LinkedIn Lead Generation Archives

Getting accepted on LinkedIn sometimes seems like a mission impossible, but what about starting a sales-oriented conversation with a complete stranger? What kind of a LinkedIn Message Template should be used so you don’t come off as too mild, too aggressive, but, the way Goldilocks likes it - just right.

We’ve been there and know how hard it can be to scale up your business. That’s why we’ve decided to speak about what happens after your LinkedIn Connection Message goes through. That is, how to approach your lead in a way to get more sales.

Of course, no recipe works for everyone and on everyone, but there are some common ground rules that you can follow when sending cold messages on LinkedIn to get more sales.

In this blog, we’ll cover:

What to do before starting your cold LinkedIn outreach;
Dos and don’ts for LinkedIn Messages if you wish to get more sales;
10 sets of LinkedIn Message Templates for 10 different LinkedIn scenarios;
A breakdown of each set of LinkedIn Message Templates in case you want/need to adjust them to your business needs.

Cold LinkedIn messages won’t get you sales unless . . .

You fully optimize your LinkedIn profile.

We cannot stress enough the importance of an optimized LinkedIn profile. Whether going for a LinkedIn outreach, a cold emailing, or a multichannel approach, nowadays, the first thing anyone does is check your and your company’s profile on LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online business card, available to anyone at any moment. Make sure it looks neat and professional.

As the bare minimum, you must:

Write a catchy LinkedIn headline that describes exactly what your job consists of. Imagine how you would describe what you do for a living, in one sentence, to someone who knows nothing about it. That’s your headline.
Put a professional profile picture. Long story short, put a photo that you wouldn't be ashamed to show to your boss or your biggest client.
Upload a cover photo that portrays what you do or what your business is all about.
A LinkedIn summary is all about your professional highlights and keywords you would want to be associated with.
List relevant professional experience.
Tell us what you studied.

You define your ICP.

Not defining your ICP equals gambling with your money, resources, and time.

And just like with casinos, the statistical probability is against you.

The house always wins, so don’t put it all on red. You’ll end up being in the red.

Catastrophic predictions apart, for getting more sales you need to define the companies that match your Ideal Customer Profile.

Now, how do you define your ICP?

Take into consideration both your target industry and sub-industry.
Understand the location of your ICPs.
Take into consideration the revenue that your best customers bring to your business.
Highlight your top 5 current customers that you’d like to replicate if you could and outline their positives and negatives.

If you need more details on how to define your ICPs, the difference between ICP and Buyer Persona, and downloadable ready-to-use templates for defining both check out 4 Easy Steps To Create ICP For Lead Generation and 6 Key Steps To Create Buyer Persona For Lead Generation.

You target what you’ve defined.

Since you’ve spent your time defining the ICP and the Buyer Persona within, and your money on Sales Navigator, you better use them to their full potential.

With 29 Sales Navigator Lead Filters and 15 Sales Navigator Account Filters, the possibilities for quality targeting are endless.

Whether a LinkedIn lead generation expert or a newbie to this process, having a deep knowledge of the tools at your disposal is the first step toward successful prospecting on LinkedIn. And, if you “have the moves” and know how to:

Use the Spotlights filter;
Apply Boolean search;
Exclude leads from your search;
Create a Leads List;
Use Alerts;
Take advantage of the View Similar option;
Filter leads through Account Lists/Lead Lists filters

... the sky is your limit!

For detailed instructions (and more) check out:

Complete guide to Sales Navigator Lead Filters;
Top hacks to Find Leads on LinkedIn .

How long should a LinkedIn message be?

LinkedIn gives you up to 300 characters for your LinkedIn Connection Request Message.

On the other hand, the LinkedIn InMail character limit is:

Subject line: 200 characters
InMail body: 2000 characters
Signature: 150 characters

A regular LinkedIn Message that you can send only to your 1st-degree connections and to members of the same LinkedIn Group, only in case you are a member too, has an 8000-character limit.

However, there is no need to use them all. When writing any of these, keep in mind that you have only few seconds to catch your prospect’s attention. Furthermore, no one wants to read a novel in their Inbox.

In your LinkedIn Message make sure that you:

Hook them in the Intro to read more;
Keep them interested throughout the message to continue reading;
Make them wish to ask questions and want to hear more.

LinkedIn claims that messages up to 600 characters are 50% more likely to get a response. Also, remember to fit the catchy information at the beginning as this is what recipients see in their Inbox preview.

How to cold message on LinkedIn: Dos & don’ts

DOS

Find something that you have in common with the lead that you are talking to. Your conversation-starter LinkedIn Message should have a solid personalized hook or a good joke (‘cause, why not? Everyone likes to laugh), so you can justify further conversation, in case you didn’t put one in your Connection Request Message.
Ask questions - but gradually. No one will tell you the main problem of their company straight out the gate, but once they feel that you genuinely care and that you might have a solution to their problem, they will open up.
Be prospect-oriented. Everything you say must serve the prospect and their business. No one cares what worked for you.

DON’TS

Don’t sell in your Connection Request Message or the first LinkedIn Message.
Don’t use the same pitch on everyone. It might seem a bit time-consuming to come up with a different LinkedIn Message copy for each lead (or group of leads), but trust us, it’s worth your time. Plus, you’ll have LinkedIn Message Templates for getting more sales down below that you can use right away or adjust to your needs if necessary.
Don’t talk about yourself right away. Your lead will for sure check the LinkedIn profile of you and your company, so make sure it sells for you. It is fine to include a brief explanation of who you are and what your company does, but don’t use all the available characters of the LinkedIn Message for it.

10 LinkedIn message templates for 10 LinkedIn scenarios

We’ve listed for you 10 ideas of how to approach your leads and get more sales based on different business goals and LinkedIn scenarios.

Scenario #1: Express interest in your lead’s work to form a partnership

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw on your profile that you’re associated with the {{industry}} industry.

I work in {{yourIndustry}} and would love to connect with you!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thanks for connecting!

I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but {{yourCompany}} has {{customizedSellingPoint}}/{{uniqueSellingPoint}}.

You can check it out in more detail on our website {{link}}.

I believe that {{currentCompany}} could benefit from it!

Let me know what you think!

{{personalizedGIF}}

Personalized GIF

These templates work because you’ve:

Inserted a hyper-personalized GIF referencing the lead you are talking to and their company;
Shown that you’ve done your research by referencing to the lead’s occupation/company/industry;
Offered a solution to their problem or some kind of service that their industry can majorly benefit from.

Scenario #2: Investigate your lead’s current solution to pitch your product/service

Connection request template

Hi {{firstName}},

What is the hardest part of being a product manager?

Explaining what you do to your parents and friends.

Jokes apart, I would love to connect!

LinkedIn message template #1

Hey {{firstName}},

Thank you for accepting my Connection Request.

I saw that you are {{occupation}} at {{currentCompany}}, so I decided to reach out.

I was curious to know if you and your team are using any customer survey tools? If yes, which one, if you wouldn’t mind sharing that info?

Thanks,

John

LinkedIn message template #2

The reason for my outreach was to introduce {{descriptionOfSolution}}.

Briefly, {{uniqueSellingPoints}}.

How does that sound?

These templates work because you’ve:

Used humor in your outreach, which is always a good choice;
Shown that you’ve done your research by referring to the lead’s occupation and/or company that they work at;
Asked questions to get to know their current solutions/problems/needs/rooms for improvement;
Given a brief explanation of what you offer to hook them and make them want to hear more about it.

Scenario #3: Content distribution and promotion

Connection request template

Hey {{FirstName}},

I came across your profile and was really interested in your background as a {{occupation}} at {{currentCompany}}. I share a lot of content about the {{industry}} industry that could be useful to you.

Looking forward to connecting with you!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for adding me to your network.

I thought that this blog {{nameOfblog}} might be particularly useful for you {{link}}.

Check it out and let me know if you have some comments and suggestions!

These templates work because you’ve:

Shown that you’ve done your research by referring to the lead’s occupation/company/industry;
Offered a resource that the lead’s industry/company can benefit from.

Scenario #4: Reach out to people who attended your event

Connection request template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thank you for attending my webinar {{webinar’sName}}!

I would like to keep in touch.

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for adding me to your network!

Quick question - {{question}}.

{{personalizedImage}}

Personalized image

LinkedIn message template #2

Thank you so much for sharing your feedback!

I also took some time to research your company {{currentCompany}} and wanted to share with you some resources that might help you with {{problem}}/{{roomForImprovement}}.

Here’s a link to it - {{link}}

LinkedIn message template #3

Hey {{firstName}},

I hope that you liked the blog I’ve sent.

If you would like to know more about it and you found that resource valuable, there’s plenty where that came from!

Let me know if you would be interested in {{service/product}}, I would be glad to help!

These templates work because you’ve:

Taken some time to find the lead that attended your event and thank them for it;
Asked for genuine feedback to connect with your lead and create trust between the two;
Put in extra effort to make a hyper-personalized Image to ask for feedback;
Offered to give more resources to help the lead with a particular matter;
Shared a free gift.

Scenario #5: Invite relevant leads to join your community

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw the post that you shared about {{topic}} and I really like the part where {{thePartYouLiked}} / {{postParagraph}}.

Would love to connect!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for accepting my Connection Request.

I saw that you are {{occupation}} at {{currentCompany}}. That’s so interesting! I actually have this community dedicated to the {{industry}} industry and I wanted to invite you to join!

We discuss {{mainTopics}}

Here’s the link - {{link}}

Wе would love to have you!

These templates work because you’ve:

Referred to a post that a lead shared on LinkedIn and highlighted a part that particularly resonated with you;
Shown that you’ve done your research by referring to the lead’s occupation/company/industry;
Invited the lead in a non-intrusive way to join by sharing a link (no spamming);
Told the lead what to expect from the community and showed that they have value from joining.

Scenario #6: Invite a speaker/lecturer to your event

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I loved your article {{title}} on {{website}}.

Anyways, I am truly an admirer of your work and would love to connect!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for adding me to your network!

As mentioned before, your article really meant a lot to me {{reason}}.

Actually, I am organizing a seminar on an adjacent topic {{topic}} aimed at {{occupation}}. I would love to have you as a guest speaker.

Let’s hop on a call and discuss it further one day this week. What do you think?

These templates work because you’ve:

Shown that you’ve done your research and that you know their work by referencing something specific;
Shown admiration for their work. Everyone likes compliments;
Shared how their work helped you. Everyone likes to know that what they do is helpful to others.

Scenario #7: Connect over a mutual friend to pitch a product/service

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I noticed that we’re both connected with {{mutualConnection}}. I worked with {{MutualConnection’sName}} at {{company}}/{{project}}, so I thought it would be nice to get in touch with you!

How do you know {{MutualConnection’sName}}?

LinkedIn message template #1

Hey {{firstName}},

Glad to connect!

Anyways, I saw that you work as a {{title}} at {{company}}. I have a question if you don’t mind me asking. {{question}}

LinkedIn message template #2

The reason I asked is that we have a new tool that {{benefit}}.

If this is something that your business needs, I would be glad to hop on a quick call and give you some details.

No strings attached. Let me know!

LinkedIn message template #3

Hi {{firstName}},

You are probably very busy, so I just wanted to check in with you one last time and see if you saw my last message.

I would like to tell you how to {{uniqueSellingPoint}}:

{{sellingPoints}}

You can see more details here - {{websiteLink}}

Can you take a call {{time}} to discuss it further?

No pushy sales manipulation, I promise.

I hope to hear back from you!

These templates work because you’ve:

Shown that you have a mutual connection. People like to work with someone who is reliable;
Researched who they are and what they do in particular;
Asked questions to create a deeper bond and to understand your lead’s needs/problems/rooms for improvement;
Tried to create a hook once more by listing the unique selling points of your product/service.

Scenario #8: Recruit the perfect candidate for your business

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I am a recruiter at {{company}} and I came across your profile.

I would like to talk about a newly-opened position at {{company}} for which I found you to be a perfect fit.

Let’s connect!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for accepting my Connection Request.

As I was saying, I came across your profile and you seem to be exactly the person that we seek - {{background}}/{{skills}}.

{{yourCompany}} is currently seeking a {{position}} with your skillset to carry out a series of tasks I would like to further discuss with you, in case this sounds interesting.

What do you say?

These templates work because you’ve:

Shown that you’ve done your research and know your lead’s professional experience;
Highlighted a particular skill set that your lead has and that is relevant to the position that you’re offering.

Scenario #9: Target leads who attended the same LinkedIn event as you did

Connection request template

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw that you too attended the {{eventName}} event!

I found {{topic}} particularly useful! How about you?

Let’s connect!

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for adding me to your network!

I saw that you are {{title}} at {{company}}. I help {{niche}} companies generate more leads through deep personalization on LinkedIn.

Let’s jump on a Zoom call sometime this week?

{{personalizedImage}}

Personalized image

These templates work because you’ve:

Referred to an event that both you and the lead attended;
Referenced something specific from the event;
Done your research and referenced your lead’s title/company/industry;
Done extra work to hyper-personalize an Image by making a direct reference to your lead, yourself, and a call-to-action (zoom call).

Scenario #10: Reach out to a lead who asked a question in a post comment

Connection request template

Hey {{firstName}},

I found the question that you asked in {{author’sName}} post on LinkedIn very interesting!

I would love to suggest several resources that could help you solve that issue.

LinkedIn message template #1

Thank you for accepting my Connection Request.

You asked {{question}}. Have you ever heard of {{product}}/{{service}}?

I would love to hop on a call with you and explain why I find it to be a good solution to what you need right now.

These templates work because you’ve:

Reference a specific question that a lead asked in a comment to someone’s post;
Offered a potential solution/resource to solve their problem.

Frequently asked questions

How do response rates for these templates vary by industry or job role, and are there adaptations recommended for specific sectors?

Response rates to LinkedIn sales message templates can vary significantly by industry and job role. It's beneficial to customize these templates and their follow-ups to align with the specific language, challenges, and goals of your target sector to increase their effectiveness and engagement.

What follow-up strategies should be employed if there is no response to the initial LinkedIn sales message, and how soon should one follow up?

If there's no response to an initial LinkedIn sales message, a best practice is to wait for a week or two before following up. The follow-up after no response should add value proposition, perhaps by sharing relevant content or insights, and express genuine interest in helping the recipient.

Are there any data or case studies on the long-term effectiveness of these strategies in building lasting business relationships or closing sales?

While we didn’t mention case studies on the long-term effectiveness of LinkedIn sales strategies, we used these messages in our outreach templates library, so you can check them out and see the measurable results for each sequence. Generally, consistency, personalization, and providing value are critical factors in building lasting business relationships and achieving sales success.

To sum up

The hardest part on LinkedIn is getting your lead’s attention. Despite the fact that having your Connection Request accepted represents a small victory, bigger “battles” are about to happen. LinkedIn members are being bombarded with so many messages and sales offers, that the majority of them don’t even bother reading them, let alone answering.

That’s why we’ve listed 10 LinkedIn Message Templates for different business scenarios that can help you attract that “ideal” lead’s attention.

Express interest in your lead’s work to form a partnership;
Investigate your lead’s current solution to pitch your product/service;
Content distribution and promotion;
Reach out to people who attended your event;
Invite relevant leads to join your community;
Invite a speaker/lecturer to your event;
Connect over a mutual friend to pitch a product/service;
Recruit the perfect candidate for your business;
Target leads who attended the same LinkedIn event as you did;
Reach out to a lead who asked a question in a post comment.

Whether you’re using them for networking on LinkedIn, getting new clients, partners, or doing any kind of outreach, these strategic templates could grow your chances for success.

Use them, tweak them, get inspired by them.

And when you feel ready to scale up your business, we’ll be right here waiting for you.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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Everybody knows that one of the best ways to get new customers is by contacting them using LinkedIn cold messages. Why? Well, sales teams prefer cold outreach via LinkedIn because this social media is the most effective B2B lead generation channel. Compared to cold calling, and cold emails, that is.

However, when crafting a LinkedIn cold message, salespeople often get confused about how to approach their leads. Or, for example, their cold outreach message ends up showing no effect at all.

That said, let’s make your cold LinkedIn outreach a winning game. In this article, we’ll focus on the best LinkedIn cold messages with demonstrated results where available. Moreover, we've prepared tips on how to write them.

What is a LinkedIn cold message?

LinkedIn is the biggest social media platform for startups, company founders, CEOs, sales professionals, marketers, recruiters, B2B influencers, and alike. With roughly 930M users, LinkedIn has been recognized as a perfect place to build a professional network, generate leads, find common ground, and grow Business-to-business partnerships.

That said, many marketers use it for outbound marketing efforts, such as publishing LinkedIn ads, promoting webinars, and generating leads for their sales team. On the other hand, sales teams and recruiters use LinkedIn for outbound activities such as prospecting and sending LinkedIn cold messages.

To clarify, LinkedIn cold message is a form of reaching out via LinkedIn to your leads who haven’t met you in the past. In addition, LinkedIn cold messages have 3 forms: connection request, message (after the leads accept an invite), or InMail. Each form has a unique formula for success and how you should craft it.

For example, a well-crafted InMail can have an average reply rate of around 18% to 25%, unlike cold emails, whose average reply rate is around 3%.

Nevertheless, it’s important to note that one should not limit themselves to using LinkedIn only. Lastly, the best way to acquire and close an outbound lead is by using both channels in your outreach strategy.

The benefits of LinkedIn cold messages

The first benefit of LinkedIn cold messaging is that LinkedIn is a far more transparent medium than email to gather qualified prospects. So as soon as your cold lead gets your message, they can immediately see what you are all about and decide to act upon it.

Secondly, the bigger and stronger your network is, the more people you can connect with. You can then leverage mutual connection to increase the acceptance rate, for example. What’s more, you will gain a larger pool of leads you can generate.

The third and last benefit is that you have not one but two formats you can use for LinkedIn cold messaging. In other words, if your connection request doesn’t work, you can always send an InMail.

LinkedIn cold message templates & examples that work in 2024

General cold messaging tactics and templates

Leverage something you have in common

The first tip about Cold LinkedIn messages is to find common ground with your leads. To clarify, this can be anything from liking the same post, influencer, or a sport. Here is an example.

Cold LinkedIn connection message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I noticed you liked {{authorName}}’s post on {{subjectOfThePost}}. I loved it as well. Especially the part about {{statementAndConclusion}}. I’d like to connect since I can see you know a lot about {{Topic}}.

Real-life example:

Or you can drop them an InMail such as this one:

Subject line: Post about {{Topic}}

InMail template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I noticed you reacted to {{authorName}}’s post on {{subjectOfThePost}}. I loved it as well — especially the part about {{statementAndConclusion}}.

Anyways, I noticed by looking at your profile that you’re familiar with {{Topic}}, so I wanted to see whether you are approaching {{KeyProblemYou’reSolving}} in {{currentCompany}}?

I would love to know more about this.

Best, {{Your Name}}

Response rate: 35%

Real-life example:

Mention a shared connection

People are more likely to accept a LinkedIn invite if they reference a mutual connection. If you’d like to increase your chances, you can send an invite such as this one:

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hey {{firstName}},

I noticed that {{mutualConnectionName}} is part of your network too. We {{yourHistory}}. Anyways, I see you work as {{Position}} and like to chat. Maybe we can exchange some tips.

Real-life example:

See if a mutual connection can introduce you

If, however, you prefer to get introduced to your lead by a mutual connection, you can send a direct message such as this one:

LinkedIn message template:

Hey {{firstName}},

I noticed that {{leadName}} is a part of your network. I’ve been following them for a while now, and I just wanted to chat about their experience as {{Position}}.

Would you mind if you introduced me to them? It’s always better to be introduced, rather than reaching out of the blue. It would mean the world to me.

Best, {{Your Name}}

Real-life example:

Stroke their ego

Everybody likes when they receive a compliment about their work or accomplishment. So, one way you can compliment your leads is to find the post you genuinely like and reference it in your cold LinkedIn message.

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hey {{firstName}},

I loved your post about {{Topic}}. What I loved the most was {{Statement}}.

Anyways, I wanted to connect and chat about how you as a {{Position}} handle {{painPoint}} in your daily work life.

Real-life example:

If they do not respond, you can always send an InMail such as this one:

Subject line: Loved your post about {{Topic}}

InMail template: Hey {{firstName}},

I tried sending an invite, but I guess it got lost somewhere along the way. I wanted to reach out and first say I loved the content you are posting, especially the one about {{Topic}}. What I loved the most was {{Statement}}.

Anyways, I just wanted to connect and chat about how you, as a {{Position}} handle {{painPoint}} in your daily work life, and I'd like a chance to present a solution that {{solutionToPainPoint}} to the table.

If what I offer sounds compelling to you, please let me know. However, if the timing is off, or this is not in the area of your interest at the moment, I'll be happy to enjoy your future posts on LinkedIn. 🙂

Warm regards, {{Your Name}}

Response rate: 30%

Real-life example:

Give reason to reply

By posing a question in your cold LinkedIn outreach, you give them a chance to talk a bit about themselves, and you can learn a bit more about their work. So drop a connection request such as this one:

Cold LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I noticed you work as {{Position}}, so I wanted to reach out and chat about your position. I’m curious what {{Strategy}} has the best {{Result}} from your experience. 😀

Real-life example:

If they do not respond, you can send a cold InMail, such as this one:

Subject line: A quick question

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I tried reaching out over a connection request, but it seems it got lost in the sea of requests you might be getting. Anyways, as a {{Position}}, I always like to expand my network and chat with people about their positions. So I came across your amazing profile, and I was curious, what {{Strategy}} has the best {{Result}} from your experience? 😀

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards, {{Your Name}}

Real-life example:

Leverage a group connection

Leveraging a mutual LinkedIn group is one of the best conversation starters in cold outreach. Moreover, you can top it up with humor in your outreach and create a charming first impression. Here is a connection message template that does just that.

