.

That’s the purpose your content upgrade should serve.

What content do you plan to create in the future?

If you want to make upgrades a key piece of your list-building strategy, here’s what I recommend.

Don’t wait till after you’ve created your content to come up with an idea for your free resource.

Instead, strategize the future upgrade.

How?

Leave an open loop.

This technique uses the power of storytelling to get readers excited about your content upgrade.

Here’s what storytelling does to the brain:

How do you achieve that?

Briefly mention a tool, a topic, a relevant experience, or an action step in your article.

Don’t expand on it in your post. Just mention it, and leave the gap wide open.

This way you’re giving people a piece of the story—not the whole thing.

The objective is to hook your readers.

Then, create an upgrade that closes this gap. I guarantee you, people will sign up to your list just to get the inside scoop.

With this technique, you’re utilizing curiosity, a major persuasion factor.

Step #3: Select an appropriate type of content upgrade

Now that you know what content you’ll cover, it’s time to establish the form.

How will you deliver your content?

Many people don’t give it much thought. They believe the content is the end-all and be-all.

Not true.

Content and delivery go hand in hand.

Imagine you promise subscribers a quick win, and you deliver your content in a 30-day email course.

There’s nothing quick about a 30-day email course.

But that doesn’t mean this form isn’t appropriate for a different result.

Let’s say you promise advanced in-depth training, and you deliver it in a cheat sheet.

The email course would serve your audience way better in this instance.

It’s why I use it. It works.

You could also use a webinar.

Do you see how the type of upgrade you select can conflict with the actual content?

You want the two to work seamlessly.

Otherwise, your subscribers will feel cheated when they receive your resource.

The result?

They unsubscribe and never return to your blog again.

This is why I placed emphasis on establishing your goals in the beginning. It’s going to help you select the right type of content upgrade.

Here are the options available:

• email courses
• email challenges
• cheat sheets
• checklists
• planners
• ebooks or PDF guides
• resource kits
• case studies
• video series
• templates
• printables
• swipe files
• transcripts
• infographics
• workbooks
• audio files

These will give you enough food for thought.

Ensure you select the form that aligns with your content and its goals.

Step #4: Design your content upgrade

You’ve got your content figured out. You’ve got your delivery method aligned with the content.

This is where you might have some problems.

Or maybe not.

Designing a lead magnet can be time-consuming and challenging for some people. For others, it’s a breeze.

Here’s the thing.

It doesn’t have to be overwhelming for anyone.

Even if you don’t have one technical or creative bone in your body, you can do this.

And if you don’t want to, you can outsource it for pretty cheap. That’s why sites like Fiverr, 99Designs, and UpWork exist.

For those who want to handle it themselves, here’s how.

First, I’ll tell you my favorite tools:

• Canva
• Beacon
• Google Docs
• Word or Apple Pages

That’s it.

The best part? These are free to use.

Here’s an overview of how you can do this.

Step #1: Outline the content for your upgrade in a Google Doc or Word document

Whether you’re creating an ebook, ecourse, or cheat sheet, write out the most important points.

This will serve as a skeleton for your content upgrade.

Step #2: Expand on your outline

Flesh out your main points. I like to use dictation to get through this faster. This way, you can just speak about your topic and let the tool do the typing.

Go through it with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there are no errors.

Step #3: Use Canva or Beacon to create a beautiful layout

You can also do this with Google docs.

You can copy and paste images, icons, create tables, and highlight text to create a sophisticated design within a simple document.

Then, download your document as a PDF.

But if you want to step up your design, Canva and Beacon are the best choices.

Step #4: Create an image of your content upgrade

This is so you can place it within your blog posts or on a landing page. One of my favorite tools to do that is Skitch.

I use it to take a snapshot of the individual pages of the content upgrade. Then, I overlay them in Canva to create an image.

Like this:

Step #5: Create a compelling call to action image to place within your blog posts

Again, you can use Canva to do this.

Here are some examples:

Here’s another:

It doesn’t have to be fancy.

