Both Sales Navigator and LinkedIn are tools used by sales professionals to connect with prospects and grow their networks. However, while LinkedIn is a general professional networking site, Sales Navigator is specifically designed for sales prospecting and outreach.
Some key differences between the two platforms:
Focus
LinkedIn is a broad professional networking site used by all types of professionals. Sales Navigator is focused solely on sales prospecting and outreach.
Features
Sales Navigator offers features tailored to sales prospecting including advanced search filters, saved lists/groups of prospects, notification settings for prospects, and sales analytics. LinkedIn offers more general social media features for all professionals.
Target Audience
LinkedIn is used by all professionals while Sales Navigator is targeted towards sales professionals. Sales Navigator requires a paid subscription while LinkedIn offers both free and paid memberships.
Data Access
Sales Navigator provides more sales-specific profile data including technologies used, keywords, groups, history, news mentions, and lead recommendations. LinkedIn offers standard profile data visible to all members.
Advanced Search
One of the key differences between Sales Navigator and LinkedIn is the advanced search functionality.
Sales Navigator allows users to create highly customized and granular searches to find very targeted lists of prospects. Users can search and filter by:
- Company name, industry, location
- Job title, seniority level, function
- Skills, technologies used
- Groups, schools attended
- Keyword mentions
For example, a Sales Navigator user could search for “VP of Sales at SaaS companies in Boston with over 500 employees.” LinkedIn’s search is more basic and designed for general networking rather than sales prospecting.
Sales Navigator also saves all searches so users can easily rerun and tweak them. LinkedIn search does not have this capability. Overall, Sales Navigator’s robust search makes it much easier for sales teams to build targeted prospect lists.
Saved Lists and Groups
Once prospects are found on Sales Navigator, users can save them into customized lists and groups. This enables well-organized and segmented outreach.
For example, a sales rep could create separate lists for “IT Prospects,” “Healthcare Prospects,” “Past Customers,” etc. Lists can also be created for specific outreach campaigns.
| List Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Healthcare Prospects | Prospects at healthcare providers targeted for new product launch |
| Past Customers | Customers from past 3 years due for upgrades |
With LinkedIn, users can only save individual connections, there is no way to organize prospects into segmented lists. This makes Sales Navigator superior for sales prospecting needs.
Lead Recommendations
Another unique Sales Navigator feature is automated lead recommendations. Based on a user’s saved prospects and searches, Sales Navigator will automatically suggest new prospects that match their target criteria.
This essentially provides sales teams with a constant stream of qualified prospects without having to continuously search and source new targets. Lead recommendations are tailored to each user based on their engagement with the platform over time.
LinkedIn does not currently have any automated prospect recommendation capabilities. This gives Sales Navigator a significant advantage in terms of sales productivity. Rather than prospecting manually, sales reps can simply review and outreach to the recommendations.
Activity Notifications
Sales Navigator sends users real-time notifications when their prospects meet certain criteria such as:
- Job title change
- Company change
- Work anniversary
- New board position
- Funding round
- Leadership change
This enables sales reps to reach out at highly opportune times when prospects may be more receptive. It also ensures reps have the most up-to-date info on prospects before outreach.
LinkedIn currently does not offer robust activity tracking and notifications tailored to sales prospecting. This gives Sales Navigator a significant competitive edge.
Sales Analytics
Sales Navigator provides detailed sales analytics so managers can track prospecting activity and results. Metrics include:
- Profile views
- Connection requests
- Accepted invitations
- Sales emails sent
- Email opens/clicks
Sales teams can view aggregated analytics to identify top performing reps and content. Individual reps can also view their own statistics to refine prospecting approaches.
LinkedIn does not currently provide sales analytics. This capability makes Sales Navigator valuable for both individual reps aiming to improve results and managers looking to optimize team performance.
Integrations
Sales Navigator integrates directly with leading sales engagement platforms like Salesforce and Marketo. This allows:
- Syncing LinkedIn data with CRM profiles
- Logging LinkedIn activity directly in CRM
- Triggering actions in CRM based on LinkedIn notifications
- Embedding LinkedIn profiles and Lead Gen forms into campaigns
These integrations unite social selling on LinkedIn with broader sales processes. LinkedIn offers much more limited integrations focused on profile data syncing rather than full sales automation.
Premium Sales Data
Some examples of the premium sales prospecting data available in Sales Navigator (but not free LinkedIn) include:
- Keywords and technologies: Identify the key words and tech a prospect mentions most to personalize outreach
- Groups: See which LinkedIn Groups a prospect is a member of to identify interests
- Historical changes: View historical changes to a prospect’s profile over time
- News mentions: See news articles mentioning the prospect or their company
- Related Leads: Uncover more contacts at the prospect’s company
- Lead Gen forms: Create customized forms to capture prospect contact info and interests
This data helps sales teams build in-depth prospect profiles, personalize messaging, and identify the best products/services to showcase.
Pricing
LinkedIn offers free basic membership. Sales Navigator pricing starts at $64.99/month per user for the base package.
More advanced packages with additional features are also available:
| Package | Price Per Month |
|---|---|
| Base | $64.99 |
| Team | $99.99 |
| Business | $119.99 |
| Enterprise | Custom |
Conclusion
While LinkedIn provides a solid social network for general professional networking, Sales Navigator is far more tailored for sales prospecting needs.
Key Sales Navigator advantages include robust search and organization tools, lead recommendations, activity tracking, sales analytics, and premium prospect data.
For individual sales reps aiming to improve efficiency, or sales leaders looking to optimize team performance – Sales Navigator is likely the better choice over LinkedIn. That said, LinkedIn remains valuable for establishing overall brand and thought leadership presence.
The best solution is often integrating both tools:
- Use LinkedIn to publish content and build an audience.
- Use Sales Navigator for detailed prospecting and outreach.
Together this offers a complete social selling solution to maximize results.