Grow your LinkedIn profile

Unleashing the Power of LinkedIn: How Visma Doubled Their Leads with One Simple Strategy

Why LinkedIn

Meet Dene, the innovative marketing manager at Visma Verzuim. She knows the power of LinkedIn, with 750 million users and 40% of them engaging daily on the platform.
She saw this as the perfect opportunity to raise awareness. They posted regularly, but despite their efforts, the engagement on their posts did not seem to increase. Following up on leads through LinkedIn was a timely investment.

Dene didn’t give up. With a dedicated sales team and a new strategy, they are now able to connect with 150 potential leads a week, and their company posts score 5000 views on average.

‘I would recommend Famelab to companies that efficiently want to expand their lead generation process on Linkedin. It saved us a lot of time and effort while the effect became bigger.’  Dene van Mastwijk, marketing manager at Visma.

Let’s look at the key factors in Visma’s success story!

Visma’s Challenge

To be a pro at LinkedIn takes a large investment. If it’s through training or just spending time to be present on LinkedIn, it’s a timely investment.

For marketing teams, regular posting is an agenda item that is skipped often because other priorities come up. Creating daily engagement on posts by, for example, sharing it with colleagues or motivating them to leave comments, is a hustle.

‘We wanted to reach a bigger, more specific audience and create more visibility. Colleagues were happy to like our posts but over time they forgot to click the like button because of their other priorities,” says Dene.

For sales teams, one of the biggest challenges is creating content. What to write? That is often a marketer’s specialty! Also, following up on leads is an extensive process. Perhaps you scheduled your follow-up in your CRM, but leads might fall through or other priorities keep you from sending a reminder message.

Visma’s marketing and sales team wanted to start working more closely together but there was no platform allowing their collaboration yet. That’s where LinkedIn came in.
It created a bridge between marketing and sales, marketing could share knowledge and info in LinkedIn posts, and sales could target their audience in personal messaging.

However, that alone would have cost a lot of time. Therefore they started using an automation tool: Famelab.

Their solution

Visma Verzuim’s LinkedIn game got a major boost when colleagues began to like their posts automatically. ‘This increased our views on our posts a lot.’ says Dene, the company’s Marketing Manager.
The LinkedIn Algorithm checks in the first hour after posting how popular the post is. If it’s popular enough the post will be shown to a larger audience.

But it wasn’t just likes from colleagues that made a difference. With the help of comments from the Famelab community, a group of super-motivated entrepreneurs and marketers, the engagement on Visma Verzuim’s LinkedIn account shot through the roof!

Visma’s sales team made a big step by automating lead generation on LinkedIn and invited 75 new leads a day. Dene: ‘The Famelab team helped us find the right filters on Linkedin to create the perfect target audience.’

Visma’s team could manage 3 LinkedIn accounts using only one sales representative. How? Automation and pre-designed templates helped them to respond fast and automated their follow-up. This made their lead generation strategy way more efficient.

The best part is, with the LinkedIn algorithm favoring popular posts in the first hour after posting, Visma Verzuim’s increased engagement resulted in even more visibility, putting them in front of their target audience. It’s a winning strategy that’s paying off big time for this innovative team!

Time-saving Statistics

The team saved a lot of time automating their outreach. They invite 75 potential leads a day. With a well-written invitation message, thanks to the support of the Famelab team, their acceptance rate is around 40%. That’s 150 new contacts with a personal connection each week!

To reach the same result by doing it manually, it would mean that 3 people would spend 10 hrs a week on LinkedIn each, resulting in 30 hrs a week. They saved so many hours by automating their lead generation process and follow-up!

Because their networks increased, so did the reach of social posts. Together with the automatic likes of colleagues, their company posts score 5000 views on average!

Conclusion

In retrospect, it’s clear that Visma Verzuim’s decision to leverage the power of LinkedIn, along with the automated likes and engagement from the Famelab Community, was a stroke of genius. Not only did it greatly increase their visibility on the platform, but it also led to a massive new source of high-quality leads for the sales team.

By using smart filters and automation tools, the team was able to invite 75 new leads a day, all while managing three LinkedIn accounts with ease. And with pre-designed templates and automated follow-ups, their sales reps were able to respond quickly and efficiently, making the lead-generation process a breeze.

All in all, the results speak for themselves – Visma Verzuim’s LinkedIn presence is stronger than ever, and they’re well on their way to achieving their sales goals. It’s clear that when it comes to LinkedIn, there’s no substitute for a well-executed strategy and a little bit of automation.

Unlocking LinkedIn Success: A Dive into Essential Tools and Their Pros and Cons

In the fast-paced world of professional networking, leveraging the right tools is crucial for maximizing your impact on platforms like LinkedIn. Let’s explore three powerful tools – Sales Navigator, Lempod, and Famelab – each designed to enhance your LinkedIn strategy, along with their respective pros and cons.

