What is LinkedIn InMail? The Complete Guide 2023

LinkedIn InMail is a direct private message to or from a LinkedIn member not part of your network, that is, your 2nd or 3rd-degree connection. 

As the world’s largest professional social network aimed at building business-to-business relationships, LinkedIn represents an ideal tool to find and get in touch with professionals from your target market. 

It currently counts over 800 million users worldwide, out of which are over 60 million decision-makers. Therefore, whether you’re a sales rep, marketer, CEO, or recruiter seeking the best talent for your company – LinkedIn is the place to be. 

Consequently, for these purposes, LinkedIn developed a series of features to improve the platform’s efficiency, protect members from spamming, and increase personalization. 

One of these features is the LinkedIn InMail premium service, which we will cover in detail in this blog. 

What is InMail on LinkedIn? 

As mentioned, a LinkedIn InMail is a free or paid direct message on LinkedIn that you can send to members not part of your network, contrary to a regular LinkedIn message. 

Think of it as LinkedIn’s version of an email, as InMails have a subject line and higher character limits than a LinkedIn connection request or a regular LinkedIn message. 

So, if we speak about LinkedIn InMail vs. email, the only difference is that emails have a higher character limit. However, the limits for a LinkedIn InMail are also pretty high, and they should suffice to fulfill your outreach goals. 

However, according to an official LinkedIn Learning course, InMail messages have an average response rate of 18 to 25% compared to cold emails’ 3% average response rate.  

Types of LinkedIn InMails: Free, Paid & Sponsored

There are 3 types of InMails – free InMails, paid InMails, and sponsored InMails (message ads).

Free InMails

Every LinkedIn subscription plan comes with 800 free LinkedIn InMails per month. 

Free InMails can be sent only to users who set their profile to Open profile status. 

Only paid LinkedIn plan subscribers can open their profiles for free InMail messages. 

LinkedIn users on LinkedIn’s basic plan can only receive paid InMails and reach out to other members via free InMails if their recipients have their profiles set to Open profile status. 

There are 2 ways to set up your LinkedIn account to receive free InMail messages. 

#1 Go to your home page and click the pen icon. 

Then, click on the My Premium icon in the top left corner.

You’ll have 2 options from My Premium – Open Profile and Profile Premium Badge. Turn on the Open Profile option. 

Here’s option number 2 to set your LinkedIn profile to Open profile status. 

#2 Click the Me icon. Then Settings & Privacy.

Check out the left sidebar. Click Communications, and then Messages. 

As you may see, you can opt out of receiving InMails overall, or just free InMails. 

Paid InMails

Paid LinkedIn InMails are a premium feature. Therefore, they come with any paid LinkedIn subscription. 

With each paid LinkedIn subscription comes a certain number of paid InMail credits you can send to any LinkedIn member except those who opted out of receiving any type of InMails. 

Therefore, every LinkedIn member can receive paid InMails, but those who switched that option off.

In this blog’s LinkedIn InMail credits section, you can see how many paid InMails your LinkedIn subscription plan has and how to check that. 

LinkedIn InMail vs. Sponsored: What is a Sponsored InMail?

A sponsored InMail is a LinkedIn product that lets you utilize the LinkedIn InMail ads platform to reach specific users in bulk. Sponsored InMail is a message ad that can be used for digital marketing, sales, and any other type of promotion or sales. 

LinkedIn ads platform is mainly used (but not limited to) by digital marketers who wish to promote their brands in different ways and establish relationships with their target audience. 

You cannot choose precisely the recipients of your InMail message. Like other ad platforms, you can only set up the target audience. 

Messaging ads are easily distinguished in the lead’s Inbox because they are clearly labeled as Sponsored. 

When coming up with the body copy of your sponsored InMail, remember that you will have to end your message with a call-to-action. So, make sure your body copy aligns with different types of calls to action. 

Here’s a LinkedIn InMail ads example and how they show your Inbox. 

Your recipients cannot answer your message ad as they wish, but only by choosing among the preset calls to action. 