Cold LinkedIn connection request template:

Always trust a glue salesperson. They tend to stick to their word…

Just kidding, {{firstName}}. I saw that you are also part of the {{groupName}} group. Hope we can learn from each other!

Acceptance rate: 63%

Real-life example:

And if they accept a request and do not respond, your next LinkedIn message could sound like this:

LinkedIn message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

Thank you for connecting. I love chatting with other members of the group. Was curious, how are you solving {{painPoint}} at {{currentCompany}}?

Response rate: 37%

Real-life example:

However, if they don't reply to a connection request, you can send the following InMail:

Subject line: Saw you are also a member of {{groupName}}

InMail template: Hello {{firstName}},

I recently tried connecting on CompanyTinder with you... I mean on LinkedIn. Just joking {{firstName}}, I visited your LinkedIn and saw that we are both a part of the same LinkedIn group.

Anyways, I couldn't help but notice you are {{occupation}} at {{currentCompany}}. I was curious, how are you solving {{painPoint}}?

If you still haven't found the solution, I would love to chat with you this week over a call about how {{nameOfYourCompany}} could help you. Either way, hope Q2 is going great for you!

Best! {{Your name}}

Response rate: 27%

Real-life example:

Then you can proceed by asking them what their biggest challenges are, offering tailored solutions, and presenting your product or service.

LinkedIn cold message for B2B lead generation

If they viewed your profile

Sometimes your Buyer Persona will view your profile. In that case, you can send them a connection request such as this one:

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I saw you viewed my profile on LinkedIn. Let's connect and chat. 😊

Perhaps we discover we can collaborate.

Acceptance rate: 63%

Real-life example:

If they accept your connection request but do not respond, try taking this follow-up message for a spin:

LinkedIn message template:

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for connecting. Perhaps, I was just in the pool of the {{typeOfProduct}} you are researching. 😊 However, I do have extensive knowledge of {{painPointTopic}}. Let me know if you are looking for something specific.

Response rate: 29%

Real-life example:

Mention relevant company news

You can also reference recent company news, achievements, or celebrations to catch your lead's attention. In addition, since the company experienced a change, you can present your product/service as a new and refreshing solution on the market. In that case, help yourself with this piece:

LinkedIn connection message:

Hey {{firstName}},

Congrats on {{companyNewsTopic}}. I've been following you for a while now, and this is truly great to hear! I wanted to reach out and chat about an idea that I think your team can benefit from. Let's connect on this.

Real-life example:

However, if they don’t accept a connection request, send them this InMail:

Subject line: {{ProductOrServiceType}} that actually {{benefit}}! 🙂

InMail message template: Hi {{firstName}},

Congrats on {{companyNewsTopic}}. I’ve been following your company for a while now and I think this is a huge deal! Anyways, It would be silly of me to think you’re not using an {{productOrServiceType}} already, but it’s a no-brainer to present something new on the market that actually helps {{Position}} reach {{Result}} specifically. {{shortDescirptionAboutYourProduct/ServiceWithBenefits}}

Let me know if this sounds interesting to you.

Best, {{Your Name}}

Response rate: 20%

Real-life example:

Pitch your product

Some sales professionals want to pitch a product or a service at the beginning of the cold outreach stage. In that case, here are a few sequence templates that will help you achieve very good results.

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

Your profile really caught my attention while I was looking for {{TheTypeofCompanyYouTargeted}} companies. Let’s connect!

Real-life example:

If they accept a connection request, then your following message can sound something like this:

LinkedIn message template:

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for connecting! I am looking for companies who are seeking to improve their {{keyProblemYouAreSolving}}

Did you know that you can achieve {{resultsYourProductProvides}}? I believe {{yourProductOrService}} will be an excellent fit for {{currentCompany}} because {{howYourProductOrServiceHelpsYourClients}}. If this sounds interesting, let’s have a chat! How’s next week?

Real-life example:

However, if they do not accept a connection request, send an InMail with the following call to action:

Subject line: Quick question about {{currentCompany}}

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I am looking for companies seeking to improve their {{keyProblemYouAreSolving}}, and your profile caught my attention.

Did you know that you can achieve {{resultsYourProductProvides}}? I believe {{YourProductOrService}} will be an excellent fit for {{currentCompany}} because {{HowYourProductOrServiceHelpsYourClients}}.

If you agree, let’s connect and have a chat! What do you think about next week?

Best, {{Your Name}}

Real-life example:

This entire sequence results in:

Acceptance rate: 67%
Response rate: 39%

Use past client wins

If you want to pitch first, you can also use some case studies of similar companies. This way, you can demonstrate bullet-proof case studies of your best clients, similar to your leads in question. The following template can work if someone didn’t accept your LinkedIn invite previously.

Subject line: Swift question - not to shake it off 🙂

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I tried reaching you through LinkedIn, but I guess your account is also overwhelmed with connection requests, ha?

Anyway, the reason I decided to contact you is that I noticed that you work as a {{Position}} at {{currentCompany}}.

We actually were able to help {{RelevantCompany/CaseStudy}} with {{KeyProblemYou’reSolving}}, so I was wondering how you are approaching it at your company.

Worth a convo?

Kind regards, {{Your name}}

Response rate: 35%

Real-life example:

Refer to an event or webinar where you both participated

One of the best LinkedIn cold messages that point out common ground is the one that references a webinar or an event you both attended. Here is how your connection message can sound like:

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I see you are interested in attending the same webinar as I am. I am talking about {{[nameOfTheWebinar}}. I’d like to connect with you and discuss the event topic.

Acceptance: 75%

Real-life example:

After your leads accept a connection request, you can continue the conversation by using the following LinkedIn cold message template and pitch accordingly later on:

LinkedIn message template:

Thanks for connecting with me, {{firstName}}! So what are you looking to get from this event?

However, if the lead doesn’t respond to your connection request, you can send an InMail that goes like this:

Subject line: Let’s chat about upcoming {{[NameOfTheEvent}}

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I hope you don’t mind reaching out directly to your inbox.

I see you are interested in attending the same event as I am - {{[NameOfTheEvent}}.

Maybe you just overlooked the invitation without realizing it, but if that’s not the case, I’d like to connect with you and pick your brain about this interesting upcoming event.

Best regards, {{[Your name}}

Response rate: 47%

Real-life example:

Investor outreach

If you are a startup looking for an investor, your cold LinkedIn message should have a strong CTA. In addition, investors are decision-makers who don’t like to spend time on getting the relevant data from you. Instead, you should present it yourself and show the prognosis of ROI right away.

That said, you can try out this InMail message example:

Subject line: Invest in our company, and get {{Percentage}} ROI in the first year

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I am the founder of {{companyName}}, a company determined to help {{targetAudience}} achieve {{Results}}.

I’ve been following you for a while and noticed you’ve invested in a type of company such as ours. I’ve created a detailed report and estimated that you could earn {{amountOfMoney}} within the first year, with an investment of {{amountOfMoney}} that will cover our 6-month period.

If this interests you, I would love to show you a detailed report and all the calculations over a call.

Best regards, {{Your name}}

Real-life example:

LinkedIn cold message templates for recruiter

If you work as a recruiter in a startup this would be a perfect cold InMail message example for you.

Subject line: Are you our next {{companyName}} star?

InMail message template:

Hi {{firstName}},

We are {{companyName}}, a team of young people who {{whatYourCompanyDoes}}.

Currently, we are looking for an ambitious person, desirably with the {{Position}} experience and aspirations to grow and develop their career path.

Our team is very successful and fast-developing, and we have multiple sectors where you can further learn and develop your career path. We strive to encourage people who come to our company to contribute with their suggestions and propositions to improve their sector and, thus, the company as a whole.

Would you be interested in working in such a young and dynamic team? 🙂

Best, {{Your name}}

Response rate: 65%

Real-life example:

And here is a LinkedIn cold message template for a connection request:

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hey {{firstName}},

I’m HR at {{companyName}}, a team of young people who {{whatYourCompanyDoes}}. We are searching for an ambitious person to fill in our {{Position}} vacancy and aspirations to grow and develop their career.

Real-life example:

LinkedIn message examples for job seekers

Messaging a recruiter directly

If you see a hiring manager publishing a job post on LinkedIn, in most cases, it is good to send a connection request to HR. To clarify, this will show that you are serious, proactive, and demonstrate initiative.

Cold LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I’ve noticed you published {{Position}} job post. I’ve been following {{companyName}}, and it’s my dream workplace. So I thought it would be better to send you a message, connect directly and show you my passion for this role.

Real-life example:

Cold messaging an employee

This is one of the ways to figure out what the company culture is like and establish a connection with an employee within your desired company.

LinkedIn connection request:

Hey {{firstName}},

I noticed you work at {{currentCompany}}. How has your experience been in the {{Department}} since you started? I'm searching for job opportunities, and {{currentCompany}} is my #1. I’d like to connect to chat about it.

Real-life example:

And if they respond, you can send a message such as this one to get their referral:

LinkedIn message template:

Thanks for your message, {{firstName}}.

Really appreciate it. On a side note, are you aware that the {{Position}} job listed on {{websiteName}} falls under your department? If not, can you point me to the person usually responsible for recruiting for such roles? I'm considering applying and would like to ensure my application doesn't disappear in the digital chaos.

Real-life example:

Request an informal interview

Sometimes, in your target company, there are no job vacancies that match your expertise. However, that doesn't stop you from messaging their hiring manager and kindly asking for an informal interview. You can test out this template.

LinkedIn connection request template:

Hi {{firstName}},

I've been following {{currentCompany}} for a while now, and I adore your company culture and achievements. Even though you don't have roles matching my skills, I'd still like to connect and schedule an informal call and present myself in person.

Real-life example:

How to cold message on LinkedIn and get replies

Before sending your first message or LinkedIn connection request to your potential customers, you need to get your outreach strategy straight. This way, you can prepare the ground to generate higher-qualified leads faster. Here are our top tips for doing so.

Optimize your profile

The first rule to get the best out of your LinkedIn cold message is to optimize your LinkedIn profile. People are more prone to accept a connection request from someone whose entire profile is set up. In other words, you have your:

Profile and cover image,
LinkedIn headline,
Company name,
About section,
And the education section.

For example, if you are a salesperson, potential customers can check out your LinkedIn profile and see your product/service and what you are all about before accepting a connection request.

On the other hand, if you are a hiring manager, candidates can take a look at your company name and website. Otherwise, if your profile is not entirely set up, they would mistake you as a fraud. Think of it as the first barrier of defense to prove the validity of your outreach strategy.

Target the right people - ICP & buyer persona

Both cold emails and LinkedIn connection requests can go down the drain if they are aimed at the wrong target audience. In other words, you need to research and create your Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona. Find out what’s your ideal company headcount, revenue, or location. Buyer Persona wise, figure out what position uses your product/service, whether they are decision-makers or not, and their pain points so you can tailor your sales pitch.

If you are a hiring manager, a Persona for each position will be enough. Just make sure to target the correct position, industry, years of experience, and other factors relevant to your job vacancy.

Lastly, the best way to create these two documents is to analyze your current ideal customers. In other words, find the ones with:

Highest retention rate and LTV;
Shortest buying cycle;
And who would be a referral for your product someplace else.

N.B. Remember that every piece of information in your ICP or Buyer Persona documents needs to be actionable. In other words, create a document with the information you can use for your LinkedIn prospecting or messaging purposes.

Find your leads using LinkedIn filters

Our next piece of advice is to learn how to find your ideal leads. If you are a sales executive, get to the bottom of the ins and outs of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters and LinkedIn prospecting hacks. Or find leads outside LinkedIn and trace them back to this social media. And if you are a recruiter, research Recruiter search filters.

Remember, the goal is to be as narrow as possible, so you can find your ideal leads with a high-quality status and shorter close cycles.

Personalize your cold message

Personalization wins the conversation. Simple as that. The more personalized approach, the more people will respond to your LinkedIn connection request, InMail, or even a phone call.

That said, fill your cold outreach messages with personalized points to get their attention, such as:

First and last name,
Current company,
Position,
Mutual connection,
Case studies or posts they shared,
Webinar they attended,
Influencers they follow,
Or the LinkedIn group they joined.

These are just a few examples of how you can personalize your connection messages or cold emails in general. However, when crafting your first message and even second, you should always have in mind that you need to offer value and make it all about your prospects. In other words, help yourself with the deeper personalization points such as:

What are the new customers' main goals,
What are their pain points,
Post they publish,
Content they created,
What type of content do they consume?

These points are the ones that will help you get a higher response rate. If you don’t want to present your sales pitch or mention pain points right away, you can always send them an interesting article to spark their imagination about your service.

Lastly, end your direct messages with a call to action. It can be anything from reading a blog, accepting a LinkedIn connection request, or scheduling an online meeting or a phone call. Nonetheless, try to keep only one call to action per message.

However, if you’re tired of manually personalizing and sending such messages, then use the best LinkedIn automation tool to do it for you. With some automation tools, you can use placeholders/variables such as first name, last name, and company. And with some, you can insert custom variables, but more on that later.

Send your cold message, including InMail

LinkedIn users have not one, but three formats they can use to connect with someone on LinkedIn - connection requests, direct message after invite acceptance, and InMails. These two formats are the main ones for the initial contact with potential customers and candidates.

To clarify, InMails are like cold emails but on LinkedIn. You can write your own subject line and have 8K characters available as opposed to a connection request (300 characters). Moreover, you can send InMails to people outside your professional network only if you have a paid LinkedIn subscription.

Types of InMails & benefits

You can send paid and free InMails. The number of paid InMails you can send depends on your LinkedIn subscription. For example, if you paid for LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you have 50 monthly credits. On the other hand, if you paid for Recruiter lite, you get 30 InMail credits and 100-150 credits for a Recruiter subscription. Lastly, LinkedIn Premium offers only 15 InMail credits per month.

Contrary to paid InMails, you can send up to 800 free ones, but only to those LinkedIn users who have set their profile to Open profile status.

That said, make sure to leverage InMail format as a part of your outreach strategy because of the 3 reasons:

You can contact people that are your 2nd and 3rd-degree connection without sending a connection request;
You have more characters available than in connection requests, so you can focus on pain points and better CTA;
It's a great alternative if your connection request is pending and you'd like to send a direct message straight to the decision-makers inbox.

Lastly, you can use the LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software, Skylead, to automate sending InMails. Skylead is unique on the market because it allows our users to send both paid and free InMails. Our users often use InMail as the last step in the Smart sequence if the lead has not accepted the invite or there is no email address.

Follow up

Salespeople often perceive follow-up messages as pushy and a thing that can drive your leads away. Therefore, 70% of them do not send any follow-ups. However, a lesser-known fact is that if you send a follow-up, you automatically increase the chance to hear back from your lead by 25%.

However, if you know how to write a follow-up email after no response or LinkedIn message, you can increase these chances even more.

That said, our advice is to research how to write the best follow-ups out there and never miss to send them. And here is a short, and according to our experience the main advice for the follow ups. Depending on the format, a follow-up should be short and focus on at least 2 of the following:

Catchy subject line;
Context;
Value (case studies, solution to pain points);
CTA.

Thus, here is one follow-up message that is led by the above mentioned points.

Subject line: Any thoughts?

Follow-up InMail template:

Hey {{firstName}},

Just checking in to see if you got any thoughts on exploring what {{nameOfYourCompany}} could do for {{theirCompany}}?

We worked with Companies similar to yours, such as:

- {{Company1}}

- {{Company2}}

- {{Company3}}

If you give me a chance for a call to show you, just this once, how other {{ProspectsPosition}} have used this solution to {{smallBenefit}}, I promise we can part ways if you are not impressed. Just let me know when is the best time for you. Anyway, love what you are doing with {{theirCompany}}.

Best, {{Your name}}

Response rate: 27%

Real-life example:

Scale through automation

If you want to accelerate the process and save time on manual outreach, you should automate lead generation on LinkedIn.

Take our very own Skylead, for example. This automation tool helps startup and founders, sales teams, recruiters, marketers, and alike streamline email and LinkedIn outreach tasks, such as sending:

cold emails,
connection requests,
InMails,
and LinkedIn direct messages,

depending on your leads' behavior. To show you how Skylead follows leads' behavior, let's go through creating one of the outreach campaigns in Skylead.

LinkedIn cold outreach campaign

First, choose your lead source, aka where Skylead will pull the leads from, and insert the source. For the sake of this article, we will select the LinkedIn search result. Don't forget to choose the type of connection, if available.

Secondly, set up your campaign settings. Here is where you can determine your launch date, whether you wish to collect contact information or reach out only to those with Premium LinkedIn profiles.

Now, this is where the fun begins. Meet our Smart Sequence, a groundbreaking algorithm that allows you to use multichannel outreach and personalize messages at scale. The secret to why the Smart sequences are so powerful lies in If/else conditions that you can set after each action and let Skylead follow your leads’ behavior and perform actions accordingly.

So, to create a Smart sequence, drag and drop actions and conditions and connect them.

Once you do, write down personalized messages using variables such as first name, company name, and so on. For example, here is how your LinkedIn cold message, aka connection request, can look like:

Keep in mind that if you want to personalize your messaging even more, you can always create a CSV file with custom variables and upload it as the lead source.

Moreover, once a lead responds to your message, the sequence will stop for that lead, and you can see all the messages from all the platforms collected and available in our Smart Inbox. This way, you can continue the conversation without navigating between the platforms. What’s better, you can even label the leads with tags and calculate how many leads converted during this campaign.

And that is the magic of Skylead. 😊

Frequently asked questions

1. How do these cold message strategies vary in effectiveness across different regions or cultures?

Cold message strategies' effectiveness can vary significantly across different regions or cultures due to varying communication norms and expectations. Tailoring your approach to reflect an understanding of cultural nuances and preferences in communication can greatly enhance receptivity and engagement.

2. What are the long-term follow-up strategies if the initial cold messages receive positive responses?

Long-term follow-up strategies should focus on building a genuine relationship with the recipient. This involves regularly sharing relevant content, updates, and opportunities that add value, maintaining a balance between staying in touch and respecting the recipient's space and interest level.

3. Are there any case studies or success stories of businesses that have significantly benefited from using these specific LinkedIn cold message templates?

Yes. We have a vast library of outreach templates that use these messages, and by examining each type of outreach sequence, you can see other results in addition to the response rate we've stated here.

4. Is it better to cold email or cold message on LinkedIn?

Cold emails have an average of 3% reply rate, while InMail’s is 18-25%. So, cold messages on LinkedIn are better. But it also depends on your target audience and their preferred channel. So, to maximize getting in touch with every lead possible, you should reach out using both channels.

5. What is a good first message on LinkedIn?

“Hey {{firstName}}, I loved your post about {{Topic}}, so I wanted to connect and chat.” Or you can use a humorous approach with personalization: “What’s a marketer’s favorite drink? Brand-y. Just kidding, {{firstName}}, saw that you are also part of the {{GroupName}} group. Hope we can learn from each other!”

Ready for your best cold outreach yet?

So, what are you waiting for? All these messages are ready to use and are waiting on you. However, if you want to write your take on them, we understand - feel free to edit them as much as you’d like. Or, if you wish to use another version of this message, you can always use Chat GPT for sales to write prompts and have alternatives to these LinkedIn cold messages in no time. Either way, you will win this cold outreach game.

And if you’re up for scaling your email and LinkedIn lead generation and automating the process, start our Free Trial and experience firsthand how fast you can scale your business.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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Attention is the real capital in this day and age. Being noticed in a sea of information in a distracted world is considered to be a privilege. To stand out, you must take what you have to the next level. The same rules apply to your LinkedIn headline.

However, figuring out a LinkedIn headline can feel like navigating a maze for many folks, and let's be real, some platform members aren't even sure what it is or where to find it on their profile.

That's why we're here to break it down for you in plain language and give you some practical suggestions and LinkedIn headline examples that work from our own experience.

These tips have helped our sales team stand out on LinkedIn, improve rankings and visibility in LinkedIn search results, and ultimately gain more credibility and more quality leads for Skylead.

Let’s check it out how it’s done!

What is a LinkedIn headline?

A LinkedIn headline is the text below your name in your profile's introduction. It's a vital section of your profile because it impacts your ranking in LinkedIn searches and plays a crucial part in forming the first impression. When well-written, a LinkedIn headline is a prime eye-catcher in search results.

This is your LinkedIn headline.

How to edit a LinkedIn headline

You can edit your LinkedIn headline as many times as you want, although it is recommended to keep some consistency and not to change it too often.

The maximum length of your LinkedIn headline is 220 characters.

Edit your LinkedIn headline by clicking on the Pen icon right here.

Then, scroll down to the LinkedIn headline section.

As you may see, you can insert it manually, or use LinkedIn’s AI assistant to suggest LinkedIn headlines for you. This feature is available only for paid LinkedIn plans.

If you click on the Write with AI option, LinkedIn will suggest a LinkedIn headline for you based on the information on your LinkedIn profile.

You can ask it to generate a LinkedIn headline for you as many times as you want, or just click Revert to go back to the one you had before.

Click Save to save the changes to your LinkedIn profile.

Generally, we suggest using ChatGPT for sales to speed up certain processes. You can also independently brainstorm your LinkedIn headline in Chat GPT from LinkedIn’s AI assistant. In this blog, we gave you 13 LinkedIn headline examples considered to be a good practice. Use them to get inspired by them or as a prompt in Chat GPT to generate variations. It’s up to you!

What to put in a LinkedIn headline

The number one rule is not to make your LinkedIn headline misleading.

Rule number two is that there is no rule number two.

As long as your LinkedIn headline is informative, relevant, and catchy, you are on the right track. Yes, creativity is highly appreciated even on LinkedIn. Stay within the professional frames and you can still play with your LinkedIn headline as much as you want.

Easier said than done (we agree), but your LinkedIn headline should summarize your skills, ambitions, and experiences within the 220-character limit. As this is not as simple as it sounds, most LinkedIn members decide to leave their current job title and forget about it. Big mistake.

