How to Turn Content Into Clients Using Sales Navigator
How to Turn Content Into Clients Using Sales Navigator
Nader Alnajjar
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TLDR
Most LinkedIn DMs never get a response. Sales Navigator fixes the two things that decide whether yours do: knowing who to message and what to message them.
Content and Sales Navigator work as one system. Content builds attention; Sales Navigator turns that attention into action.
The workflow: define your objective, build four lists (Warm, Cold, Dream, Engagement), save personas so targeting is repeatable, and engage with prospects before you ever message them.
Outreach should spark a conversation, not pitch. Lead with the prospect, keep questions specific and low effort to answer, and make sure your profile backs up the message.
If you’ve ever felt like your sales messages are disappearing into the void, you’re not wrong. Most LinkedIn DMs never get a response.
But Sales Navigator gives you the context to change that.
Used right, it’s the shortest path from content to leads, and leads to cash 👀
Here’s everything you need to know…
Build Leverage By Learning:
How SalesNav fits into your personal brand
A Practical SalesNav Workflow
Where it all began…
Some of you may recognise this guy: LinkedIn wizard and my good friend Chris Donnelly. Pre-personal brand days, when I was just getting to know him.
Today, he’s one of the biggest names on LinkedIn. But years ago, when he was running his agency Verb, he didn’t have that leverage when it came to getting clients. It was all about knowing how to have the right conversations with the right people.
Back then, we found most clients manually without ads or a huge budget; just building lists, warming them up, and closing through content and strategic messaging.
It wasn’t fancy, but the important fundamentals were there → knowing who to message, and what to message them.
The good news is… LinkedIn makes this process 10x easier through their Sales Navigator tool.
So if you’re not making SalesNav part of your content strategy… you’re missing out on a potential goldmine.
How SalesNav fits into your personal brand
For those that don’t know, Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s advanced search and outreach tool.
It lets you filter the entire LinkedIn network, by industry, role, company size, seniority, and even recent activity, so you can build precise lead lists.
Think of it as LinkedIn’s version of a CRM:
You filter and save leads.
Get alerts when they change jobs or post.
Engage and message them directly
SalesNav also gives you data no other tool does; who’s active, posting, and ready to engage.
So when it comes to your personal brand, content and SalesNav have to work together as one system.
Content builds attention.
SalesNav turns that attention into action.
It can be your multiplier to building leverage on LinkedIn… but only if you know how to use it intentionally.
A Practical SalesNav Workflow
Converting attention into leads comes down to 2 things → knowing who to message, and what to message. This step-by-step workflow covers both:
Step 1️⃣: Start With Your Objective
Is this about generating leads, growing your newsletter, or just distributing your content?
An important note: most people assume that SalesNav is just for lead gen, but it can be used purely for growth and building attention around your brand. This is where LinkedIn’s unique data points come into use: you can filter for who’s actively posting → comment meaningfully → then connect and message.
Equally, if you’re trying to distribute your newsletter, filter for job titles in your niche → connect → follow-up with content.
You can find value on the platform no matter what your goal is. You just have to make sure these goals are defined upfront.
Step 2️⃣: Build Out Lists
Lists are curated groups of leads or accounts on SalesNav that are based on your goals. You can use them to segment by audience: ideal clients, past engagers, recent job changes.
There are 4 types of lists you should build:
1. Warm List: People who are most likely to buy from you as they have already engaged with you or your content in some way before. This list is all about capitalising on low-hanging fruit - it’s a quick win as someone is more likely to convert if they know who you are. Target these people by subtly introducing them to your offer with lead magnets, or just have conversations without selling to build trust.
Filters:
Who’s viewed your profile in the last 90 days
Engaged with your posts or company page
Shared experiences or mutual connections
Previously saved leads who haven’t replied
2. Cold List: People who have no idea who you are, but are your ideal audience/ICP (Ideal Client Profile). They will also definitely ignore you if you try to sell to them right away, so focus on starting new conversations and building connections to grow your network.
Filters:
Seniority: Owner, Partner, CXO, Director (based on ICP)
Company Headcount: 2-10, 11-50, etc. (as per your tiering)
Geography: Your service area (e.g. UK, Dubai, US)
Industry: B2B SaaS, Consulting, etc.
Posted on LinkedIn in Past 30 Days: TRUE
Custom Filter: Exclude current connections
3. Dream List: These are your VIP targets. Anyone on this list will receive a message via In-Mail, meaning your DM will go straight into their inbox. You get 50 In-Mail credits per month with SalesNav, so make sure you reserve them for those high-ticket clients/partnerships and be ready to send them a well-made proposal or a few smart questions that’ll maximise the chance of a response.
Filters:
Job Title: CEO, Founder, etc.
Company Headcount: 50+ or Enterprise
Keywords: Use advanced filters to find companies with traits you want
“Changed job in last 90 days” → great for new execs with budgets
“Mentioned in the news” → shows relevance
Past company/alma mater/common groups → gives rapport-building hooks
4. Engagement List: These are people whose posts you want to engage with (Network or ICP). Your LinkedIn feed can end up filled with other creators’ content, so making these lists allows you to optimise your SalesNav home page and see your ICP’s content
Filters:
Seniority
Industry
Location/Region
Function (if applicable)
Posted on Linked - YES
Step 3️⃣: Create Personas for Reusability
Personas are essentially saved sets of filters that represent your ICP or target audience. They let you segment prospects into groups based on attributes like job tite, seniority, industry, company size, or geography, making outreach more personalised and efficient.
