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40% of B2B marketers agree that LinkedIn is the most effective channel for driving high-quality leads. They weren’t wrong. But LinkedIn also does more by enabling marketers uncover new trends and keep track of their customers wherever they are.
As such, the professional social platform relies on user data to keep the community as authentic, human, and professional as it can be. Businesses caught on the wrong side of LinkedIn’s data protection policies and in violation of its terms of use could see major restrictions on their accounts or a life-long ban – which is the last thing you want if you rely heavily on LinkedIn to get your steady stream of customers.
In this article, we’ll go over a few things you need to keep in mind to ensure unspammy lead generation for your account safety and higher response rates.
What are the Account Activity Limits on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social community for professionals in all fields, regardless of where they are in the world. There are various limits restricting users to fair usage of the platform, including commercial LinkedIn limits on the amount of activity personal and business account users can have. These limits are also set in place to protect users from spam and encourage a more harmonious community across the platform.
Other LinkedIn limits include:
- LinkedIn search limit (users can search 300 profiles in a month on the free plan, Career, and Premium plans)
- 4,000 characters in each post
- 30,000 maximum 1st-degree connections
- A single search is limited to 1000 search results (this figure can be increased by upgrading premium, recruiter, premium business, or sales navigator count).
On the bright side, LinkedIn will not penalize your account for searching for other LinkedIn profiles by name on the search box, browsing through 1st-degree connections from the connections page, and job search. These do not contribute to the LinkedIn limits.
Rule#1 Anti-Spam Policy
LinkedIn has a strict anti-spam policy to filter out any users who are not using the platform responsibly. Any user that is caught spamming other members will be most likely suspended or banned from the site indefinitely.
LinkedIn strictly adheres to CAN-SPAM & CASL laws and clearly states that:
“Unsolicited messages that promote or sell a product or service, whether sent to many recipients or just one, may be subject to certain legal requirements.”
What does this mean for your LinkedIn messages? An unsolicited message is one that the recipient has not granted permission to receive from the sender. LinkedIn requires users to mark promotional messages. It also advises users to avoid sending promotional messages to users who have declined such message sequences or have expressed that they are not willing to receive promotional messages from the sender.
Rule#2 How Many LinkedIn Messages Can I Send Per Day?
Are you ready to be locked in a cupboard under the stairs with your LinkedIn lead generation software doing nothing on your computer for the next month? Because that’s what it will feel like if you want to send out 1000 messages per day through LinkedIn. That’s because, believe it or not, there is a mystical LinkedIn message limit – a cap on the number of messages a user can send every day before their activity triggers a red flag.
LinkedIn’s algorithm doesn’t clearly state how many messages you should send in a day. However, it is safe to play below the LinkedIn limits – 100 messages or less a day. If you send more than 100 messages to over 100 different people, your account is likely to draw some unwanted attention.
Rule#3 How Many LinkedIn Messages Can You Send Per Month?
If you send 100 messages to one person, two people, or fewer than 100 people on a basic (or any other account), you’re probably safe. With that logic, we can safely assume that you can send about 3000 messages or preferably less a month on LinkedIn without triggering the red flag.
A premium business account allows you to send up to 250 messages a day. Multiply this by thirty days a month, and you get up to 7500 messages. When choosing a LinkedIn lead generation software, be sure to choose one that watches this limit upfront.
Rule#4 Can You Resend the Connection Request?
A LinkedIn connection request is a great way to meet new people and grow your network. However, if you accidentally send a request to the wrong person or they fail to respond, you might find it difficult to connect with them again in the future.
LinkedIn allows you to resend a connection request to your recipient after three weeks. This can only be done if you withdraw the connection request before the other user accepts your request. Since the LinkedIn community focuses on creating professional relationships, it takes the number of pending connection requests very seriously.
The more the pending connection results, the higher the risk that your account could be flagged as a spammy account.
Rule#5 How Many Times Can You Resend the Connection Request
As mentioned earlier, too many pending or ignored connection requests are a bad sign. You want to withdraw a connection request after one, two, or three weeks. You can only resend the request three weeks after the withdrawal. LinkedIn doesn’t specify how many times you can actually resend a connection request.
However, it’s easy to see that a potential connection who ignores your connection requests more than three times may not be interested in what you have to offer. And there’s not much you can do with your LinkedIn lead generation software if they blocked you on their account.
The best way to prevent waiting far too long after sending connection requests is to personalize your LinkedIn message. Optimize your profile, introduce yourself, and add a greeting to your message. Let your connection know how they can benefit by accepting your connection request. Also, pay more attention to targeting people who might be interested in what you have to say.
Rule #6 LinkedIn Commercial Use Limit
You may have received a LinkedIn warning message if you use the platform’s search function a little too much. What this means is that your search activity is approaching the maximum 300 profile search mark and that LinkedIn may interpret this as a hiring, prospecting, or any other commercial account.
Other Things to Consider
Social networking sites like LinkedIn are more than just a place for friends and professionals to keep in touch; they also represent an untapped goldmine for savvy businesses out there who want to get their products in front of as many eyes as possible.