LinkedIn InMail ads cost depending on your target audience, budget, bidding strategy, and other advertisers from the same or similar industry. LinkedIn will recommend the initial bid based on similar bidding per ad from the same or similar industries. 

Finally, sponsored InMails only show in your LinkedIn inbox, independently from which plan you’re subscribed to. Sales Navigator and Recruiter inboxes block any type of messaging ads to ensure their users a more focused professional environment.  

LinkedIn InMail Character Limit 

There’s no LinkedIn InMail word limit, but a LinkedIn InMail character limit depends on the LinkedIn subscription. 

If you’re sending InMails from LinkedIn: 

InMail subject line: unlimited (recommended up to 200 characters)

InMail body copy: up to 8000 characters (recommended up to 2000 characters)

If you’re sending InMails from LinkedIn Sales Navigator: 

InMail subject line: unlimited (recommended up to 200 characters)

InMail body copy: up to 1900

If you’re sending InMails from LinkedIn Recruiter: 

InMail subject line: unlimited (recommended up to 200 characters)

InMail body copy: up to 1900

Why Use LinkedIn InMail? 

InMail messages can be a powerful LinkedIn prospecting tool. 

Why is that? 

Firstly, LinkedIn InMail has a subject line; if well-written, it stands out in your lead’s Inbox compared to a regular LinkedIn message. 

Therefore, busy decision-makers (or CXOs, influencers, or simply members who are harder to reach) are likelier to see your InMail message and reply. 

Also, exchanging InMails increases the chance of connecting with that decision-maker on LinkedIn, as they probably receive many invites to connect, which they either leave pending or refuse. 

By sending an InMail first, they will have an idea of what you and your company are all about, and will be more eager to have you as part of their LinkedIn network. Plus, InMails have a higher character limit than LinkedIn connection requests.

Therefore, you are decreasing the chances of your connection request being rejected and marked as I don’t know this person, risking ending up in LinkedIn jail. 

Thirdly, when you receive an answer to an InMail, you get that credit back. If you get used to writing highly personalized, relevant InMail messages, InMails can also be an excellent way to bypass LinkedIn’s weekly connection limits. 

How to Use LinkedIn InMail for Lead Generation? 

LinkedIn lead generation represents activities associated with identifying, gathering, and warming up potential clients on LinkedIn. 

Sales and marketing teams use various tools to find qualified leads on LinkedIn and to reach out to them, such as LinkedIn groups, posts, events, sending connection requests, regular messages, and of course InMails. 

As mentioned earlier, LinkedIn managed to put the majority of decision-makers from all over the world in one place. From that point of view, it made lead generation and prospecting far easier. 

There are different ways to use InMails for lead generation and prospecting: 

1. Use InMails for prospecting as the last resource to connect with busy decision makers (CXOs, influencers, people who are harder to reach on LinkedIn, etc.) and your 3rd-degree connections. 

If your lead hasn’t accepted your connection request and hasn’t replied to your email or returned any of your calls (depending on your outreach strategy), it’s a good practice to use an InMail message to reach out. 

Just think about it. 

Busy decision-makers get tons of regular LinkedIn messages and connection requests daily. Sending an InMail is an excellent way to stand out in their Inboxes if you write a compelling subject line. 

2. Some LinkedIn members (CXOs, LinkedIn influencers, upper management, etc.) don’t accept invites to connect from members with which they don’t have connections in common. 

InMails can be an excellent way to make an introduction before sending a connection request and decreasing your chances of getting rejected or marked as spam.

And, speaking of InMail messages, in the 2nd and 5th sequences of our free Sales e-book are short LinkedIn InMail campaign examples with proven LinkedIn InMail message templates and InMail follow-up templates. 

Linkedin InMail vs. LinkedIn Messages

(Regular) LinkedIn messages can be sent only to your 1st-degree connections, that is, LinkedIn members part of your LinkedIn network. 

They are free of charge, available to all LinkedIn users, and land directly in the recipient’s LinkedIn Inbox. Depending on your plan, you’ll see the LinkedIn message update of its status (answered, awaiting a response, declined) in your LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter Inbox. 