How to Create a Persona:
Go to Lead Filters
Select relevant filters (e.g. Geography, Industry, Company Headcount, Function & Seniority, Job Title, Years in Current Position, etc.)
Save as Persona → Make sure you give it a clear and descriptive name so you don’t get confused later.
Step 4️⃣: Warm Lists First
Before you message anyone, make sure you’re engaging with their content in advance to build a sense of familiarity.
For people in your Warm List, this is important to maintain and strengthen those relationships you’re already building.
For your Cold List and Dream List, building this familiarity is even more important as you want to make sure your first message doesn’t feel random.
As for the Engagement List, this is pretty self-explanatory; engage with your ICP’s posts regularly so that they stay on your feed and so you can grow that sense of trust.
Step 5️⃣: Send Effective Messages
This is probably the hardest part about sales and outreach. People invest so much time and money into identifying who they want to target, but then they fall at the last hurdle → the message.
If you’re not structuring your messages intentionally, it’s very easy to come across as too cold and template-y. And that means there’s 99.9% the reader will just treat it like spam.
It’s also something you’ll have to experiment with over time, as it’s very dependent on who your ICP is and what you’re offering. Having said that...
There are some general guidelines you should follow that will increase your chances of success:
Think of outbound as sparking a conversation, not pitching to someone → Selling off the bat to random people will only burn leads, even if they’re your target audience. Focus on building genuine relationships and trust first.
Do NOT talk about yourself/your product too early →Most people love it when you talk about them, so lead with specific and thoughtful questions about themselves instead of “me”, “I’, “our” or “we”.
Focus on THEIR expertise, challenges and interests → Do your research. What did they last post about? Have you come across an article lately that is relevant to them or their business which they’d find valuable? Be specific but concise here.
Don’t ask questions that are too broad → Make replying as low effort as possible. Something like, “What are your thoughts on the current state of [X topic]?” takes too long to answer, so keep the questions focused and give plenty of context.
Ask / Say something that will either:
A. Qualify the prospect
B. Uncover a pain pointKeep the tone casual and authentic → Treat it like a normal conversation (no buzzwords or jargon). Ask people in your industry what’s working for them right now; i.e., recently, voice notes have been really cutting through in DMs as they feel more informal.
Don’t follow up immediately → This can easily come off as too needy and desperate. I like to alternate between the one-touch and multi-touch approach, depending on the context:
A. One-touch = Send one initial message and then leave it alone.
B. Multi-touch = Send your initial message, and then have several answers ready to follow up based on their response.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make Sure Your Profile Matches
As I mentioned earlier, the first thing someone does when they get a message from you is click on your profile. They’re expecting to see cohesion across everything, so make sure your banner, About section, and positioning all align in tone and offering to reinforce your credibility.
P.S. If you want to see some real-life examples of good vs. bad messages, check out my cheat sheet here.
Content builds attention. SalesNav turns it into clients.
Make sure you’re using both, or you’re leaving leverage on the table.
Until next time,
Nader 🫡
What this means for you
If you are a founder or executive posting consistently on LinkedIn, attention is probably not your problem; conversion is. The reason most DMs die unanswered is that they arrive cold, generic and premature, so the reader files them as spam before the second line. Sales Navigator closes that gap with context: it shows you who is active, who has already engaged with you, and what each prospect cares about, so your first message reads as a relevant conversation between peers rather than a pitch from a stranger.
The practical move is to run outreach as a system that sits alongside your content, not as a replacement for it. Build the four lists, save personas so targeting is repeatable rather than reinvented each week, warm prospects by engaging with their posts before you message, and reserve your InMail credits for genuine dream clients. Then hold the message bar high: specific, about them, and low effort to answer. Your content earns the attention and builds LinkedIn authority; a disciplined Sales Navigator workflow is what turns that attention into pipeline.
Frequently asked questions
Why do most LinkedIn DMs get ignored?
Because they read like spam. Messages that are not structured intentionally come across as cold and template-y, and selling to people straight away burns leads even when they fit your ideal client profile. The fix is context: know who to message and what to message them, build familiarity by engaging with their content before the first DM, and make sure your profile matches your message, because the first thing a prospect does is click through to check you out.
What is LinkedIn Sales Navigator and how does it fit a personal brand?
Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's advanced search and outreach tool. It filters the entire LinkedIn network by industry, role, company size, seniority and recent activity so you can build precise lead lists, and it works like LinkedIn's version of a CRM: you filter and save leads, get alerts when they change jobs or post, and message them directly. For a personal brand it pairs with content as one system: content builds attention, Sales Navigator turns that attention into action.
What lists should I build in Sales Navigator?
Four. A Warm List of people who have already engaged with you or your content, the quickest wins. A Cold List of ideal clients who do not know you yet, where the goal is starting conversations rather than selling. A Dream List of VIP targets reached via InMail, worth reserving for high-ticket clients and partnerships since you get 50 credits per month. And an Engagement List of people whose posts you want to engage with, so your feed shows your ideal clients' content instead of other creators'.
How do I write outreach messages that get replies?
Treat outbound as sparking a conversation, not pitching. Avoid talking about yourself or your product too early; lead with specific, thoughtful questions about the prospect, their expertise and their challenges. Keep questions focused and low effort to answer, aim to qualify the prospect or uncover a pain point, keep the tone casual and authentic, and resist following up immediately: choose a one-touch or multi-touch approach depending on the context.
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About the author
Nader Alnajjar is co-founder of LeverBrands, where he builds personal brands and content ecosystems for founders and executives. More at leverbrands.com/about and on LinkedIn.
