You’re probably on LinkedIn every day, connecting with potential clients and customers. 

 

 

That’s no surprise, especially since LinkedIn has the reputation of being a great space to connect and network with a wide range of professionals.

 

 

And one of the most powerful LinkedIn has its InMail messages. But have you ever wondered if using LinkedIn InMail messages could help you generate even more leads? 

 

 

The answer: They can be highly effective when done right. To put numbers to it, InMails response rate is at an average of 10%-25% compared to cold emails with only a 1%-10% reply rate. But you’ll have to do it correctly to hit those impressive rates.

 

 

So, let’s take a closer look at how you can effectively use LinkedIn InMail Messages to generate leads.

 

 

What is LinkedIn InMail?

 

LinkedIn InMail is a messaging tool to send messages to those who aren’t part of your network. For B2B lead generation, this tool allows you to find new people in your target audience. You’ll automatically have this feature once you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium.

 

 

With InMail, you can send personalized messages through three distinct channels:

 

• The LinkedIn user’s inbox
• Standard email inbox
• Pop-up notification that displays when they open LinkedIn

 

More than that, users also get an automatic reminder within three days after receiving an InMail message. As a result, you’ll have an additional touchpoint and instant follow-up reminder that increases your chances of improving your response rate.

 

 

InMail is ideal for B2B businesses planning to launch a large-scale prospecting campaign. It’s not only cost-efficient, but also allows you to target a wider range of potential customers quickly. 

 

 

InMail Credits

 

So, businesses now have the opportunity to send messages to anyone on LinkedIn. To add to that, LinkedIn took another measure to ensure that users only receive high-quality InMail messages through a credit system. The credit system helps enforce standards and filter marketers using InMail as spam.

 

 

The different premium account types receive specific InMail message credits per month:

 

• Premium Career: 5 credits
• Premium Business: 15 credits
• Sales Navigator: 50 credits
• Recruiter Lite: 30 credits
• Recruiter Professional: 100 credits
• Recruiter Corporate: 150 credits

 

Each InMail you send costs one credit. Once you use all your credit allotment, you must either wait until it replenishes the next payment cycle or purchases more. But you can also get a credit back for every InMail you send that garners a response within 90 days after sending.

 

 

B2B brands need to craft high-quality and relevant InMail to earn back credits and avoid paying extra.

 

 

How Can You Maximize the Potential of LinkedIn InMail?

 

InMail messages have a character limit, so your message must be concise and clear. You can use up to 200 characters in the subject line and 2,000 characters in the body. Yes, 2,000 characters may seem limiting. But it’s enough for business messages, since you don’t want to write long sales letters anyway.

 

 

Here are a few steps to maximize the potential of LinkedIn InMail:

 

 

1. Perfect Your Subject Line

 

All successful InMails begin with the subject line. After all, it’s the first thing that your recipients read.

 

 

Consider this: 33% of users decide whether to read your message or ignore it by only reading the subject line. That’s one-third of your prospects!

 

 

So, how do you make your subject line eye-catching yet professional?

 

 

Based on LinkedIn’s data, the best-performing subject lines have the following words or phrases:

 

• Thanks
• Connect
• Join Us
• Exclusive invitation
• Job opportunities

 

However, how much of a grabber your subject line is still depends on your target audience. That’s why it’s always best to test to see what works for your market. Once you have a bunch of ideas of what’s effective in your area, you can keep a file of these formulas for the future.

 

 

For example:

 

• Exclusive invitation to learn from [prominent industry leaders/companies]
• Thanks for your enlightening insights on [topic]
• How [company] generated 1000% more leads using AI

 

Ensure that you perfect your subject line before sending InMail messages to make them hard-working.

 

 

2. Keep Your Message Short & Sweet

 

Keeping your message short and sweet may sound cliché. But it remains to be essential, especially since there’s a clear correlation between the response rate and InMail length.

 

 

According to LinkedIn, the response rate of InMails with under 400 characters is 22% higher than the average response rate for all InMails. In contrast, messages with over 1,200 characters have a response rate of 11% below the average rate.

 

 

Shorter messages work because they are easy to read and allow users to immediately know what you want from them without wasting so much time.

 

 

Nonetheless, it’s also good to note that shorter messages don’t always guarantee to overperform. So it’s vital that no matter how short it is, it sends a clear message of why you’re reaching out and a call to action to let them know what they should do next.

 

 

Short and sweet—you need both factors to make the message work.

 

 

3. Avoid Sending InMails on Weekends

 

Since weekends are relatively slower in terms of productivity and engagement, it’s best to avoid sending InMails during the weekend. And this isn’t just our opinion—it’s backed up by data.

 

 

According to LinkedIn, you can send your InMails any day of the week as long as it’s not Friday and Saturday. That’s because InMails sent on Friday get response rates of 4% below the global average, and Saturdays are even worse with 8% lower-than-average response rates.

 

 

In short, start the week early and take the weekends off!

 

 

LinkedIn InMail Messages Work

 

LinkedIn InMail is a powerful tool that B2B marketers can use to generate high-quality leads. However, it can be hard to stand out from the rest of the messages if you don’t know how to write effective InMails.

 

 

One thing you can do to ensure that you’re maximizing the potential of InMail is to partner with professionals like ScaleUpSales. We can help you craft the best subject lines and determine the best day to send InMails to maximize your deal flow and generate more revenue.

 

 

Get the most ROI you can in LinkedIn InMails with ScaleUpSales. Contact us today!