If your InMail or LinkedIn message disappeared in any of the Inboxes, use the Inbox filters to find it. 

Also, there is no such thing as a regular LinkedIn message limit – you can send as many regular messages to your 1st-degree connections as you want. For these reasons, they are cost-effective and convenient for LinkedIn message outreach. 

On the other hand, LinkedIn InMails can be sent to members who are not part of your network, that is, your 2nd and 3rd-degree connections. They also land directly in your recipient’s LinkedIn inbox and have a subject line. 

InMails, however, are a premium feature and depend on your LinkedIn subscription plan and LinkedIn’s ad platform conditions.

If your LinkedIn InMails are not sending, and you have enough InMail credits, try clearing your browser cache and cookies. 

LinkedIn InMail Best Practices: How to Write a Good LinkedIn InMail (LinkedIn InMail Examples)

• Catchy and relevant subject line for a higher open rate. 

Think of a LinkedIn InMail as a cold email. Your open rate will depend on the subject line. Make sure it’s catchy but not misleading and that it shows that the content of that InMail message is relevant for the recipient. Open rate matters, but so does getting the reply. 

• Personalizing messages for a higher response rate. 

With each InMail message, you must show that you’ve done your research and that the product or service you’re offering is highly relevant to the recipient. Personalizing messages implies going far beyond calling your prospect by name. 

• Keep it to a reasonable length also for a higher response rate.  

LinkedIn InMails have a high character limit, but that doesn’t mean you must use them all. Remember that busy decision-makers have little time to read a novel-like message. The sooner you reach the point, the higher your chances of getting an answer. 

Here’s a good LinkedIn InMail message example.  

If you’re new to InMail messages or would like examples to inspire you on how to write LinkedIn InMails for prospecting and stand out in your leads’ Inboxes, we’ve listed the top InMail examples with an over 25% reply formula. 

How Many InMails do I get monthly?

Free InMails

LinkedIn Premium Careers and Premium Business, Sales Navigator Core, and Recruiter have 800 free InMails by default, whereas Recruiter Lite has 100 free InMail credits. The designated credits are available as you upgrade your basic LinkedIn account to any LinkedIn premium subscription.

There’s no way to check the number of InMail credits that are free of charge you have left for any LinkedIn premium subscription.  

Paid InMails 

If a LinkedIn member answers your InMail within 90 days for LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator and within 120 for LinkedIn Recruiter plans of the send date, you get that credit back. 

If the person doesn’t answer your InMail within 3 days, LinkedIn will send them an automatic reminder. You can get InMail credit back even if your recipient answers with LinkedIn auto-response options.  

If you are a LinkedIn Premium Career or Premium Business user, you cannot send another free or paid InMail until that LinkedIn user replies to your InMail. On the other hand, users of Sales Navigator premium accounts and Recruiter premium accounts can send a follow-up InMail, which will cost them another InMail credit.

You can edit or delete a message that has been sent. However, if you delete an InMail before it receives a reply, you will not get that credit back. 

Recruiter subscribers have additional limitations. According to LinkedIn, they must keep their response rate at or above 13% on 100 or more InMail messages sent within 14 days. If you send more than 100 InMail messages over 14 days and have a response rate of less than 13%, you’ll receive a warning notification and tips to improve your response rate.

Recruiter premium account subscribers can also send up to 1000 InMails per day, per seat. Newly created or upgraded accounts have an InMail limit of 200 for the first calendar week. 

These are LinkedIn’s ways to encourage its users to make meaningful connections on the platform and to compose compelling, relevant messages when reaching out to other members. 

The number of InMail credits varies by the LinkedIn subscription plan, and they cannot be transferred when changed to another LinkedIn subscription. The InMail credits renew after a different period. 

LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Navigator InMail credits will roll over for 90 days, while all Recruiter plans’ InMail credits roll over for 120 days. The renewal of free and paid InMails is not on the first of the month but on the first day of your billing cycle.  