It is exactly your LinkedIn headline that sets you apart in the “sea of the same”. It is the first thing your prospects read when they visit your LinkedIn profile and it is one of the things that keeps them scrolling to get a deeper insight into your professional achievements through LinkedIn summary and other LinkedIn sections.

Formulas to write an effective LinkedIn profile

Here are 2 formulas to write an effective LinkedIn profile.

The first one is to imagine I know nothing about your industry and, with that in mind, to explain to me, in one simple sentence, what you do.

The second one is to imagine you have to create a billboard advertising yourself and think of a catchy slogan that would sell you the best.

If this doesn’t help you come up with an appealing LinkedIn headline, try using one of the following formulas where

X represents your ideal prospect;
Y represents your ideal outcome;
Z represents the service you offer.

If these still seem too abstract to you, don’t worry, we’ve listed 13 real-life LinkedIn headline examples to illustrate what an effective headline is and to help you get inspired for yours.

Common mistakes in LinkedIn headlines

Using codes or professional jargon that only people from your industry know such as “BDR”, “SDR”, “AE”, etc.
Showing off by using words such as “expert”, “top-performing”, “superior”, “best” or mentioning any success without offering valid arguments that support it.
Not using keywords that are relevant to your potential prospects. When writing your LinkedIn headline keep in mind that the most commonly used filter on LinkedIn is the “keyword” one. Make sure you show up in your prospect or recruiter’s search result.
Writing a headline that reflects your former professional engagements that are not relevant to your current or future professional aspirations.
Not including your unique selling point. Without it, you are just one more professional in a sea of others.
Make your LinkedIn headline about how you can help others instead of how “awesome” you are.

The 6 common mistakes when writing a LinkedIn headline

On the other hand, here are the top 6 most common mistakes when writing a LinkedIn headline.

Using codes or professional jargon that only people from your industry know such as “BDR”, “SDR”, “AE”, etc.
Showing off by using words such as “expert”, “top-performing”, “superior”, “best” or mentioning any success without offering valid arguments that support it.
Not using keywords that are relevant to your potential prospects. When writing your LinkedIn headline keep in mind that the most commonly used filter on LinkedIn is the “keyword” one. Make sure you show up in your prospect or recruiter’s search results.
Writing a headline that reflects your former professional engagements that are not relevant to your current or future professional aspirations.
Not including your unique selling point. Without it, you are just one more professional in a sea of others.
Making your LinkedIn headline about how “awesome” you are instead of how you can help others succeed.

Summary

Yes, we always encourage our clients to take advantage of AI, but no platform beats human creativity and wittiness so far! Use Chat GPT as a tool to speed up and perfect some of the ideas you come up with.

In the meantime, follow the above instructions and LinkedIn headline examples we listed for you, and you might find yourself brainstorming your ideal LinkedIn headline much quicker than expected.

At the end of the day, no one knows you better than you!

And, speaking of quicker, if you want to make your entire lead generation and outreach significantly faster while booking 3x more meetings than before, you should check out Skylead and its 7-day FREE trial to learn how its groundbreaking solutions could get you faster to your business goals.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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Wondering about how much does LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost? You're not alone.

The price of LinkedIn Sales Navigator depends on which plan you pick. There are different options for individuals, teams, and big companies (enterprise-level).

And the good news is, you can try it out free before deciding whether it fits your company's goals.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator pricing plans

LinkedIn offers three distinct plans for its Sales Navigator solution:

Sales Navigator plan	Monthly cost	Yearly cost
Core (best for individual professionals, e.g., freelancers, consultants, healthcare providers, etc.)	$99.99/month (i.e., $1,199.88 annual cost)	$959.88/year billed annually (i.e., $79.99/month)
Advanced (best for sales professionals and teams)	$149.99/month or (i.e., $1,799.88 annual cost)	$1,300 billed annually (i.e., $108.33/month)
Advanced Plus (best for enterprises)	-	$1,600 per seat per year

⚠️ Note on LinkedIn Sales Navigator Pricing: The prices listed above for the Sales Navigator Plan are exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (GST) or any other applicable taxes.

Each plan caters to different needs and budgets, providing varying levels of features and benefits.

The Core plan is ideal for professionals seeking new clients or partners. It offers features like LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters for advanced lead and search, lead recommendations, and custom lists.

Moving up, the Advanced plan targets sales professionals and teams. It includes full access to Core features and additional benefits. These benefits include CSV uploads, alerts when buyers show interest, unified team billing, and integration with other business tools.

Finally, the Advanced Plus plan is for enterprise-level big sales teams looking for comprehensive access and CRM integration.

Sales Navigator offers a range of pricing plans to meet diverse business needs. However, the associated costs may present challenges for smaller enterprises or individuals.

So, assessing your needs against potential returns is crucial before subscribing to any of the three plans above.

Sales Navigator Core pricing - Best for individual professionals

LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost for the Core plan varies depending on the subscription duration.

Here's how much it costs:

Plan	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost (billed annually)
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core	$99.99/month (i.e., $1,199.88 annual cost)	$959.88/year billed annually (i.e., $79.99/month)

The Sales Navigator Core pricing plan is designed for individual professionals, like freelancers, consultants, and healthcare providers.

Moreover, the Core subscription plan is more cost-effective compared to the other two. This is because the features offered in Advanced and Advanced Plus plans are tailored mostly for large teams and enterprises. For individual professionals, the Core plan is both budget-friendly and efficient, providing only essential features without unnecessary additional overhead costs.

Sales Navigator Core features

Core Plan Feature	Functionality
34 advanced lead filters & 16 account filters	Sales Navigator filters help professionals pinpoint high-potential prospects or companies, streamlining the search for relevant leads in their target market.
Lead recommendations based on your saved searches	Effortlessly uncover new leads matching your ideal customer profile (ICP) through lead recommendations, never missing out on valuable opportunities.
Custom lists to save and track priority leads and accounts	Organize leads and accounts by sales cycle stage or interest level, facilitating targeted engagement and efficient management.
Extended network access	Leverage insights from an extended network to identify warm leads and tailor outreach efforts, enhancing effectiveness.
Reach out (InMail - 50/month)	Engage with prospects in a personalized manner using InMail, fostering meaningful conversations and relationships.
Find the right people with Advanced search, Relationship Explorer, buyer-persona segmentation, etc.	Identify key decision-makers, influencers, or stakeholders within target accounts for strategic outreach.
Prioritize & qualify leads with Account Hub, lead/account recommendations, etc.	Focus on leads with the highest potential for conversion, streamlining the sales process.
Integrate with your sales tools like SNAP, Outlook web integration, Sales Navigator mobile app, etc.	Access features seamlessly within existing workflows, engaging with leads efficiently.
Keep track of people & companies with Relationship Map, saved leads/accounts, custom lists, alerts, notes, etc.	Maintain a holistic view of relationships with leads and accounts, driving conversions effectively.

In addition to Sales Navigator’s extensive feature set, the tool has gathered praise for:

its advanced lead search filters,
lead recommendations,
and integration capabilities.

However, we’ve noticed that some users have reported challenges with search accuracy and relevance, highlighting potential areas for improvement. Fortunately, we’ve developed a detailed LinkedIn prospecting guide, to help you precisely narrow down your search for outreaching relevant prospects.

Sales Navigator Advanced pricing - Best for sales professionals and teams

LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost for Advanced plan is justified if you are a salesperson and a part of the team that needs extra tools to find potential customers.

Here's how much it costs so you can decide which plan fits your budget and how long you want to commit.

Plan	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost (billed annually)
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced	$149.99/month or (i.e., $1,799.88 annual cost)	$1,300 billed annually (i.e., $108.33/month)

Sales Navigator Advanced features

In addition to the features available from Core plan, Sales Navigator Advanced offers the following additional advanced features and functionalities.

Advanced Plan Feature	Functionality
Easily upload your Book of Business via CSV	Salespeople can quickly populate their Sales Navigator database with their existing contacts from third-party tools. Then, they can effortlessly outreach to them on autopilot using LinkedIn automation tools such as Skylead.
Get alerts when buyers show interest in your company	Sales teams can promptly reach out to interested prospects, increasing the chances of converting leads into customers with targeted follow-up.
Unified billing for your team	Teams benefit from streamlined administrative tasks, ensuring efficient management of subscription costs and billing through a centralized account.
Use Buyer Insights to outreach with credibility	Salespeople can tailor their outreach efforts based on buyer behavior and account insights, enhancing their credibility and effectiveness with high-potential accounts.
Use Team's network to engage with your prospects	Teams can broaden connections, ease introductions, and expand reach in target accounts via TeamLink and TeamLink Extend.
Advanced outreach — package content and track engagement	Sales teams can create compelling content packages and monitor engagement metrics, optimizing their outreach campaigns with the Smart Links feature.
Administrative tools & reporting	Sales leaders can use administrative tools to gain insight into the team's activity and performance and make data-driven decisions.
Centralized billing for contracts sold through LinkedIn corporate sales	Teams enjoy centralized billing and volume discounts via LinkedIn corporate sales, ensuring cost efficiency and simplifying procurement.
Enterprise tools	Teams and salespeople can integrate Sales Navigator smoothly with existing systems using enterprise-grade tools like Single Sign-On (SSO) and SCIM.

Sales Navigator Advanced Plus pricing - Best for enterprises

The next one, Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, is designed for big sales teams and comes with powerful features but at a higher cost.

Sales Navigator Enterprise doesn't have a fixed price. Instead, you'll need to book a demo through a webpage. However, we know the pricing starts at approximately $1,600 per seat per year, but the actual cost depends on your specific needs.

You'll get a dedicated Account Manager to discuss and customize the pricing according to your requirements.

Even though the LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost for Advance plus plan may seem high, it provides significant value for large-scale sales operations. In other words, investing in it can help enterprises be more efficient in LinkedIn lead generation, prospect targeting, and conversion rates.

Sales Navigator Advanced Plus features

Sales Navigator Advanced Plus includes Core and Advanced plan features, along with additional functionalities listed below.

Advanced Plus Feature	Functionality
CRM updates with Data Validation	Automatically update CRM data with accurate information using LinkedIn's data validation feature.
Advanced CRM integrations	Utilize CRM integrations, including data integration and CRM-generated lists for Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, to enhance CRM functionality.
Champions List	Identify promising opportunities when past customers move to new companies, enabling proactive outreach and relationship building.
Opportunities at Risk	Stay updated on risks: track when contacts exit open deals for timely intervention, minimizing potential losses and seizing opportunities.
CRM Activity Writeback	Automatically log Sales Navigator activities (InMails, Messages, Notes) to the CRM system for comprehensive record-keeping and visibility.
Data Validation	Identify out-of-date CRM contacts using LinkedIn data validation, ensuring accurate and reliable contact information for effective communication.
Lead and Contact Creation	Create new CRM leads and contacts directly from Sales Navigator, streamlining the lead generation and management process.
Auto-Save	Import and save CRM leads, contacts, and accounts into Sales Navigator lists automatically.
CRM Badges and Search Filters	Identify Sales Navigator leads and accounts matched to CRM entities using CRM badges and search filters.
ROI Reporting	Gain insights into the value of Sales Navigator by analyzing its impact on revenue and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Does LinkedIn Sales Navigator provide email addresses?

Another thing that justifies LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost is that i provides access to a wealth of professional information, including contact details such as email addresses. However, it's important to note that these email addresses might not always be readily available.

This is where other tools like Skylead can help you.

With Skylead’s Email Finder and Verifier feature, you can effortlessly uncover and validate publicly available email addresses. Skylead will streamline the process for you, ensuring that you have the correct contact information at your fingertips.

But that's not all!

Skylead goes beyond just email acquisition since it's a complete LinkedIn automation and cold email software. In other words, you can use Skylead’s Smart Sequences to streamline and personalize your outreach based on your lead’s actions.

To clarify, with Smart Sequences, you can combine if/else conditions with LinkedIn and email actions to create coherent outreach flows. That said, you can add as many steps as you want to create your best outreach sequences. Here is an example of one such sequence:

You can personalize messages using images, gifs, or text variables. Additionally, you can customize messages based on each lead's interactions. For example, you can adjust messages depending on whether they've responded to your connection requests or opened your emails.

With Skylead, say goodbye to the hassle of searching for email addresses and reaching out to your leads manually.

What others said about LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost - reviews

As of today, LinkedIn Sales Navigator Solution has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra based on its 137 reviews.

Here’s what people had to say about using the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

For example, Abhishek appreciated Sales Navigator's lead generation and talent search features. However, he also mentioned frequent crashing issues and error messages.

Dusti, on the other hand praised Sales Navigator for saving time with integrations. She increased daily outreach from under 100 to 500. However, she noted inaccuracies in search results due to user input bias.

Lastly, Luisa praised Sales Navigator for alert settings, tracking leads, and InMail. She dislikes inaccurate recommended leads.

How do you get LinkedIn Sales Navigator for free?

If you are still not sure about LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost, you can test it out for free and see if it is the best fit for your business. Here's how to do it:

Go to LinkedIn's Premium products page and click the Learn more button below the Sales Navigator Core plan description.

Then, click "Start my free month" to begin and enter your payment details (you won't be charged until after the trial).

⚠️Keep in mind that you won't be able to test it for free if you had another free trial in the past 12 months. Check out our How to get LinkedIn premium free blog to discover another way to test Sales Navigator for free.

At the end of the Sales Navigator free trial, your membership will automatically renew, and, depending on your chosen billing option, you'll be charged a subscription fee on a monthly or annual basis.

Remember, you have the flexibility to change or cancel your Sales Navigator plan at any time before the renewal date by visiting the settings page on LinkedIn.

However, if you cancel, you'll lose access to Premium features at the end of your billing cycle. That said, utilize all your InMail credits, as they remain valid only until the end of your current billing cycle.

As far as LinkedIn's refund policy for Sales Navigator is concerned, refunds are not typically offered except in certain specific situations and jurisdictions, as outlined in their LinkedIn refund policy documentation. So, it's essential to review the policy carefully before making your purchase decision.

Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost worth it? - Pros and cons

Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost worth paying for? Let’s go through the pros and cons of using Sales Navigator for your business outreach to help you make an informed decision.

Pros

1. Interest among salespeople	A LinkedIn poll revealed that 68% of salespeople would use Sales Navigator if provided by their company.
2. Platform popularity	In 2023, 60% of LinkedIn users were aged 25-34, offering Sales Navigator a lucrative user base amid $14.5B revenue.
3. Premium account growth	LinkedIn's premium users reached 175.5 million in 2023, up from 154.4 million in 2022, highlighting Sales Navigator's value.
4. Advanced features	Sales Navigator offers advanced search filters, lead recommendations, real-time updates, and CRM integration, enhancing sales for targeted businesses.

Cons

1. Cost structure	LinkedIn Sales Navigator's high price may deter smaller businesses, individuals, making it less accessible than alternative sales tools.
2. Complexity	Platform’s navigation is difficult for non-tech users due to many features, resulting in a steep learning curve.
3. InMail limitations	InMail credits are limited per tier, hindering outreach, especially for users targeting numerous leads. To solve this, try Skylead, offering unlimited email automation or sending free InMails on autopilot to reach prospects at scale without limitations.
4. Search functionality	Despite advanced filters, users report frustration with result accuracy, hindering efficient identification of ideal prospects.
5. Integration issues	Sales Navigator's CRM integrations, like Salesforce and HubSpot, have caused workflow disruptions for some users due to data syncing issues.
6. Limited customization	While Sales Navigator permits custom lists and filters, some users find Sales Nav customization options to be limited.

How to make the best use out of LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost?

To make the best use out of Sales Navigator’s Cost, follow these recommendations:

1. Set Up Your Sales Navigator Account: If you haven't already, sign up for Sales Navigator and ensure your account is properly set up with your target audience and preferences.

2. Define Your Ideal Prospects: Use Sales Navigator's Account and Lead filtering options to define your ideal customer profile and buyer persona based on various criteria such as industry, company size, job title, location, etc.

3. Save Search Preferences: Once you've defined your ideal prospects, save your search preferences for easy access and future reference.

4. Utilize Lead Recommendations: Sales Navigator provides lead recommendations based on your saved preferences. Review these recommendations regularly to identify new prospects.

5. Engage with Insights: Use Sales Navigator's insights and updates to engage with prospects in meaningful ways. Comment on their posts, share relevant content, and interact with their activity to establish rapport.

6. Send Connection Requests: With third-party LinkedIn Automation tools like Skylead, automate the process of sending personalized connection requests to your identified prospects on Sales Navigator. Craft compelling messages that resonate with your target audience.

7. Utilize InMail Messages: Leverage Sales Navigator's InMail feature to send direct messages to prospects who are not in your network. For a more efficient outreach automation process, Skylead can help streamline this task.

8. Monitor Prospect Activity: Keep track of your prospects' activity on Sales Navigator, including profile updates and interactions.

9. Follow Up Consistently: Use Skylead's Smart sequences to automate follow-up messages and nurture relationships with prospects over time. Personalize your outreach efforts based on prospect engagement and feedback.

What Is The Difference Between LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator?

LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator are both subscription services offered by LinkedIn, but they serve different purposes.

LinkedIn Premium is for individuals who want to improve how they connect with others and find jobs. It gives you extra features like making your profile more visible, seeing more about other people's profiles, and sending more messages. You can also see who checked out your profile, learn about job postings, and take online courses.

Sales Navigator is for salespeople and teams who want to find leads and build relationships for their business. It helps you search for potential customers based on things like company size and industry. You can also message people directly, even if you're not connected.

That said, if you're focused on your own career and networking, LinkedIn Premium is better. But if you're in sales and need to find clients, Sales Navigator is the way to go. It just depends on what you're trying to achieve in your work.

FAQs

Can you add more licenses for Sales Navigator Advanced?

Getting more licenses for Sales Navigator Advanced is easy. Once you've paid or used a free trial, you can simply add more licenses whenever you want.

Are there any resources available to users as a Sales Navigator customer?

As a Sales Navigator customer, users have access to a variety of resources to maximize their experience with the platform. These resources include multiple platforms and tools designed to help users get started and make the most of Sales Navigator. Whether it's learning materials, support forums, or tutorials, Sales Navigator provides ample support to ensure users can effectively leverage its features for their sales efforts.

Elevating Outreach: The Power of Sales Navigator & Skylead

Despite its limitations, investing in Sales Navigator can be beneficial.

The platform offers advanced features for lead generation and relationship management. However, users may encounter challenges when it comes to outreaching manually.

So, to address this issue, you can leverage LinkedIn automation tools like Skylead alongside Sales Navigator to enhance your outreach. With Skylead, you can streamline multichannel outreach campaigns and maximize touchpoints with leads for a better overall outcome.

While LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost may seem steep, the value it provides in improving our sales efficiency and targeting prospects effectively can outweigh the investment. Ultimately, the decision to invest depends on our specific needs and goals as a business.

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LinkedIn Xray search has been an eye-opener for many recruiters and sales professionals. The truth is, it helped them find the ideal candidate or a prospect in the past. Also, it showed them there is always an alternative way of doing so.

However, with the recent LinkedIn subscriptions and sales engagement tools development, the LinkedIn Xray search fell slowly into oblivion. Nonetheless, it still holds its value and can help in many ways. Whereas LinkedIn fails due to subscription limitations.

That's why, in this article, we will cover what LinkedIn Xray means, what the benefits are, and how to get the most out of it to perform LinkedIn prospecting and find ideal prospects or candidates.

What is LinkedIn Xray search?

LinkedIn Xray search is a method used to research your prospects or candidates on Google. In other words, using the Google browser, you can search for the profiles without using LinkedIn internal filters.

Similar to LinkedIn, by performing Xray search, you can place filters like their role, location, or work experience to zero in on the exact candidate or prospect you wish to contact.

If this sounds familiar, you are right. LinkedIn Xray is also known as Boolean Search on Google.

Now, you probably wonder why you should search for profiles this way when you can simply use LinkedIn internal search. Here are a couple of reasons.

Why you should use LinkedIn Xray search?

1. More search results

Have you noticed that when you use LinkedIn filters and perform the search, you often get big numbers, as demonstrated in the picture below?

That is an astonishing number, indeed. However, you can't see all these profiles, can you? The reason is that LinkedIn limits the number of searches depending on your subscription. In addition, it always shows 10 profiles per page.

In other words, here is the number of searches you will get for each LinkedIn subscription respectively:

Free: 100
Sales Navigator: 2500
Recruiter Lite: 2500
Premium Business: 1000

Since LinkedIn will not show you all these results, you can search for them yourself. And with the help of Google, you will get much more than 1000 or 2500 searches.

2. The visibility of 3rd-degree and out of network connections

Depending on whether you are using LinkedIn for free or paying a subscription, you won’t be able to see certain people. These people include your 3rd-degree connections or those outside of your network.

For example, let’s say you are searching for the hiring managers, and you come across an out-of-network connection.

As you can see, LinkedIn has hidden their name and surname. Now, let’s try the LinkedIn Xray search. To clarify, we will take the headline phrase we can see from LinkedIn search results and use them as keyword combinations.

Et voilà! This is a game-changer as Google will never hide the person’s full name. In addition, once you go to that person’s profile, you will be able to connect to them.

Now, not all LinkedIn profiles are publicly accessible through search engines, but most of them are. In other words, you have a much greater chance of finding ideal leads or candidates as opposed to using LinkedIn search filters alone.

3. Search results variety

If you are using advanced search, LinkedIn will show you the results organized by network relationships and the ones who have a 100% of profile completion.

There is nothing wrong with that, except perhaps the person just outside of the LinkedIn search results might be the exact match to your buyer persona or ideal candidate. Consequently, you won’t be able to see that person as LinkedIn will show you the same results almost every time.