You can use a feature box like this:

Step #5: Set up the delivery of your content upgrade

At this point, you should have all the assets created for your upgrade.

The task now is to set up delivery.

Step #1: Host the file in WordPress or with your email management software

Some email systems, like ConvertKit, allow you to host files. This makes it super simple to deliver them to subscribers.

The alternative is to use your WordPress account.

Go to your dashboard, find the “Media” tab and “Add New.”

Upload your file.

You’ll receive a downloadable URL (“file URL”).

Anyone with the link can now access your content upgrade.

Step #2: Set up a follow-up email in your email management system

This is what you’ll use to deliver your content upgrade. Place the link you got in Step #1 within your email.

At this point, you can set up a system to segment subscribers.

Let’s say someone opts in for a content upgrade on list-building. You can tag them to be transferred to a separate list designated for people interested in this particular topic.

Most email software allows for segmentation.

When you segment subscribers this way, you are better able to deliver emails aligned with their interests.

It keeps them engaged and your unsubscribe rate low.

Step #6: Promote your content upgrade and watch your list grow

The only thing left to do is to promote your content upgrades. The goal is to get them in front of as many eyes as possible.

Place them prominently within blog posts. Do it several times.

When you share your content on social media, let people know there’s an additional free resource that comes with it.

A good way to promote your upgrades is to repurpose them. It’s not necessary to create a new resource for each piece of content.

If you’re covering the same topics, your upgrades will be relevant to other content you create.

Conclusion

If you really want to take your list-building up a couple of notches, content upgrades are a must.

They enhance the value of your posts and give your audience a reason to hop on to your email list.

In some instances, content upgrades are more powerful than stand-alone lead magnets.

Why do people shy away from them?

It can appear to be time-consuming and complicated.

In some instances, that’s true.

But if you follow the steps in this article, you’ll have everything you need to quickly and painlessly create content upgrades.

Why not transform every piece of content into a list-building asset?

That’s the kind of transformation that impacts your bottom line. Try it out, and watch your email list numbers go through the roof.

Do you have any tricks for creating high-converting content upgrades?

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How Not to Waste Time Generating Leads on LinkedIn

Lead generation is an indispensable part of business.

If you want to have paying customers, you need to gather a reliable stream of leads.

That’s the bottom line.

But generating leads isn’t as easy as one might think. In fact, it requires quite a bit of finesse and a whole lot of time.

Reports show that 65% of businesses say generating traffic and leads is their top marketing challenge.

That doesn’t surprise me at all.

There is encouraging news though.

Marketers now have a lot more avenues to target potential customers. At the forefront of that is social media.

And if we’re talking about the highest-quality leads, LinkedIn is the clear winner.

It’s a bit shocking, I know.

You expect a giant like Facebook to be leading the pack.

Not in this case. More than 80% of B2B leads sourced from social media come from LinkedIn.

That goes to show the power of this platform.

Here’s the kicker though: many people are failing at using LinkedIn for lead generation.

They’re spending too much time in the process. And they do not see a return on that time investment.

That’s a frustrating problem to have, and I’ll show you how to fix it.

Here’s how you can generate leads on LinkedIn without wasting your time.

1. Target the decision makers

It’s imperative you consider the sales cycle when you’re generating leads.

I am referring to the entire process it takes for you to sell a product or a service.

It includes everything, i.e., generating a lead, nurturing that lead, and eventually making the sale.

Here’s a map of what a typical sales cycle can look like:

Some of us have the good fortune of being in a niche where it can take as little as a few minutes to close a sale.

For others, it can take months and even years.

Whatever camp you fall in, there is a simple solution to shorten the sales cycle.

Find the decision maker.

Here’s what I mean.

Unless you’re targeting a solopreneur, most businesses have select people who ultimately make the purchasing decisions.

Wouldn’t it be wise to direct your efforts at someone with authority to close the deal?

Of course, it would!

Now, the decision maker is not always the CEO. In fact, it’s rarely the case for most businesses.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t target CEOs.

