LinkedIn Marketing Training for Sales: 11 Essentials Every Course Should Include
LinkedIn is great for B2B salespeople to connect and grow their businesses—but only if they use it properly. Many B2B salespeople post a few company updates but miss out on a goldmine of opportunities to find new leads, nurture relationships, and close deals.
80% of B2B leads are generated on LinkedIn. If your team isn’t mastering this platform, you’re leaving money on the table. But when juggling client meetings, demos, and cold calls daily- it’s easy to brush LinkedIn aside or leave it up to your marketing team to manage.
That’s where LinkedIn marketing training for sales becomes vital. A good understanding of LinkedIn’s potential and all its functionalities will help your sales team generate more leads, build stronger relationships, and ultimately increase revenue in less time and with less effort.
Why does your sales team need LinkedIn marketing training?
Your sales team needs more than a basic profile to capitalize on LinkedIn. They need the skills and knowledge to make LinkedIn a strategic asset that drives results. Here’s how LinkedIn marketing training can help:
Lead Generation
Practical LinkedIn training allows sales to streamline lead generation, cut through the noise, and connect directly with decision-makers in your target market. They’ll learn to quickly identify and engage with potential clients, saving valuable time and resources. They will spend less time on cold calls and more time nurturing warm leads who are already interested in what your business offers.
Building Relationships
Teaching your team how to build authentic relationships with prospects is critical to LinkedIn marketing training. They’ll learn how to craft personalized messages, engage in meaningful conversations, and establish themselves as trusted advisors. This approach helps move prospects through the sales funnel more efficiently and builds long-term customer loyalty.
Data-driven Decision-Making
Equipping your team with the knowledge to analyze data and gain invaluable insights into your target audience helps them make the most of the LinkedIn platform. They’ll learn to track their performance, identify trends, and optimize strategies for the best results. This data-driven approach ensures that your LinkedIn efforts are effective, targeted, and aligned with your overall sales goals.
Build Your Brand
Finally, LinkedIn marketing training helps your sales team create a professional personal brand and contribute to your company’s thought leadership. They’ll build credibility and trust by crafting compelling profiles, engaging with their network, and sharing valuable content. This branding exercise strengthens your company’s image and enhances your team’s reputation, which attracts more high-quality leads.
Types of LinkedIn Marketing Training Available
LinkedIn Learning Courses
LinkedIn’s learning platform offers courses on various aspects of LinkedIn marketing, from profile optimization to content creation to advertising. These courses are convenient, self-paced, and often taught by industry experts. They’re great for beginners and those who prefer structured learning, but they may not be as in-depth as specialized courses found elsewhere.
Third-party Certification Courses
Several organizations, such as HubSpot or Boot Camp Digital, offer LinkedIn marketing certification programs. These courses are typically more comprehensive and may require passing an exam. While these courses can be more expensive and time-consuming than LinkedIn’s, their certificates boost professional credibility and show your commitment to career development.
Self-paced Online Courses
Platforms like Udemy and Coursera offer a variety of self-paced online courses on LinkedIn marketing. These courses provide more flexibility and affordability than traditional certification or in-person training. However, they may lack a formal course’s accountability, structure, and up-to-date accuracy.
Marketing Agency Webinars
Many marketing agencies host free or paid webinars on LinkedIn marketing topics. These can be a great way to get a quick overview of specific strategies or tactics. They are often free or low-cost and easily accessed from anywhere, but they may be more sales-focused and less in-depth.
In-person Seminars and Events
LinkedIn and other organizations occasionally host in-person seminars and events on LinkedIn marketing. These can be a valuable opportunity to network with peers and learn from industry leaders, but they can be expensive and might require travel. Check your LinkedIn account’s “Events” tab or visit sites like Eventbrite to spot these in-person opportunities.
Books/E-books
A convenient and affordable way to learn at your own pace, numerous books and e-books are available on LinkedIn marketing. While providing a wealth of information and insights, they may not be as up-to-date as online courses or webinars. From “LinkedIn for Dummies” to “The LinkedIn Playbook,” many LinkedIn-specific books and e-books are listed on Amazon. They can be an excellent work gift if the sales budget allows.
11 Essentials Your LinkedIn Marketing Training Course Should Include
1. Employee Profile Optimization
Your sales team’s profiles are their digital storefront and the foundation of any successful LinkedIn sales strategy. Creating a strong personal brand with an optimized LinkedIn profile establishes credibility, builds trust, and makes it easier to connect with potential clients.
The course should teach them how to craft compelling summaries, highlight their achievements, and use keywords strategically to attract the right prospects. Each profile should include a professional headshot, relevant work experience, and recommendations from colleagues and clients.
2. Engagement and Interaction
Building solid relationships is critical to sales success. The training should emphasize the importance of interacting with other users’ content, joining relevant groups, and participating in discussions.
Salespeople should learn how to engage with their network’s content, be active members of groups where their target audience congregates, and provide value through comments and sharing posts. This engagement and interaction will expand their reach and help create strong relationships with potential clients.
