Table of contents
- What is a LinkedIn cold message?
- Why should businesses use cold messaging on LinkedIn?
- How to write great LinkedIn cold messages?
- Step1: Make sure your profile is on point:
- Step 2: Build your target:
- Step 3: Set up your sales objectives:
- Step 4: Write your sales message:
- Step 5: Test & measure your results:
- Bonus Step: Use an automation tool!
- LinkedIn cold message examples that work:
- How to handle responses to your LinkedIn cold messages
- Conclusion
Are you trying to get the best out of your prospecting actions for B2B? There are several LinkedIn prospecting techniques that can boost your lead generation to the next level.
One underutilized tactic is cold messaging – sending a message to someone you don’t know, in the hopes of starting a conversation.
What is cold messaging on LinkedIn? What are the advantages for businesses? How to do it properly?
In this post, we’ll explain what cold messaging is, what its benefits are, and share some tips for doing it well. Stay tuned!
What is a LinkedIn cold message?
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for getting new clients. This is especially the case for B2B companies that use LinkedIn for marketing purposes.
Imagine Twitter marketing but with almost exclusively B2B companies!
But to maximize its potential, you must know how to use it properly, which means using the right copywriting, but also doing great segmentation thanks to LinkedIn Boolean Search.
A cold message on LinkedIn is a message that you send to someone you don’t know, to start a conversation with one or many prospects.
Basically, it’s a way to reach out to new people that could be interested in your products or services, without being too sales-y.
To do this, you need to have a good understanding of who your target market is and what their needs are. Once you know this, you can start using a tool to prospect on LinkedIn and send them a personalized sales message.
Cold messaging is one of the most underestimated sales techniques to do LinkedIn lead generation. But when you do it the right way, it’s incredibly efficient.
Great cold messaging always come with the previous step, which is great segmentation. For this matter, you can use Sales Navigator Boolean searches.
Why should businesses use cold messaging on LinkedIn?
As we’ve just seen above, LinkedIn cold messages are simply a way to do traditional business by reaching out to someone the same way you would have done it by phone or email.
Except for the fact that it’s happening through LinkedIn.
There are several advantages to using this technique:
- You can reach out to high-quality prospects that you wouldn’t be able to connect with otherwise. To know more about contacting someone, you can check our post “How to reach out to someone on LinkedIn?
- You can reach out to an unlimited number of leads on your domain
- It’s a low-cost way to get new customers
- You can start building relationships with potential customers before you even have a product or service to sell
- You can nurture these relationships over time so that when you do have something to sell, they’ll be more likely to buy from you
- It’s also a great way to build brand awareness
This is a non-exhaustive list, but you got the idea: LinkedIn cold messaging is a direct way to get new B2B leads without spending a huge amount of money.
But it’s pretty time-consuming, though.
That’s why we created LaGrowthMachine. With our LinkedIn Automation tool, you can easily import lists of leads from any source, and build your LinkedIn prospecting sequence in advance to do the same things, in a few minutes instead of days or weeks.
How to write great LinkedIn cold messages?
Now that you know what a cold message on LinkedIn is, and why you should definitely do it, let’s find out how to build a proper strategy.
At LaGrowthMachine, we’re sending and reviewing hundreds of cold message campaigns. We’ve been building our very own homemade process to get the most out of it.
In the next part of this post, we’ll explain how you should proceed to improve your performance.
Step1: Make sure your profile is on point:
Your profile is your business card on LinkedIn.
When people receive your message, the first thing they do is check who you are, by clicking your profile.
That’s why it needs to be great! If you want to know more about how to optimize your profile, you can check out our post on LinkedIn Profile.
To ensure your profile is great, you should have a look at this specifically:
- Make sure that your profile picture is of good quality and recent
- Your headline is interesting and reflects what you do
- The summary is well-written, error-free, and persuasive
Step 2: Build your target:
The second step is to find the right people to contact. To do this, you need to have a very good understanding of your target market and their needs.
