How to Do a Cold Outreach Campaign on LinkedIn? Practical Tips & Message Example

The pandemic has hit us hard. Canceled events, no face-to-face meetings, social life completely shut down. No wonder that business people around the globe are turning to the online world more often now in search of places where they can still carry out a business dialog and make it as effective as possible. 

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

There are rules you need to follow in order to keep your LinkedIn account safe.

Excessive activity may cause your account to be flagged by LinkedIn’s monitoring system and eventually become blocked.  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 information about the invitation message limit but we 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 – The answer they found is simple – turn quantity into exceptional quality.

How to make your LinkedIn outreach messages responsive?

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 inMails 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.

Send powerful emails & boost replies

Examples of a LinkedIn message

Here are sample LinkedIn message examples:

If you contact a prospect for the first time

Hi {{First_Name}}. I came across your profile while searching for {{Snippet_1}}. Since you handle {{Snippet_2}} at {{Company}}, may I ask you how are you {{Snippet_3}}? 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 {{Snippet_2}}! 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 {{Snippet_1}}. 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

cHi {{First_Name}}, as promised I’m circling back to figure out the next steps about {{Snippet_1}}. 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 {{Snippet_1}} to {{Company}} is no longer a priority. In case you have a change of heart, feel free to reach back to me here!

We have many more examples of messages that are proven to bring massive success to many of our clients. If you would like more information on our LinkedIn outreach program for B2B sales click here to get in touch!

We would love to hear from you.

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