Social networks have become for companies not only a means of promotion and recruitment, but also of prospecting .
Some businesses even find the majority of their prospects through these networks. And to achieve this, professional networks such as LinkedIn are the most effective.
LinkedIn is 277% more effective than Facebook and Twitter at generating leads!
However, it is not easy to automate prospecting actions, sending messages or saving profiles on a contact list.. It is necessary to go through third-party software specialized in the field.
In this article, you will discover one of the best automated prospecting tools on LinkedIn: Octopus CRM.
Octopus CRM: what is it?
Octopus CRM in 2 words
Octopus CRM is, as its name suggests, a customer relationship management software , but it is not limited to that.
It is above all a tool specialized in prospecting on LinkedIn.
Is it really a CRM?
CRMs are used to manage a company’s relationship with its customers. Some CRMs offer advanced features in the sales, marketing and even website management .
This definition fits more with Twilead , an all-in-one CRM software.
Octopus CRM , despite its name, is not a real CRM software. It’s a LinkedIn automation tool (quite similar to Leadin).
It allows to :
- Filter and import profiles of prospects found on LinkedIn
- Manage connection requests
- Send automated messages
- Create personalized messages
The name “CRM” is misleading and can be misleading. If you are looking for a software dedicated to prospecting on LinkedIn, you are making the right choice.
But if you’re looking for a real CRM, go with a tool like Twilead .
What is LinkedIn canvassing automation for?
B2B marketers say they find 80% of their leads on LinkedIn. This is a huge source of potential customers for businesses!
However, getting started with LinkedIn isn’t easy , especially if you’re looking to do mass prospecting.
Searching for profiles takes time, contacting them just as much.
You also need to relaunch leads with personalized messages. All these manipulations are long and tedious.
Not to mention all the interactions possible on the social network. You have messages to follow, management of profile views, connection requests, Inmails, reactions and comments on your posts, etc.
This is where automation software for LinkedIn finds its full potential: it will save you time by making it easier to manage your leads.
Features of Octopus CRM
In order to facilitate your prospecting work on LinkedIn, Octopus CRM offers many features .
Automatically view user profiles
On LinkedIn, users can see who has viewed their profile. This isa discreet way to get noticed by a potential client .
Octopus RM allows you to view user profiles in detail.
Send multiple messages to multiple contacts
This feature allows you to send bulk messages to reach as many contacts as possible. Depending on the type of LinkedIn account you have (Premium or not), you will be able to send between 100 and 150 messages every day.
Create sales funnels on Linkedin
Octopus CRM allows you to create sales funnels on LinkedIn. The software allows you to send automatic messages after your connection requests are accepted.
You can personalize these messages according to the target customers. If thank you or first offer messages aren’t working, you can configure the software to send follow-up messages.
Octopus CRM makes it possible to optimize the functionalities made available to you to transform your leads into customers.
Google Chrome extension
When used on LinkedIn, Octopus CRM is available as an extension on Google Chrome. So, when you arrive on LinkedIn, all you have to do is click on the software icon and a pop up window will appear.
To save contact profiles, all you have to do is search on LinkedIn and then use the popup to transfer their information to the tool’s database.
Statistics and reporting
In order to monitor and evaluate your efforts, Octopus CRM provides you with a dashboard on which you will find all the statistics concerning your LinkedIn profile.
You will find numbers such as:
- The performance of your prospecting campaign
- Your sales index
- The number of profile views
- Your appearance rate in searches
Consulting these figures will help you identify areas for improvement in your campaigns. You can optimize them to increase your conversion rates.
Is email marketing available at Octopus CRM?
Octopus CRM allows you to send emails to ask your prospects for connection requests. But the use of emails is limited to that.
Octopus CRM does not offer any real email marketing offer.
If you’re looking for email marketing features in addition to lead management on LinkedIn, head to Leadin. Our tool offers in its tool pack email marketing automation features.
Leadin costs 97€/month , a fairly high cost but which is explained by the plurality of features of the software. It is not limited to sending email like SendinBlue but offers a truly all-in-one marketing tool.
It is one of the few tools capable of creating B2B sales tunnels in multi-channel prospecting.
Who is Octopus CRM for?
Octopus CRM is a software offering very easy handling. It is therefore addressed to any type of company and person wishing to prospect on LinkedIn.
Freelancers can use the tool for the development of their network. The tool allows them to easily contact and request connections with different profiles.
When you are self-employed, you easily spend a lot of time prospecting for new clients. Sometimes several hours a week!
That’s as much time as you don’t charge anyone. So if you can save time to dedicate it to billable work, you better adopt one of these tools.
Octopus CRM also offers special offers for agencies. They have the possibility of obtaining several licenses. To benefit from this, simply contact customer service.
The particularly affordable prices of the software (from €6.99 per month) make it an excellent investment for startups and SMEs wishing to recharge their batteries on LinkedIn.
Does Octopus CRM keep its promises?
Customer Support
Octopus CRM offers very responsive customer support .
The tool offers a section “frequently asked questions (FAQ)” on the home page of its website. For more technical questions, you will have to go through customer support.
However, you can only contact them by email!
No instant messaging or phone support.
But customer reviews remain positive on GetApp:
Ease of handling
Octopus CRM is generally easy to learn. From Tutorial videos are offered to users in order to understand the operation of the software.
The Google Chrome extension is particularly intuitive. It makes setting up prospecting campaigns on LinkedIn simple.