1. Sales Navigator

Pros:
Advanced Search Filters

Sales Navigator provides robust search filters, allowing you to narrow down your target audience based on specific criteria.

Lead Recommendations

The tool suggests potential leads based on your preferences, streamlining the prospecting process.

Real-time Updates

Stay informed about your leads with real-time notifications, ensuring you never miss a crucial update.

Cons:
Cost

Sales Navigator has a subscription fee, making it more suitable for businesses with a dedicated budget.

Learning Curve

The extensive features may have a big learning curve for new users.

Manual Work

You have to follow up your leads manually, they do not offer an overview of who you already reached out to.

2. LemPod

Pros:
Pod Collaboration

Lempod facilitates pod collaboration, enabling users to join engagement pods, or groups, for increased visibility on your LinkedIn posts.

Automation

Automate your engagement strategy by scheduling likes and comments, saving time while maintaining consistency.

Community Building

Connect with like-minded professionals, fostering a sense of community within your niche.

Cons
Dependency on Pod Activity

The effectiveness of Lempod relies on the engagement level within your pods aka groups. Inactive pods may limit the tool’s impact.

Platform Changes

Given LinkedIn’s evolving algorithms, some features of Lempod may be subject to periodic adjustments.

3. Automation Tools like Famelab

Pros:
Full funnel follow-up automation

Their sales-minded follow-up possibilities will make sure all leads are contacted without being spammy. Their free community helps you to become more visible on LinkedIn.

Work as a team

A multi-channel approach allows you to combine marketing and sales efforts.

As Efficient As Possible

With their new AI possibilities, you don’t have to worry about picking the follow-up template yourself.

Cons:
Learning Curve

Famelab’s comprehensive tool may require some time to navigate and fully understand, however, they offer a kick-off to make sure you are all set.

Subscription Cost

Similar to Sales Navigator, Famelab may involve a subscription cost for access to premium features.

In conclusion,

combining the strengths of Sales Navigator, Lempod, and Famelab can supercharge your LinkedIn strategy. However, it’s crucial to assess your specific needs, budget, and preferences when selecting the right tools for your professional journey.

What to write about on LinkedIn?

I’m going to be honest with you, even as a marketer I sometimes have trouble creating new content. I want to be genuine, original and interesting but it also needs to be short and preferably a video. I hear you thinking, ‘you can hire a copywriter for that right?’. But what if you put all your budget into advertising? Once they are on your page, you want to show them some valuable content right?

Therefore I’ll share some tips and tricks on how to elevate your posting skills on LinkedIn.

What to write on social media?

The way you frame your message is very important. Let me share two examples:

1. ‘Protect your phone, get a phone case from -company X-!’
2. Did you know 50% of the people without a high-quality phone case have to buy a new phone within a year after purchasing their previous one?!’ 

See the difference? The first message goes straight to the solution. However, the second one creates the need for a solution. Which one do you think is more powerful?

In my current job, I see more engagement in posts that start a discussion or make the reader aware of a problem they face. People like to make their own decisions instead of being told what to do, therefore I suggest avoiding posting about your solution, but rather about the problem you are solving. 

DIY

I have a revelation for you: You don’t have to write everything yourself!
Articles you read yourself can also be relevant for your potential clients. Think of news articles, statistics or research papers. It can all serve as content for your next social media post! 

Where to post it?

Social Media Today showed that a post shared on a personal page, compared to a brand page, gets 8 times more engagement! 

Posts from a company page are important for branding and creating familiarity around your logo. However, they are a bit anonymous and a bit ‘cold’.
Posts from personal accounts create a more personal bond with the reader, because of your profile picture and name that show up next to it.
By posting often, people in your network see your name and picture passing by often. That’s how people slowly start to get to know you. This creates familiarity and trust.
Business relationships are based on a personal connection, therefore it’s important to also post on your personal page! For branding purposes, re-share your personal posts on your company channel. 

How to get engagement?

The initial popularity of your message decides its success in the future. Therefore it’s best to get likes as fast as possible. 

One way you can do this is by sharing your post with colleagues or other people that are happy to help you. Create a chat group for example, where everyone can share their message so that others can like that post.
Nowadays there are also a lot of automated possibilities. Some tools allow you to connect your colleagues to your account so they automatically like your posts.

But liking is not enough. Comments are the real key to popularity. Once you get a few comments, you can initiate a conversation about the topic of your post. This form of lead generation is often forgotten but super powerful. It allows you to inform leads in a very casual manner, once you call them they have the feeling they already know you! 

Be the first to leave a comment after you posted. For example, share an additional link or extra info. To increase the initial amount of comments, you can use your support group on WhatsApp again. Also for comments, some tools offer help. The best way to use a tool for comments is to be part of a tool that has a community. 