Paid InMail Credits According to Your Subscription Plan

We put the plus sign next to LinkedIn Recruiter plans because these are the only LinkedIn plan subscribers that can make an additional LinkedIn InMail credits buy. 

Recruiter Lite subscribers can purchase additional paid InMail credits. At the same time, the other 2 LinkedIn Recruiter plans can make a deal to purchase additional paid InMail credits while upgrading their plan.

How to Check LinkedIn InMail Credits According to Your Subscription

This is how you check the paid LinkedIn InMail messages limit for LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter Lite users.

LinkedIn Premium Accounts

Choose Premium features. 

Below are all the details regarding the number of InMails (paid) remaining.

Sales Navigator Accounts

Click the Sales Navigator icon on your right.

Click on your profile image, and then Settings.

These are your available paid InMail credits.

Recruiter Lite Accounts

Click on the Recruiter icon on your right.

Click on your profile picture and then choose Product Settings.

Check the Usage Overview section.

LinkedIn InMail Credits Cost: How to Purchase Additional InMails

Each plan has a certain number of Paid InMails included in the package. Unfortunately, if it says on your LinkedIn no InMail credits left – there’s not much you can do about it unless you’re a Recruiter Lite subscriber. 

LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator users cannot buy any more InMails outside of what’s offered within the plan.

Namely, Recruiter Lite is the only plan whose users can purchase additional InMails. However, that number is also limited. 

Each additional LinkedIn InMail costs around $10, depending on your geographic area.

If you are a Recruiter Lite user and wish to buy more LinkedIn InMails, here is how you do it. 

Click the Recruiter icon. 

On the right, click on your profile picture and then choose Product Settings. 

Check out the Purchase monthly InMails Credits section. 

The cost of a LinkedIn InMail depends on your area. 

You can purchase 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 InMail credits. 

How to Send an InMail on LinkedIn? 

There are two ways to send an InMail on LinkedIn: 

#1 Navigate to the profile of a LinkedIn member you would like to send an InMail to. 

Click Message. 

If this LinkedIn member didn’t set their profile to Open profile status, you will see how many InMail credits you have left in the bottom right corner. 

If the LinkedIn member has their profile set to Open profile status and can receive free InMails, it will say Free message in the bottom right corner.

#2 You can do the same from your LinkedIn Inbox. Click Messaging.  

Then Create a New Message. 

Type in the name of the lead. You will get a drop-down menu from which you can choose. If you pick a LinkedIn member you are not connected with, LinkedIn will automatically redirect you to send them an InMail. 

The message box will look the same as above, indicating whether the InMail you’re sending is free or paid. 

What to Write in an InMail? 

• Write a catchy yet relevant subject line to stand out in the recipient’s Inbox;
• Use the first paragraph to make your recipient keep reading;
• If necessary, write a bit about yourself and your business;
• Finish with a call to action. 

Think of InMails as emails, just on LinkedIn, and apply some of the best cold outreach practices.

When to Send an InMail? 

1. Inmail LinkedIn members who haven’t replied to your previous messages on other communication channels.
2. Use InMail to reach out to your 3rd-degree connections. 
3. InMail LinkedIn members whom you think are more likely to reject your connection request or mark you as I don’t know this person. 

How to Write LinkedIn InMail to a Recruiter? 

1. Mention the open positions title in the subject line.
2. Start with giving a brief introduction of your strongest assets that fit the requirements of the open position. 
3. Ask questions, if any, or ask to schedule a call to discuss further or introduce yourself better. 

What to Say in LinkedIn InMail?

Independently of your end goal, make sure your InMail is recipient-oriented. Always start with a compelling yet relevant subject line, dedicate the first paragraph to your recipient’s pain points and how your product/service can solve them, and finish with a strong call to action. 

How To Put InMails On Auto-Pilot To Reach Leads Faster  

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email outreach software that helps you reach your leads fastest and most effectively.  

How? 

Skylead’s Smart Sequences allow you to combine all elements of LinkedIn outreach with email outreach and make decisions for you based on your leads’ actions. 

