TL;DR
– Be direct about intentions but create interest without pitching immediately in the first message
– Follow up across LinkedIn, email, and Twitter, as multichannel significantly boosts reply rates demonstrably
– Personalize with 20+ variables including first name, company, custom attributes for each prospect specifically
– Demonstrate clear value addressing specific needs and pain points in every message concretely
– LaGrowthMachine Inbox centralizes all conversations across channels in one simple interface
When prospecting on LinkedIn, it’s tricky to reach out to new people. But it’s also the best outbound method to generate leads and sales via LinkedIn.
Why is a LinkedIn message so useful? And how should you write a LinkedIn message that gets read and replied to?
To increase your chances of getting a positive reply, your LinkedIn copywriting skills are your best ally.
In this article, I’ll show you how to master your LinkedIn messages and give you practical tips to ensure they get read and replied to!
Why should I use LinkedIn messages in my prospecting strategy?
As I said in the introduction, if you’re trying to generate B2B opportunities, LinkedIn messages could be one of your best moves.
Simply put, because almost everyone – including your contacts – is active on this social network. Active means they connect at least once or several times a week.
When you’re active, your lead journey on LinkedIn might include:
- reading the LinkedIn posts they are exposed to,
- searching for information,
- accepting new network connection requests,
- reading the messages others (=you) have sent them.
If you’ve read my latest guide to lead generation on Linkedin, you already know that there are two groups of methods for finding opportunities: Inbound and Outbound. The LinkedIn plans allow you to activate many different actions.
Sending LinkedIn messages activates leads through the Outbound path, which is interesting because it’s super fast.
Best practices for LinkedIn messages
When sending a LinkedIn message, it’s not always about the content.
Yes, you definitely need to make sure your message is well-structured, but you also need to pay attention to a few other things:
Be direct
Tell them what to do or what you expect from them. Not in a demanding way (of course), but in a request for why they might be interested.
Don’t start pitching right away! Be direct in the sense that you want to offer them something, but vague enough that they become curious but not overwhelmed.
Hello everyone! I see most people in my network are reacting to your posts and wanted to introduce myself. Would you be interested in connecting? 👋🏼
Simple, subtle, and to the point.
We have a detailed guide on LinkedIn connection messages where we dive much deeper into this topic, so be sure to check out the guide!
Always follow up
This isn’t really a best practice, but more of a general guideline to stick to.
When you’ve connected with someone on LinkedIn, it’s important to follow up on your first message with another one – and then another. This can be as simple as:
Hey, I’m glad we connected! What are you working on?
If you’re in sales, you can even be more aggressive and gradually add more follow-ups.
Our sales stats show that leads usually reply more from the 3rd to 4th follow-up, so don’t hesitate to follow up multiple times.
Disclaimer ⚠️
A high reply rate doesn’t mean the reply will be positive.
Try to insult your prospects… you’ll still get a high reply rate. However, they probably won’t be very positive replies. 🙃
How to solve this? Make sure you qualify your leads properly!
But there’s a catch: you won’t ONLY follow up on LinkedIn!
This is exactly why La Growth Machine is the way to go!
Multichannel prospecting is simply the best way when it comes to sales, and with a multichannel sales software like La Growth Machine, you can do just that. You can create automated campaigns with messages sent to LinkedIn, email, and even Twitter! LGM even allows you to find phone numbers and email addresses on LinkedIn.
And the best part? You have everything in one easy-to-use interface: the La Growth Machine Inbox:
You can track your conversations for each lead and even reply directly from the inbox through the channel you prefer.
Personalize your message:
Speaking of being “human”, personalizing your messages is crucial. Always try to mention something specific about the person you’re trying to reach out to. This could be something from their profile or their recent posts.
Remember the last time you positively replied to one of those “Dear Sir or Madam” messages? Yeah, me neither… 🙄
People don’t engage with generic messages, and this is where La Growth Machine comes in.
You have over 20 different variables to personalize your messages, from the classics like First and Last Name and Company Name, to custom attributes that you can personalize as you wish.
This way, you can ensure that each message is personalized and tailored specifically to each prospect, increasing the likelihood of a positive response.
Show your value:
This is the most important best practice to keep in mind when writing messages on LinkedIn. People are busy and don’t have time for useless messages that make them lose their valuable time.
You need to demonstrate your value in every single message so that the person you’re trying to reach knows why they should take the time to reply.
Think thoroughly about your target audience’s needs and problems, and consider how you can help them with your solution.
The more value you show in each message, the better! Here’s an example from a campaign I ran recently:
Hi {{firstName}},
I saw you’re recruiting a {{customAttribute1}}*. Congrats on growing your team!
If you want to get more replies without necessarily growing your staff, you should try a multichannel approach. With {{identity.companyName}}, you can leverage LinkedIn, email, and even Twitter to engage where your leads truly are! This way, you’ll get 3.5x more replies 😇.
*customAttribute1 = Roles related to Sales Development and Business Development.
Let your personality shine through:
And finally, don’t be afraid to let your personality – or your brand’s personality – shine through when crafting your messages. People are more likely to engage with a message that reflects the sender’s personality than one that looks like it was written by a robot.
Let some of your humor, enthusiasm, and values shine through in each message to ensure your customers know there’s a real human behind the screen.
4 LinkedIn Message Templates That Work Amazingly Well!
We want to help you get started right away. Use the templates below to build a great network and get more orders!
First Contact Message
Hi {{firstname}}, I saw you also attended the {{eventName}} webinar.
Are you freelancing or working on a project? :)
40% reply rate
We have a detailed article on how to attract your leads on LinkedIn from the very first message, with templates that are statistically proven to work!
You can check this performance at any time thanks to LinkedIn KPIs.
Follow-up Message
Hi {{firstname}},
I wanted to connect with you because {I think we have similar interests | I want to grow my network in the {{industry}} | I liked your post about {{topic}}. Feel free to reach out!
(Add a GIF or a funny image to make your message more engaging)
The “How Can We Help?” Message
Hi {{firstname}},
I saw your post about {{topic}}. It looks like you might need a helping hand with {{pain point}}.
We have a {{solution}} that could help you achieve your goals faster.
Want to know more? Book a meeting right here 👉 {{link}}
Let’s make it happen! 🙂
Soft Pitch Message
Hi, {{firstname}}! I was looking at {{companyName}} and noticed that {{customAttribute1}} in our industry is active on LinkedIn. Want some tips on how to prospect like a pro? 😎
Here’s an example to illustrate what a custom attribute could be:
Example 🔍
Hi, Adrien! I was just looking at La Growth Machine and noticed that sales reps in our industry are active on LinkedIn. Do you have any tips on how to prospect like a pro? 😎
To be completely honest, these templates are a generic version of what our clients use.
Get 3.5x more leads!
Want to improve your sales team’s efficiency? With LaGrowthMachine, you can generate 3.5x more leads on average while saving an incredible amount of time on all your processes. Sign up today and get a 14-day free trial to test our tool!
Now it’s up to you
Now that you have the skills of a genius in prospecting, you can send the best LinkedIn messages to your target audience.
It’s really not that hard. It might seem like it, but honestly, it all comes down to good segmentation and targeting.
I mean, think about it… If you know and understand who you’re talking to, you’ll certainly know how to talk to them. That’s the most important thing!
Be natural, friendly, and focus on the value you bring to the prospect, not the product itself.
We cover this in our article on copywriting strategy, which you should definitely check out!
Remember to use automation wherever possible, and check out La Growth Machine to save time and stress.
Happy messaging! 🙂