To do this you must:
- create your buyer persona
- analyze your target’s habits and behavior
- have a look at the volume, for forecasting purposes
How to create your buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer. It should be based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
Creating a buyer persona will help you understand your target market better and determine what their needs are. This way, you can create a more targeted sales message that resonates with them.
To create your buyer persona, you need to gather as much information as possible about your ideal customer. You can use surveys, interviews, and focus groups to collect this data.
Once you have all this information, you can start creating your persona.
How to analyze your target behavior?
Now that you know which people you want to target with your messages through LinkedIn, it’s time to analyze their behavior.
This way, you’ll be able to understand how they consume information and what their needs are.
To do this, you need to answer the following questions:
- What are the main challenges my persona is facing?
- What are their goals?
- What type of content do they consume regularly (Blogs, ebooks, webinars, etc.)?
- How active are they on social media?
- Which social media do they use?
- What is their job title?
- etc…
How to find the leads you want to target with LinkedIn?
You can use different methods to find potential prospects on LinkedIn, but the most efficient way is to use advanced search operators.
Advanced search operators are a set of words and symbols that you can add to your LinkedIn search queries to get more targeted results.
For example, if you want to find marketing directors in tech companies in France, you can type “marketing director” AND “tech company” location: France in the LinkedIn search bar.
You can also use Boolean operators in LinkedIn search such as OR, NOT, and “-” to make it even more precise.
You can also use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to do that pretty easily and very accurately.
Once you’ve gone through these 3 sub-steps, you can start building your target list. You can do this directly with Excel or Google Sheets, or if you’re using Sales Navigator, there’s a great feature that allows you to create a list of leads by account or by people.
Step 3: Set up your sales objectives:
The third step is to set up your sales objectives. This means that you need to determine what your goals are for each campaign.
Careful here. A good sales objective must be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Timely
For example, a good sales objective for a LinkedIn cold message campaign could be to generate 10 qualified leads in 2 weeks.
At LaGrowthMachine, we recommend you proceed by doing sprint sessions: set your objective for a two-week period, and at the end of these two weeks, assess your results and adapt your strategy accordingly.
If you’re using our tool, you’ll have access to direct live reporting that will help you with tons of things about your performance.
Step 4: Write your sales message:
This is the main part of the whole process.
At LaGrowthMachine, we tend to observe very different results between campaigns just because of copywriting skills.
The fourth step is to write your sales message. This is probably the most important part of the process, as it will be the foundation of your entire campaign.
Try to think about how people feel when receiving cold messages:
- These people don’t know you
- They probably don’t care about what you’re trying to sell
- They’ve most likely already received tons of messages from your competitor(s).
You need to stand out, and the best way to do so is by writing a personalized message.
To you, the best way to do that is by using the “pain point” strategy. This means that you need to find the main challenges your persona is facing and write a message addressing these challenges directly.
For example, if you’re selling a growth marketing automation tool, you could write a message like this:
Hi John,
I noticed that you’re working as a marketing director in a tech company. I know that it can be very challenging to manage everything on your own and meet all the deadlines.
We’re building up an automation tool that you might be interested in. How about we have a quick chat about it? :)
As simple as that! Direct, smooth, and easy.
Another strategy that works well is the network strategy. If you’re introducing another person that you and your leads both know, that will break the ice much more easily.
For example:
Hey John,
I saw you know Sarah? I think you two would have a lot to talk about.
Sarah is currently using our sales automation tool, and I know she’s very happy about it. I was wondering if you were looking for a new software appllication at {{companyname}}?
Thanks :)
See? No selling at all, but still a great way to start a conversation with someone who might be interested in what you’re selling.
Remember that people buy from people they like, so try to be as likable as possible in your messages.
The best way to do that is by being genuine and transparent. People can see through a fake message in less than 3 seconds, so don’t even try to be someone you’re not.
Be yourself, and focus on building a relationship with your leads before selling them anything.
If you’re using our tool, we can review all your campaigns from the technical setup to the copywriting of all your messages so that you won’t make any mistakes!
Step 5: Test & measure your results:
Now that you’ve written your sales message, it’s time to test it!
You need to send your message to as many people as possible, and track the results carefully.