Google’s search algorithm is a bit different, and it will produce the order of the results that have the highest keywords frequency you chose in particular.

4. More comprehensive search

One of the perks of using LinkedIn Xray is the possibility to use the * symbol (Asterisk) to include any missing words. To clarify, Asterisk is used to fill in the search with any other keyword. This way, Google will show you a more comprehensive search, for example, if you search for all the positions that have Sales variation in their title (Sales manager, sales development manager, etc.).

Unfortunately, the use of Asterisk in LinkedIn is not available. So you would have to import all those positions manually. Thus you can always turn to Google should you need to find all these variations in one go.

How to perform LinkedIn Xray search?

By now, you have probably seen a sneak peek of how to perform LinkedIn Xray from our examples above. So, let’s dive into how you can do it as well.

There are two different ways you can perform LinkedIn Xray:

By using Boolean Search operators to create own search string
Or by using search string generators

LinkedIn Xray search with Boolean operators

As we mentioned in our LinkedIn Boolean Search Explained post, Boolean operators are used to better define your search results. In other words, you can use these operators to narrow or widen your search results per your wishes.

Contrary to Boolean operators you can use on LinkedIn, Google offers slightly more possibilities. Here are the operators you can use for LinkedIn Xray on Google, with examples.

Boolean Operators	Meanings	Examples
site:	When you wish to include a website (LinkedIn) in a search.	site:linkedin.com/in
AND	When you wish to include multiple words in a search.	Developer AND Engineer
OR	Use when specifying alternatives in jobs or skills.	C# OR JavaScript
NOT	When you want to exclude certain roles or skills.	SDR NOT “Sales manager”
() Parenthesis	When you wish to combine previous operations.	Sales (Representative OR Manager)
“” Quotations	When your search term is composed of two or more consecutive words.	“Sales Manager” OR “Customer Representative”
- Minus symbol	Alternative way to exclude.	“Sales Manager” -“Customer Support”
* Asterisk	If you wish to search for different phrases with one core word.	Customer* AND Sales*
inurl:	To find a URL that matches a specific keyword.	Inurl:marketing site:linkedin.com
intitle:	When you wish to find the exact job title in the work experience section or headline.	site:linkedin.com intitle:analyst

Using LinkedIn Xray search to find leads or candidates from certain countries

We’ve covered operators that you can use for your LinkedIn Xray search. However, we still have one ace in our hands. And it is called finding leads or candidates from specific countries. Now, this is where it gets interesting. If, for example, you are a recruiter and wish to find an ideal candidate who will work from the office, you can use one of the two following methods:

1) By using country prefixes.

To differentiate the countries and their users, LinkedIn uses country prefixes in their domain. So you can help yourself with these codes while performing a LinkedIn Xray search. Keep in mind that you should check which country codes are active on LinkedIn.

String example to search people in Germany:

site:de.linkedin.com/in “Project Manager” AND “Project Coordinator”

2) By including the country as a keyword.

This method is a lot easier. You can simply include country, city, or region name as a keyword in your search string. This way, Google will present the profiles that mention that name anywhere in the profile.

String example:

site:linkedin.com/in “Sales Representative” Copenhagen OR Oslo

How to create LinkedIn Xray search strings with Boolean operators?

Let’s piece everything we learned so far into a couple of beautiful search strings.

Say, for example, you wish to find a person who is CEO, lives in Dallas, and works in the financial industry. That said, your search string will look something like this:

site:linkedin.com/in "Dallas" AND "Finance" intitle:CEO

Now, let’s run it in the Google search bar.

Sometimes, it happens that you notice a discrepancy in the search results. For example, looking at our previous search results, you can see that Google showed people who also worked in a company whose name starts with Dallas. You can avoid this easily by specifying your search string a bit more. Here is an example:

site:linkedin.com/in "Dallas, Texas" AND "Finance" intitle:CEO

Apart from being fun, search strings entirely depend on who you wish to find in the given moment. So go ahead, take all the operators for a stroll, and find your buyer persona or ideal candidate.

Search string generators for the LinkedIn Xray

If creating a LinkedIn Xray search string on your own is not your thing, then we have great news for you - You don’t need to. In other words, you can simply use one of many Xray search string generators and watch the magic unfold before your eyes.

Using these tools, you won’t have to bother with operators, as they will do it for you. Thus, you only need to import the job title, keywords, or country you wish to see in your search.

There are only a couple of Google query generators on the market, and the ones we found useful are:

In addition, if you notice tools such as Free People Search Tool or Recruitment Geek, be on the lookout. These tools behave like the browser.

The upside is that these tools will search only for the LinkedIn profiles, and some of them will show you the publicly available pictures in search results. However, the downside is that they will only show 10 profiles per page, and there are only 10 pages. Thus, you are better off searching on the Google wish query string, to begin with.

How to use search query generator?

So, how would you use a query generator tool? We will take Recruit’em as an example since we found it the most user-friendly and easy to use. Here is what the Recruit'em interface looks when you open it up.

Firstly, select the desired country from the drop-down menu. Continue with the job title. If, for example, you wish to find a sales manager, but also similar jobs like sales executive, then mark Show similar jobs box. In addition, if you don’t want your search results to show sales assistants, then write Assistant in the exclusion field.

Lastly, import the additional keywords with commas to separate them and narrow down the search. We will take SaaS as an example.

After you finish, the setup will look like this.

Next, click the Find the right people on the LinkedIn button, and you will get your search query URL.

Lastly, click the Open in Google button, and see your search results.

Magic!

Now there is one hack if you wish to find emails from people in the search results. All you need to do is specify google.com or another email provider website as your keyword.

And these will be the search results where email addresses are publicly available.

However, finding and scraping publicly available email addresses can be tedious. Therefore, we will show you an easier way of doing so further below.

Also, be sure to check out our blog on 8 Ways To Find Someone’s Email Address.

You found the right people. Now what?

Finding these profiles using Linkedin Xray is a nice hack. You can get to a wider talent or prospect pool, especially if you recruit or do business on the global market. However, whether we’d like to admit it or not, a LinkedIn Xray search is manual work, and it is time-consuming enough. Now imagine you need to outreach them manually, as well. It would be tiresome, don’t you think?

Good news! You don’t have to. You can use Skylead, a sales engagement tool, to do the work for you. Here is how you can do it.

Firstly, save all the LinkedIn profiles in one CSV file. You can, of course, do this manually, but why would you? 🙂 You can simply use a scraper tool, such as Data Miner, to automatically pick up all LinkedIn profile links.

In addition, do not forget to use different variables so you can send hyper-personalized messages on autopilot. Here is our video tutorial on how you can prepare your CSV file.

Skylead campaign creation

After you create your CSV file, it's time to generate leads on LinkedIn, so go to Skylead, your daily outreach partner. Once there, click the Create new campaign button to start the setup.

Secondly, select the CSV type of campaign and import your CSV file. When you finish, click next. In addition, if collecting the data in a CSV file is not your thing, you can always search for prospects or candidates on LinkedIn and opt-in for the LinkedIn, Recruiter, or Sales Navigator Search Results campaign.

Next, choose your campaign details, such as the start and end date of the campaign. Then click the Next button.

Speaking of magic, here is where it happens. This is Skyleads’ ground-breaking Smart sequence. Smart Sequences allow you to create and execute different scenarios to interact with your prospect or potential employee based on their behavior. In addition, you can add as many steps as you need, and the algorithm will do all the work for you.

In addition, remember when we talked about finding the publicly available email addresses? Here is how Skylead can find them on autopilot. Take the Email discovery & Verification step and drop it in a sequence. This way, when Skylead gets to that step, it will find business email addresses. And if it verifies them successfully, you will be able to multichannel your outreach and send your target group email, as well.

When you set all your steps, click the Start campaign button, and you are done! All you need to do now is sit back, relax and watch your effort come to fruition.

Frequently asked questions

How can businesses or recruiters measure the success and effectiveness of their LinkedIn Xray search campaigns in finding the right candidates or prospects?

Businesses or recruiters can measure the success of LinkedIn Xray search campaigns by tracking key metrics such as the response rate to outreach messages, the number of qualified candidates or leads identified, interview schedules resulting from searches, and ultimately, the conversion rate from prospect to hired candidate or successful sale.

Are there specific examples of how different industries can apply LinkedIn Xray search for targeted prospecting or recruiting?

Different industries, like tech for sourcing software engineers with specific skills, healthcare for identifying professionals with rare certifications, or sales for finding key decision-makers within target organizations, can use LinkedIn Xray search to pinpoint niche talent or prospects effectively.

What are the ethical considerations to keep in mind while using LinkedIn Xray search to avoid being perceived as intrusive by potential connections?

Ethical considerations include respecting the privacy and preferences of LinkedIn users, using information obtained from Xray searches responsibly, and ensuring outreach is relevant and not overly aggressive, to maintain professionalism and avoid being intrusive.

In conclusion

We cannot ignore that LinkedIn has very useful filters, whether we talk about Recruiter or Sales Navigator filters.

Nevertheless, if you would like to reach and find more people than what LinkedIn has to offer in their search results or those out of your network, then LinkedIn Xray is a perfect solution.

Now, it is always better to create your own string to be as detailed as possible and get the most precise search results. Practice makes it perfect, so test different strings as much as possible. However, if you think that this approach is not for you, you can always use tools that will work just as well.

Speaking of tools that do the work for you, you don’t have to do outreach alone. That is why Skylead, your trusted partner, is here. With just a few clicks and a ground-breaking sequence, you can reach out to your ideal candidates or prospects on autopilot. So, all you need to do is focus on closing more deals or hiring the right candidate.

Wish to learn more about how Skylead can:

Save up to 11 hours per week;
Or get you 50+ meetings booked per month?

Then, try it out using 7-day Free Trial!

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If you've ever wondered if there is a way to speed up lead-generation activities, we have a proposition - try automated lead generation.

Yes, that's right. Automation has been around for a while, especially for lead generation and management. And no wonder it's so effective since this way, you can find the most qualified leads and scale up your business. But, more importantly, you can generate your leads daily.

That said if you wish to use lead generation automation properly but need to figure out how - fear not. We will guide you on how to automate every sales and marketing lead generation task.

What is automated lead generation?

Automated lead generation is a process of using technology to perform time-consuming sales and marketing lead generation tasks on your behalf. To do this, you have different kinds of automation tools at your disposal. For example, you can use software to automate sending emails or LinkedIn connection requests.

Automated lead generation offers benefits such as:

Reducing human error and thus improving your workflow;
Saving time by performing manual tasks and decreasing workload;
Providing insights into the performance of lead generation activities so you can use optimization and improve;
Consistency in the workflow so you can generate leads daily;
Leaving room so you can focus on building relationships and lead nurturing.

That said, there are plenty of automation tools on the market to choose from. However, let’s first distinguish the types of sales and marketing lead generation activities to discover what tool you should use accordingly.

Types of automatic lead generation

There are 2 types of automatic lead generation, but they best work when used in synergy.

Inbound lead generation automation

Inbound lead generation is a marketing strategy for attracting leads to your company. For example, a marketing team can create content valuable to the best leads for your business. The purpose of the content is to compel a lead to first take specific actions that will eventually lead to sales.

In addition, since leads nowadays focus on researching independently, inbound lead gen focuses on helping rather than selling. In other words, it shows the way toward your brand content pieces such as blogs, ebooks, and guides.

That said, inbound lead gen automation means streamlining the said tasks using automation tools. For example, you can use the following types of tools to automate your inbound tasks:

Chatbot - to provide answers to questions;

Pop-ups & forms - to offer personalized content, lead magnet or surveys on the website.

Outbound lead generation automation

Outbound lead generation is about finding and reaching out to your ideal leads directly without waiting for them to reach out to you. To clarify, rather than waiting for leads to find your website and reach out like inbound lead gen, you are the one who makes the first move.

That said, to automate your outbound lead generation tasks, you can use the following types of tools:

Email marketing and outreach tools - for outbound marketing and sales to automate sending emails, newsletters, or themed email sequences;
Prospecting tools - for marketing and sales to find outbound leads and contact information;
Social media automation tools - for sales to automate outreach on social media;
Advertising tools - for marketers to automate buying digital advertising space.

B2B lead generation automation VS B2C lead generation automation

Business-to-Business (B2B) lead generation automation is a process of using software to generate potential leads who work in a company to offer them your services.

On the other hand, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) lead generation automation uses software to streamline and generate leads who are individual customers.

Even though they have different potential customers, both B2B and B2C companies use the same lead generation automation for a similar purpose. Here is how different companies use types of automation tools for their purpose.

How to automate lead generation [Step-by-step guides]

Automated outbound lead generation guide

1. Define your ICP and buyer persona

Your outbound lead generation needs a good basis to get quality leads that convert. That’s why sales teams start off their lead generation process by creating Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona. This way, you can generate the best leads and guide them through the sales funnel. Not to mention, these documents will help you with the lead scoring.

The best practice for the creation of both of these documents is to analyze your current customer data and gather users who:

Have the shortest buying cycle;
Have a high retention rate;
And who would advocate for your product or service.

2. Find contact data

Once you establish your ICP and Buyer Persona, it’s time for prospecting.

Almost all sales teams use LinkedIn prospecting to find the best leads for their sales funnel. Moreover, there are a lot of proven LinkedIn lead generation strategies out there to find quality leads. However, when it comes to gathering the leads’ contact information, it’s best to automate the process and find tools that will help you do just that.

3. Craft a compelling message

Whether you wish to use LinkedIn outreach or any other medium, consider your messaging carefully. Cold outreach is hard when you know nothing about the person. That said, it’s important to include research into the lead generation process and figure out what your leads are all about.

In other words, comb through their LinkedIn profile, and find the About section, posts they published, or what they shared. This way, you can personalize your communication and be more genuine in showing an interest in solving their problems.

Another tip for successful messaging is to mention your unique selling point tailored to their exact pain point.

That said, if you need help crafting such a message, you can always use Chat GPT for sales messages.

4. Send cold emails

It’s easy to let the cold email mistakes slither into your outreach. However, you reduce the chances of some of these mistakes by using automated lead generation tools to send cold emails.

Only keep in mind that 70% of salespeople stop at one cold email. However, incorporating follow-up messages into your sequence increases your chances of hearing back by 25%. So be sure to send follow up emails as well.

5. Automated LinkedIn lead generation

LinkedIn and email outreach have been part of the sales funnels for years. And with hundreds of leads we reach every week via LinkedIn, it’s time-consuming and nearly impossible to get desired results - unless you use different automated lead generation tools.

That’s why various LinkedIn automation tools are there to help you streamline different outreach actions on LinkedIn. For example, our very own Skylead can automate sending connection requests, messages, and free & paid InMails. In addition, you can combine these actions and create scenarios based on your leads’ behavior; but we’ll talk more about that later on.

6. Lead automation: Nurture the leads

Once you start conversing with your leads, you need to keep track of them. This is where CRM, like Hubspot or Pipedrive, comes into play. To clarify, Customer Relationship Management is a software that helps you automate gathering all the information about your sales leads in one place, such as:

Notes about the sales leads,
Lead scoring,
Information about the company,
Deal value,
Position in the sales funnel,
Next task to perform,
Conversation link, and so on.

This way, you can check where your leads are in the funnel and what level of nurturing they need.

Automated inbound lead generation guide

1. Set up your lead generation website

The first step towards automated lead generation is creating a website to connect all your automated lead generation tools. We can write an entire blog on creating a website, but we’ll mention 3 most important things.

Firstly, good practice here is to create a website that will provide the best user experience with UX/UI design that converts.

Secondly, your content marketing team must prepare visuals and texts for the website. The text needs to provide information about your product or service but in a way that describes how it solves the problem and removes pain points your high-quality leads have.

Lastly, it would be best to create an SEO plan to rank your website better.

2. Create a lead magnet

The second step is for your content marketing team to create a lead magnet.

A lead magnet is a guide, eBook, or mini-course you publish on your website for leads to download. In exchange, you ask your leads to leave their information, such as name, surname, and email address.

This is one of the lead generation strategies, so you can gather the emails and send your leads newsletters. Or you can let your sales team reach them out.

However, keep in mind that you cannot ask for leads' emails just for anything. The lead magnet you create needs to offer valuable information and practical knowledge tailored to your leads' needs.

Once you create a lead magnet, you can automate the process by connecting your forms to Hubspot or Monday CRM. This way, you can automatically create a deal. Moreover, if your CRM and outreach tool are connected, you can push the leads to your campaign.

3. Set up your landing page

To generate high-quality leads organically or via ads, you need a landing page that provides the best user experience. In other words, it needs to contain concise information tailored to your high-quality leads. So the best practice here is to have dedicated feature pages and what problems they solve.

The information you provide needs to have a converting design and info so your visitors wish to take action. In addition, your landing pages need to be as SEO prepared as possible.

Lastly, speaking of action, your landing page should contain a contact form or any lead magnet you wish to promote to gather quality leads.

4. Capture leads with a chatbot

Another way to generate leads via your website is to use a chatbot. It allows you to turn your website visitors into leads and qualify them for future sales or marketing activities.

For example, you can set your chatbot to pose a list of questions before leads can contact the support team. This is a perfect automation system for lead scoring and qualifying.

For example, with some chatbots, you can set up to automatically gather information, such as email addresses, company sizes, or other information relevant to collecting qualified leads. Once it does, like with lead magnets, you can automate creating a deal in your CRM and pushing the leads to your outreach campaign.

5. Get traffic to your page

Once you’ve done everything we’ve mentioned above, you need to get leads to your website to generate them. There are two ways you can get traffic:

Paid - you can launch paid campaigns via Google ads, Bing ads, or social media such as Facebook or LinkedIn. You can target new leads or retarget your previous visitors.
Organic - Creating blogs or videos that follow SEO standards so they can rank better organically and get you as many visitors as possible.

6. Lead management automation: Nurture the leads

When you start getting leads to your website, you need to nurture them to some sort of conversion. Therefore, look no further than using pop-up forms or chatbot conversations personalized to their web behavior.

You can personalize your automated messages and offer relevant content by, for example:

Pages they are visiting,
If they are returning customers, or
Exit intent.

7. Use marketing automation for lead generation

Once you gather your leads’ emails, it’s time to use marketing automation and outreach them. You can create email campaigns to offer personalized content on a mass scale based on your leads’ behavior.

For example, you can send certain messages depending on whether they opened an email. In other words, you can create an entire sequence with different scenarios to offer tailored content that will lead to conversion.

The good practice here is to start with valuable educational content, then offer a solution to the particular problem, and then present your product or service. In other words, never start the first message with your pitch.

Best lead generation automation tools

We will name a few best lead generation automation software and their Capterra scores. However, feel free to research other tools and check review websites should you feel the need to do so.

1. Skylead

Yup. As we previously mentioned, that's us. 🙂

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation and cold email software that streamlines the most time-consuming marketing, recruiting and sales outreach tasks. In other words, these tasks include sending:

LinkedIn connection requests
Messages,
InMails,
And emails

to all your leads you imported into Skylead via LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, your CRM (using API) or CSV file.

Moreover, this software as a service allows you to also:

Find and verify your leads’ email addresses,
And use text, Image and GIF personalization in your communication.

What makes Skylead special are Smart Sequences and their if/else conditions. To clarify, Smart Sequences are action paths you create using the activities mentioned above and combining them with if/else conditions. This way, you can create countless scenarios that Skylead uses to outreach your leads according to their situational behavior.

That said, here is an example of one Smart Sequence.

Moreover, you can connect Skylead with any tool, such as CRM using webhooks or API and push or send data.

Use cases

You can use Skylead for various reasons. However, we will mention a few depending on the team you might belong to.

Pricing

Skylead has an all-in-one pricing plan of $100 per user/month.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,8 / 5

2. OptinMonster

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This is another lead generation tool considered one of the best marketing strategies you can use on your website. Marketing teams use it for ecommerce lead capture. However, B2B marketers frequently use it for their lead generation efforts as well.

OptinMonster is a software that offers automated lead generation forms presented as pop-ups, slide-in windows, and gamified spin-to-win wheels. Moreover, you can place these pop-ups or forms on any landing page.

That said, these automated forms help you gather contact information to build an email list for your email campaigns, display personalized content, and nurture your visitors through their customer journey.

Features

OptinMonster’s main advantage is that it turns your website visitors into paying customers, webinar attendees, or newsletter subscribers. That said, many B2B marketing teams use these forms to increase any conversion rate, thanks to:

Page-level targeting

You can display pop-ups, forms, and notifications based on the user’s interaction with different landing pages.

Exit-intent technology

OptinMonster monitors visitors’ movements and detects when they plan to exit from the page without leaving their contact information or purchase. This way, you can increase conversion rates. Or, as a part of your content marketing strategy, gain additional newsletter subscribers, webinar attendees for future email campaigns.

Lightbox pop-up

This pop-up or notification appears thanks to triggers, and once it does, your visitors need to make a decision. What’s best is that there are no distractions, as your other website content can be faded in the background.

Onsite retargeting

You can show returning visitors something new every time they return to your website. Simply create pop-ups to show new promotions or offers based on their previous interactions on your website.

List segmentation

You can reduce website abandonment and churn by providing personalized content for your leads from the email list and website. What’s more, you can integrate OptinMonster with any CRM app, such as Hubspot or email automation software, to further adjust your messaging.

Pro tip: Create a synergy between your marketing and sales teams. Once you generate leads through OptinMonster, you can push them automatically to your Skylead sales or marketing campaign through API.

Pricing

OptinMonster has 4 pricing plans:

Basic - $16 per month
Plus - $32 per month
Pro - $49 per month
Growth - $82 per month

In addition, they offer around 40% off per month if you opt-in for an annual subscription.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,3 / 5

3. Moosend.com

In general, Moosend is an email automation tool that helps you create and send personalized newsletters to your leads. It’s most suitable for small businesses specializing in e-commerce. However, this automation tool can be used for B2B email campaigns as well.

