Intent-based targeting: optimise your LinkedIn prospecting

🎯 Find the best prospects with intent-based targeting

In B2B prospecting, it’s crucial to target the right people at the right time. Intent-based targeting is a powerful strategy for finding qualified prospects who are ready to engage. Here’s how you can apply it on LinkedIn to maximize your engagement and conversions.

🚀 Identify your intent-based targeting sources

• Prioritize the right sources: Focus on prospects who are already interested in topics related to your field.
• Potential sources: Leading companies, competitors, influencers.
• Use keywords: Search for posts and events with relevant action verbs.
• Engage meaningful audiences: Look for groups of more than 15 people to build targeted campaigns.
• Filter your audience: Make sure the people interacting with the content really are your targets.

💡 Tip: Ask yourself: “Are the people interacting with this content my target?”

🤔 Why favor posts and events?

Posts and events are a gold mine! People who interact with this content show current interest, which lets you capture their attention with precision. How fresh their interaction is is a key indicator of their engagement. What you can spot on this network is detailed on our LinkedIn buying signals page, and the other families in our 25 examples of B2B buying signals.

🚨 Watch out for groups!

Intent-based targeting on LinkedIn groups has a problem: it’s hard to know how long your target has been a member of the group. That information is crucial for assessing how engaged members are right now.

🎉 Icebreaker: grab attention from the start!

First impressions are decisive! To capture your audience’s interest from the very first moments, follow these tips.

What to avoid:

• 🚫 Don’t introduce yourself right away.
• 🚫 Avoid talking about your offer from the outset.
• 🚫 Steer clear of generic phrases.

Winning strategies:

• ✅ Personalize your approach: Mention a specific detail showing you’re interested in your prospect. For example, a recent event they attended.
• ✅ Focus on the prospect: Concentrate on the prospect’s background or activity rather than on yourself.

💡 Pro tip: Find a common point or an interest shared by a subset of your target to personalize your message.

🧩 Identify and communicate the pain point

Understanding your targets’ challenges is crucial. Start a conversation around your prospects’ concerns to build a deeper connection.

What to avoid:

• 🚫 Don’t jump straight to the solution without setting the context.
• 🚫 Don’t assume the prospect is already aware of all their problems.
• 🚫 Avoid being too vague or general in describing the challenges.

Winning strategies:

• ✅ Specific challenges: Use concrete examples and/or relevant statistics.
• ✅ Open questions: Lead the prospect to think about and express their difficulties.
• ✅ In-depth understanding: Show that you really understand the obstacles they face.

💡 Pro tip: Relate these business challenges to concrete cases from your customers or partners who have overcome similar challenges. It creates an emotional connection and makes your message more relevant.

💡 Toward a resolution: add value without selling

Bring solutions through your expertise, without selling directly. Respond to the challenges you’ve identified by offering keys to overcome them.

What to avoid:

• 🚫 Don’t present your product or service directly as the ultimate solution.
• 🚫 Don’t make unrealistic promises.
• 🚫 Don’t skip the awareness and consideration stages.

Winning strategies:

• ✅ Valuable insights: Share advice that brings immediate value, no strings attached.
• ✅ Case studies: Use testimonials showing how others solved similar problems.
• ✅ Expert content: Offer e-books, webinars and articles to educate your audience.

💡 Pro tip: Say how you can support the prospect in their approach. Use soft calls to action that encourage them to learn more or explore additional resources. A customer is a prospect who has identified their challenges and wants to take action!

📢 The call to action (CTA): move toward action

Take advantage of the interest you’ve sparked to encourage your prospects to take the next step. Position yourself as THE solution without forcing a decision.

What to avoid:

• 🚫 Don’t ask for too big a commitment from the first exchange (like a sales meeting).
• 🚫 Don’t use generic calls to action.
• 🚫 Don’t rush the prospect into a decision without giving them time to think.

Winning strategies:

• ✅ Open questions: Ask thought-provoking questions to deepen the prospect’s interest.
• ✅ Free resources: Offer an e-book or access to a webinar that brings even more value.
• ✅ Gradual progression: Encourage the relationship to progress, such as an invitation to an advisory call, joining a community, or attending a future event.

💡 Pro tip: Show that you’re available to support and advise. Your CTA should invite a deeper conversation, not rush a sale.

🌟 Automate the prospecting process

Did you know it’s possible to automate everything we’ve just shared with you?

It’s incredible, but we’ve built automations that will save you dozens of minutes every day. 🤩

With the help of our AI friends, it’s possible to automate THE method we’ve shared with you! Our tools are free to use on the free prospecting resources page 👇🏼: our AI setup, a free prospect search inside ChatGPT or Claude, and seven prospecting agents to install.

And if you would rather have this work done for you, the MeetMagnet app spots the people in your target who react to these posts every day and writes the opener drawn from their signal, which you review before it is sent.

Conclusion

By applying these intent-based targeting strategies, you’ll be able to maximize the impact of your LinkedIn prospecting campaigns. By deeply understanding your prospects’ needs and offering relevant solutions without sales pressure, you’ll position yourself as a trusted partner ready to guide them to success.

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