After all, if you can use these networks to get in front of your perfect target customers, you should be able to promote your services without spending a fortune on advertising.
Succeeding on LinkedIn is not just about crafting and sending messages – there’s more.
How to Select & Segment the Contacts for Outreach
Outreach is a crucial part of the inbound marketing process. If you want to increase your company’s visibility and drive more visitors to your website in today’s competition, you need to initiate outreach campaigns.
Here are a few tips on how to select and segment the most promising contacts for outreach on LinkedIn:
Segmenting Your Contacts Based on Their Job Function
If you want to increase the chance of your outreach being successful, the first step is to segment your contacts based on their job function. In other words, you need to identify which specific roles you want to reach out to. This will help you not only focus on the right people but also tailor your outreach messages to a specific target group.
Segmenting By Company Size and Industry
You also need to segment your contacts based on their company size and industry. By doing so, you can target the most relevant people with your LinkedIn lead generation software and increase the chances of your outreach strategy success. On top of that, the more specific and narrow the segment, the more likely your contact will have an interest in your product or service.
Segmenting By Location
Another way to segment your contacts is by their location. You can segment your contacts based on their location by country, state, or city.
Know Your Target Audience
It’s crucial to know your target audience before you start reaching out to them on your LinkedIn lead generation software. This will help you select the best people to approach and avoid wasting your time on the wrong contacts. You need to know what type of person you’re working with and their expectations. Where possible, learn about their interests, where they hang out online, and most importantly, where you can find them.
How to Select the Best Time & Frequency for Outreach
The trick is figuring out which message will have the greatest impact at what time of day. Everyone has different responses to various times of day and the same goes for your target connections. So if you want your message to be received as optimally as possible and not fall on deaf ears, here are some things to keep in mind.
When you should send out messages on your LinkedIn lead generation software:
Morning is the Best Time to Send Messages
Because people are more likely to be in a positive mindset in the morning, you’ll find that the majority of people on LinkedIn are more open to communication on weekday mornings. Introducing yourself in the morning ensures that the new connection keeps you at the back of their mind over the entire day.
Wednesday Has a High Engagement Rate
As far as days go, Wednesday seems to be the best mid-week day to send LinkedIn messages. It has a high engagement rate, which means that you’re more likely to get a response from the people you reach out to on a Wednesday. The rest of the week is not far behind, but it does have a slightly lower engagement rate.
Don’t Forget About Fridays
Most people spend their Fridays planning for the weekend. However, this also presents an opportunity to be the first thing they see on Monday morning. If your targeted connection doesn’t see your request on Friday, there’s a good chance that they will see it first thing on Monday morning. You’re not likely to get a response in the same amount of time as you would on a Wednesday, but your message will definitely be noticed when the person comes back to work.
Whether you are an experienced marketer or just getting started in this field, it is important to understand that frequency and timing go hand-in-hand with any strategic plan.
How to Combine LinkedIn Outreach with Email & Other Channels
When it comes to B2B lead generation, your team likely has a variety of marketing channels in place. You’ve got the email, social media, website, and blog all working in tandem (hopefully). And while you may have tried a number of other strategies that have yielded some results, your team probably still feels like there are more untapped opportunities out there.
Email outreach is a tried-and-true method for building outbound marketing campaigns. You can and should integrate this into any lead generation campaign, including your LinkedIn lead-gen campaign. Some LinkedIn users find it beneficial if you add your email to your messages and proceed with conversations via email.
Add a Blog/Website to Your Strategy
Your website is your home, and it needs to be the hub of your overall marketing strategy. You may be using other channels to generate leads, but your website is where you should be directing them once they’re ready to buy.
You can mix things up with a video marketing campaign that targets leads and educates them on your product or service. You also want to create a video that answers the question your ideal customer is asking and post it on your LinkedIn account.
The point is, your business needs to have a well-rounded marketing strategy. That means mixing up your marketing channels.
Outreachly’s Safe Activity Setup & AI-powered Human Like Behaviour to Help You Achieve Best Outreach & Lead Gen Via LinkedIn Without Spending Tons of Time & Manual Efforts
Outreachly is a smart AI-powered LinkedIn lead generation tool that allows you to automate every aspect of your LinkedIn lead-gen strategy, from initial contact to follow-up messaging with your leads. It’s the ultimate LinkedIn lead generation software for sales teams who want to accelerate the outreach process, improve the response rate and spend more time actually selling.
Outreachly offers a vast collection of features, including filters such as location, industry, company size, and job title, and integrates with other third-party software such as Pipedrive and Zapier. With the Outreachly LinkedIn automation tool, you’ll have a fully-equipped centralized inbox that enables you to boost your connection rate (by up to 30%) along with your response rates.
What’s more, account safety is our top priority. So our system has pre-built safe-mode features to ensure maximum productivity with minimum risk. Our LinkedIn software has been designed to work perfectly alongside a busy salesperson. Think of it as your ‘always-on’ sales support – generating you leads whilst you work on closing.
Ready to see how it works? Try for free today or join demo!