Features

One of the best things about Moosend is that you can create newsletters or pop-up banners with a simple drag-and-drop.

In addition, they leverage AI to analyze the data from your website, such as your subscriber behavior. This way, you can send more personalized messages or email notifications and maximize customer experience and retention.

That said, similar to Skylead, you can use this marketing automation tool to create a sequence with if/else conditions such as “if the purchase was made” and so on. This way, you can check for your subscriber’s actions and send suitable follow-up messages.

Moosend offers a vast library of templates to create newsletters or landing pages for email marketing campaigns. Whichever you choose, you’d be glad to hear that every template comes with device optimization functionalities.

Next, you can group leads from your email list and send separate messages. You can divide the leads based on keywords, if they clicked on the link in the previous email, etc.

Like OptinMonster, Moosend can help you gather new leads and increase your lead generation efforts. In other words, it offers customizable forms like pop-ups to promote your lead magnets, like webinars, and create email lists.

Lastly, you can integrate Moosend with your CRM, such as Hubspot, or other apps to streamline your related tasks.

Pricing

Moosend has 2 pricing systems:

Pro - This plan is suitable for small businesses because it goes from as low as $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers. On the other hand, this plan goes as high as $5840 a month for up to 1M subscribers.

Enterprise - The second plan is for agencies, and you need to contact Moosend directly to get a custom quote.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,6 / 5

4. Mailchimp

Another email automation software on our list is Mailchimp. This marketing automation tool started off as software for marketers to help them create newsletters in the e-commerce environment. However, it developed to be much more - a well-rounded automated lead generation tool.

Features

Email marketing

Firstly, Mailchimp offers an email automation tool for sending newsletters or other messaging material to your subscribers. You can create your own message design or use the template.

Regarding targeting, you can segment your leads based on their behavior, such as:

Campaign activity,
Location,
If the last email opened,
App activity, etc.

Lead gen

Mailchimp offers a couple of features that are perfect for B2B lead generation.

Firstly, they have their own website builder to create beautifully-designed landing pages for your new leads. In addition, you can make it from scratch or from the numerous templates they offer.

Secondly, they offer sign-up and pop-up forms for your website to generate potential customers. Moreover, you can also integrate their free appointment scheduling tool so potential leads can book calls with your sales team.

Lastly, Mailchimp offers a campaign manager that combines social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, into one dashboard. This way, you can target potential leads with similar interests as your current contacts. Or you can retarget visitors while they are browsing through the web or their social media.

Automated customer journeys

Last but not least, Mailchimp has a function to enhance user experience with Customer Journey Builder. In other words, you can automate activities, such as emails and follow-ups, according to your leads’ behavior and nurture them to conversion.

Moreover, you can integrate Mailchimp with any app, including your CRM of choice or LinkedIn outreach solution for omnichannel presence.

Pricing

Mailchimp offers 4 plans with the following highlighted features:

A free plan is for up to 1K emails sent. It includes forms, landing pages, and pre-built email templates.
The Essentials plan starts at $13 a month. This plan includes up to 5K emails sent, 3 audiences, and simple automated customer journeys.
The Standard plan starts at $20 a month. It includes up to 6K emails sent, 5 audiences, enhanced customer journeys, newsletter templates, predictive analytics tool, and campaign manager.
The Premium plan costs $350 per month. It includes everything from other plans plus 150K emails sent, and advanced segmentation and targeting.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,5 / 5

5. Tidio

As mentioned before, one of the best lead capturing ways is using a live chat or chatbot. And Tidio is one of many on the market.

In other words, it can automatically collect and qualify leads based on their website behavior. For example, they can visit a pricing page, and if you offer a custom quote, a chatbot can ask if a person is interested in it, and they can leave the information.

Moreover, you can set Tidio to answer FaQs, offer news, or upsell your users. This way, you’re leaving time for your support team to focus on burning problems while improving your customer experience.

Pricing

Tidio offers a couple of pricing plans, respectively:

Free
Communicator: $19 per user/month (Includes live chat with an unlimited number of conversations and up to 5 operators);
Chatbots: $19 per user/month (Includes from 1K to 40K triggers);
Tidio+: $329 a month (Including both live chat and chatbot).

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,8 / 5

Automated lead generation examples

Here are examples of lead generation automation you can apply in your business right away.

1. Lead capture framework

a. Create a lead magnet

Craft valuable content like ebooks, masterclasses, templates, and webinars. In addition, remember that the content you create needs to resonate with your leads so they are willing to leave you their contact information. For example, you can offer a sales book with templates and cold outreach strategies.

Once you create your work, you can gather the info with automated lead generation forms. Moreover, you can link the forms to CRM for the sales to take over, or an email outreach tool so your leads can go straight to your email outreach list.

Lastly, to promote your lead magnet, you can publish ads to generate a large pool of leads. Or use pop-ups to promote the content throughout the website depending on users’ behavior.

b. Set up chatbots

Use chatbots to automate qualifying leads and gather their contact information.

You can set chatbot scenarios to offer the lead magnets or some free service depending on users’ website behavior. Or, if a person wants to contact your customer support, develop a list of qualifying questions. This way, the chatbot can send them to a database such as your email list or CRM. Moreover, your support team will get context about the leads.

2. Framework for finding leads

You can automate finding outbound leads by using prospecting tools such as:

LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator to scrape publicly available info and profile URLs;
Tools to identify your website visitors, such as Lead Forensics;
Scraping tools for Facebook group members;

This way, you can build your lead list, send them to your CRM and prepare for email or LinkedIn outreach.

3. Outreach framework

a. Inbound outreach

Once you’ve got your inbound leads’ info, reach out. You can prepare a special cold outreach campaign using Skylead. In other words, create your sequence and craft your messages so they slowly turn the leads into paying customers.

For example, you can use Skylead to reach out to your leads via email. In other words, import your leads via CSV file or using LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter. Moreover, once you start your campaign, you can push leads from your email list or CRM using API.

If you found your leads using LinkedIn but wish to send them emails, you can use Email Discovery & Verification feature as a step. This way, Skylead finds and verifies leads’ email addresses. So, you don’t have to use a separate tool to scrape email addresses. Instead, you have it all here in Skylead.

Then, create your Smart Sequence depending on their behavior (e.g., whether they opened an email or clicked the link). For example, your Smart Sequence can look something like this:

Lastly, write your sequence messages, and personalize them. Moreover, you can write up to 5 subject lines and the body variants to test and see what messaging drives the most results.

b. Outbound outreach

You can use Skylead to reach your outbound leads as well. To do this, repeat the steps above:

Import leads;
Create a Smart sequence;
Personalize your Emails, LinkedIn connection requests, messages, and InMails.

However, remember that you will get the best results if you opt-in for multichannel outreach. That said, feel free to use LinkedIn steps such as Invite to connect, Follow, View, Message and InMail.

4. Customer and lead nurturing framework

You can automate lead nurturing by integrating your CRM with the outreach tool and exchanging the data between the two. This way, you can label leads, or send them to outreach campaigns.

In addition, you can use Skylead for your customer-nurturing program. That said, you can send automated outreach campaigns for:

Churn customers if you have any special upgrade or to offer a discount;
Current customers to send them personalize content, upsell, or offer help as their dedicated account manager;

Frequently asked questions

What are the ethical considerations when automating lead generation on LinkedIn?

When automating lead generation on LinkedIn, it's vital to maintain transparency and respect user privacy. Avoid spamming and ensure all automated interactions provide value to potential leads. Ethical automation respects LinkedIn's terms of service, focusing on building genuine connections rather than exploiting the platform.

How can businesses ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools?

To ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools, you should define clear target parameters and continuously refine your ideal customer profile. Utilizing advanced filtering options and personalized outreach messages can significantly increase the relevance and quality of automated lead generation efforts.

Can automation tools integrate with other CRM platforms, and how does this affect lead management?

Many automation tools like Skylead are designed to integrate seamlessly with CRM platforms, enhancing lead management processes. This integration allows for the automatic update of lead information and activities, providing a unified view of the sales funnel and enabling more efficient tracking, nurturing, and conversion of leads.

Skyrocket your leads and conversions with automation

80% of marketing automation users experience an increase in the number of leads, and even 77% an increase in conversion. That is no small number to ignore.

That said, we hope this article helped you understand how you can automate your lead generation activities.

However, before you do, create a good-quality basis for the automation, such as your website, content strategy, and LinkedIn profile. Only then will you be able to pave your way for successful lead generation automation.

After all, once you go automation, you will start looking at your other tasks and ask yourself:

Automate your outreach! Sign up for Skylead’s 7-day free trial.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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If you send a connection request to someone but fail to follow up with something as simple as Thank you for connecting on LinkedIn, you will almost certainly be forgotten about in a matter of hours. Maybe even seconds.

It doesn’t mean that your professional experience and what you do matter less. It’s just, that we are being bombarded with so much content, social media interaction, and trivial, everyday things, all of which easily draw our attention away from anything that doesn’t capture instant interest.

That’s why sending an original and well-timed Thank you for connecting on LinkedIn and using its benefits later. In many cases, this practice turned out to improve your visibility, and therefore crucial for further communication and even collaboration.

We’ve put together this blog with keeping in mind all of this. Hence, here are:

The elements of a good LinkedIn Thank you for connecting message,
How to spend less time on LinkedIn but build more meaningful relationships,
12 templates on how to thank someone for connecting on LinkedIn without just sending Thanks for connecting and stay remembered in the long run.

**What makes a good Thank you for connecting message on LinkedIn? [4 Best practices]**

Keep it short

And sweet. No need to write War and Peace. It’s enough to thank them for accepting your invite and to expand on what you wrote in your LinkedIn connection request message (‘cause you didn’t just send a blank note, did you?).

We’ll elaborate on what to write after that simple Thank you for connecting contained in pretty much every message and how to personalize it to strengthen your business relationship.

Don’t try to sell

Ohhhh, this is a big no-no. The only thing worse than trying to sell when thanking someone for connecting in a LinkedIn message is doing so in a connection request. Use this occasion to start a conversation that later can lead to sales instead. Check out the ‘Templates section’ below to get inspired.

Make it about the lead

Don’t introduce yourself in a conventional way - ‘Hi, my name is…’ and then talk exclusively about your business and professional successes. Don’t force your product or your services. Instead, shift your attention to asking meaningful questions about your lead, and get off to the right start. You’ll have plenty of time to sell. And successfully.

Focus on the value

Following up on the previously said, show your lead that they can benefit from you in some way. If that transition doesn’t come smoothly, you can speak about how you can mutually benefit from each other. Show them what problems and challenges you can potentially solve and they will, if nothing else, for sure appreciate the effort.

Thank you for connecting on LinkedIn: 12 Templates

Sure, today we have Chat GPT, and you might think that it could give you all the answers on how to thank someone for connecting on LinkedIn.

We are not against AI, we actually encourage everyone to use ChatGPT for sales (we’ve put prompt examples too!). So, copy & paste our templates, or use them as prompts to make Chat GPT inspired in the right direction.

However, we will share some of the best-performing LinkedIn Thank you for connecting messages that our Head of Sales, Andrea, uses in her everyday communication for more effective LinkedIn lead generation.

Hopefully, these will get you inspired to include this kind of practice in your LinkedIn lead generation routine.

After connecting with members you don’t know personally

Option #1 to send a Thank you message on LinkedIn

Example

Hey Sonia,

Thank you for accepting my invitation.

I don’t believe we met in person.

As someone open to networking and building new business relationships, I just wanted to greet you, check in with you regarding the challenges you are facing, and see how we both might benefit from this connection.

Have a great day!

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thank you for accepting my invitation.

I don’t believe we met in person.

Have a great day!

Option #2 to send a Thank you message on LinkedIn

If you want to make an extra effort, which usually pays off, create a personalized Image or GIF to thank someone for connecting on LinkedIn. It could improve your response rate by over 20% (word! We’ve tested it out!)

Skylead’s native Image & GIF personalization is available to all our users, at no additional cost, and without ever leaving the software dashboard.

The example below was used as a Thank you message which was part of the sequence Target specific group members.

The sequence scored 53% in acceptance rate, 27% in reply rate, and 73% in open rate.

After connecting with members you met an event

Example

Hey Johnny,

Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Once again, it was a pleasure chatting with you at ‘Entrepreneurs Roundtable: The 411 on SEO and Google Analytics - What’s working now?’.

I would really like to continue the conversation we had at the event regarding the SEO tactics your company used to improve its blog ranking from the 3rd page of Google to the top 3 rated in the sales industry. So much to say so little time!

Let’s chat here or schedule a call, let’s say next Thursday around 2 pm.

How does that sound?

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Once again, it was a pleasure chatting with you at {{eventName}}.

I would really like to continue the conversation we had at the event regarding {{topic}}. So much to say so little time!

Let’s chat here or schedule a call, let’s say {{day&time}}.

How does that sound?

After connecting with someone you have a mutual connection with

Example

Hello Jamie,

In the spirit of networking, I would like to hear more about you and also introduce myself.

You are the Head of Sales at FlyProject, aren't you?

I know several people from there, do you know Matthew Stone?

Btw, thanks for connecting with me!

Template

Hello Jamie,

In the spirit of networking, I would like to hear more about you and also introduce myself.

You are {{occupation}} at {{company}}, aren't you? I know several people from there, do you know {{mutualConnection’sFullName}}?

Btw, thanks for connecting with me!

If you wish to offer help to your new connections

Example

Hello Josh,

Thanks for accepting my invitation.

I am delighted to connect with you.

I would like you to let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist you with. It would be my pleasure!

Have a fabulous day!

Template

Hello {{firstName}},

Thanks for accepting my invitation. I am delighted to connect with you.

I would like you to let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist you with. It would be my pleasure!

Have a fabulous day!

Providing value for your connections as a way to thank someone for connecting on LinkedIn

Example

Hello Mark,

It’s great to be part of your network!

As I mentioned earlier, I recently wrote a blog that might help you with the problem you expressed in the ‘Startup Specialists’ Group.

I actually had the same issue with developing internal processes since we were growing pretty fast as a startup. This experience inspired me to write a series of blogs on the topic. Maybe it will help you figure out where to start.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Template

Hello {{firstName}},

It’s great to be part of your network!

As I mentioned earlier, I recently wrote a blog that might help you with the problem you expressed in {{groupName}}. I actually had the same issue with {{issue}}. This experience inspired me to write a series of blogs on the topic. Maybe it will help you figure out where to start.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Introduce them to someone from your network to thank them for connecting on LinkedIn

Example

Hey Steve,

Thanks for connecting on LinkedIn. I would like to know more about you and your business. If there’s anything I can help you with or introduce you to someone in my network, please let me know.

Kind Regards,

Jim

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for connecting on LinkedIn. I would like to know more about you and your business. If there’s anything I can help you with or introduce you to someone in my network, please let me know.

Kind Regards,

{{yourName}}

Show genuine interest in your lead’s work

Example

Hi Selena,

Thank you for accepting my invitation. I am looking forward to learning more about your business expertise.

Please have a look at my connections and if there is someone you would like to be introduced to I am happy to make the connection. I am here to make meaningful connections because I deeply believe in networking!

Thanks again for your acceptance, and if you have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best regards!

Template

Hi {{firstName}},

Thank you for accepting my invitation. I am looking forward to learning more about your business expertise.

Please have a look at my connections and if there is someone you would like to be introduced to I am happy to make the connection.

I am here to make meaningful connections because I deeply believe in networking! Thanks again for your acceptance, and if you have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best regards!

After connecting with someone whose content you read

Example

Hey Michelle,

I am so glad to be part of your network! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

As mentioned in my previous message, your last post on the importance of employee branding really resonated with me, especially the part where you say that ‘employee branding is not only about the people who already work at your company, but also about the professionals that apply for jobs and their recruiting experience”. It really made me revise the entire recruitment process.

Again, thanks for accepting my invite to connect, and I really hope we’ll have the chance to chat in the future.

Have a great day!

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

I am so glad to be part of your network! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

As mentioned in my previous message, your last post on {{postTopic}} really resonated with me, especially the part {{quoteParagraphThatResonated}}. It really made me revise {{whichPartOfYourBusiness}}.

Again, thanks for accepting my invite to connect, and I really hope we’ll have the chance to chat in the future.

Have a great day!

Use email to thank them for connecting on LinkedIn

In some cases, email conversation is more in line with your business outreach strategy or it’s your lead’s preferred channel of communication. For the sake of higher engagement and response rates, you can thank them for connecting on LinkedIn via email. Additionally, email outreach can be beneficial for starting sales-oriented conversations.

Example

Hello Mark,

I just wanted to thank you for accepting my LinkedIn Connection Request here as well in case you prefer email communication.

Anyways, I love the question you recently posted in the Digital Marketers group regarding the optimal content posting schedule to draw traffic to your website. I actually wrote an article covering that topic in particular, I’ll just leave you a link here.

However, if you need a more personalized and thorough insight, we can schedule a call and meet up, let’s say next Wednesday at 3pm. How does that sound?

Thank you once again for accepting my Connection Request on LinkedIn.

Best,

Matt

Template

Hello {{firstName}},

I just wanted to thank you for accepting my LinkedIn Connection Request here as well in case you prefer email communication.

{{yourSalesPitch}}

Thank you once again for accepting my Connection Request on LinkedIn.

Best,

{{yourName}}

‘Break the ice’ by congratulating them on their success in the LinkedIn Thank you for connecting message

Example

Hey Sharlane,

Thanks for accepting my Connection Request!

Once again, congratulations on your promotion to the Head of Growth at Jumbos. I am always excited to see professionals with such enviable backgrounds progress and hold decision-making positions.

Let’s keep in touch.

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for accepting my Connection Request!

Once again, congratulations on your promotion to {{occupation}} at {{company}}. I am always excited to see professionals with such enviable backgrounds progress and hold decision-making positions.

Let’s keep in touch.

Show genuine interest in a shared experience

Example

Hey Marissa,

Thanks for connecting!

Btw, I noticed you also worked at Johnsons & Parker. I spent a couple of years there too, it was probably one of the best work experiences I’ve had.

What about you, did you like it?

Anyway, glad to be in your network!

Template

Hey {{firstName}},

Thanks for connecting!

{{ReferenceToASharedExperience}}

Anyway, glad to be in your network!

Hyper-personalize your Thank you for connecting messages at scale [and more]

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software that allows you to combine LinkedIn automation, unlimited Email automation, Email verification & discovery, and Image & GIF personalization into Smart sequences to help you save time, resources, and money while booking 3x more meetings than before.

Also, at the same time, you can hyper-personalize your outreach at scale thanks to Skylead’s native and custom placeholders. It is just one of many ways our SDR, Pavle, does it to increase her reply rates.

So, how does Andrea apply all of the above to send Thank you for connecting on LinkedIn to start a sales-oriented conversation?

Let’s say, you’ve done your research on LinkedIn, and you have a CSV file containing (at least) your leads’ LinkedIn URLs. At first, this LinkedIn lead generation technique can seem like a lot of manual work but it pays off. Also, Skylead is there to take care of the outreach automation, which will for sure recuperate (and earn you) lots of time!

So, once you’ve added leads in a Google Sheets file, add a column named ‘thankyou’ (aside from regular columns such as name, surname, LinkedIn profile URL, business email, or similar).

Your ‘thankyou’ column should contain a personalized paragraph for each lead. This way, you can insert the personalized paragraph that is different for each lead into a message outline that is, on the other hand, the same for all leads.

This is what your message will look like in Skylead, as part of the Smart sequence.

And this is how your user would see this message on LinkedIn.

Summary

Sending a thoughtful Thank you for connecting on LinkedIn not only demonstrates your appreciation for becoming part of someone’s network but also becomes a strategic step.

Now, imagine enhancing this strategy even further with Skylead, our cutting-edge outreach tool, which you can try for 7 days for FREE starting today!

Our support team will help you at any step of the way, and make sure you use Skylead to its fullest potential to elevate your networking game, amplify your engagement, and turn connections into valuable opportunities!

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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People Also Viewed is a LinkedIn feature displaying a list of LinkedIn members that the platform’s algorithm found important for your LinkedIn experience, whether you are there to network, search for a job, or find relevant leads for your business.

Our sales team largely benefits from this LinkedIn feature to find relevant leads for Skylead and to increase the likelihood of their profiles being discovered on the platform.

In this blog, we will clarify:

What is the People Also Viewed LinkedIn feature,
The way the algorithm works to suggest profiles on LinkedIn’s People Also Viewed,
How it differs for LinkedIn personal profiles, LinkedIn company profiles, and Sales Navigator subscribers, and
How to use People Also Viewed for more effective lead generation.

What does People Also Viewed mean on LinkedIn?

People Also Viewed is a LinkedIn feature displaying a list of LinkedIn members that the platform’s algorithm bases on the viewing habits of the members who viewed your profile. Your connections or viewing habits don’t drive these suggestions directly and they don’t reveal any member’s browsing history, including your own.

Therefore, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you viewed profiles of LinkedIn members appearing in the People Also Viewed section, that they ever viewed yours, or that you have any relationship with them, although you might.

People Also Viewed is located on the right rail of your or other members’ LinkedIn profiles. When on your profile, it shows the viewing habits of the people who viewed your profile. When on other people’s profiles, it indicates the viewing habits of the members who viewed the profile you’re currently viewing.

Essentially, LinkedIn’s People Also Viewed feature is based on co-occurrences. When two things happen together, it often indicates some degree of similarity.

There are a variety of scenarios that could demonstrate these viewing co-occurrences on LinkedIn.

For example, if one LinkedIn member checks out two, three, or four people, it indicates that these profiles have something in common. If one LinkedIn member applies for two jobs, it means that that member has something relevant for both jobs. If several LinkedIn members are applying for the same position, it means that these members share something relevant to that job, etc.

