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In today's competitive B2B landscape, finding the right prospects can make or break your sales strategy.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator stands out as a powerful tool for identifying and connecting with potential leads and accounts.
At the heart of its effectiveness lies its advanced filtering capabilities and most of all unparallel global data on more than 1 billion members updating themselves their profiles, job titles, experience etc, and more than 67 millions of companies updated by marketing teams.
All Linkedin’s latest statistics can be found here:
https://news.linkedin.com/about-us#Statistics
If you have Sales Navigator or are considering buying a license, let's dive into all the filters available and how you can use these filters to supercharge your sales efforts.
Understanding Linkedin Sales Navigator Filters
Sales Navigator offers two primary types of filters: Lead Filters and Account Filters. These allow you to narrow down your search to find the exact profiles and companies that match your ideal customer profile.
Account Filters: Identifying Your Ideal Companies
When targeting companies, account filters are your best friend:
- Company Attributes: Filter by annual revenue, employee count, growth rate, and technologies used.
- Spotlight Filters: Identify companies with recent activities or job opportunities.
The following table describes the filters available to search for accounts in Sales Navigator:
Filter name | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
Annual revenue (Min-Max) | Company | Filter accounts by their reported annual revenue – this data is carefully curated to ensure accurate information is relayed |
Company headcount | Company | Searches for employees at an account on LinkedIn |
Company headcount growth (Min-Max) | Company | Filter accounts by their employee growth over the last 12 months |
Department headcount | Company | Filter accounts by their total employee count within a specific department |
Department headcount growth (Min-Max) | Company | Filter accounts by their employee growth over the last 12 months within a specific department |
Fortune | Company | Filter accounts by Fortune rankings |
Headquarters location (region or postal code) | Company | Filter accounts by the region, country, state/province, city, or postal code of their headquarters |
Industry | Company | Filter by industry to identify accounts within your target industriesFor example: ManufacturingNote that when you select an industry filter, accounts are filtered with child industries too. For more information on parent-child industry relationships, see Industry Codes. |
Number of followers | Company | Filter accounts by the number of followers of their company page on LinkedIn |
Technologies used | Company | Filter accounts by the technologies they are reported to use – this data is based on information on LinkedIn and a technology data source |
Buyer intent | Spotlights | Filter accounts to show those that have demonstrated a moderate/high level of interest in your company - key factors such as employee interactions, InMail acceptances, ads engagement, or company page engagement, are used to label as such. |
Connection | Spotlights | Filter accounts with employees being connected to the user |
Job opportunities | Spotlights | Filter accounts to only show those with open job opportunities posted on LinkedIn |
Recent activities | Spotlights | Filter by accounts with recent activities on LinkedIn or in the news. These accounts are in a time of transition and may signal a good time to connect |
Account lists | Workflow | Filter by accounts to those within your "all accounts lists" or custom accounts lists |
Companies in CRM | Workflow | Filter by accounts in your connected CRM |
Saved accounts | Workflow | Filter by accounts saved in your account lists |
Lead Filters: Pinpointing Your Perfect Prospect
Lead filters help you zero in on individual LinkedIn profiles. Here's what you can filter by:
- Keywords: Search for specific terms in profiles, headlines, and skills.
- Company Information: Filter by current/past company, company size, type, and location.
- Role Details: Narrow down by job function, title, and seniority level.
- Personal Attributes: Include geography, industry, years of experience, and more.