You will receive meaningful comments from community members and in exchange, they will receive something that benefits them, such as likes or reviews. The community, therefore, brings more value to your LinkedIn network and by getting these initial comments, you can trigger a conversation about your value proposition.

In short

Try to post about the problem you are solving, share articles that interest you and try to get as much interaction on your post in the first few hours as possible. 

“LinkedIn Success Unveiled: How Brockmeyer and Thorwald Transformed Connections into Global Campaigns, Saved Time with Smart Automation and Achieved a Remarkable 60-70% Connection Acceptance Rate!”

Brockmeyer is a Dutch recruitment innovator that helps organizations worldwide improve their recruitment process. Twelve years ago it all started with 2 brothers and a microloan. Now Brockmeyer operates in 170 countries. The company’s clients are diverse: from a small administrative office to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Public Prosecutor or the IND. Thorwald Nienhuis is responsible for partnerships and sales within the organization and has been using Famelab to his full satisfaction for a while now to take his engagement via LinkedIn to a higher level. 

“Brockmeyer is currently growing substantially. When it comes to people, customers and sales,” explains Thorwald about the status of the company. “We are taking the next step, from a small company to a large international one. That requires a new approach and therefore we were looking for other ways to stay in touch with existing customers and get in touch with new ones. We want to build relationships by looking ahead, without immediately pushing for a sales deal. Sebastiaan Herman from Second Company, one of our partners, brought Famelab to our attention and we were interested in giving it a go.” 

The approach

Brockmeyer started using Famelab, with Thorwald in the forefront. “Initially, it started as a marketing tool for likesharing on scheduled posts. Later we started using Famelab to boost our engagement through connection requests, posts and follow up messages. Making these connections has become a daily part of our sales efforts. To achieve the best results, we first determine the target group, then the message for that target group and then we look at how we can ‘seduce’ them to connect with us.” 

It has been a process of fine-tuning, Thorwald says. “For our first Famelab project, we released a campaign to a selection of recruiters. During that campaign, we kept tweaking things until it was exactly right. After that, we expanded the use of Famelab step by step. At first, for example, we still processed many things manually, like answering messages. Famelab had a solution for that, so that has been automated now.”   

Collaboration with Famelab

Thorwald is enthusiastic about the collaboration with Famelab: “Of course you have to invest some extra time at first. In the beginning you often have to evaluate and tweak, but now it all just runs smoothly. The collaboration with Famelab is top-notch. Short lines, quick answers, quick solutions, and they give really good advice and tips. You know, I’m a huge fan!”, Thorwald concludes. 

Tips for other companies that want to get started

• Be open, don’t panic

Thorwald: “It is very important that you are open to it. All sorts of things happen automatically when using the tool. Some people panic and then stop everything. Such a shame! Because it has a lot of added value.”

• Content is king

According to Thorwald, how you deliver your message is crucial. “If you send your  message with no relevant content, there’s a big risk that people will not take you seriously. Think about how you present yourself on LinkedIn, who your target audience is and what content they require. Make sure you provide them with a value-added message. If you do that, and yes, I could still do that better myself, then you are making the best use of Famelab’s capabilities.”

Future

Brockmeyer wants to roll out Famelab to even more people within the organization. In doing so, it is important that people consistently publish high-quality content. In addition, the company wants to look at the possibilities of using AI to make smart connections. Whatever the future holds, Brockmeyer is, partly thanks to Famelab, ready to take the next step in their organizational development, growth and international expansion.

The LinkedIn Algorithm

Algorithms, you have probably heard about it before, but what does it exactly do?

If you post something on LinkedIn, you want it to be read by as many people as possible. Why else would you share that information? It can be a project you worked on, a marketing post of your company, or a promotion of your product.

To make your post appear on people’s timelines, LinkedIn, like other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, has created an algorithm that filters popular and unpopular posts to decide which one should be viewed on top, and which one at the bottom.

When you post your article, LinkedIn scans how many likes, comments, shares, and dwell time -the amount of time spent looking at your message- your post is generating. If those numbers are high, your LinkedIn post is ranked as popular and posted high on other people’s timelines. The opposite happens if your post scores low, it will be shown at the bottom of the newsfeed.

To make sure your post is ranked high at the first test, many companies ask their employees via email to like and share the CEO’s LinkedIn post. This is time-consuming for the person that posts the article AND for his or her colleagues that all need to go to LinkedIn via email. They have better things to do!

At Famelab we want to break free from traditional communication and we believe that this process, in combination with our technology can be more efficient while including fewer people.
The Famelab tool helps you to get likes, comments, shares, and dwell-time on your LinkedIn post so that you become famous!