At the same time, People Also Viewed significantly increases the likelihood of your profile being discovered and viewed by other members. That’s why it is important to optimize your LinkedIn profile fully. LinkedIn will be able to suggest your profiles to other members with more accuracy, and, as a ‘side benefit’, you will come up in LinkedIn search results more often and higher up.

Where is People Also Viewed located?

People Also Viewed is available to all LinkedIn users, free and paid, and to both LinkedIn personal profiles and company pages.

It is a bit different for Sales Navigator subscribers, which we will also cover in this section.

LinkedIn personal profiles

For LinkedIn users, People Also Viewed is visible on the right rail of your LinkedIn profile or of the other LinkedIn member whose profile you’re viewing.

It shows up to 5 profiles, and if you click See More, LinkedIn will show up to an additional 15 profiles.

If you access LinkedIn from the mobile app, you need to scroll to the bottom of your or someone else’s LinkedIn profile, right after the Interests section, and there you’ll find People Also Viewed.

LinkedIn will show up to 10 profiles, and if you click See more, you’ll get up to an additional 10 People Also Viewed profiles.

LinkedIn company profiles

If you visit a LinkedIn company profile, Pages People Also Viewed is also visible on the right rail.

However, in the case of company pages, LinkedIn gives a bit of a more thorough insight.

If the company is a service company, LinkedIn will show Affiliate pages, Pages people also viewed, and People also follow.

If the company is a product company, LinkedIn will show Affiliate pages, Products people also use, Pages people also viewed, and People also follow.

Here’s what these mean.

Affiliate pages - If any, LinkedIn will show other company pages linked to that page, representing a parent or subsidiary organization. It reflects all affiliated pages, including acquired pages.

Products people also use - Based on the type of product you’re viewing, LinkedIn will suggest LinkedIn pages from the same product category.

Pages people also viewed - Based on the LinkedIn industry list or sub-industry of the product or service in question, LinkedIn will suggest other LinkedIn pages.

People also follow - LinkedIn suggests other company pages from the same, similar, or adjacent industries that people from your network follow.

On mobile, all of these sections will be right after you scroll down till the end of the LinkedIn company page.

Sales Navigator subscribers

Since Sales Navigator subscribers have both LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator included in their plan, they can fully benefit from the People Also Viewed LinkedIn feature.

However, if you wish to access this feature from Sales Navigator, you can only do so for company profiles.

Go to a specific company’s Sales Navigator page and scroll down to the People Also Viewed section.

Unlike LinkedIn, Sales Navigator gives you an instant insight into the number of employees and a 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year company growth in percentages.

How to turn off People Also Viewed?

The People Also Viewed LinkedIn feature is turned on by default.

You can turn it off at any moment.

Go to your profile and click on your picture in the top right corner. Choose Settings.

Go to Account Preferences on your left sidebar, then to General Preferences, and choose People Also Viewed.

Move the toggle button to the left to turn off People Also Viewed or to the right to turn it on.

How to use People Also Viewed on LinkedIn for lead generation

Taking into consideration the way the algorithm behind the People Also Viewed works, our Head of Sales, Andrea, uses it for:

LinkedIn lead generation,
LinkedIn prospecting,
To connect with relevant members from our or adjacent industries,
and even to check out competitors.

In this section, we will explain how you can use LinkedIn’s People Also Viewed for lead generation and why it can be fruitful.

Crank Up Your Lead Gen with LinkedIn's People Also Viewed in 2024

At first, People Also Viewed seems like a side LinkedIn feature.

However, it can give you useful insight into other members’ viewing habits that could lead you to profiles fully matching your Buyer Persona.

And now, you can test out Skylead 7 days for FREE, and check out right away how to use People Also Viewed on LinkedIn and other LinkedIn lead generation strategies to find relevant leads for your business and then automate your outreach at scale.

Our amazing superstar support team will be at your disposal during the trial. You can reach out and ask for help or advice anytime.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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For those who have just started researching LinkedIn automation tools, SaaS startup Expandi appeared in the market in 2019. They initially created software that focused solely on LinkedIn automation.

After years of development, many small business sales teams and recruiters started using it for Email outreach and LinkedIn lead generation.

However, as the market has changed and other tools progressed, one question poses itself. Is Expandi the best Email and LinkedIn outreach tool? Or is there a better alternative on the market?

Let’s check that together. We will go over what Expandi offers, its disadvantages, the comparison with other solutions, and the pricing itself.

Expandi or alternatives?

Expandi is a LinkedIn automation and Email outreach tool. In other words, it performs the outreach activities on both platforms on autopilot, so you don’t have to.

It is a cloud-based solution with a dedicated IP address that shields your activity. In addition, your data is stored on the internet, not servers, like in some LinkedIn automation tools.

Unlike Chrome extensions (e.g., Dux-Soup), or desktop apps (e.g., LinkedHelper), a cloud-based solution like Expandi doesn’t require you to keep your PC turned on. Moreover, it doesn’t inject code into LinkedIn and mimics human behavior. These two parameters make this software a safer solution than extension-based tools. This way, you can send connection requests and perform LinkedIn outreach carefree.

Many small businesses, and startups teams use Expandi for LinkedIn prospecting and lead generation. These professionals include salespeople, recruiters, and even outbound marketing managers.

You can use Expandi with any LinkedIn account. To clarify, you can create campaigns based on Sales Navigator, Recruiter, or Premium and basic LinkedIn search URL. Moreover, you can create an outreach campaign with a CSV file.

Lastly, Expandi can integrate with any other tool via Zapier webhooks or API.

Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s get into the specific features.

Expandi features

Smart Sequences

To clarify, Smart Sequence is an algorithm that streamlines LinkedIn activities you create in a workflow. In other words, it performs each action you set for each lead from the target audience source on autopilot.

Expandi introduced a Smart Sequence feature almost a year after Skylead did (another LinkedIn automation & Cold Email software).

With Expandi, you can automate various activities:

Viewing another LinkedIn profile,
Sending LinkedIn connection requests,
Follow-up messages once connected,
Or LinkedIn InMails.

Expandi also provides non-essential steps for lead generation, such as LinkedIn Post liking, Skill Endorsement, and Following Company.

Email outreach

Expandi added Email outreach to their features list so you can use multichannel as part of the Smart Sequence workflow. In other words, this feature allows you to expand your LinkedIn lead generation to another channel. By using email as your secondary channel, you can connect with less active leads on LinkedIn.

What’s more, Expandi offers attractive metrics analysis and A/B testing, so you can test what messaging works best for you and optimize your campaign. Or you can choose to use one of their message templates.

Disadvantages

Expandi lacks some outreach features. Firstly, even though it offers Image & GIF hyper-personalization, Expandi outsources this feature to Hyperise. So, what does this mean for you? First, you pay an additional monthly price if you wish to use this feature. In addition, Hyperise itself limits this feature depending on the number of templates and impressions(counted each time someone sees the image). Thus, for example, the lowest Hyperise package of $69 limits the use of 5 templates and 5000 impressions.

Secondly, Expandi doesn’t have Email Discovery & Verification features, meaning it cannot find leads’ business email addresses and verify them. Even though Expandi can scrape publicly-available personal email addresses from LinkedIn profiles, it can do so only after the prospects accept your connection request.

Therefore, if the lead isn’t responsive on LinkedIn or doesn’t accept, you cannot reach them via Email as Expandi cannot find their address. Therefore, you miss the shot to multichannel your outreach and get in touch with that lead. Moreover, you risk a high bounce rate and having your domain damaged. So, if you wish to find business emails, you cannot do it in Expandi. In other words, you would need to find an Email Discovery tool and increase your monthly subscription.

Lastly, if you use Expandi yourself or read reviews, you will notice that most users reported that this tool had become buggy lately. Too buggy to use. Moreover, their customer support team is not the most responsive, nor are the issues solved promptly.

Pricing

Expandi offers one pricing plan of $99 for one seat a month and a whitelabel solution. However, if you decide to use Hyperise Image & GIF personalization feature, you end up with a monthly receipt of $168 per 1 seat. And if you wish to include Email Discovery & Verification, count an additional $50+ per month, at least. Therefore the total monthly pricing for 1 Expandi account with all the features is $218 minimum.

However, some Expandi alternatives possess the same, better, or similar features at different prices. So, let’s check them out.

5 best Explandi alternatives

Whether you’ve found out about Expandi recently or are not satisfied with this tool and looking for a change, here is the list of Expandi alternatives.

1. Skylead

The first and best Expandi alternative is Skylead. Yes, that is us 🙂 Hello.

Skylead is an All-In-One solution that helps founders, sales teams, recruiters, marketers, and others streamline their outreach efforts.

Skylead is the best LinkedIn automation tool & Cold Email software with all outreach native features. In other words, it is a perfectly-rounded Lead generation tool.

As opposed to Chrome extensions like Dux-Soup, or desktop apps like LinkedHelper, Skylead is a cloud-based solution. In other words, each user gets a dedicated IP address that shields their activity. In addition, it mimics human behavior and performs a different number of actions in real-time each day. These features make Skylead the safest software out there.

Being a cloud-based software comes with additional perks. For example, Skylead offers an integrated inbox that gathers all messages in one place and an option to operate with multiple accounts.

Like Expandi, you can use it with any LinkedIn account type, including all Sales Navigator and Recruiter subscription plans.

Thanks to these integrations, you can use Skylead to create outreach campaigns and target audiences from 8 different sources:

LinkedIn search results;
Sales Navigator search results;
Recruiter search results;
Event attendees (available with all LinkedIn account types);
Recruiter Talent Pool or Pipeline URL;
CSV file with native or custom variables to increase response rate (available with all LinkedIn account types);
People who reacted to the specific LinkedIn post (available with all LinkedIn account types);
Sales Navigator Lead Lists;

Moreover, Skylead supports integration with your CRM or any other tool via Zapier webhooks or API.

Lastly, with Skylead, you can scrape publicly available data only, such as email and phone numbers. Or you can choose to create an outreach campaign.

Now that we've covered the basics let's jump to more features Skylead offers.

Skylead features

Smart Sequences

Skylead is the first tool that launched Smart Sequences on the market and thus has changed how the entire market performed its outreach. As previously mentioned, this groundbreaking algorithm executes steps in the order you set, according to your leads’ behavior.

The If/Else conditions make the Smart Sequences special. In other words, Skylead can recognize what path your leads choose to follow in your workflow and perform future actions in real time.

You can create a sequence from any outreach action you imagine. These actions include sending free and paid InMails, and connection requests. You can create custom conditions as well.

Fear not, though. If you do not wish to create the sequence from scratch, you can always use one of Skylead’s pretested sequence templates along with its message templates.

With Smart Sequences, you don’t spend countless hours reaching out to every single lead manually. Skylead does it all for you.

Email outreach

Having a multichannel outreach will give your LinkedIn prospects a well-rounded lead-generation experience. But, more importantly, it will show that you wish to help them resolve any problems they might have.

That is why Skylead has an integrated Email Outreach feature that you can combine with LinkedIn outreach in one sequence. In addition, Skylead’s email outreach offers various personalization variables so you can write your most converting messages and follow-up emails.

In addition, as opposed to Expandi or any other tool from this list, Skylead allows you to connect unlimited email accounts. In other words, you can send thousands of emails daily without damaging your domain and at no additional cost.

Lastly, unlike Expandi, with Skylead, you can use Email outreach at its full potential. Here’s how.

Email discovery & verification

Skylead recognized how mandatory Email Discovery & Verification steps are in multichannel outreach. Thus they created both features for the users. Using these features, you can find business emails, thus lowering the bounce rate, saving your domain authority, and maximizing getting in touch with leads.

Moreover, you can find and verify your prospects’ emails without linking your LinkedIn profile with Skylead.

Email Discovery & Verification features are native, meaning you don’t pay an extra monthly price for it. Lastly, Skylead is the only solution on the market that allows users to use both of these features without limitations. In other words, Skylead offers unlimited Email Discovery & Verification credits, meaning it doesn’t charge an additional monthly sum.

Native image & GIF hyper personalization

To maximize your response rate, Skylead introduced a native Image & GIF Hyper-Personalization feature. This way, you can send LinkedIn InMails, messages, emails, or follow-ups in a more personalized and unique way and catch your prospects’ attention.

Skylead personalizes your chosen images and GIF on autopilot by pulling the person’s profile picture, company logo, and other information from the profile. So you don’t need to personalize countless versions of the same image. Instead, Skylead does it all for you.

Report and analytics

Skylead offers 3 levels of detailed, real-time insight:

Graph Metrics - perfect for visual representations of the ratio between the actions;
Table view - best for spotting trends that happen during specific days;
Sequence Steps - if you wish to examine steps in detail, this interactive report is for you.

Therefore, you can analyze the metrics of every aspect of your outreach campaigns. Moreover, with Skylead, you can A/B test your messaging, subject, line, or connection requests, see what works best and optimize your efforts.

Pricing

Skylead is an All-In-One tool you need for your multichannel outreach, and it costs $100 per 1 account/month. Unlike other LinkedIn automation and lead generation tools such as Expandi or Zopto, Skylead doesn’t limit the features by the number of uses. Moreover, Skylead has a very dedicated customer support team that is ready to help you any time.

Lastly, like Expandi, Skylead provides a Whitelabel solution to its partners.

Expandi vs. Skylead

To simplify the analysis, we’ve created a comparison table between Expandi and Skylead. In addition, we included the most important to less essential features of both software, so you can make your decision easier.

2. Zopto

LinkedIn automation tool, Zopto, is another cloud-based solution and Expandi.io alternative. It is compatible with Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Premium, and Recruiter accounts.

What distinguishes Zopto and Expandi is that Zopto offers an Email Enrichment feature. In other words, Zopto can find and verify business emails like Skylead. However, the downside is that Zopto limits how many leads you can enrich with the email, depending on the pricing plan.

As opposed to other mutual features, like A/B testing, Zopto offers a LinkedIn Post scheduling feature. It means you can create and schedule posts on LinkedIn using this software. Moreover, Zopto expanded incomplete automation to another social media channel - Twitter. In other words, it can automate only post likes on Twitter.

Lastly, being a cloud-based solution, Zopto has combined Inbox, as well as CRM, and Hubspot integration through Zapier webhooks and API.

Another major disadvantage is that Zopto doesn’t have Smart Sequence functionality. Instead, it offers a simple 4-step drip campaign without any conditions.

Pricing

Zopto’s pricing includes 3 plans. Each plan comes with an assigned account manager.

Personal - $215 per month (1 account included)
Grow - $344 per month (2 accounts included)
Agency - $860 per month (5+ accounts included)

This price for all packages is higher considering other tools, features they offer, and the pricing itself.

Expandi vs. Zopto

Having in mind all other features mentioned above, here is a total comparison between Skylead, Expandi and Zopto.

3. MeetAlfred

This is another SaaS startup that developed an outreach solution for small businesses, salespeople, and agencies. MeetAlfred primarily automates social media activities, including scheduling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts.

MeetAlfred is a cloud-based solution with an internal CRM. It means that, like Expandi.io and Skylead, you can easily access and manage your leads. In addition, this tool also offers integrated inbox and Email Outreach features. However, you can only send emails to 1-degree LinkedIn connections, like Expandi.io, making it an incomplete multichannel outreach tool.

Lastly, MeetAlfred supports Zapier integration or integration with any other tool via webhooks.

One of the most significant disadvantages is that MeetAlfred doesn’t offer Smart Sequences. Instead, it only provides a simple drip outreach campaign. However, it does offer more steps in a sequence than Zopto.

Secondly, MeetAlfred doesn’t have email discovery and verification features. Moreover, it doesn’t have a native Image & GIF hyper-personalization. But, they have a Hyperise integration as Expand.io that increases your monthly subscription cost.

Pricing

MeetAlfred has 3 pricing plans:

$49 for single users and limited features (limited by 3 active campaigns),
$89 for Sales Navigator users,
$699 for large sales teams.

To this day, MeetAlfer doesn’t offer a Whitelabel solution.

Expandi vs. MeetAlfred

MeetAlfred tries hard to follow the amount of features Expandi, Skylead and Zopto introduced. However, they balance these lacks in pricing.

4. LinkedFusion

Another great LinkedIn automation tool like Expandi is LinkedFusion. It is a cloud-based solution that offers an integrated inbox. Furthermore, you can outreach your target audience using any LinkedIn account or CSV file.

You can link LinkedFusion with any other app through Zapier webhooks. Moreover, this tool has Hubspot and Google Sheets native integration, unlike Expandi.

Moreover, they offer message templates they claim to be tested and conversion-driven.

Should you need any help, LinkedFusion also has a technical customer support team at your disposal 24/7.

The major disadvantage of LinkedFusion is that it doesn’t have Smart Sequences functionality, so you cannot fully control your outreach.

Lastly, this tool offers image personalization. However, you can do it only through Hyperise integration.

Pricing

LinkedInFusion has 3 subscription plans. They all depend on the number of connection requests, messages you can send per day, and other features:

Professional: $65
Grow: $95.95
Ultimate: $135.95

Expandi vs. LinkedFusion

One of the best things about Expandi and Skylead is the Smart Sequence function. However, if this is not something you’re interested in, look at other features found in LinkedFusion.

5. LinkedHelper 2

Linked Helper 2 is another LinkedIn automation tool. However, unlike Expandi, it is a desktop app, meaning it doesn't have a dedicated IP address and the functionality to run multiple accounts. Moreover, your PC needs to be kept on for LinkedHelper to run.

On a brighter note, LinkedHelper offers Recruiter-based campaigns, unlike LinkedFusion and MeetAlfred. Moreover, you have your internal CRM to monitor the contacts' history.

Sadly, LinkedHelper doesn't have Image & GIF personalization in any form, so you cannot hyper-personalize your outreach. Moreover, it doesn't support post-engagement campaign type, Smart Sequences or A/B testing functionality.

Pricing

What lacks in functionality, LinkedHelper V2 makes up for in pricing. However, they limit pricing plans based on the number of messages and connection requests you can send per day:

Standard: $15
Pro: $45 (unlimited number of features)

Expandi vs. LinkedHelper V2

Apart from the difference in basic functionality type (cloud-based and desktop app), here is the list of other differences between Expandi and LinkedHelper.

6. Phantombuster

Last but not least, we have Phantombuster - an extension-based tool like Dux-Soup. Although it isn’t an automation tool like Expandi, it contributes to lead generation since its algorithm focuses on data extraction. In other words, Phantombuster automates data scraping from any social media platform, including LinkedIn.

This tool is an excellent addition to your outreach, saving time scraping the data for your CSV-based campaigns. Moreover, Phantombuster has an email discovery feature but cannot verify them.

Phantombuster offers some automated actions on LinkedIn. For example, it can only send connection requests and messages on autopilot. However, it doesn’t have Smart Sequence functionality nor is it safe to use as it injects the code in the LinkedIn platform. Therefore, it works best as a social media scraper tool that you can combine with other LinkedIn automation tools like Expandi or Skylead.

Lastly, Phantombuster offers Hubspot & Pipedrive CRM enrichment via integration through API key.

Pricing

PhantomBuster has 3 pricing plans depending on the number of automated actions and the time it runs during 1 month:

Starter: $59 per month
Pro: $139 per month
Team: $399 per month

Expandi vs. Phantombuster

Feature-wise, Phantombuster may be different from other LinkedIn automation tools. However, you may reconsider it if you plan to create a campaign based on a CSV file using other tools.

How to cancel Expandi?

If you are unsatisfied with Expandi and want to try out other tools from our list, here is how to cancel your Expandi account.

First, log into your account and click the Profile Settings button in the side menu. Then, navigate to the Subscription Plan section.

Next, click the Remove button.

Expandi will ask you to state the reason why you wish to cancel. You cannot proceed unless you do.

Once you cancel your account, you won’t be able to access your dashboard anymore, and you will be done.

Frequently asked questions

How do these alternative tools compare in terms of overall cost-efficiency, particularly for small businesses or individual entrepreneurs?

The overall cost-efficiency of alternative tools varies, with some offering more advanced features at a higher price point. For small businesses or solo entrepreneurs, choosing a tool that balances functionality with affordability is key to maximizing ROI.

What specific advantages do these alternatives offer over Expandi in terms of features like A/B testing, integration capabilities, and customer support responsiveness?

Compared to Expandi, these alternatives, such as Skylead may offer unique features such as more robust A/B testing capabilities, seamless integrations with other tools, and superior customer support, providing a tailored approach to LinkedIn automation and cold emailing strategies.

How user-friendly are these alternatives for someone with minimal experience in LinkedIn automation or cold emailing strategies?

The user-friendliness of these alternatives ranges widely, with some prioritizing a straightforward interface and guided setup processes to accommodate users new to LinkedIn automation, while others may offer advanced customization options suited for experienced marketers.

Ready to try other tools from the list?

Now that you know other Expandi alternatives and their main features, choose the best LinkedIn automation tool for you to test. The good practice is to analyze what you personally need for your outreach and the budget you have.

To recap, let's go over all Expandi alternatives' features compared to one another.

Would you like to give Skylead a try? 🙂

Then sign up for a 7-day Free Trial. Or if you have any questions, drop by and say hi via chat on our website. We will be happy to meet you!

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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In 2024, LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters revolutionize your quest for ideal customers with 34 Lead filters, 16 Account filters, a shared Keywords filter, and an expected AI-assisted search!

Here at Skylead, we consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator a goldmine for LinkedIn prospecting.

I mean, who doesn’t?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is packed with some great features to discover, categorize, and stay updated on relevant leads.

We use it to expand our business, and are thrilled to share this first-hand experience with you in this blog!

In this blog, we included the following:

What AI-assisted search in Sales Navigator is, and how it works;
Every Sales Navigator filter (Lead & Account) explained in detail;
9 Sales Navigator filter hacks that our sales team uses in their everyday work routine to find and stay on top of the most relevant leads for Skylead.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator AI-assisted search

In 2023, rapid advancements in AI have been transforming the way we work, enhancing our skills and optimizing time. Using ChatGPT for sales has become a routine for SDRs around the world.