3. Employee Advocacy and Networking Tactics
A company’s employees are its greatest brand ambassadors, so effective LinkedIn marketing training should teach them how to leverage their networks to amplify your company’s message.
Encourage employees to share company content, participate in LinkedIn groups, and connect with potential clients. Oktopost’s employee advocacy platform can help streamline this process and track the impact of your team’s efforts. Its intuitive tool enables your sales team to choose the most relevant pre-approved posts and share what they or their target prospects are interested in, with shared workflows and analytics so all small wins can be celebrated.
4. Social Selling Etiquette
There’s a fine line between being helpful and pushy on LinkedIn. The course should cover the nuances of interacting with prospects, including initiating and nurturing conversations and avoiding being perceived as overly aggressive or spammy.
Your sales team must focus on building relationships first and selling second. The trick is always to provide value in their interactions while building rapport. Remember, it’s about connecting with people, not just pitching products.
5. Mastering InMail and Messaging
InMail is LinkedIn’s premium messaging feature, allowing you to reach out to people you’re not connected with. Marketing training should teach your team how to craft compelling InMail messages that get noticed and responded to. This includes personalized subject lines, concise and relevant body copy, and a clear call to action.
While InMail is a powerful tool for reaching prospects directly, it must be used strategically and conscientiously by leveraging techniques like the RABT formula. Ensure that the training covers LinkedIn’s messaging etiquette so that messages don’t come across as unprofessional or, worse, as spam.
6. Content Strategy for Lead Generation
LinkedIn can be a powerful digital asset, but it all depends on the content you share. Creating high-quality LinkedIn content that attracts and engages your target audience is critical to generating leads. Marketing training should cover content creation best practices, including topics, formats, and distribution strategies.
The focus should be on providing value and establishing thought leadership to attract potential clients through blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, or live sessions. Designed for B2B teams, Oktopost’s social publishing feature provides a powerful suite of tools to plan, create, approve, and schedule social content at scale.
Oktopost Scheduling Calendar
7. Company Page Management
While a solid personal brand is essential, a well-maintained company page showcases your brand’s expertise and helps attract talent in a competitive labor market. The training should cover creating an engaging company page, sharing relevant content, and interacting with followers.
To make the most of the company page, your team should post company updates, industry news, and thought leadership articles to keep the page active and relevant.
8. Sales Automation and CRM Integration
Automating repetitive tasks and integrating LinkedIn with your CRM can save time and streamline your sales process. To fully benefit from this, choose a CRM with LinkedIn integration capabilities, such as Salesforce or HubSpot.
The training should introduce your team to the various sales automation tools, such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and teach them how to integrate them with your CRM. The integration can save your sales team valuable time and ensure leads are correctly tracked and nurtured.
9. Paid Ad Campaigns
While organic reach is valuable, paid advertising can amplify your reach and accelerate lead generation. Training should cover LinkedIn’s powerful advertising solution, including the basics of LinkedIn ads, campaign setup, targeting options, and budgeting. It should thoroughly explain how to create compelling ad copy and visuals that drive clicks and conversions.
Be sure the sales team knows how to install the LinkedIn Insight Tag, a code snippet that tracks website visitors and helps you create targeted audiences for your ads.
10. Specific LinkedIn Tools
LinkedIn offers various tools to enhance your sales and marketing efforts. Your marketing course should familiarize your team with these tools and teach them how to use them effectively to generate leads and close deals. LinkedIn Sales Navigator, for example, provides advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and real-time sales updates.
Your team can use the advanced filters to create a search that matches your ICP. You can filter by keywords, location, company size, seniority level, and more. Then, set daily, weekly, or monthly alerts for new leads that match the saved search. This ensures you’re always notified of fresh prospects.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
11. Analytics and Reporting
Finally, tracking and measuring your LinkedIn performance is crucial for understanding what’s working and what’s not. Your team should learn how to use LinkedIn’s analytics tools to track important metrics, such as clicks, impressions, engagement, and lead generation—and most importantly, how to interpret the data to make the proper adjustments.
Identify your top-performing LinkedIn posts regarding engagement (likes, comments, shares) and clicks. Then, create more content that aligns with those successful topics or formats.
Close More Deals with LinkedIn Marketing Training and Oktopost
LinkedIn is a lead gen and outreach staple for B2B sales teams. To truly leverage LinkedIn’s full potential for lead generation, relationship building, and sales growth, your team needs LinkedIn marketing training that gives them the right skills and strategies for success.
Oktopost understands the unique challenges faced by busy sales professionals. That’s why our platform is designed to automate repetitive tasks, streamline content sharing, and provide powerful analytics to measure your impact. It also boosts your social media efforts with social listening and employee advocacy tools. With Oktopost, your sales team can focus on what they do best—closing deals—while reaping the benefits of a robust LinkedIn presence.
Book a demo to discover how Oktopost can empower your sales team to become LinkedIn masters.