The best way to do that is by using our tool, as it will give you access to live reports of your results.
You’ll be able to see:
- How many people opened and clicked on your message
- How many answered (and didn’t answer)
- How many messages you’ve sent through your campaign
This way, you can adapt your strategy accordingly.
Bonus Step: Use an automation tool!
If you want to make your life easier, we advise you to use an automation tool like LaGrowthMachine.
It will allow you to do the exact same things we went on and on about throughout the article:
- Send messages to as many people as you want
- Track your results live
- Adapt your strategy on the go
The difference is, you’ll be able to scale your efforts by thousands of messages, and only in a few clicks. Which means much less time spent, and way better results.
In fact, we’re recording 3.5x more leads for people using our automation tool.
LinkedIn cold message examples that work:
Now that you know all the steps needed to build a successful LinkedIn cold message campaign, let’s look at a few cases so you can have an idea of what a successful message looks like.
Read on to discover our top picks for LinkedIn cold messages!
Note: Every one of these templates absolutely mandates you do some research on your lead list. And not only who they are and what their job is. You need to know their pain points, their achievements, how your product solves their specific problem, etc.
Case 1: The good ol’ value proposition cold message:
Hi {{firstname}}, I’ve been helping {{target}} to solve {{pain point}} for over 10 years.
You caught my eye with your {work| achievement| skill}. You’re clearly a leader in your field. I think you’d be interested in what I do. I have some data-driven strategies and tools to share with you that will skyrocket your sales and growth.
Let’s chat!
Case 2: The referral cold message:
Hi {{firstname}},
My friend {{referralName}} recommended I get in touch with you and raved about your {work| achievement| skill}. You’re a legend in the {{industry}} space. I’m impressed by your profile and I’d love to have a quick chat with you.
I think I have some amazing opportunities for you. 😉
Feel free to give me a shout!
Case 3: The content engagement cold message:
Hi {{firstname}},
I saw your {post| comment| article} on {{topic}} and I really enjoyed {{speicifcs}}. You clearly have a deep understanding of the {{industry}} market, which is why I wanted to reach out and connect with you!
You know what they say – great minds think alike! I think you’ll like what I have to offer! 🙂
Case 4: The event attendance cold message:
Hey there {{firstname}}!
I saw you attended the {{event}}. I was curious to hear your thoughts on it! It was a great event, right? I learned much from the speakers and the sessions, especially on {{topic}}.
We develop tools for {{industry}} and I think you could benefit from them.
I’d love to continue this conversation over a virtual coffee. Are you up for it? Here’s my {{Calendly link}}, pick a time and a date. 😉
Case 5: The compliment cold message:
Hey {{firstname}},
I see you quite often around my LinkedIn feed and I wanted to take a moment and tell you how great your content is!
{{specific piece of work}} really resonated with me – I’m a huge fan of your approach.
I believe our product aligns perfectly with your vision.
I’m sure we can find an awesome way to collaborate! 😊
Case 6: The commonality cold message:
Hi {{firstname}}!
I noticed we both have {{specific commonality}} in our backgrounds. What a small world, am I right?
I believe that having the same background can open up lots of opportunities and I have one just for you! 👀
Do you have some free time this week to discuss it?
Notice how all of the templates don’t necessarily show that you’re selling something. They’re all about building a relationship with the lead first and then presenting them with an opportunity.
Also, keep in mind that while these templates should give you an idea of what a successful message looks like, they won’t work if you don’t take the time to personalize them for each lead.
Don’t just copy and paste the same message over and over again!
How to handle responses to your LinkedIn cold messages
You’ve now set up your cold message campaigns and your sales copy is on point.
However, what do you do when you start getting responses?
Hint: there is no one-size-fits-all answer, as it will depend on the person and situation.
So, here are some tips on how to handle different types of responses, we’ll try to cover as many types as possible:
Positive response:
If you get a positive response, first of all, congrats!
Make sure to thank them, and move the conversation forward. Meaning, try to understand where they are in their journey and provide them with the right content to keep them engaged.
Provide as much information as you can without overloading them, and have them take the next steps:
- Booking a call
- Sending you more info
- Signing up for a free trial, etc.
