How to alienate leads on LinkedIn | Iceberg Cyber Knowedge Base

"We're going to start you with a 17 touchpoint sequence designed to harass your leads until they report you as spam"

- every B2B marketing guru you see on social media

Some days it seems like half of the posts on LinkedIn are from B2B marketing gurus trying to sell you on their "6 Get Rich Quick Schemes for B2B Marketing." Those sound like Ponzi schemes because they are.

Like anything in life, there's no get rich quick scheme. But there are some great lessons on how to alienate your leads that we can learn from those gurus:

Guaranteed to alienate: Pitch slapping

Connect with someone and then immediately send them an automated message telling them about your awesome special pricing just for them. Tell them their life has been garbage but luckily you connected with them to give them this once-in-a-lifetime deal.

Seriously. That's a perfect way to alienate them. They'll know your a spammer.

Screenshot of a LinkedIn message thread from Amelie Lyra (She/Her) to Michael. The messages include an introduction and promotional content about Buzz AI, which helps businesses generate leads. Amelie mentions a Black Friday sale offering discounts on Buzz AI plans and suggests scheduling a 20-30 minute demo meeting. Follow-up messages reiterate the offer and request Michael's email to explore potential synergies and provide a demo.

Use all the personalization variables

Calling someone by their {first_name} and mentioning their {company name} may have gotten a rise out of them in 2005, but everyone knows your using an automation tool. It's not a PsYcHoLoGy HaCk. If it sounds like a robot, and talks like a robot, its ChatGPT "personalized" AI message.

Lesson: on your next client call, try starting every sentence by saying their first name. How weird is that? That's what it feels like on LinkedIn.

Send 17 "follow up" messages

If someone ignores your first message, it's probably because they want you to send them 16 more unsolicited messages. Then they'll think you're worth replying to. It's not that they are put off because they don't want to feel like they're talking to an automated message. Can't be.

Definitively just keep messaging them begging for their email address or "a quick 15 minutes of your time."

Screenshot of LinkedIn messages from Abhishek Basak to Michael. The first message is a follow-up asking if Michael had a chance to check their website and includes a link to a 1-minute video about their services. Abhishek requests Michael’s business email to share more insights and provides a Calendly link for scheduling a 15-minute call. The second message is a shorter follow-up asking for Michael’s email address to provide additional insights. Both messages are signed with Abhishek's name, email, and company.

How not to alienate leads on LinkedIn

It's really easy to NOT alienate leads on LinkedIn. Treat them like real humans. Here's how:

Don't pretend you know them or have anything in common. It's a networking platform. If they don't want to network, they won't.
If they don't reply, move on. They are ignoring you. Accept it.

The 17 touchpoints that marketers talk about work but those touchpoints are not constant messages. They are posts, website visits, in person conversations, phone calls, emails, etc. So you gotta spread it out. The experience needs to feel natural. If you just send 17 direct messages, they will think you are spamming them because truly you are. Spread it out.

Here's my proof: I've been experimenting for all of 2024 on how to get convos started on LinkedIn. I use Dripify to send the connection invites, then post weekly to build some brand recognition. Then I send short, non-personalized messages. Something like, "I'm doing a webinar on using Microsoft Teams as a CPA. Do you want to join?" I've sent out 2424 messages so far with 49% reply rate 49%. That's 1188 conversations with new leads this year. That's the no-brainer way to prospect on LinkedIn.

Screenshot of account statistics for LinkedIn campaign activity from 01/01/2024 to 12/06/2024. A graph shows monthly activity with labels such as "Send invite," "Message," "Email," and "Accepted." A tooltip highlights June 2024 with 225 responses out of 225 messages. Below, metrics include: "Connection requests sent" (8998, -9.5%), "Connection requests accepted" (3874, +112.7%), "Messages delivered" (2424, -31.2%), and "Messages responded" (1188, +30%). The "Messages delivered" and "Messages responded" sections are circled in pink.

Using Cyber Sales Intel to prospect on LinkedIn