Table of contents:
- What is LinkedIn InMail, and How Can You Leverage InMails for B2B LinkedIn Lead Generation?
- How Do You Write a Good LinkedIn InMail?
- What is Sponsored InMail?
- The Role of InMails in LinkedIn Cold Outreach
- How Outreachly Streamlines Your LinkedIn B2B Outreach Strategy
- Conclusion
Any avid LinkedIn user will affirm the fact that InMail guarantees higher conversion and open rates than basic LinkedIn messages and emails, which is true. Premium account users have this advantage over basic account users when reaching out to potential clients and professionals in your field.
But if you’re still not convinced, perhaps these numbers will change your mind about why LinkedIn InMails are worth the spend for B2B outreach:
- Premium LinkedIn subscribers using InMail see 65% of responses to their messages within 24 hours and 90% within a week
- InMail receives a 10-25% response rate, which is 300 times higher than email
- Sponsored InMail users enjoy a 0% bounce rate, while email users are stuck with a 0.6% bounce rate.
It’s easy to see why marketers love InMail messages, which sees over 50% of recipients opening the InMail message to read its content. What’s more, you can boost that rate by delivering your message with personalized content.
Read to the end of the article as we explore what InMail LinkedIn is, how it can reshape your outreach strategy, and how Outreachly can help boost your conversion rates by an additional 30%!
What is LinkedIn InMail, and How Can You Leverage InMails for B2B LinkedIn Lead Generation?
With over 800 million members and counting, you would think that finding and reaching out to potential customers on LinkedIn is a breeze. However, most sales managers still face plenty of connection and communication challenges.
InMail belongs to a class of products provided to paying (Premium) LinkedIn members to enable them to reach their peers without an acquaintance.
What is an InMail Message on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn InMail is the company’s private messaging feature and is currently one of the only two ways to contact fellow LinkedIn users you are not connected to. Being a platform for professionals, LinkedIn values authentic and meaningful engagement, which is why it’s so difficult to contact other members you aren’t connected to with ordinary LinkedIn messaging.
Normally, LinkedIn doesn’t allow users to message others directly unless you’re connected to them. InMail is a premium feature that minimizes the existence of spam messages by making subscribers pay to get in touch with their target audience. InMail messages give you a clean shot at reaching out to your target audience without a prior connection with them – but at a cost.
What is the Difference Between InMail and Messages on LinkedIn?
An ordinary message goes out to anyone on your network. This means that you must be connected to the person to send a direct message to their inbox. LinkedIn does not allow users to send direct messages to each other if they are not connected. Instead, they can only use LinkedIn InMail messages to contact each other directly without being connected.
InMail messages can prove quite useful when you don’t want to wait for your potential customer/client to accept your connection request. Besides, LinkedIn asks its users to accept connection requests only from the people they know, which only takes under 24 hours. Requests from unknown people may take longer, translating to more time wasted on lead generation.
InMail messages will clearly be labeled “InMail” before the subject line.
What are the Features and Limitations of LinkedIn InMail?
In order to get the most out of your lead generation strategy, InMail presents the following features:
- InMail features a 200-character limit on the subject line and 1900 characters in the body, including your email signature.
- You can only send a fixed number of InMails per month. Every subscription plan offers a certain number of credits. For instance, you can get 50 credits on Sales Navigator Enterprise plan, which allows you to send only 50 InMails per month.
- LinkedIn returns a credit for an InMail back to the sender if the recipient fails to respond within 7 days.
Limitations:
- InMail is only available for Premium users.
- You may only receive InMail messages from other members if you’re on a basic LinkedIn account. Basic users can only send ordinary messages to other connected users.
- A LinkedIn member may choose not to receive InMail messages, which denies you the privilege to reach out to them through the premium feature.
- Unlike ordinary messages, you can only send a limited number of InMail messages depending on your account subscription. LinkedIn limits how many InMail messages. Premium users can see how many InMail credits they have left directly from their account.
It is important to make every message count. LinkedIn does not allow users to purchase more credits before the end of the billing cycle.
How Do You Write a Good LinkedIn InMail?
There are several things you should keep in mind when writing InMail messages. Often, the people you target don’t know who you are or why you’re reaching out to them. So, you need to make sure your InMail stands out so they will actually read it.
Formatting Basics
- When writing your InMail, make sure that you are as concise as possible. Research shows that shorter InMail messages (less than 400 characters) receive a 22% higher response rate than longer InMail messages. Besides, you don’t want to send a long-winded message that most people will ignore. Instead, try to keep your message short and to the point.
- Be professional in your approach. It’s easy to get lost in your message’s content, but the most important thing is to remember to keep it professional. If you’re unsure what to say, consider asking a few questions in your InMail messages that can be used as a springboard for future conversations.
- Don’t forget to personalize your InMail messages. Research shows that personalized messages get a response rate 15% higher than bulk InMails. No matter how many InMail messages you send, address the user by their name. Talk about a common challenge they face in the industry and offer a solution for that problem.
Remember that your recipients may receive hundreds of messages daily, and they might not have time to read every word.
Tips for Great InMail Content
Your message content should remain spot-on to win over the hearts of your target clients. When it comes to creating content for your customers, the most important thing is to make your message as interesting as it is helpful.
You want to create a message that makes your customers say, “Wow! That was helpful!” and share it with their friends and colleagues. All that begins with understanding your customers’ needs and problems.
- What questions do they ask most often?
- What issues do they deal with on a daily basis?
- What matters are they interested in learning more about?
As you write your message content, keep in mind that it needs to be relatable and relevant to your prospects. It needs to be something that nudges them to take the action you have provided at the end of your InMail.