When talking about Skylead’s Smart Sequences and InMails as a LinkedIn feature, the main benefits lie in the algorithm being able to recognize whether a lead has set its profile to Open profile status or not and decide for your whether to use a paid or free InMail credit to reach them out. 

All you need to do is move the toggle button to the right and allow Skylead to use paid InMail credits if necessary. 

Here’s an example of what Skylead’s Smart Sequence looks like. 

How does Smart Sequence work? 

When the sequence arrives at the If has verified email by the platform step, it will do 2 things. 

If the lead has a verified email address, the sequence will proceed and send a regular email message. If the lead doesn’t have a verified email, it will first check if your lead has set their profile to Open profile status or if they can receive only paid InMails. 

Once established, it will proceed with a paid or free InMail, depending on your lead’s profile status and remaining paid or free InMail credits. 

Each InMail can be fully personalized using Skylead’s and/or custom variables (name, company name, occupation, etc). 

Frequently Asked Questions About LinkedIn InMail

Does LinkedIn InMail go to email? 

No, InMail is a LinkedIn feature. Therefore, LinkedIn InMail goes to your LinkedIn Inbox, or if you initiated a conversation via InMail through your Sales Navigator or Recruiter account, that InMail and its answer will be visible only in your Sales Navigator Inbox or Recruiter Inbox. 

Do recruiters respond to InMail? 

Usually yes. Recruiter users must keep their response rate at or above 13% on 100 or more InMails sent within 14 days. If they send more than 100 InMails over the same period and have a response rate of less than 13%, they’ll receive a warning notification. 

Is there a LinkedIn InMail read receipt? 

No, there are no read receipts for InMails. However, Sales Navigator and Recruiter Inboxes display under your or your recipient’s name one of the following 3 statuses for InMails – awaiting response, accepted, declined and it allows you to filter InMails by these statuses. 

How do you know if someone read your InMail on LinkedIn? (awaiting response)

LinkedIn users cannot know if someone has read their InMails. However, Sales Navigator and Recruiter Inboxes display under your or your recipient’s name one of the following 3 statuses for InMails – awaiting a response, accepted, or declined and it allows you to filter InMails by these statuses. 

What happens when someone declines your InMail? 

Every InMail message accepted/declined or responded to directly within 90 days of being sent is credited back. Sales Navigator and Recruiter users can filter InMails by awaiting a response, accepted, or declined, while LinkedIn users cannot know the status of their InMail. 

How do you know if someone declines your InMail? 

It will say {{RecipientsName}} declined to continue this conversation for now in your LinkedIn Inbox, or it will say under the recipient’s name Declined your InMail in your Sales Navigator or Recruiter Inboxes. Every LinkedIn InMail that is declined is credited back.

Do people respond to InMails on LinkedIn? 

According to an official LinkedIn Learning course, InMail messages have an average response rate of 18 to 25% compared to cold emails’ 3% average response rate. 

So yes, people are more likely to answer your LinkedIn InMail than your cold email.

How effective is LinkedIn InMail? What is the average InMail acceptance rate?

According to an official LinkedIn Learning course, InMail messages have an average response rate of between 18 to 25%. Compared to cold emails’ 3% average response rate, LinkedIn InMail seems much more effective, and people tend to reply to them.

Is it better to InMail or connect on LinkedIn?

It depends. It is better to use InMail to reach your 3rd-degree connections or to inmail LinkedIn members who haven’t answered any of your messages on any other communication channel, such as – email or calls, or accepted your LinkedIn connection request. LinkedIn InMail is an excellent last resource. 

How to reply to Inmail / Recruiter Inmail on LinkedIn?

When you open an InMail message sent from Recruiter, you can respond with a custom response or use the smart reply (combined or not with a custom response), which is Yes, interested, or No thanks (decline with or without a custom message). 

When do Linkedin emails reset/refresh/renew?

LinkedIn emails, or LinkedIn InMails, renew depending on your subscription plan. LinkedIn premium accounts and all LinkedIn Sales Navigator accounts reset the number of InMail credits after 90 days, while all Recruiter accounts to reset the number of InMail credits after 120 days.