If you think LinkedIn is just an online platform to share your professional resume, think again. LinkedIn is so much more than that. It’s a professional social media network where financial advisors can share information with centers of influence and connect with clients.

Advisors can also grow their businesses in several ways, such as soliciting client referrals, participating in the community, and participating in networking events. But did you know that you can also use social media as a search tool? It’s true. Advisors can use prospecting with LinkedIn and more. With more than 400 million users and several different search parameters, it can help you find and connect with your ideal client.

Here are five ways to find clients through LinkedIn.

Logical searches

Logical searches are a basic search for all information on the entire social media platform, including groups, people, and profiles. All you have to do is type in the words you’re looking for, and you’ll see all the search results. You can also refine your search by combining terms with reference words such as AND, OR, and NOT.

To run a logical search, go to LinkedIn and type retirement into the search bar and click the search button. It will return absolutely anything related to LinkedIn that has the word “retirement” somewhere on the profile or page. 

Advanced search feature

This is a more refined search option that will help you find your potential client using a variety of canned criteria such as location, current company, industry, and school. The Advanced search feature is for user profiles only, which is very useful if you want to start connecting with new potential customers. 

This is a useful search tool when looking for your ideal customer online. The only drawback is that search results need to be saved. It is best to set aside some time in your day to review the list and connect to your search results.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

If financial advisors want to create lists of leads and save them for later reference, you’ll have to pay for them. The ability to create even more targeted lists – not by the city, but within a 10-mile radius of your zip code – is available through a paid LinkedIn feature called Sales Navigator.

LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator is a LinkedIn premium plan and a search tool designed to help financial services professionals find and connect using social media. It offers several features, such as the ability to send direct messages to non-connections, follow companies in the news and set up alerts for potential clients. 

People you may know

This networking option is available to all users at no additional cost. If you go to your profile and click “Home,” you’ll see “People You May Know” at the top right of your home page. That’s LinkedIn working its magic behind the scenes.

The profile images you see are linked to people. LinkedIn prompts you to make connections using criteria you have, such as jobs in the same industry, with a current or past employer, or with similar links. All you have to do to increase your network is click Connect.

LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups are the social media equivalent of a networking event. Consider a group as a room and participants as participants. Connecting groups is both a cost-effective and time-efficient way to market and find new clients.

Financial advisors can use groups to find certain demographics that cannot be found through other options. These include alumni, common interests, hobbies, charitable support, and local associations.

To find local group members, enter the name of your city in the search bar and select Groups from the drop-down option on the left side of the search bar. Once you click search, you will find all groups associated with your city name. You can search for similar results for charity groups, local sports associations, hobbies, or physical activities.

When prospecting on platforms like LinkedIn or other data-rich websites, encountering protective measures like Cloudflare, a web service designed to detect and block web scrapers and bots, is common. Therefore, possessing the knowledge to bypass Cloudflare’s defenses becomes paramount in ensuring seamless data extraction and effective prospecting efforts. Mastery of techniques to navigate through these obstacles is vital for businesses and individuals seeking to optimize their data acquisition strategies and stay ahead in competitive landscapes.

Should you require it, LinkedIn data scraping techniques can be employed to streamline this process further, offering multiple pathways to leverage this valuable resource to its full potential. Explore the various ways in which LinkedIn data scraping can be harnessed to enhance your outreach and networking efforts.