So, it was just a matter of time before Sales Navigator also included some sort of an AI-assisted feature to help its users find the most relevant leads for their businesses faster.

For now, the AI-assistance is available only for Lead filters search.

To access it, go to your Sales Navigator Home page, click Lead filters, and check out the bottom of the Lead filter section.

Click the Expand icon on the right.

The scope of this feature is to allow the platform’s users to enter casual, conversational language-like search prompts, and let Sales Navigator ‘recognize’ these leads within its massive profile database.

The prompt can sound something like ‘Find me sales decision-makers, based in the US (West Coast), in the software development industry’.

Sales Navigator will then, in a way, ‘fill out’ the filters for you, and search within its massive database to find the most suitable platform members.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator AI-assisted search will then continue to suggest filters to further narrow down your lead search.

In the ‘Hacks” section of this blog, we will list several Sales Navigator filters that, from our experience, turned out to be more relevant for quality targeting.

Currently, AI-assisted search could be better. It bugs now and then and can take into account only specific factors, such as work title, location, industry, etc.

However, it can help you streamline your Sales Navigator lead search by running some of the criteria for you and suggesting other filters useful to handpick leads en masse.

For everything else, you can always add or go back to the good, old Lead filters.

Sales Navigator filters: LEAD filters explained

Lead filters search LinkedIn personal profiles and help you find professionals that match your Buyer Personas.

To access Sales Navigator Lead filters, go to your Sales Navigator home page and click Lead filters.

Keywords

Keywords is a shared filter for both Lead and Account filters, and it is still the Sales Navigator filter our sales team uses the most, and that, together with other filters, gives the best targeting results.

The keywords filter lists all LinkedIn profiles containing the word you enter as an exact or partial match somewhere on the lead’s profile.

Combine the Keywords filter with other Sales Navigator filters or apply a Boolean string to refine your search results.

Section: COMPANY

Current Company

Search leads by the company they currently work at.

Past company

Search leads by the company they used to work at.

Company headcount

When using the Company Headcount filter, bear in mind that companies don’t update their company headcount regularly on LinkedIn.

Also, the headcount range is wide, so this Sales Navigator filter might not be suitable if you need a super precise headcount search.

The company headcount ranges are:

Self-employed
1-10
11-50
51-200
201-500
501-1000
1001-5000
5001-10 000
10 001+

Company type

Use the Company Type filter if the type of company you’re targeting is important for your outreach.

When using this Sales Navigator filter, remember that the LinkedIn company page creator decides what to put as a company type. Therefore, LinkedIn itself cannot know how accurate this information is.

Company types:

Public company: a company whose stocks are available for purchase;
Privately held: startup held by a few people;
Non-profit: a company whose capital is on a positive zero;
Educational institution: schools and universities;
Partnership: business shared by multiple owners;
Self-employed: company owner is the only employee of the company;
Self-owned: individuals who run their own businesses;
Government Agency: government entities.

Company headquarters

You can filter company headquarters by continent, geographical divisions (EMEA), country, region, and city.

Regional abbreviations

Oceania
Asia
Nordics
MENA: the Middle East and Northern Africa
EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Europe
DACH: acronym that stands for D - Deutschland, A - Austria, and CH - Confœderatio Helvetica (Switzerland's official name in Latin).
Benelux: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
North America
APJ: the Asia Pacific and Japan
South America
APAC: Asia - Pacific
Africa

Section: ROLE

Function

The Function filter refers to the company department in which the lead works.

Current job title

Filter your leads based on the title they currently hold at their current company.

Past job title

Filter your leads based on one or more titles they held at one or more of their past companies.

Seniority Level

Seniority Level is NOT the title but the lead’s position in the current company’s hierarchy structure.

There are 10 seniority levels:

Owner / partner
CXO (any C-suite position, such as CEO, CFO, etc)
Vice president
Director
Experienced manager
Entry level manager
Strategic
Senior
Entry level
In training

You can add multiple seniority levels.

Years in current company

This Sales Navigator filter finds leads based on the number of years at their current company.

Time range explanation

1 to 2 years: from 1 to 2 years and 11 months.
3 to 5 years: from 3 to 5 years and 11 months.
6 to 10 years: from 6 to 10 years and 11 months.
More than 10 years: 11 years and on.

Years in current position

This Sales Navigator filter narrows down your lead search based on the number of years they’ve been in their current position.

Time range explanation

1 to 2 years: from 1 to 2 years and 11 months.
3 to 5 years: from 3 to 5 years and 11 months.
6 to 10 years: from 6 to 10 years and 11 months.
More than 10 years: 11 years and on.

Section: PERSONAL

First name

Search leads by their first name. No multiple entries.

Last name

Search leads by their last name. No multiple entries.

Profile language

Filter leads based on the language of their LinkedIn account.

Years of experience

This Sales Navigator filter searches leads based on the total years of experience based on the employment history stated on their LinkedIn profile.

You can add multiple entries.

Time range explanation

1 to 2 years: from 1 to 2 years and 11 months.
3 to 5 years: from 3 to 5 years and 11 months.
6 to 10 years: from 6 to 10 years and 11 months.
More than 10 years: 11 years and on.

Geography

Search leads by continent, geographical divisions (EMEA), country, region, city, and postal code.

Region

You can add multiple regions or exclude one or several regions from your search.

Regional abbreviations

Oceania
Asia
Nordics
MENA: the Middle East and Northern Africa
EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Europe
DACH: acronym that stands for D - Deutschland, A - Austria, and CH - Confœderatio Helvetica (Switzerland's official name in Latin).
Benelux: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
North America
APJ: the Asia Pacific and Japan
South America
APAC: Asia - Pacific
Africa

Postal code

Postal codes for different cities in different states match.

That’s why, once you enter the first number of a postal code, you will get a drop-down menu of postal codes with respective cities and regions/countries.

Additionally, you can choose the area radius that you would like to be taken into consideration.

This Sales Navigator filter allows multiple entries.

Groups

This Sales Navigator filter finds leads who are members of a certain LinkedIn group or groups.

Using the Groups filter is an excellent way to connect with members from the same or similar industries. Check out the ‘Hacks’ section of this blog to read more about how we used it to make our lead generation more effective.

Type in the name of the LinkedIn group or a keyword. You will have a dropdown list of all available LinkedIn groups containing that keyword.

Once you choose a LinkedIn group, Sales Navigator will suggest other groups from a similar industry or with the same keyword.

Industry

Choose from a drop-down menu among 413 Sales Navigator industries.

Here is the LinkedIn industry list for all subscription plans and with rankings (Sales Navigator included).

School

Search leads by college, university, and even high school listed on your leads’ LinkedIn profiles.

To appear in this search filter, a school must have a LinkedIn account page.

Section: BUYER INTENT

The purpose of these Sales Navigator filters is to help you find leads most likely to respond to outreach or express an interest in your product or service.

Check out the Hacks section to get details about how and why to use these filters for more quality lead generation.

Following your company

This filter lets you search for leads who follow your company page on LinkedIn.

To use it, just move the toggle button to the right.

Viewed your profile recently

There are 2 ways to see Who’s viewed your profile in the past 90 days on Sales Navigator, and one of them is to use this Lead filter.

All you need to do is move the toggle button to the right.

Check out why this can be useful, and what the other way is in the ‘Hacks’ section of this blog.

Section: BEST PATH IN

The purpose of these Sales Navigator filters is to help you leverage your network to find the best path into a company and collect information to tailor your outreach.

Connection

Search leads based on the level of LinkedIn connection they have with you.

You can be somebody’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connection or be in the same LinkedIn group with a certain lead.

1st-degree connections: members part of your LinkedIn network.
2nd-degree connections: LinkedIn members connected with your 1st-degree connections, but not with you.
Group connections: members part of the same LinkedIn group as you are.
3rd-degree connections: members that are connected with your 2nd-degree connections but not with you.

Connections of

This Sales Navigator filter targets connections of a specific user on LinkedIn.

You can insert only one entry at a time; that person must be your 1st-degree connection.

Past colleague

This LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters searches leads that used to work with you based on their employment history on LinkedIn.

The search result will list leads and give you insight into what company you worked together at.

Shared experiences

This filter finds leads who share the same LinkedIn group as you or who also recently posted on LinkedIn.

However, remember that just because someone is not posting on LinkedIn doesn’t mean they are not actively prospecting or networking on LinkedIn.

To use the Shared Experiences filter, move the toggle button to the right.

The search results will highlight the experience you share with a specific lead.

Section: RECENT UPDATES

These Sales Navigator filters help you identify leads who:

have changed jobs in the last 90 days;
posted on LinkedIn in the last 30 days;
or were in the news in the last 30 days.

As mentioned above, these filters can give you an important insight into when and how to approach leads relevant to your business.

In the ‘Hacks’ section of this blog, you will find a detailed explanation of why, and what to do with that valuable information.

Changed jobs

Narrow down your search to leads who changed jobs or were promoted to the position of your interest in the past 90 days by using the Changed jobs Sales Navigator filter.

Just move the toggle button to the right to use this filter.

You can see the details of your lead’s new employment straight from the search result.

Or, if the lead was promoted to another position.

Posted on LinkedIn

Check out all members who posted on LinkedIn in the past 30 days.

You will get a preview of all posts published by a specific lead in the past 30 days directly from the search results.

Mentioned in news

This Sales Navigator filter narrows down your leads to those who were mentioned in the news in the past 90 days.

You can see the preview of all articles directly from the search results.

Section: WORKFLOW

Persona

This is where you can filter Personas that you’ve previously set up on your Sales Navigator homepage.

Combine the Persona filter with other filters to narrow leads who match your Buyer Persona within the companies that match your Ideal customer profile (ICP) the closest possible.

Account lists

Use this Sales Navigator filter to find people who match your Buyer Persona within the companies you previously saved in an Account list.

You can combine it with any other filter to narrow down decision-makers in the companies that match your ICP.

Lead lists

This filter works similarly to the Account Lists filter.

Choose among a previously created Lead list, and use other filters to further segment your leads or narrow down your search to those leads more likely to convert.

People in CRM

This filter is available to the Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscribers only, because it is the only plan that can be synced with your CRM to move leads from CRM to Sales Navigator and vice versa.

This Sales Navigator filter allows you to apply other Lead filters to people in your CRM.

People you interacted with

This filter searches leads you viewed in the last 90 days or messaged in the last 2 years on Sales Navigator whether through connection requests, regular messages, or InMail.

Saved leads and accounts

All saved leads is a list made by Sales Navigator that contains all LinkedIn profiles you manually saved and all LinkedIn profiles from all your lead lists in one place.

All saved accounts contains all LinkedIn company pages you manually saved and all LinkedIn company pages from all account lists in one place. When you save a lead, Sales Navigator automatically adds the lead’s current company to My saved accounts.

Here’s where you can search them.

Sales Navigator filters: ACCOUNT filters explained

Account filters search LinkedIn company pages aka. accounts and help you find companies that match your ICP.

To access Sales Navigator Account filters, go to your Sales Navigator home page, and click Account filters.

Keywords

As mentioned in the Lead filters section, the Keywords filter is one of the most used filters by our sales team. Combined with other Account filters, it brings back the most precise targeting results.

The keywords filter lists all LinkedIn accounts containing the word you enter as an exact or partial match somewhere on the company’s profile.

Combine the Keywords filter with other Sales Navigator filters or apply a Boolean string to refine your search results.

Section: COMPANY ATTRIBUTES

Annual revenue

Annual Revenue filters companies, based on their annual growth counted in millions, in any of the top world currencies.

Company headcount

This Sales Navigator filter is useful if your product or service is aimed at companies of a certain size.

Company headcount growth

Company headcount growth filters companies based on the growth percentage range.

Department headcount

This Sales Navigator filter works the same way as Company headcount (see above), but it refers to a specific department.

Choose the department first and then the headcount range.

Department headcount growth

The Department headcount growth filter works like the Company headcount growth. The only difference is that the growth parameter refers to a specific department.

Choose the department first, and then the growth range in percentages.

Fortune

The Fortune filter shows companies listed in the top 500 of Fortune’s wealthiest US corporations based on the total revenue for the respective fiscal years.

Headquarters location

This Sales Navigator filter narrows companies by their headquarters location.

You can search accounts by region or by postal code.

If you search by region, you can choose among filtering leads by continent, geographical divisions (EMEA), country, region, city, and postal code.

Regional abbreviations

Oceania
Asia
Nordics
MENA: the Middle East and Northern Africa
EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Europe
DACH: acronym for D – Deutschland, A – Austria, and CH – Confœderatio Helvetica (Switzerland’s official name in Latin).
Benelux: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
North America
APJ: the Asia Pacific and Japan
South America
APAC: Asia – Pacific
Africa

If you go for postal codes, you can choose among cities and postal codes of the city's areas.

There's a drop-down menu of zip codes, designated cities, and city areas based on the numbers you enter.

You can add multiple postal codes.

Industry

The Industry filter allows you to choose among a total of 413 industries.

The number of followers

The Number of Followers narrows your search results based on how many followers a company’s LinkedIn page has.

Technologies used

The Technologies Used filter can be useful if your business provides services regarding certain platforms, tools, software, etc., or for those who need to check if their product is compatible with specific technologies.

Section: SPOTLIGHTS

Job opportunities

Job opportunities finds companies that are currently hiring on LinkedIn.

Recent activities

Recent activities shows companies that had senior leadership changes in the last 3 months or funding events in the past 12 months.

Connection

This Sales Navigator filter shows companies where you have at least one employee that’s your 1st-degree connection on LinkedIn.

Section: WORKFLOW

Companies in CRM

This filter is available to the Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscribers only since it’s the only plan that can be synced with your CRM and move accounts from CRM to Sales Navigator and vice versa.

This Sales Navigator filter allows you to apply other Account filters to people in your CRM.

Saved accounts

You can apply other account filters to the All saved accounts list.

Account lists

Further filter companies from any custom account list or all account lists at the same time and further apply filters to those companies.

9 Sales Navigator targeting hacks

Here are 9 targeting hacks used by our sales team in their everyday routine to find the leads most likely to convert.

Use the Buyer Intent filters to push ‘leads’ in your direction.

Following your company - This is a perfect filter to discovered leads who follow your company on LinkedIn but are not your clients might be in the research phase of their buyer’s journey. Reaching out to them first might give them the push in the right (your) direction).
Viewed your profile - There are many reasons why someone shows interest in your LinkedIn profile and the only way to find that out is to reach out. They might be in search of a business partnership, in the researching phase of their buyer’s journey, interested in your product or service, etc. Don’t neglect this important insight.

Another way to check Who’s viewed your profile is to go to the Who’s viewed my profile section on LinkedIn.

#1 Click on the profile picture and select Who’s Viewed Your Profile.

#2 You will be redirected to your LinkedIn page.

First, you will see the LinkedIn filters as an option to filter leads who viewed your profile additionally.

If you scroll down, you will see the list of people who viewed your profile.

Find leads more open to new technologies through the Recent Updates filters.

This set of filters is so important, that even Sales Navigator AI-assisted search keeps suggesting them as the best choice to narrow down your search to the most qualified leads.

One of the reasons is also that you can use this information to personalize your outreach, and significantly increase your response rates, which is how our sales team also uses these filters to increase their response rates.

However, bear in mind that, just because some leads are not actively posting or updating their information on LinkedIn, it doesn’t mean they are not using the platform to network and do business.

Changed jobs filter - New hires in decision-making positions are more likely to say yes to new and innovative solutions and services. The first several months are when they are eager to implement new technologies and make improvements across the department. It is usually the right moment for your product to come into play.
Posted on LinkedIn filter - When you find leads via the Posted on LinkedIn filter, you can refer to their content to personalize your outreach. This is a step in the right direction to establish a positive business relationship.
Mentioned in news filter - Just like we mentioned for the Posted on LinkedIn filter, referring to the article you’re lead was mentioned in can create a good foundation for a further sales-oriented conversation.

Identify growing companies through the Spotlights filters.

Our sales team uses the Spotlights filters to find customers for Skylead, and these 2 filters turned out to bring qualified leads for following reasons:

Job opportunities - generally, if a company is hiring, it means they are expanding their business or a specific department, and it could be the right moment to offer your product or service.
Recent activities - if the company had Senior leadership changes in the last 3 months or Funding events in the past 12 months it means they are expanding their business, they have more money to invest into new solutions or services, and that it might be the right moment to reach out and offer what you’ve got.

Save your search criteria or let Skylead discover new leads matching your criteria automatically.

Saved search is a great way to save time while still getting regularly updated on leads that match your ICP and/or Buyer Persona criteria.

However, our sales team and Skylead users don’t need to do this portion of manual work, because, once you search LinkedIn (any subscription), insert the link in Skylead, and start your campaign, Skylead will automatically recognize new leads appearing on LinkedIn that match your criteria, and automatically add them to an existing campaign according to your settings.

For Skylead to do this, you only need to move the toggle button to the right in the Campaign settings > LinkedIn Settings.

On Sales Navigator, the point of a saved search is the same - to suggest leads and accounts relevant based on the criteria you set.

We’ll show you how it works with Account filters, but the process is the same for leads.

First, set up Sales Navigator filters that match your ICP.

Click Save search.

Go to Saved search next to the Keywords filter. Click on the Pencil icon to give your saved search a name.

Sales Navigator will start pushing accounts that match your criteria into one list. Click the View button next to the Pencil icon to check new leads.

The numbers in green show the number of new leads or accounts since the last time you checked a specific saved search list.

Check new accounts or leads every week, filter them out further, and segment them into Account and Lead lists.

Connect with industry peers within a LinkedIn group.

Targeting members from a LinkedIn group is an excellent way to connect with members from the same or similar industries.

This can be useful to network, create possibilities for future partnerships, and get introduced to other people relevant to your business in many ways.

Also, being part of the same LinkedIn group is an excellent way to personalize your outreach and connect with leads from the first outreach message. Being part of the same group implies, in a way, that you have similar interests or are in the same or adjacent industries, all of which create some kind of a bond right away.

Check out our step-by-step manual on how to target members from a LinkedIn group for a more successful lead generation.

Blacklist leads or accounts you wish to avoid.

The point of blacklisting certain leads and accounts is to save time and resources and direct them toward those more likely to convert.

Consider excluding your negative ICP and Buyer Persona, people you already talked to, competitors, and companies you already work with for more precise targeting. That’s exactly the purpose of a Blacklist - to make sure none of the people who do not match your Buyer Persona can end up in your search result.

Skylead’s Blacklist options

With Skylead, you have 2 types of Blacklists at your disposal:

Your Blacklist that blacklists leads on your Skylead seat only.
Global Blacklist that blacklists leads across all seats within a team.

You only need to enter an exact or partial match of a company name, lead's full name, job title, or profile URL you don't wish to target with your campaigns, and Skylead will take care of the rest.

Sales Navigator Blacklist options

There are 3 ways to blacklist leads and accounts on Sales Navigator.

The exclude option

You may have noticed that some Sales Navigator filters have the Exclude option.

For example, if your target industry is Manufacturing but not Medical equipment manufacturing, you can simply exclude this subindustry by clicking the Exclude button next to it.

Excluded parameters will always appear in red. That’s how you’ll know that you excluded them.

Blacklist via account lists

If you wish to blacklist specific companies, you can make a list of companies that represent your negative ICP, save them in an Account list, and then exclude this list through the Account list filter.

Sales Navigator will exclude all employees from the companies in your Account list from the search result.

You can do the same with personal LinkedIn profiles.

Save leads that you would like to avoid in a Lead list, and then exclude it through the Lead lists profile.

Blacklist via saved search

Another way to blacklist specific leads or accounts is through the Sales Navigator Saved search.

Set up criteria for leads or accounts that you would like to avoid. Save your search.

Then, select the leads or accounts found by Sales Navigator, and save the ones you wish to blacklist in an account list.

Repeat the same process as explained in the hack above - Blacklist via Account list.

Apply the Boolean search to produce more relevant results.

The Boolean search helps you produce more accurate and relevant results and allows you to navigate through appropriate leads while disregarding unrelated ones. It is both a time-saver and an excellent way to laser-pick leads for your business more likely to convert.

It is a query technique that combines words and phrases with the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT, parentheses (), and quotations “ ” to limit, broaden, or better define your search.

Check out our complete guide on LinkedIn Boolean search with string examples to learn what Boolean search is, and how to use it, and feel free to copy/paste our Boolean string examples.

Upload a CSV file to Sales Navigator to match the ICP on LinkedIn.

This option is available only to Sales Navigator Advanced and Advanced Plus subscribers.

If you already have a CSV file with a list of companies representing your ICP, you can upload the file, and Sales Navigator will match the data and find the LinkedIn accounts of these companies.

Then, you will be able to apply any Sales Navigator Account and Lead filter to company pages from your CSV file to narrow your search.

Click Create Account List. Then, Upload Accounts from CSV.

First, you will get a list of thorough requirements for this feature to work, after which you can upload your CSV.

The only required column in your CSV file is Account Name. Other columns, such as LinkedIn Company ID, LinkedIn Company URL, Website URL, etc., are optional, but better if you have them because LinkedIn will more easily find the accounts in question.

The more columns (optional) from the Optional section you have, the higher the chances are that Sales Navigator will match that data with the actual LinkedIn company pages.

This Account list will be marked as CSV. It works just like a regular Account list.

Use Skylead to put your outreach on auto-pilot.

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software that combines LinkedIn automation, unlimited Email automation, Email verification & discovery, and Image & GIF personalization into Smart sequences to help you book 3x more meetings than before.

It is compatible with ALL LinkedIn subscriptions, and in this blog, we will show you how it works for Sales Navigator users.

Copy and paste the URL of your Sales Navigator search result or Lead list into Skylead’s campaign creator.