It depends on what you’re selling, what business needs it will serve, and what your goals are.

Let’s say you’re a freelance writer looking for new clients.

The best people to target when prospecting would be marketing managers or someone in that field.

Anyone else would likely be a waste of your time.

The decision makers usually have the following positions:

• HR director
• Marketing director
• Sales director

These are mainly for B2B leads, but the premise doesn’t change when you’re targeting individual consumers.

There’s usually (not always) someone they have to consult with before making a purchasing decision.

Tailor your efforts and your messaging to take that fact into account.

2. Follow up with old leads before targeting new ones

I’m sure you’ve heard that lead generation is a numbers game.

Target enough people, and eventually you’ll land a sale.

That’s true in a sense.

But the quality of these leads is also important.

Many people collect a bunch of leads, initiate contact, and stop there.

Then, they restart the process.

The problem with that?

There’s no follow-up.

And if you know a thing or two about lead generation, you know the follow-up is crucial.

We know 80% of sales need five follow-ups, but almost 50% of people only send one.

Wires get crossed. Your message could be missed. Your prospect could get distracted.

Especially on a social media platform, it’s common for your message to get buried beneath all the noise.

If you don’t send a follow-up message, you miss out on a potential customer.

You also waste time and effort it took to generate those leads.

When is the right time to send a subsequent message?

In my experience, three days is ideal for the first follow-up. You should check in with your prospects several times.

It can even be automated.

If you’ve collected email addresses, you can set up an autoresponder series.

This way, it becomes a hands-off process.

Businesses who use marketing automation experience a 451% increase in qualified leads.

3. Put lead generation on autopilot with content marketing

One of the most powerful features on LinkedIn is its publishing platform.

You can publish content natively on LinkedIn Pulse, or you can republish posts from your business blog.

Either way, it’s one of the smartest strategies for generating leads.

For one, it allows you to demonstrate your expertise to potential customers.

There’s no better way to convert a customer than to show them how knowledgeable you are in your field.

It can also shorten the sales cycle.

Think about it.

If you’re consistently educating prospects and solving their problems with your free content, they’ll be easier to convert.

Doesn’t content marketing take time though?

It does, but here’s the thing.

You won’t find another audience as receptive as the network on LinkedIn.

The platform is filled with professionals waiting for you to educate them.

They are ready and willing to do business.

If you publish helpful content, your job is half done. You’ll be on your way to generating the kind of leads that turn into lifelong customers.

You can also repurpose content you’ve already published on your blog.

I’ve done this before, and it works exceptionally well.

Here’s some crucial advice for publishing content on LinkedIn:

• always leave a call to action and a link at the end of each article
• publish actionable content readers can implement to experience a quick win
• only create content that will serve your ideal prospect
• promote your LinkedIn articles on other platforms
• publish evergreen articles

4. Stop harvesting cold leads

This one takes the prize for time-wasters.

Here’s what many people’s idea of lead generation looks like:

1. obtain a list of email addresses of people who may or may not be their ideal prospects
2. send out emails or messages en masse

There are many things wrong with this approach.

The biggest is these people have not demonstrated an interest or a need for what you’re selling.

Your leads are not targeted enough, and they’re not qualified.

It means the chances of these leads converting to solid sales are slim.

The solution?

It’s a multi-step approach.

Step #1: Establish what you want your prospects to do

The first thing you need is a goal.

You’re generating leads, but what’s the purpose? What’s the next step?

You may want your prospects to download a free resource, schedule a free consultation, attend a webinar, hop on a call, or something of that sort.

Decide what your goal is before even starting the lead generation process.

Step #2: Create a hit list of hyper-targeted prospects

What’s the typical process for finding leads on LinkedIn?

You type in a job title in the search bar, hit enter, and get a plethora of results.

These become your targets, right?

That doesn’t work. You need to conduct a more focused search.

Here’s how.

First, click on the search bar and scroll to the bottom, where it says “search for people with filters.”

