A Favor and Elevating Intent

Let’s start with the favor.

I need your help with what I’m trying to do with Linkedin.

I’ll explain why in the Sales From The Streets section of the newsletter and give you some great Linkedin intel in return.

For now, if you could take 2 seconds to go onto my Linkedin profile, click the “bell” on the right side of my profile and then click “all” so you see every post, I’d really appreciate it.

Now let’s get into it.

TACTICAL TIP:

Elevating Intent

I recorded a podcast this week with Blue Bowen, a Research Principal at G2.

He had just finished publishing their new report: AI’s Impact on Sales: Smarter GTM Motions for Lasting Customer Connection.

There were some interesting insights in the report but as the conversation unfolded we started talking about something that I’ve always been curious about from G2’s perspective - How to actually leverage Intent Data.

If you’re wondering what Intent Data is, here’s the G2 definition.

The problem I've always had with intent data, isn’t the data itself, it’s how it’s used.

For instance, just because I downloaded a white paper from your website doesn’t mean I’m interested in your solution. I was probably just interested in the topic.

But, inevitably and predictably, that triggers a rep to send me a templated e-mail that says something to the effect of “I saw you downloaded that template, I’d like to talk with you about your priorities and how we can help you achieve your goals.”

Or, when someone searches for “sales training” and I get alerted about it, should I reach out to that person immediately? wait a few hours? days? Do I reference that I know they are searching for training?

Thankfully, Blue confirmed how I think ‘Intent Data’ should be used.

Whatever the intent data surfaces, it should act as a way to prioritize the leads that you target, but not to send an immediate email.

Instead, you should use that as a trigger to go deeper and do more research on the account to see if you can find out WHY that intent signal happened.

For instance, say someone from a specific company downloads white paper on Cybersecurity. I would use that information to go on their website, review any recent events, check any of their leadership’s posts on Linkedin and see if I can make a connection to WHY they downloaded that specific white paper.

From there, I write a personalized/relevant email NOT referencing the Intent Signal but sharing insights from the research I’ve done on them, my hypothesis of their challenges and a few hints on how I might be able to help.

Try this out next time you get alerted on an intent signal and let me know how it goes.

SALES TECH/RESOURCES:

Linkedin’s Algorithm and G2’s Intent Data

I don’t have any new tech to share with you this week but the G2 report above and the Linkedin report below are gold so I'm going to keep this section brief and tell you to look through those resources.

SALES FROM THE STREET:

The Linkedin Bell

Here’s why I needed the favor I asked for in the beginning of this newsletter.

I’ve been doing a lot of work recently to try and get my Linkedin profile optimized and engagement rates up.

I have over 410k followers and the engagement on my posts does not reflect anywhere near that level.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I put out some shitty posts every once in a while but for the most part I try to add as much value to the people on the platform as I can.

So, I created a custom GPT to help me figure out what is going on and help me improve my SSI Score.

I even added LinkedIn’s 20205 Algorithm Insights Report. (#resource)

As I was analyzing everything, I found out that Linkedin had a “glitch” a few months ago and apparently it happened at the exact same time I got locked out of Linkedin for what they said was “suspicious activity” (which I still can’t figure out what that suspicious activity was)

Regardless, when they fixed the glitch, everyone’s account went back to normal but because mine was dark, it didn’t rebound.

So even though I’m putting more thought into my Linkedin posts than I ever have before, they aren’t reaching my audience.

Hence the request to follow me and see “all” my posts.

Again, if you could help me out, it would mean the world to me and I promise that I will stay focused on creating quality content for every post.

If you actively post on Linkedin, I would ask your audience to do the same.

Thanks!

#MakeitHappen

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