LinkedIn is rolling out its third-quarter Sales Navigator release. The enhancements focus on “features that help you put your buyers first through intelligent action, simplified day-to-day activities, and consistent insight into keeping relationships warm.” The release theme is “listening to the buyer.”
LinkedIn is dipping its toes into intent data with Buyer Interest Alerts that signal when employees or corporate leaders from a saved account have visited the company’s LinkedIn Page or company website. Buyer Interest Alerts are available in conjunction with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions and delivered through the Sales Navigator Enterprise edition.
Marketers install a snippet of code to their website that drive the notifications. They can then track conversion rates, retarget visitors, and analyze visitor demographics. The code also powers Buyer Interest Alerts within Sales Navigator.
“With Buyer Interest Alerts, you have buying intent insights that help you to decide when to engage, allowing you to provide a timelier and more customized buyer experience,” blogged Lindsey Edwards, the Senior Director of Product Management at LinkedIn Sales Solutions. “As we strengthen our buyer intent models with the rich buyer insight that the LinkedIn network contains, we’ll continue to enhance our Interest Alerts to include more signals that will allow you to target the right buyer at the right time.”
Buyer Interest Alerts are anonymous. LinkedIn notifies the user if there is a visitor from the company but does not disclose details beyond account name, seniority level (i.e. Leadership or Employee), and geography. Users can then search for Linkedin Members that match these criteria. Anonymity ensures GDPR compliance.
While many vendors are now offering visitor intelligence, Sales Navigator is the only service that combines LinkedIn company profile views with visitor intelligence.
Account-Level Buyer Interest is not yet supported but is on the product roadmap.
LinkedIn, which has often suffered from spam alerts that overwhelm users, is employing predictive AI to surface the critical notifications for “building and maintaining the relationship with your buyer.” Users may filter alerts by Lead, Account, shared activity, and alert type with the “most urgent and timely” alerts displayed at the top of the list.
Sales Navigator is also improving its synchronization with Salesforce and MS Dynamics. Users can now bring their book of business into Sales Navigator through the automated syncing of Leads, Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities. The syncing improves the delivery of people and company alerts and insights within Navigator. CRM synchronization is available as a feature of the Team and Enterprise Editions.
To improve relationships, LinkedIn is now reporting on LinkedIn outreach activity across all Sales Navigator editions. Lead Lists (followed members) now track LinkedIn engagement with additional columns for actions by the Sales Navigator user and subsequent responses:
- InMail and Messages sent, responses received, and attachments clicked
- Connection requests sent from Sales Navigator and LinkedIn and accepted requests
- Smart Links sent and opened
Lead and Account List sizes were increased from 250 to 1,000, expanding the scope of contacts and companies tracked. Users may also take bulk actions on up to 25 Lead or Account records at a time, making it easier to remove them from lists or move them from one list to another.
Sales Navigator is well-positioned to assist sales reps during the pandemic as its messaging tools are not location or time-specific. Sales professionals can reach out with InMails and Connection Requests, and prospective buyers can respond asynchronously. SDRs and AEs don’t need to obtain (or guess at emails) or place direct dials that go unanswered at empty offices. Furthermore, Smart Links, launched earlier this year, provides a tool for sharing documents and multi-media with view tracking.
“In what continues to be a unique and challenging moment in history, buyers and sellers, alike, are adjusting to a new normal. Just like you, they’re juggling the pressures of succeeding in their day-jobs, while also managing their personal lives — homeschooling, daycare, elder care, multiple people working from home, and/or reduced income. The hurdles might look different from buyer to buyer, but one thing is consistent — they need to feel confident that you understand their challenges and goals. In the end, you aren’t necessarily selling a product or service, you’re selling a trusted relationship, and the person at the center of that relationship is the buyer.”
Lindsey Edwards, Senior Director of Product Management at LinkedIn Sales Solutions
By the end of the year, the Deals functionality will be integrated directly into the Sales Navigator workflow. This enhancement will improve relationship status and pipeline visibility.