However, some procedures are not clear enough to be repeated without making mistakes or without watching the videos:
Integration with other tools
Prospecting automation tools such as Octopus CRM are usually used with other tools. This allows the information collected to be fully exploited and used in other acquisition channels. marketing .
Octopus CRM offers various integrations with several other software such as Zapier, Google Docs or Hubspot.
Integrations are easy .
Do I need a Linkedin Sales Navigator account to use Octopus CRM?
It is not necessary to have LinkedIn Sales Navigator to use Octopus CRM. The tool works with the basic version of LinkedIn.
However, it is more interesting and recommended to opt for Sales Navigator for your Linkedin and email campaigns.
It allows you to use 100% of LinkedIn’s capabilities by targeting very precisely the profiles that interest you.
The more your leads match your persona, the more effective your campaigns will be .
The only constraint: its price, €99 per month and per user, without replacing Octopus CRM or one of its competitors.
How many invitation requests can I send with Octopus CRM?
LinkedIn normally offers 100 connection requests per week. With Octopus CRM, you can exceed this limit and send more than 500 requests per week.
This is possible thanks to connection requests by email.
However, do not spam other users by sending too many invitations.
How do I cancel Octopus CRM if I’m not satisfied?
If the functionalities offered by Octopus CRM do not correspond to you or do not meet your needs, you can cancel your subscription.
To unsubscribe from Octopus CRM, simply go to settings and cancel your subscription. You can also contact customer support and they will help you cancel Octopus CRM.
Octopus CRM subscriptions
Octopus CRM provides its users with 4 paid formulas.
Each plan offers a free 7-day trial period (without credit card). If you are not satisfied with the service, you can unsubscribe at any time.
The different formulas of Octopus CRM are as follows:
The starter formula
The Starter plan is offered at €6.99/month. It is compatible with the basic version of LinkedIn and Sales Navigator. This formula offers very few features and they are quite basic:
- A personal CRM with statistics
- Automatic invitations (customizable)
- A possibility to connect with premium LinkedIn users only (this is a huge constraint)
The Pro formula
It is offered at 9.99 €/month. Although it offers more features than the Starter version, it is not particularly more interesting. Its offer offers the features of the following formula as well as:
- Automatic mass mailings
- Automatic profile views
The Advanced formula
The main interest of this kind of tool is its ability to build sales tunnels in order to increase your conversion rates.. The Advanced formula , at 14.99 €/month, is the first formula to offer this functionality. It is therefore much more useful than the first two.
This plan offers the same features as the previous formulas, plus:
- Data import and export
- The creation of sales tunnels
To create effective campaigns, sales tunnels are essential: you must at least take this subscription.
The Unlimited formula
This is the complete offer of Octopus CRM. This is the only one we recommend. It is compatible with LinkedIn Basic, LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator and Recruiter. Proposed 24.99 €/month , it has all the features of the previous formulas but it also offers:
- Integrations with Zapier and Hubspot
- Activity control
- Exceed weekly invite limit
What alternatives to Octopus CRM?
Zopto
Just like Octopus CRM, Zopto allows the automation of sending invitations by LinkedIn connection request and by email.
Unlike Octopus CRM, Zopto is not a Chrome extension. It is a separate application. All settings for LinkedIn outreach campaigns are done on the platform.
Zopto is not a really suitable tool for startups because of its price. Its lowest formula is offered at 215 €/month!
Zopto is well rated on Getapp:
Prospectin
Prospectin is also an automated LinkedIn prospecting software.
Like Octopus CRM, Prospectin offers the sending of automatic messages on LinkedIn. Its strengths are its ease of handling and its sober and intuitive user interface.
The software provides detailed tutorials and articles to help its users get started.
Customer reviews are mixed on Trustpilot:
Leadin
Leadin is a tool for writing and sending hundreds of messages to your LinkedIn prospects .
As you will have understood, it is also a multi-channel prospecting tool on LinkedIn and by email.
It can be quickly set up and its interface is particularly ergonomic , making it very easy to use.
The software is also easily configurable to be personalized according to your needs.
Offered at €97/month, its price may seem high.
But if you use its features correctly (we’re here to support you), it offers excellent value for money .. Besides, Leadin offers a 14-day free trial.
Leadin scores 4.1 on Trustpilot:
Find below the comparative table of these 3 software:
Functionality | Zopto | ProspectIn | LeadIn |
Price | from €215/month | from €16/month | 97 €/month |
Automated prospecting on LinkedIn | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Automated Prospecting by Email | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Automated profile visit | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Automated profile tracking | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Discovery and verification of emails | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Sales funnels | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
List segmentation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Customizing Images and Gifs | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Import from CSV | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Integration with other tools | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Detailed report and analyzes | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Dashboard | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
A/B testing | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Average grade | 4,4 | 3,1 | 4,1 |
Free try | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Conclusion
Octopus CRM is an excellent automation software dedicated to LinkedIn. Her easy handling as well as its intuitive use makes it a tool suitable for all types of businesses.
In addition, its particularly low entry ticket makes it a perfect tool for SMEs and startups .
Its automation features are effective and the ability to create sales funnels makes it a particularly interesting conversion tool.
Find below a table summarizing the main advantages and disadvantages of Octopus CRM.
Benefits | The inconvenients |
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Octopus CRM is a particularly effective LinkedIn automation software with few drawbacks. But he’s not perfect.
Looking for a much more advanced LinkedIn prospecting tool ? Turn to Leadin !
