LinkedIn is the go-to platform for professionals looking to network and build their brand. But for marketers everywhere, it’s also a powerful tool for reaching millions of potential customers through targeted ads.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms make it easy for businesses to capture prospects in LinkedIn. Instead of traditional ads—where users are directed to other platforms—LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms keeps folks in their feed. Users can simply submit their pre-filled profile information with just one click.
Sounds easy, right? But capturing leads is only half the battle. You need to act fast to engage those prospects and convert them into customers. In order to scale, you need automation.
While Zapier can’t pitch your company’s value—that’s better left to humans—we can help you streamline your lead generation process. With a few Zaps—our term for our automated workflows—you can send your new leads to your CRM, organize them in a spreadsheet, and create personalized follow-ups automatically.
Table of contents
Before we get started
When automating LinkedIn Lead Gen with Zapier, use the Zapier LinkedIn Ads integration, which also works to automate your LinkedIn Custom Audiences account.
There are two main parts to every Zap:
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The trigger: an event that starts a Zap, like when a lead fills out a LinkedIn Lead Gen form.
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The action: an event a Zap performs after it’s triggered, like adding that new lead to your CRM. A single Zap can perform one or more actions.
The LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms integration has two triggers:
Now, let’s dive into popular ways to automate LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms.
To get started with a Zap template—what we call our pre-made workflows—just click on the button. It only takes a few minutes to set up. You can read more about setting up Zaps here.
Notify your sales team
New leads are like seeds. With enough care and finesse, those leads will grow into paying customers. But if your sales team isn’t aware those leads exist, they’re not going to grow into anything.
In-app notifications and emails only work if your team is attached to their inbox or always on LinkedIn, but they’re likely working elsewhere to close deals. These Zaps will automatically notify your sales team in a team chat app whenever there’s a new lead from LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms.
Add new leads to your CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) apps are a central source of truth for many businesses. They contain all the information you need on leads, customers, deals, and more. They can also be a central source of headaches whenever information isn’t accurate. Many CRMs will have some automation features built in, but there are still some things your team needs to update manually.
Your LinkedIn leads don’t have to be one of them. These Zaps will automatically add your new leads as contacts in your preferred CRM.
Send immediate emails to new leads
Reaching out to leads as soon as they show interest means they’re more likely to convert. But as you scale your LinkedIn lead gen form intake, it’s impossible to manually reach out to every new submission.
Use these Zaps to instantly send leads a welcome email as soon as they fill out your LinkedIn form. That way, they hear from you right away—and are more likely to engage with your brand.
Add leads to other marketing tools
It takes more than one welcoming marketing message to convert a lead into a customer. That’s where email newsletters play an important role. They allow you to put leads on long-term email nurture campaigns designed to turn them into customers.
These Zaps will automatically add new leads from LinkedIn to your subscriber list, ensuring that your email lists are up to date with every single lead you bring in.
Connect LinkedIn Ads to webhooks
Zapier lets you connect LinkedIn Ads with thousands of popular apps. But what if you can’t find the tool you’re looking for in Zapier’s App Directory?
Don’t worry, there’s a workaround! With webhooks, you can send data between LinkedIn Ads and other apps that don’t natively integrate (or don’t support your desired triggers or actions) with Zapier.
With webhooks, you can either post new LinkedIn Lead Gen form responses to another app or send custom requests to get your leads going exactly where they need to go.
Organize lead information for data analysis
As with any lead generation campaign, you should analyze the results so you can plan future campaigns. You can export lead data from LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to a CSV file, but if you want to analyze lead information as it comes in—for example, if you want to adjust your campaign messaging—these workflows will automatically add a new lead to your favorite spreadsheet, database, or analytics app.
Streamline the way you use LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
With just a few of those automated workflows, you can streamline your marketing strategy and start converting any leads you capture using the tool.
If you work with tools we didn’t feature here, don’t worry! Zapier works with thousands of apps in combination with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms. Head to our App Directory and search for the one you use, or browse to find the right solution for your needs.
This article was originally published in April 2017, with previous contributions by Krystina Martinez and Ellie Huizenga. It was most recently updated in October 2024 by Elena Alston.