This will allow you to filter your results so you can focus on a targeted group of leads.

Your number of leads will be smaller, but their quality will be greater.

Here are some of the filters available:

Step #3: Initiate contact

After you’ve put your hit list together, you can connect and send a personal message.

When you hit “connect,” some of the options will prompt you to enter an email address.

If you connect as a “friend,” this isn’t necessary, so select that option.

Also, ensure your connection request has a message attached to it.

You only have 300 characters, but that’s more than enough to send a thoughtful message.

Don’t send the same generic message to every prospect.

You can still have a template to save time, but personalize it. I recommend going through the prospect’s profile so you have more information to go on.

Step #4: Build a relationship

It’s critical you continue to engage with your LinkedIn connections.

This could be by engaging with their content and sending them messages. That’s what’s going to set the stage for a sales conversion later on.

It’s only after you’ve gotten on your prospects radars that you can start thinking about selling to them.

Step #5: Funnel prospects to the top of your sales funnel outside of LinkedIn

LinkedIn should not be used to sell.

It’s a great prospecting tool. But you’ll sabotage your lead generation if you sell prematurely.

Use it to get prospects interested enough to join your permission marketing funnel. You can then take the sales process outside of the platform.

I know this sounds like a tedious and long road.

I promise you, this is way more effective than targeting a large list of unqualified leads.

You will get nowhere fast.

5. Go premium

If you’re serious about using LinkedIn as your primary lead-generation tool, a premium account can serve you well.

It can increase your efficiency and save you time.

You’ve got several options, depending on your goal.

You’ll benefit from the features such as InMail, advanced search, and access to information about people who viewed your profile.

Sure, the free account allows you to filter your searches. But with a premium account, you can conduct even more advanced searches.

With InMail, you can message people not in your network.

You can also look at all the people who’ve viewed your profile. This is a great way of gathering warm leads.

These profile views represent people who have showed some interest in you.

There are other features, but these three are particularly useful.

Now, I’m not saying this is a must.

It’s not a necessity to have a premium account to succeed with lead generation.

In fact, before you invest in a premium LinkedIn account, you should test the platform.

If you see promising results, and you want to amplify your lead-generation efforts, premium is a solid path to take.

6. Join groups where your ideal prospects hang out

LinkedIn groups are gold.

There’s no better way to quickly and easily find quality prospects.

You can also create your own group. But that requires a time investment—you need to build the group and then maintain it.

If you want to save time, I recommend joining an existing group.

You want to select groups relevant to your industry. It’s also important to have an idea of your ideal prospect.

This way, you can target people who will be receptive to your message and, eventually, your product.

Here are some other things you should consider:

• group size – you want to target groups with a decent number of people so you have a large enough prospect pool
• level of engagement – group members should be active: interacting with content, starting conversations, etc.
• group rules – most groups have rules of engagement; some are stricter than others and don’t tolerate any promotional content.

How do you find these groups?

Conduct a group search.

Type in your keyword in the search bar, and select “Groups.”

You can also click on the “Work” tab in your top menu and click on “Groups.”

Then, click on “Discover.”

LinkedIn will display a list of groups:

By default, they’re filtered according to your industry.

Since my field is marketing, I automatically get shown a bunch of groups relevant to that field (no search necessary).

Click on the individual groups that interest you.

Read the “about this group” section to get familiar with them and their rules.

Check out the admins and the mutual connections you share with the group. If it seems it fits with your goals, go ahead and connect.

Conclusion

LinkedIn is hands down one of the best platforms for lead generation.

If you know how to work it, you can end up with some quality prospects primed to become your paying customers.

But as fruitful as lead generation can be, it is also a time-consuming task.

If you don’t use the right strategies to target the right people, it is easy to spend months and see no result.

I’ve pinpointed some of the biggest time-wasters and ways you can go through this lead-generation process quickly.

Use the strategies, and you’ll see more leads of a higher quality, without a massive time investment.

What are your best tips for generating qualified leads on LinkedIn?

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