Later, you can use the Add new leads button to add another URL search, a LinkedIn URL of an individual lead, a CSV file, or through API to any active campaign on condition that the campaign steps allow it.

Then, choose your lead source.

Also, know that Skylead auto-refreshes your leads. Basically, if new leads appear within the same URL source, they will be pulled into active campaigns if you turn this option on within the tool.

Click Create sequence to create your Smart sequence campaign.

Here’s an example of a ‘classical value proposition’ type of a Smart sequence.

Once you start your campaign, you don’t need to leave Skylead to answer your leads. Thanks to its Smart Inbox, you can manage messages from any LinkedIn subscription and any email connected to Skylead in one place.

Also, Smart Inbox is a light CRM at the same time, too, as you can custom-make labels to segment leads, and never miss an opportunity to book a meeting with a warm lead.

Frequently asked questions

How does utilizing these filters impact the overall sales cycle duration from lead generation to closing?

Utilizing these LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters can significantly streamline the sales cycle, enabling more precise targeting which can lead to quicker lead generation and more efficient closing processes by focusing efforts on the most relevant prospects.

Can these filters integrate with CRM systems for a more streamlined sales process, and if so, how?

These filters can indeed integrate with CRM systems, facilitating a more streamlined sales process. This integration allows for the direct transfer of lead information into a CRM, helping sales teams to track and manage leads more efficiently. In other words, if you subscribe to Sales Navigator Advance plus, you have a feature to integrate it with your CRM.

Are there recommendations for combining filters to target very niche markets or industries effectively?

For targeting niche markets or industries, combining filters such as technology, LinkedIn group members, company size, and industry can be highly effective for LinkedIn prospecting. This strategy allows for the creation of a highly specific target list, optimizing the relevance of outreach efforts.

To Sum Up

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful database that helps you find the most relevant leads for your business from all across the globe. Teamed up with Skylead, you transform into an unstoppable force in lead generation.

Don’t take our word for it; test it out for 7 days for free!

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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To improve the platform's efficiency, protect members from spamming, and increase personalization, LinkedIn developed a series of features, such as LinkedIn InMail.

However, as it turns out, this feature poses challenges for some LinkedIn users, whether newcomers or seasoned members, as discrepancies and inconsistencies among the LinkedIn plans can create confusion.

Our comprehensive guide aims to demystify InMail and empower you to maximize the effectiveness of your outreach efforts by incorporating this LinkedIn premium feature, too.

Our sales team uses LinkedIn InMail in their everyday outreach, not only because it is a powerful channel to reach leads but because Skylead is currently the only tool on the market that can automate both paid & free InMails in a click.

So, let’s check out what InMail is all about!

What is InMail on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn InMail is a LinkedIn premium feature that allows you to exchange free or paid direct messages on the platform with members who are not part of your network (2nd and 3rd-degree connections), unlike ‘regular’ LinkedIn messages that can only be exchanged with members part of your network (1st-degree connections).

Think of InMails as LinkedIn's version of an email, as they are structured in a way to have a subject line and higher character limits than a LinkedIn connection request or a regular LinkedIn message.

However, according to the platform's official Learning course, InMail messages have an average response rate of 18 to 25% compared to cold emails' 3% average response rate.

So, let's explore the types of this LinkedIn premium feature to help you better understand its purpose.

3 types of LinkedIn InMails

There are 3 types of LinkedIn InMails:

Free InMails
Paid InMails
Sponsored InMails (message ads).

Free LinkedIn InMail

Every LinkedIn subscription plan comes with 800 free InMails per month. So, even if you are on LinkedIn’s basic (free) plan, you can send free InMails to people who set their profiles to Open profile status.

Specifically, you can generally send free InMails only to users who set their profile to Open profile status. To set your profile to Open profile status, you must have one of the LinkedIn paid plans - LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, or LinkedIn Recruiter.

To sum up, ALL LinkedIn members can receive paid InMails, but only paid LinkedIn subscribers can send them. Also, ALL LinkedIn members can send free InMails, but only to members who set their profiles to Open profile status.

LinkedIn open profile status

There are 2 ways to set up your account to receive free InMails, that is, to set your profile to Open profile status.

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

Then, click the Dropdown menu icon next to the Open profile feature and move the toggle button to turn the Open profile status on or off.

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 Data Privacy, then Messages.

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

Paid LinkedIn InMail

Paid InMails are a premium feature. Therefore, they are included in any paid LinkedIn subscription - LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, and LinkedIn Recruiter.

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

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

Check out the InMail credits section of this blog to see how many credits are included in your subscription plan and how to check that number.

InMail character limit

InMail character limit depends on your LinkedIn subscription.

LinkedIn InMail character limit

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

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

Sales Navigator InMail character limit

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

InMail body copy: up to 1900

Recruiter InMail character limit

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

InMail body copy: up to 1900

LinkedIn InMail vs. LinkedIn messages

Usually, people new to LinkedIn are confused about the difference between LinkedIn InMails vs. LinkedIn messages.

You can send ‘regular’ LinkedIn messages 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.

LinkedIn messages are unlimited; you can send as many 'regular' LinkedIn messages to your 1st-degree connections as you want. They are cost-effective and pretty convenient for LinkedIn cold 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 are LinkedIn's premium feature, and their number depends on your LinkedIn subscription plan.

InMails land directly in your recipient's LinkedIn inbox, even if you’re not connected, and have a subject line, which is why they are often referred to as LinkedIn’s version of email. It is why they are such a valuable communication channel on the platform.

Why should you use LinkedIn InMail for lead generation?

InMail messages are a powerful LinkedIn prospecting tool because:

InMails have a subject line.

Firstly, LinkedIn InMail has a subject line; if well-written, it helps your messages stand 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) who receive many messages and invites to connect daily are more likely to see your InMail message and reply.

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 network.

InMails have a higher character limit.

InMails have a higher character limit than LinkedIn connection requests. Although we always encourage our users to keep InMails on a shorter end, they undoubtedly give you more room to interest your recipients in what you have to say.

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.

The better you write an InMail, the more cost-effective it becomes.

When your lead answers your InMail, you get that credit back. This is LinkedIn’s way of awarding you for aiming to connect with leads relevant to your business, researching your target audience thoroughly, and writing highly personalized, relevant InMail messages.

Furthermore, InMails can also be an excellent way to bypass LinkedIn's weekly connection limits and connect with a higher number of relevant leads.

2 ways to leverage LinkedIn InMail in lead generation

Here are 2 ways to leverage InMails in lead generation and prospecting to ensure they achieve their highest effectiveness:

As the last resource.

Use InMails as the last resource to connect with busy decision makers (CXOs, influencers, people who are harder to reach on the platform, 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.

Our Head of Sales, Andrea, used InMails as the last resource in her ‘Targeting specific group members’ approach and reported 53% acceptance rate, 27% reply rate, and 73% open rate.

To connect with members who are ‘harder’ to reach.

Some LinkedIn members (CXOs, LinkedIn influencers, upper management, etc.) don't accept invites to connect from members with whom 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.

For example, our account executive, Pavle, used it in her ‘Founder2Founder approach’ sequence, and her result was outstanding - 44% acceptance rate, 29% response rate, and 82% open rate.

How to write a good LinkedIn InMail [best practices]

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

Or, follow these practices used by our sales team.

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 researched 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.

How many LinkedIn InMails credits do I get per month?

Free InMail credits

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 free InMail credits you have left for any LinkedIn premium subscription.

Paid InMail credits

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

Here's the visual representation of the number of 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 who can make an additional purchase of InMail credits. The other 2 LinkedIn Recruiter plans can make a deal to purchase additional paid InMail credits while upgrading their plan.

How do I get InMail credits back?

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.

By ‘answered’, LinkedIn counts every InMail that is either accepted, declined, or actually responded to.

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

If you are a LinkedIn Premium Career or Premium Business user, you can only send another free or paid InMail once 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.

When do LinkedIn InMail credits renew?

The credits renew for every subscription differently.

LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Navigator InMail credits will roll over for 90 days. 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.

Free InMail credits renew every month.

How to check InMail credits according to your LinkedIn subscription

This is how you check the paid LinkedIn InMail 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, 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.

How do I purchase additional InMails? [+ credit cost]

Each plan has a certain number of Paid InMails included in the package. Unfortunately, if it says that there are 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 InMail credits, 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 do I send an InMail on LinkedIn?

There are two ways to send an InMail on LinkedIn:

#1 Navigate to the profile of a LinkedIn member. Sometimes, the Message button will be visible as you land on the member’s profile, and sometimes, you must click More > Message.

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.

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.

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

Then Create a New Message.

Type in the full name of the lead.

If you pick a member you are not connected with, LinkedIn will automatically redirect you to send them an InMail.

Just like in the above example, you will be able to see if you will be using your free or paid LinkedIn InMails.

How to put InMails on auto-pilot to reach more leads faster

Skylead is currently the only tool on the market that automates both free and paid InMails in one click!

Briefly, Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software that helps you leverage both LinkedIn and email to reach a higher number of leads in less time.

By combining its groundbreaking features, such as - LinkedIn automation, unlimited Email automation, Email verification & discovery, and Image & GIF personalization into Smart sequences, Skylead allows you to book 3x more meetings than before.

When talking about automating LinkedIn InMails, the main benefit of Skylead’s Smart sequences is the algorithm being able to recognize whether a lead has set its profile to Open profile status or not and decide whether to use a paid or free InMail credit to reach them out without interrupting your outreach flow.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What specific personalization techniques make InMails more engaging to recipients?

Personalization techniques for InMail that increase engagement include using the recipient's name, referencing specific details from their profile such as the post they published, and mentioning mutual connections or interests. This approach makes the message feel tailored and relevant.

How does the effectiveness of InMail compare to other LinkedIn outreach methods, such as connection requests or regular messages?

InMail's effectiveness compared to other LinkedIn outreach methods lies in its direct access to users outside one's network. It also offers a higher chance of being noticed and read, especially for premium accounts.

Are there any updated best practices for InMail subject lines to maximize open rates?

For InMail subject lines, best practices include being clear, concise, and compelling. Using a question or mentioning a mutual interest can significantly increase the open rate by sparking curiosity or providing immediate value.

Does LinkedIn InMail go to email?

No, InMail is a LinkedIn feature. Therefore, LinkedIn InMail goes to your LinkedIn Inbox, or if you initiated an InMail conversation through your Sales Navigator or Recruiter account, that correspondence 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.

What is the average InMail response rate?

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

Is it better to send an InMail or connect on LinkedIn?

It depends. It is better to use InMail to reach your 3rd-degree connections or 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 when a recruiter sends an InMail on LinkedIn?

When you open an InMail message sent from a LinkedIn Recruiter subscriber, 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 InMail credits 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.

To Sum Up

LinkedIn's features, including the impactful LinkedIn InMail, are designed to enhance platform efficiency, protect against spam, and boost the building of meaningful professional relationships on the platform.

You can test out automating free & paid InMails on Skylead, as well as ALL other Skylead features mentioned in this article for 7 days for FREE, and see for yourself how you can leverage LinkedIn’s full potential in only one click.

So, are you ready to automate LinkedIn InMails and other outreach actions?

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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LinkedIn private mode or LinkedIn incognito mode is a LinkedIn feature that allows you to browse other people’s LinkedIn profiles without sharing any or some of your LinkedIn profile information with the owners of the profiles you’ve viewed.

As you may already know (or not?), every time you visit someone’s profile, LinkedIn notifies the profile’s owner via the Who’s Viewed Your Profile feature, providing an opportunity to check you out on LinkedIn.

So, suppose you don’t want people whose profiles you’re viewing to know you took a sneak peek at their professional activities.

In that case, the platform allows you to go incognito partially (LinkedIn semi-private mode) or completely (LinkedIn private mode).

LinkedIn incognito mode is available to ALL members, independent of their LinkedIn subscription type.

Therefore, continue reading if you wish to know the following:

What LinkedIn private mode is;
How to make your LinkedIn private;
Ways to customize your private mode on LinkedIn;
How to know if someone else viewed your profile in the incognito mode;
A few lesser-known hacks on LinkedIn private mode, and much more.

Ready?

Let’s get started!

[Mission Impossible Theme Song Playing]

What is a LinkedIn private mode?

There are 3 visibility modes on LinkedIn according to the platform’s Visibility settings:

LinkedIn public mode (or ‘Name and headline’) shows your picture, full name, headline, geographical location, and industry to people whose profiles you’ve viewed.
Semi-private mode shows specific profile information, such as - either only the company you work at or your job position and the company you work at.
(Full) private mode doesn’t show any profile information.

Do I have to pay for LinkedIn incognito mode?

LinkedIn private mode is available to ALL LinkedIn subscribers free of charge.

However, if you have a free (basic) LinkedIn plan, switching to private or semi-private mode will turn off the Who’s viewed your profile feature and erase your viewer history.

We’ve tested it ourselves, and we can confirm you will lose all previously collected data and can only see who's viewed your profile after switching to one of the private modes on LinkedIn.

Once you turn off the LinkedIn incognito mode, the feature Who’s viewed your profile will be back in a maximum of 24 hours and will show only those members who viewed your profile after turning off the private mode.

Also, you won’t be able to retrieve information on who’s viewed your profile during the time spent in private mode on LinkedIn.

On the other hand, all other users on paid LinkedIn plans such as - LinkedIn Careers or Business, any Sales Navigator plan, and any Recruiter plan will still be able to see these analytics and statistics despite keeping their profiles in private mode.

Furthermore, no LinkedIn plan subscriber, free or paid, can ever know the profile information of members browsing in private or semi-private modes on LinkedIn. Also, no LinkedIn plan subscriber can block or prevent other members from viewing in private or semi-private mode.

How do I view profiles in private mode on LinkedIn?

Here are 2 ways to switch from browsing in public to browsing in private mode on LinkedIn, whether you’re accessing your profile on a desktop or mobile.

Private Mode on Desktop

Click the Me icon in the top right corner, then choose Settings & Privacy.

Then, choose Visibility on the left toolbar and click on Profile viewing options.

Finally, choose among the 3 visibility modes.

Private mode on mobile

Open your LinkedIn app, and click on your picture in the upper left corner.

Then, choose Settings.

Click Visibility.

Then, choose Profile viewing options.

Choose in which mode you wish to browse other members on LinkedIn.

How do I customize my public mode on LinkedIn?

If you decide to browse in public mode on LinkedIn, you can still determine what information to make available to members not part of your network.

As you may already know, LinkedIn profiles rank on Google (and other search engines) based on the keywords used on your LinkedIn profile, such as name, profession, LinkedIn URL, LinkedIn headline, summary, etc.

Therefore, this option is advantageous if you don't want everyone to access your LinkedIn profile or wish to keep specific information to your 1st-degree connections only.

Go to Settings & Privacy.

Go to Visibility, and then choose Edit public profile.

Scroll down the right sidebar and move the toggle buttons depending on what parts of your profile you wish to make available to anyone on LinkedIn and which ones should be reserved for your 1st-degree connections only.

How do I know if someone viewed my LinkedIn in private mode?

LinkedIn subscribers get a notification each time someone views their profile.

If a member views your profile in semi-private or private mode on LinkedIn, it will appear in your notifications just like other alerts here (picture below).

If you click on See all views right below the notification, it will take you to the Who’s viewed my profile LinkedIn page with the list of all viewers in the past 90 days, statistics, and additional filters.

Here are a few examples of what a notification regarding members browsing in semi-private mode on LinkedIn looks like.

Here are a few examples of what a notification about members browsing in private mode on LinkedIn looks like.

As you may have noticed, there’s a Search button next to members viewing your profile in semi-private mode.

Clicking on it will take you to LinkedIn search results of all people who work in that company and have LinkedIn profiles.

However, Recruiter subscribers don’t have the Who’s viewed your profile feature on their Recruiter pages. They must go to their LinkedIn profiles to check these types of notifications.

Sales Navigator subscribers will not see these notifications in the All alerts section because this is a purposely focused section that notifies about saved leads, saved accounts, and unsaved leads from saved accounts.

Sales Navigator subscribers can click on the profile picture in the top right corner of their Sales Navigator home page and choose Who’s viewed your profile.

This action will take them to the LinkedIn statistics page.

When should I use LinkedIn private mode?

From our experience, it’s better not to keep your profile in private mode when browsing on LinkedIn.

Why?

By viewing other people’s profiles, you are showing some kind of interest - whether for LinkedIn lead generation, finding ideal candidates for a company position, expanding your network, showing an interest in a job opening by viewing the hiring manager’s profile, etc.

Also, viewing someone's profile on LinkedIn can help you connect with them faster and even bypass LinkedIn weekly invitation limits.

However, there are a few scenarios in which keeping your profile in LinkedIn incognito mode makes sense.

#1 You’re researching your competitors.

This one is pretty straightforward.

If you want to see what your competitors are up to, what they are posting on LinkedIn, or to scrape their network, you should keep your profile in private mode.

However, it’s not just competitors.

You may wish to check something on your former employer’s profile, former or current customer, or anyone else to whom you don’t want to reveal your profile information.

#2 You still need to optimize your profile.

Here, you have 2 scenarios.

Scenario 1 implies you wish to browse relatively random profiles to identify good practices to optimize your profile.

These members are not necessarily the ones you wish to connect with on LinkedIn or relevant to your business, but they've done an excellent job earning the all-star status.

Scenario 2 implies you wish to browse people who are relevant to why you joined LinkedIn, but you don’t want them to know because your profile is still not optimized.

If they check you out, they might lose interest or ignore your LinkedIn connection request because incomplete profiles on LinkedIn seem scammy.

#3 You’re a recruiter shortlisting candidates.

If you don't want all potential candidates to think they are being considered for a job opening at your company, you can view their profiles using LinkedIn incognito mode.

That way, you will avoid people not matching the requirements approaching you on LinkedIn and not get someone's hopes up.

LinkedIn Incognito Mode FAQ

Is private mode on LinkedIn really private?

Yes, LinkedIn private mode is really private. The platform cares about keeping its members' privacy, and there is no way to see members' profile information browsing in private mode on LinkedIn. Also, no member can block or prevent other members from viewing in private mode.

Should I be private or public on LinkedIn?

Staying private or going public on LinkedIn will depend majorly on your goal on the platform. It’s better not to keep your profile in incognito mode because showing interest in other members’ profiles can help you connect with them and even bypass LinkedIn weekly connection limits.

LinkedIn private mode vs. private profile on LinkedIn

LinkedIn private mode or LinkedIn incognito mode lets you browse other LinkedIn members' profiles anonymously. On the other hand, when you set your LinkedIn profile to 'private profile status, ' it means no one can find you on the platform or in any search results (e.g., Google search results).

How do I stay private on LinkedIn (private profile status)?

To switch your profile to private profile status and not even appear in the platform’s search results at all, go to Settings & Privacy > Visibility > Edit your public profile > Your profile’s public visibility (push the toggle button to the left in the right rail).

Does LinkedIn show who viewed your profile?

Yes, LinkedIn notifies members who have viewed their profiles. However, if you set your profile to browse in incognito mode, members whose profiles you’ve viewed won’t be able to see your profile information partially or at all, depending on the visibility mode of your choice.

Do I have to pay for LinkedIn private mode?

No, LinkedIn’s semi-private and private modes are FREE of charge and available to all members. However, when free LinkedIn members switch to private mode, they lose access to the Who’s viewed my profile in the past 90 days feature, unlike paid LinkedIn members who can still see these statistics.

Why would someone use private mode on LinkedIn?

Reasons to use private mode are infinite, but members usually browse LinkedIn in incognito mode if they are researching their competitors, checking out former or current customers or employers, shortlisting candidates for open positions, or don't feel their LinkedIn profiles are optimized enough to reveal their identity.

Who can see my private LinkedIn profile?

A private profile on LinkedIn means that you've set your entire profile to 'private profile status' and that it won't appear in LinkedIn or any other search results (e.g., Google search results). If your LinkedIn is set to private, no one can find your profile on the platform or online.

Can people see if I viewed their LinkedIn?

Unless you are browsing in semi-private or private mode on LinkedIn, other LinkedIn members will get notified once you’ve viewed their profile and can check out your LinkedIn profile to see who you are.

Can LinkedIn Pro see private viewers?

LinkedIn cares very much about keeping the privacy of those members who browse in semi-private or private mode on LinkedIn, and there is no way to see their profile information, no matter what LinkedIn subscription plan you have. Also, you cannot prevent anyone from browsing your profile in incognito mode.

What is the disadvantage of private mode on LinkedIn?

If you have a free LinkedIn plan and switch to private mode, it will turn off the Who's viewed your profile feature and erase your viewer history. You will lose all previously collected data and can only see who's viewed your profile after switching to incognito mode.

Why do people browse in private mode on LinkedIn?

People usually use the private mode on LinkedIn to research their competitors, check out former or current customers, former employers or employees, shortlist candidates for open positions, or simply because their LinkedIn profiles are incomplete and they don’t want to reveal their identity yet.

Can to hide your profile on LinkedIn?

You can either choose to browse in semi-private or private mode on LinkedIn, or you can switch your profile to private profile status and not even appear in the platform or other search engines' search results at all.

How can I view someone on LinkedIn without them knowing?

You can view someone’s profile on LinkedIn without them knowing by browsing in semi-private or private mode on LinkedIn. To turn one of these 2 modes on, go to Settings & Privacy > Visibility > Profile viewing options > Choose between Private profile characteristics (semi-private) and Private mode (fully private).

To Sum Up

While it's true that LinkedIn's private mode offers privacy, it can also compromise the transparency vital for building trust and credibility — the core of LinkedIn's purpose.

Balancing privacy and transparency is crucial for maximizing LinkedIn's effectiveness in lead generation. And, speaking of maximizing LinkedIn, test out Skylead for 7 days for free, and see how you can leverage the power of both LinkedIn and email to reach relevant leads faster.

Launch your first outreach campaign today!

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