If you’re on a free LinkedIn plan, you’ve probably wondered if Sales Navigator is worth the extra money. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of LinkedIn Sales Navigator and how you can leverage We-Connect to automate manual processes in Sales Nav.
Key Takeaways
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a paid, premium version of the platform designed specifically for sales and marketing professionals.
Sales Navigator provides several key benefits, including higher limits on searches and actions, more advanced search filters to find specific leads, and personalized lead recommendations.
A major feature of Sales Navigator is the ability to send InMail messages to users you are not connected with, which can be useful for reaching high-value prospects.
Sales Navigator also allows users to add custom notes to a greater number of connection requests and tag leads for better organization and segmentation.
While Sales Navigator offers powerful tools, it is an expensive subscription, with different pricing tiers for individuals and teams, and it works alongside automation tools like We-Connect for increased efficiency.
What is Sales Navigator?
LinkedIn Sales Navigator (also commonly called Sales Nav) is the “premium” version of LinkedIn designed for anyone in sales and marketing or using LinkedIn for lead generation.
Sales Navigator offers a wide range of tools you can use to turn LinkedIn into one giant lead pool. Some of the notable features include higher action limits, the ability to send InMails, and building lead lists based on LinkedIn’s advanced search.
You can read more about Sales Nav over on LinkedIn’s official site. Additionally, if you haven’t taken the free trial of Sales Nav, go ahead and do that before committing to a subscription!
What are The Benefits of Sales Navigator?
There’s a reason LinkedIn Sales Nav is such a giant in the industry. When used correctly, Sales Nav can help you target the right people and get your message out there.
Here are a few of the major benefits of using Sales Nav:
Higher Action & Search Limits
One of the biggest benefits of Sales Navigator is the higher threshold for messages, searches, and actions. We’ve added the differences between a free LinkedIn account and a Sales Navigator account to the table below:
Feature
Free LinkedIn
Sales Navigator
InMail messages (per month)
0
50
LinkedIn Searches (per month)
1,000
2,500
Saved Searches
N/A
50 lead searches & 50 account searches
This benefit speaks for itself. The more actions you can take, the more leads you reach. With Sales Navigator, you can send more personalized messages to leads without being nervous about hitting LinkedIn’s limits.
More Advanced Search Filters
The second big benefit to Sales Navigator is the advanced search. Compared to a free LinkedIn account, Sales Nav adds a number of custom filters you can use to narrow down a list of leads.
Some of the things you can filter by include:
Industry
Job title
Company size
Geographical location
Keywords users are talking about
That being said, while the advanced searches are fantastic, they’re not known for being perfect. Most of the time, searches include users outside your parameters (which can mess up the relevance of your campaign). Luckily, We-Connect has a solution for this, where you can target leads based on job titles you include.
Personalized Lead Recommendations
Sales Navigator includes a neat lead-recommendation feature. It uses your previously saved profiles to generate suggestions on other leads you should target.
Typically, the recommendations are quite on point. However, they’re not always relevant. Nevertheless, this is an exciting feature, especially if you’re using an account-based marketing strategy.
For ABM marketers – or anyone running outreach on LinkedIn for that matter – a strong profile is just as important as your outreach message.
InMail Messaging
With LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can send 50 InMails per month to any users. After that, you can send InMails to users who have open profiles.
If you’re unfamiliar with InMail, they’re just like a LinkedIn DM. The only difference is that you can use your InMail credits (50 per month with Sales Navigator) to message a user regardless of whether you’re connected or not. This is a game-changer when contacting prospects who may be hesitant to accept connection requests from someone they don’t know.
Access to sending InMails brings two major benefits:
InMails are more likely to be noticed since they appear directly in the recipient’s LinkedIn inbox, which is typically less hectic than email inboxes.
InMail messages are more professional.
You don't need to connect with a contact before sending a message – perfect for high-value prospects.
Custom Messaging and Tags
LinkedIn continues to limit the number of custom connections you can send using a free account. As we write this, the limit is 20 custom connection requests per month.
With a sales navigator account, you can add custom notes to as many connection requests as you’d like (up to the action limit, of course).
While you’re writing these personalized messages to leads, you can also tag leads. For instance, you could organize prospects based on specific characteristics like “Interested in Product A” or “Open to a Demo.”
These tags are a practical way to segment your leads and ensure you send the right message to the right audience.
If you’re not a Sales Navigator user, you’ll have to use a third-party tool (like We-Connect) to tag users.
How Does We-Connect Work With Sales Navigator?
Sales Navigator and We-Connect work side-by-side. On one side of the spectrum, LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps you build targeted lead lists while increasing your action limits and messaging capabilities. However, unless you want to manually contact leads one by one, you’ll need to leverage a tool like We-Connect.
Using We-Connect, you can:
Build custom campaigns made up of 14+ multi-channel actions (like a post, visit a profile, send an InMail, follow someone, send a connection request, endorse a skill, and more!)
Sync LI & Sales Nav messages so everything is in one place
Import leads from Sales Navigator, events, LinkedIn posts, and more.
Find LinkedIn users' emails & phone numbers once you connect.
Now that you’re up-to-date on the main benefits of Sales Navigator, we can talk about the cons: it’s another expensive tool. The exact Sales Navigator cost depends on your plan:
Core Plan: The core plan is the basic Sales Navigator cost. Typically, pricing for this plan starts at around $79.99 per month or $959.88 per year. It’s best for solopreneurs or salespeople looking to leverage Sales Nav.
Advanced Plan: Priced at around $149.99 per user per month or $1,300 per year, this plan is for teams that want to use Sales Nav.
Advanced Plus Plan: The Advanced Plus plan is for large companies. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is provided upon request, and costs can vary based on factors such as customization and the number of users.
Please note that LinkedIn’s pricing will change. We update our articles regularly, however, if you want the most up-to-date info, visit LinkedIn’s website.
Conclusion
Whether Sales Navigator works for your business depends on your goals, needs, and audience. Ultimately, the best option is to give the three-month free trial a shot and see how it works.
