Get this: LinkedIn is BOOMING. There’s a ton of opportunities to generate leads, skyrocket your social selling, and increase your authority and reach.
But only if you play your cards right….
Get something wrong – and it’s your account on the line.
That’s right. One mistake, and LinkedIn can flag your account and permanently shut it down. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Especially if LinkedIn is one of your primary sources for generating B2B leads – as it is for many marketers.
And what’s the best place if not LinkedIn, with over 722 million members, 40% of whom use it daily?
Everyone is there. Decision makers from every industry, every company size, and every country. From junior positions to senior executives and CEOs. Interestingly, LinkedIn is also the most used social media platform among Fortune 500 companies.
Keep reading to learn how to do an effective cold outreach on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn connection and message limits in a nutshell…
Follow these rules in order to keep your LinkedIn account safe (and not flagged!)
- With a basic, free LinkedIn account, you can only directly message other members you are connected to.
- With Sales Navigator, you can message from 20 to 50 people outside your network per month, depending on the plan you choose.
Excessive activity may cause your account to be flagged by LinkedIn’s monitoring system and eventually become blocked (sort of like Facebook jail for LinkedIn).
If you use LinkedIn for your outbound sales, you may think these numbers are really low, but the reason LinkedIn sets these limits is to stop spammers from sending mass messages and to avoid users abusing the platform.
So, the best way to actually reach your potential customers is through invitation messages first. LinkedIn itself does not reveal any info about invitation message limits but I found in multiple sources that for a long time you could send 100 of these per day, but recently, LinkedIn decided to limit the number of invites to 100 per week.
Unfortunately, that’s 85% fewer potential connections. Many marketers who depend on LinkedIn for their lead generation started brainstorming about how to shift gears and still get the most out of it.
The answer they found is simple – turn quantity into exceptional quality.
Tips to make your LinkedIn outreach messages get responses
A while ago Sandra wrote a blog post about personalizing LinkedIn connection requests, so this time I will focus specifically on how you can use LinkedIn in addition to your email outreach and boost your sales results.
First, let me give you some practical tips on how to write LinkedIn messages:
1. Keep it short
According to LinkedIn, more than half of InMail’s are read on mobile. That means it’s better to think of LinkedIn messages more like a text message rather than an email. Write short – 150 words or less and get to the point.
2. Don’t sell
Your goal is not to pitch your product or service, but to make a connection and start a conversation with your potential client. If during these initial stages of getting to know your prospect you find out that they are a good fit for you, you can of course offer a call, but you should only mention this in the later stages of the conversation.
3. Make them curious
Decision makers will give you their time if you gain their attention with a topic that interests them. Connect your expertise to their work and ask challenging questions. You can focus on their problems and goals that you know your solution or service could potentially solve.
4. Personalize
With Woodpecker you can use snippets to tailor your LinkedIn message with the data you’ve collected about prospects on your list.
5. Follow up
60% of LinkedIn users don’t log in to the platform daily, and those who do may not have enough time to respond. So, if you’ve noticed that your message has been seen but not replied to, it’s worth sending a follow-up message to make sure your request doesn’t fall through the cracks.
Linkedin Outreach Tips: Send powerful emails & boost replies
Here are several samples of LinkedIn messages you can use now:
- If you contact a prospect for the first time
Hi {{First_Name}}. I came across your profile while searching for XXX. Since you handle XXX at {{Company}}, may I ask you how are you XXX? I’d love to exchange thoughts about it with you!
- If you contacted them via email, but they didn’t reply
Hey {{First_Name}}, I thought that it would be great to connect with you here on LinkedIn and pick your brain about XXX! Are you open to a quick chat this week?
- If you want to send thanks after a successful meeting
Hi {{First_Name}}, thank you for finding the time to talk to me today. I loved learning about XXX. Have a productive week ahead!
- If you want to clear their doubts about your offering
Hey {{First_Name}}, I just wanted to quickly let you know that if you have any questions about the offer I sent you last week, feel free to drop me a line here. I’d be happy to help!
- If you want to motivate them to take the next step
Hi {{First_Name}}, as promised I’m circling back to figure out the next steps about XXX. Were you able to make a decision?
- If they were initially interested in your offer but then disappeared
Hi {{First_Name}}, I haven’t heard back from you since our meeting, so I guess implementing XXX to {{Company}} is no longer a priority. In case you have a change of heart, feel free to reach back to me here!
Key takeaways
There is a ton of selling Opportunity at LinkedIn, if you do it right, and follow their rules.
LinkedIn messaging takes some work, but with these tips you’ll be well on your way to creating cold messages that get replies.
Keep in mind that the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” absolutely does not apply to messaging. You need to try different things constantly so you can figure out what works the best.
About the Biz Wizards
We are Fred and Kim Dole, and we are the Biz Wizards. I (Fred, today’s author) was in the employee mindset for 30 years. I worked way too many hours, enriching my boss and my employer while I struggled to pay my bills.
When I finally got sick of being bullied and beaten down by my employer, I saw the light and we created our site, The Biz Wizards. We will help you break the chains of the “Employee Mindset” and help you take back control of your life by starting a successful side hustle. You can get more information about how we help side hustlers at The Biz Wizards