How To Use LinkedIn InMail Effectively
Is your business inundated with unsolicited messages on LinkedIn? You’re not alone, and most likely you’ve passed over these InMails. This gives us pause to think about how we should be sending out our own communication to our network. In fact, the more like a sales pitch our message appears, the less chances of it being opened and responded to. This can be a negative for your reputation as well as your business’s bottom line.
The number of connections related to your industry is the first step to reaching out to them with InMail. Take a look at this statistic from a recent article on Hubspot, which points out that almost all sales reps met their quota with 5,000 contacts in their networks:
The right approach is first building trusted relationships with your network, such as valuable input and feedback through LinkedIn groups, sharing articles, helpful comments, etc.
According to LinkedIn, it’s best practice to not send out too many InMails, but rather focus more on the follow-up and send messages that address your networks’ concerns.
The more active your business is on LinkedIn, the better chances you will be noticed and receive a response. A professional and up-to-date profile will also help you gain a response, which should reflect your background, testimonials, recommendations, services provided, ect. Here is a great example of this from speaker and entrepreneur, Pam Moore:
A good place to start in making meaningful connections is in professional groups. Begin sharing valuable content and leaving comments that genuinely show you have an interest in what they have to offer. Cross promote their content on other social media channels, especially when it is directly published on LinkedIn. Unless you have a large business with a big budget you will not need to invest in the premium options in order to generate a response from InMail. Focusing on your network and communication with them is the key to opening the right doors. Before you put together your message use these strategies to improve your response rates:
Use an eye-catching headline
In order to be seen and encourage your readers to open your InMails your business will want to formulate a subject line that points to a mutual connection, referral, an article reference, or something of value that could be helpful to their business without a direct sales pitch. This is the first step to opening the door to communication and increasing their level of interest in what you have to offer. Holidays create a good opportunity to reach out and write something that is personalized and helpful like this example on LinkedIn:
Encourage them to take the next step
It’s important to include the next steps to take in a simple CTA or call-to-action. For example, you could to invite them to a webinar, ask a question or two about their greatest business needs, or announce an important piece of news that relates to their industry. Stay focused on helping their bottom line and they will be more inclined to get involved with your business.
Avoid mass InMails
Send your business communication out to select individuals in your network rather than a group of contacts in order to avoid appearing “spammy.” It’s important to know who is active and involved in your network and how many quality connections they have, including the types of groups they are involved in. An ideal contact is one who is relevant to your niche, and has a professional and updated profile.
Bring your profile up to speed
Is there any missing or old information on your business profile? Take a look at how others are viewing your information, and make any necessary updates such as a professional head shot, work examples, articles, images and videos, testimonials, current links online, ect.
In order for your business to make better connections in your network with more potential for sales your InMail message should be simple, and to the point without too much text. They key to success is to build relationships first, then provide a helpful approach to your contacts next. Always include thanking them for taking the time to read your message with links to your website and social media profiles.
Susan Gilbert
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