The following table describes the filters available to search for leads in Sales Navigator:
Filter name | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
Company headcount | Company | Filter leads by the number of employees at a company |
Company headquarters location | Company | Filter leads by leads' current company headquarter locations |
Company type | Company | Filter by company type to identify leads from non-profits, public companies, privave companies, and more |
Current company | Company | Filter by leads' current companies |
Past company | Company | Filter by leads' past companies |
Current job title | Role | Filter by the job titles you are targeting of leads' current roles |
Function | Role | Filter leads by function (Accounting, Admin, Arts, Business Development, Operations…) |
Past job title | Role | Filter by the job titles you are targeting of leads' past roles |
Seniority level | Role | Filter by seniority level to find leads matching your ideal customer profile |
Years in current company | Role | Filter by the range of years since leads joined their current companies |
Years in current position | Role | Filter by the range of years since leads started their current positions |
First name | Personal | Filter leads by first name |
Geography (Region or postal code) | Personal | Filter by region, country, state/province, city or postal code to identify leads located in your selected geographic locations |
Groups | Personal | Filter by LinkedIn Groups to identify leads belonging to selected Groups |
Industry | Personal | Filter by industry to identify leads in your target industries. For example: Manufacturing |
Last name | Personal | Filter leads by last name |
Profile language | Personal | Filter leads by their selected profile language on their LinkedIn profile |
School | Personal | Filter by where a lead went to college or university |
Years of experience | Personal | Filter leads by their total work experience - find leads just starting out or identify those experienced in their roles |
Account has buyer intent | Buyer Intent | Leads who work at accounts that have expressed high or moderate interest in your company in the past 30 days. Buyer intent is determined by InMail and ad engagement, company page views, and profile views. |
Category Interest | Buyer Intent | Leads who have potential interest in your product category based on group membership, profile data, and other signals. View categories |
Following your company | Buyer Intent | Pinpoint leads who are followers of your company. Buyers globally are 181% more likely to accept an InMail from a seller if they already follow the LinkedIn Page of the company where the seller works. |
Viewed your profile | Buyer Intent | Filter your search results to only show leads that recently viewed your profile |
Connection (1st, 2nd, Group, 3rd+, Teamlink) | Best path in | Filter leads by their relationship with you:1st - Leads who are your connections2nd - Leads who are a connection of one of your connections3rd+ - All leads who are not a 1st or 2nd connection (no direct connection to you)Group - Leads who are in a group that you are also inTeamlink- Leads who are connected to one of your teammates on Sales Navigator |
Connections of (Search by name) | Best path in | Filter leads to effortlessly explore your colleagues' LinkedIn connections by entering their name without necessarily connecting with them beforehand.Also, you can leverage specific individuals within your TeamLink network for prospecting. |
Executive TeamLink | Best path in | Leverage the power of your executive team's network to help you find the best path-in by pinpointing leads who are connected to the executives on your team |
Have shared experiences with you | Best path in | Find leads that have the same groups, schools, or past/current Companies - providing you with a personal connection to leverage when reaching out. LinkedIn’s State of Sales survey data shows that almost nine in 10 (88%) of sellers say they engage in some form of warm calling - making these insights highly valuable for identifying common connections. |
Past Colleague | Best path in | Find leads that once worked at your current company |
TeamLink connections of | Best path in | Filter leads to only show those that are connected to your Sales Navigator team members |
With TeamLink intro | Best path in | Use this filter to find new leads that a teammate can introduce you to. This filter shows you leads that fit one or more of the following criteria:- Shared mutual connection- People on your contract who are connected to the lead- People on contracts that are linked to your contract (via TeamLink Groups) that are connected to the lead- People who have accepted a TeamLink Extend seat for your contract (or for a TeamLink Group-linked contract) |
Changed jobs in last 90 days | Recent updates | Quickly identify leads who have changed jobs within the last 90 days - signaling new contacts at your accounts, new business opportunities, and expand your network |
Mentioned in news in last 30 days | Recent updates | Filter leads by those who have been mentioned in the news in the past 30 days. The search is against a news source list that includes 800+ news sources to ensure excellent industry and geographical coverage. |
Posted on LinkedIn in 30 days | Recent updates | Filter by leads who have created a post on LinkedIn in the past 30 days - allowing you to quickly identify active LinkedIn users who are more likely to interact |
Account lists | Workflow | Filter by leads who work at accounts within your "all accounts lists" or custom accounts lists |
Lead lists | Workflow | Filter by leads within your "all leads lists" or custom lead lists |
Past Customer | Workflow | Uncover hidden allies by finding leads who worked at a company that was your customer |
People in CRM | Workflow | Filter by leads or contacts in your connected CRM |
People you interacted with | Workflow | Filter by leads you have saved, viewed, or contacted |
Persona | Workflow | Personas are defined by function, seniority, job title, and geography. (you can defined up to 5) |
Saved leads and accounts | Workflow | Filter leads by either all your saved accounts or saved leads |
Maximizing Your Search Results
To truly harness the power of Sales Navigator, consider these advanced techniques:
- Create Buyer Personas: Before diving into searches, develop detailed buyer personas. This will guide your filter selections and ensure you're targeting the right profiles.