If you sent your message using LaGrowthMachine, you can use the multichannel Inbox to talk directly with your leads, on whichever channel they prefer!
Hey {{firstname}},
Thank you so much for your reply. It’s great to hear from you!
I’m glad that {{identity.productName}} seems like something that could be useful for you and your team. 💪
Here’s my {{Calendly link}} Let’s have a call to discuss more in detail! We’ll be able to show you the features and answer any questions you may have.
Looking forward to talking with you soon. 🙂
Neutral response:
The word “neutral” is kind of subjective here, since the response could range from “not interested” or “I’m busy” to simply not answering your message.
In most cases, what we mean by neutral is when a lead is simply intrigued by your product/idea but doesn’t take action. This can be due to a multitude of reasons:
- They need more information before taking action
- They are not sure yet if they need it
- They’re not the right person to take the decision
If that’s the case with a lead you’re talking to, try providing them with more information and even offer a free trial or demo of your product.
The goal here is to ease their concerns and keep the conversation going. You have to try and understand their current situation and proceed accordingly.
Hey {{firstname}},
I have a feeling you need some more information about {{identity.productName}} before you make up your mind.
I would love to explain how it works and show you how you can use it to {{benefit}}.
Here are some additional resources you might find useful:
- – {{resource 1}}
- – {{resource 2}}
Or if you’d like, you can book a free 15-minute demo where I’ll be able to show you how it works.
Looking forward to your reply!
{{signature}}
Negative response:
Ah, the dreaded “No, thank you” responses. It’s ok, it happens and everyone has to deal with them from time to time.
One time, we even got a “We’re okay, go away now. Thanks“. 🤣
But even though they can be a bit more challenging to handle, it’s not all bad. Negative responses don’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to turn a lead around.
First of all, as usual, make sure to thank them for their time. Then, try to understand why they’re not interested and if you can do something to change their mind.
If it’s because of a misunderstanding, explain how your product actually works. If it’s because of pricing, offer them a discount or a free trial.
You get the idea, it all depends on the situation and the person.
The best course of action is usually not to take it too personally and always, always keep the conversation going, as you never know how things will turn out in the end.
Hey {{firstname}},
Thank you for your reply. I understand your hesitation and completely respect it.
I’m here to help in any way I can, so feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
I’d also love to point you towards some of our success stories, as they showcase how {{identity.productName}} can help you {{benefit}} and turn things around for your business.
Feel free to take a look: {{link}}.
Have a great day! 🙂
{{signature}}
Note: The point here is not to do yet another sales pitch. Focus on what they gain by using your product or service. What do they get out of it? How will it help them with their pain point?
Skeptical response:
Skepticism is expected, especially when it comes to cold messages. After all, you’re reaching out to a person that potentially has never heard of.
Although -sidenote- if you’ve performed your segmentation properly, you should be talking to leads that have some affinity with your product or at least that of a competitor.
In any case, when dealing with skeptical responses, make sure to take time to understand their doubts and concerns. Acknowledge them, don’t ignore them!
The trick here is to address their issues and questions one by one, while also providing them with some of your own resources – data, success stories, testimonials – to back up your message.
This double-pronged approach will help your lead to make an informed decision and gain trust in the process.
Hey {{firstname}},
I appreciate your perspective and understand that choosing the right solution for {{companyName}} is not an easy decision. And that’s exactly why I’m here! 🙌
Let me start off by sharing some of our success stories, so you can see what {{identity.productName}} has done for other companies in similar situations as yours: {{link}}
Here’s my {{Calendly link}} as well, let’s book a call and I can explain in more detail how things work and answer any questions you may have. 🤓
Looking forward to hearing from you.
{{signature}}
Conclusion
Final Thoughts
That’s it for our guide on how to write a LinkedIn cold message! Remember to always personalize your messages as much as possible, and never hesitate to try different approaches.
Every lead is different, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you and your team.
And if you want to make things even easier, we advise you to use an automation tool like LaGrowthMachine. You won’t regret it!
Happy cold messaging! 🙂
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