Connecting your LinkedIn account to Salesforce allows you to leverage the power of your professional network within your CRM. By linking the two platforms, you can automatically capture LinkedIn profile data directly into Salesforce lead, contact, and account records. This eliminates manual data entry and ensures your Salesforce records are enriched with the most up-to-date information from LinkedIn.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through the step-by-step process for connecting your LinkedIn account to Salesforce and outline the key benefits of doing so. Whether you want to streamline lead generation, enrich contact records, or identify new sales opportunities, integrating LinkedIn with Salesforce can take your sales and marketing efforts to the next level.
Benefits of Connecting LinkedIn to Salesforce
Here are some of the key advantages of linking your LinkedIn account with Salesforce:
Automatic Lead Capture
One of the biggest benefits is the ability to automatically capture LinkedIn profile data as Salesforce leads. When someone views your LinkedIn profile, you can choose to automatically create a corresponding lead record in Salesforce populated with key details from their LinkedIn profile. This allows you to identify and track new prospects without any manual data entry.
Enriched Contact Records
Connecting LinkedIn pulls rich profile data into your existing Salesforce contact records. This includes details like work history, education, skills, interests, and more. Contact records in Salesforce become more complete and dynamic with data direct from LinkedIn.
Identify New Connections
Your Salesforce and LinkedIn networks can be synchronized to spot new LinkedIn connections associated with your Salesforce accounts, contacts, and leads. This allows you to identify relevant connections faster and reach out to them directly from Salesforce.
Prioritize Leads
LinkedIn integration helps you segment and prioritize leads based on profile data like seniority, company size, job function, and more. This allows your sales team to focus on the warmest, most qualified leads first.
Gain Relationship Insights
By connecting LinkedIn with Salesforce, you can gain relationship map visibility and see mutual connections across accounts, contacts, and leads. This provides helpful context for sales calls, outreach emails, and more.
Track LinkedIn Activity in Salesforce
LinkedIn notifications and updates can flow directly into Salesforce so you have visibility into LinkedIn activity and engagement happening with your prospects and accounts. This helps keep all engagement history in one place.
Prerequisites for Connecting LinkedIn to Salesforce
Before getting started with the integration process, you’ll want to ensure the following:
LinkedIn Account
You need an existing LinkedIn account to connect to Salesforce. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, you can sign-up for free at linkedin.com. Your LinkedIn profile strength also impacts how much data will flow into Salesforce. Make sure your profile is complete with key details like work experience, education, and skills.
Salesforce Account
You need an existing Salesforce account. This can either be a Salesforce Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, or Developer edition account. You must have the appropriate permissions in Salesforce to install packages, access social accounts/contacts, and modify objects.
Sales Navigator Account (Optional)
While not required, having a LinkedIn Sales Navigator account unlocks additional benefits like TeamLink, Lead Recommendations, and Team Updates. Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s premium subscription offering for sales professionals.
Step 1: Install the LinkedIn Sales Navigator App
The first step is installing the LinkedIn Sales Navigator app from the Salesforce AppExchange store. Here is how:
Navigate to the AppExchange
Log into your Salesforce account and use the App Launcher to navigate to the AppExchange. This is Salesforce’s marketplace for discovering and installing third-party apps and integrations.
Search for “LinkedIn”
In the search bar, look for “LinkedIn Sales Navigator” and you should see the app as the first result. Note there are a few different LinkedIn apps, so make sure you select the official “LinkedIn Sales Navigator” listing.
Install the App
Click “Get It Now” to install the LinkedIn Sales Navigator app. You will just need to accept the permission requests during the installation process. And that’s it! The app will now be installed and accessible within your Salesforce account.
Step 2: Connect Your LinkedIn Account in Salesforce
Once the LinkedIn Sales Navigator app is installed, you can connect your LinkedIn account:
Navigate to the App
Use the App Launcher to navigate to the “LinkedIn Sales Navigator” app you just installed.
Click “Connect LinkedIn”
You will be prompted to connect your LinkedIn account. Go ahead and click the “Connect LinkedIn” button.
Log into LinkedIn
A new tab will open where you can enter your LinkedIn username and password to log in.
Allow Access
LinkedIn will ask you to allow access to share data with Salesforce. Click “Allow” to continue.
And that’s it! Your LinkedIn account is now connected within Salesforce.
Step 3: Configure LinkedIn Integration Settings
Once your LinkedIn account is connected, you can configure settings for the data you want to sync between LinkedIn and Salesforce:
Access LinkedIn Integration
In Salesforce, navigate to: Setup > Apps > App Manager. Then click on the “LinkedIn Integration” app.
Select Data Settings
Here you can select data like Accounts, Contacts, Leads, etc that you want to sync from LinkedIn into Salesforce objects. Enable the objects you want to sync data for.
Configure Automatic Lead Capture
You can also enable “Lead Capture” to automatically create Salesforce leads when someone views your LinkedIn profile. Adjust the settings here as desired.
Confirm Settings
Double check your configurations and click “Save” to activate the integration. LinkedIn data will now sync over based on your settings.
Step 4: Manage LinkedIn Data in Salesforce
Once everything is connected, you can start managing LinkedIn data directly within Salesforce:
View LinkedIn Data on Records
When viewing a lead, contact, or account record, you will see the “LinkedIn” tab containing profile data synced from LinkedIn.
Manage LinkedIn Connections
You can view your LinkedIn connections from related Salesforce records. Easily manage connections right within Salesforce.
Track LinkedIn Activity
The “LinkedIn Activity” feed shows you notifications for profile views, new messages, and other activity happening on LinkedIn.
Prioritize Leads
Use LinkedIn data like job title and company size to create views
First Name | Last Name | Company | Title |
John | Doe | Acme Inc. | CEO |
Jane | Doe | XYZ Corp. | Director |
and reports to segment your new LinkedIn leads and contacts. Focus on the records with the most sales potential.
Advanced Tips for LinkedIn + Salesforce
Here are some additional pointers for getting the most from your LinkedIn and Salesforce integration:
Refine Data Settings
Review your data sync configurations and refine which LinkedIn fields map over to Salesforce. Only bring over the most relevant data.
Customize Lead Forms
Use Salesforce’s web-to-lead forms to customize which LinkedIn fields are captured for leads. Add LinkedIn unique fields like Industry, Seniority, etc.
Create Segmented Lists
Leverage the power of LinkedIn’ssegmented lists to automatically add members to Salesforce campaigns, account lists, etc. Target outreach emails.
Use Connection Insights
See mutual connections, relationships, and news events related to accounts, contacts, and leads right within Salesforce for smarter outreach.
Create Custom Reporting
Build custom reports using fields from the LinkedIn data like Industry, Company Size, Job Function, etc. to gain visibility into your CRM data.
Conclusion
Integrating LinkedIn with Salesforce creates a powerful combination for managing sales pipelines and boosting productivity. With the ability to automatically capture profile data, spot new connections, gain relationship insights, and track LinkedIn activity directly in Salesforce – your entire sales team will unlock huge benefits by connecting these two platforms.
Hopefully this guide provided you with a clear understanding of how to setup LinkedIn integration and start leveraging it within your sales process. The key is configuring the right data sync settings and customizing the integration for your specific use cases. When setup properly, LinkedIn + Salesforce is a game changer!