- Build Account Lists: Create lists of target accounts based on your ideal customer profile. This allows for more focused prospecting and easier tracking of key accounts.
- Save Your Searches into search alerts: After perfecting a search, save it. This enables you to quickly access it later and receive notifications about new results matching your criteria.
- Volume: A too generic or wide search will generate alerts with too many new results and you will be overwelmed and wont be able to keep up with new and too generic leads
- Quality: A too specific search will have too few new results or none and you will stop checking.
- Use Boolean Search: Combine keywords with AND, OR, and NOT operators to create more precise searches. Check our Using boolean operators on Linkedin article to learn more.
- Regularly Review Saved Searches: Set aside time each week to review new results from your saved searches. This proactive approach ensures you never miss a potential lead.
- Leverage Spotlight Filters: These filters highlight recent company changes or activities, providing timely opportunities for outreach.
Find the right balance between Quality & Volume
The Importance of a Strategic Approach
While Sales Navigator's filters are powerful, their true potential is unlocked when used strategically.
Here's why a methodical approach matters:
- Efficiency: By saving searches and creating account lists, you streamline your prospecting process, saving valuable time.
- Consistency: Regular review of saved searches ensures a steady pipeline of potential leads.
- Precision: Well-crafted searches combining boolean operators, intent and workflows can lead to higher-quality prospects and improved conversion rates, but too many filters at once will limit search results potential. A search results with less than 100 results will
- Diversity: Using multiple search “angles” will generate more leads so be creative and have email sequences tailored for each. Examples:
- Find leads who match your target persona having worked at one of your customer in the past for an easier introduction
- Find leads in your targeted accounts in your 2nd degree network for introduction from colleagues or mutual connections
- Find leads who match your target persona and who have changed jobs in the last 90 days
- Find leads who follow your company or shown intent
- Review people who viewed the content of one of your smartlink
- Find new accounts with 40% YoY headcount growth and having between 10 and 50 sales people
- Find new startups (10-50 employees) newly created in a specific country
- Find companies using a specific technology
- Keep it simple: Dont add too many criteria in one search or dont create too many searches which will becoming overwelming to follow up. Aim at 5 account search alerts and 10 lead search alerts to stay productive.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Sales Navigator's advanced filtering capabilities offer a game-changing approach to B2B prospecting. By mastering these filters and adopting a strategic mindset, sales professionals can significantly enhance their lead generation efforts.
Remember, the key to success lies not just in using the filters, but in how you use them.
Create detailed personas, build targeted account lists, save your most effective searches, and consistently review new results. This approach will help you identify and connect with the right prospects more efficiently than ever before.
Whether you're considering investing in Sales Navigator or looking to maximize your current subscription, mastering these filtering techniques is crucial. It's not just about finding more leads – it's about finding the right leads or opportunities that can truly drive your business forward.
Going the extra mile
If you want to increase your team sales navigator efficiency and overall ROI, feel free to reach out.
Learn more about our Solutions for B2B sales teams using Sales Navigator or not.
https://extramile.me/corporate-solutions/for-sales-teams
Learn more about Linkedin Sales Navigator on the Linkedin Business Website.
https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator
Top benefits of using Sales Navigator
https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator/benefits-sales-navigator
Is Sales Navigator worth it?
https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/resources/Forrester-economic-impact-ROI-report
Which companies use Sales Navigator
https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling-companies?
Compare Sales Navigator plans
https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/compare-plans
Disclaimer: We are NOT affiliated to Linkedin. We just want to make your life easier by linking to relevant pages so you can learn more.