LinkedIn messaging is a great way to reach your target audience and start a conversation. If you’ve tried it, then you know it can be a little tricky. We’re inundated with marketing messages all the time and even on LinkedIn it can be a challenge to get your message to stand out. 

If that’s the case, then these five simple tips help you get the most from LinkedIn messaging!

1. Tailor Your LinkedIn Profile

What’s the first thing you do when you get a message from someone you don’t know? You’re probably going to do a little research and find out who they are, where they're from and what they really want.

When you send someone a message through LinkedIn messaging, all people have to do is click on your name and they’re taken straight to your profile. What they find when they get there is going to have a big impact on whether or not they’re likely to reply. 

If your profile doesn’t look professional and isn’t in keeping with the message you’ve sent, then people are going to be suspicious. This is why it’s important you optimize your profile:

• Use a professional profile image
• Choose an engaging background photo
• Draw people in with a creative headline
• Tell a story rather than just summarize
• Showcase the services you offer
• Be active - comment, share, engage to show you’re a real user

Take another look at your writing, projects listed and how you present yourself. Does it tell the story you want it to? LinkedIn is social media, and on social media, it’s as much about who as what. Your message might say what you’re offering, but your profile needs to show people who you are and give people a reason to respond to you. 

2. Connect with the Right People 

With any form of prospecting, you’ve got to make sure you’re reaching the right people. It’s no use reaching thousands of people if none of them have any interest in what you’re offering.

LinkedIn makes this easy by giving you lots of different ways to search for people. Using the search bar, you can search for keywords and filter the results by people, posts, groups, and companies. All of these options can be beneficial and really dig down into your prospects. 

When people are willingly giving away so much information about themselves, there’s no need to waste your resources on people who aren’t a good match for what you’re offering.

Just like when you do your email marketing, you can segment people into different groups, so when you come to sending LinkedIn messages it’s easier to personalize. 

For example, if you were selling an HR solution, you might search for posts about remote work and see who has been commenting on them. This will give you a list of people with an interest in remote work, allowing you to create a focused message that talks about the specific post. 

3. Grab People’s Attention 

If you scroll through your LinkedIn inbox you’ll probably notice that it’s not always full of useful information. There are lots of sponsored messages, LinkedIn offers, and people congratulating you on anniversaries - not necessarily things that offer you value. 

Naturally, this causes us to scan through our inbox, not opening the vast majority of messages. Your job is to stand out from the crowd and grab people’s attention enough that they open the message.

All you have to help you achieve this is a few words, so you’ve got to use them wisely. What can you do to stand out from all the other messages with something that makes you different in either what you are offering or how it impacts the person you are messaging. Pique people’s interest and get people to click and find out more.  

A big part of LinkedIn messaging is going to be your research and understanding exactly what your audience wants and how you can offer them value. Use this information to create a snappy opening line that spikes people’s curiosity. 

4. Personalize the Message

Don’t be afraid to show you’ve done your research. 

If you’ve seen that someone is interested in remote work, then mention it and show how you have something in common. There’s nothing wrong with using the information that’s available to you if you’re using it to offer value. 

Remember that you’re not trying to make a sale at this point. You’re simply trying to start a conversation, so ask questions, engage people in their interests, and create a connection. 

This is only the first step in a process, so forget about what your ultimate goals are and focus on the goals of the recipient and how you can help them accomplish them. If you can demonstrate you understand their interests and pain points, in a short, concise message, then they’ve got a good reason to message back. 

What you want to avoid is sending messages that clearly could have been sent to anyone. Yes, you’re doing this at scale and you don’t want to be writing out hundreds of individual messages, but by segmenting your audience, you can send personalized messages that engage individual people. 

5. Give People a Reason to Reply 

Why should people reply to your LinkedIn messaging? If you can’t answer this question, then the chances are, you’re not going to get a reply. 

Outreach is all about value. What’s in it for someone if they reply to you?

There are lots of reasons you can give people to reply to your message:

• Making them feel important by asking for their opinion 
• Engaging them on something they’re interested in
• Asking whether they would like to learn more about something
• Asking them to take an action

The important thing is that you give them a reason and ask them to take action. 

Remember as well that LinkedIn doesn’t exist on its own. It also works well as part of a multi-channel approach, so you can use different mediums to engage the prospect. For example, your LinkedIn message might mention an email you’re going to send the person, creating awareness and increasing your chances of getting a response. 

Your goal might not be to make a sale, but you still need people to take action, so, what action do you want them to take, and why should they take it?

Conclusion: LinkedIn Messaging

LinkedIn is a great place to find prospects and engage them with thoughtful messaging. It’s not as simple as just sending a sales pitch though - as you probably know from your own LinkedIn inbox, people are selective about what messages they view. 

This means you’ve got to be strategic and creative with your LinkedIn messaging, and it’s not just to do with the copy. Your profile and the types of connections you make will also form a big part of your success, so you need to make sure everything is optimized. 

If you need help with this, then learn more about our LinkedIn messaging services.