Did you know, LinkedIn Sales Navigator InMails are 2.6 times more effective than cold emails? They are seen as one of the best ways to reach out to high-profile leads directly, often with higher open rates and CTR. If you aren’t already utilising the feature, here’s everything you need to know about InMails…
Inmail – What Is It?
LinkedIn Sales Navigator InMail is a premium feature that allows you to reach users through private messages if they aren’t already in your connection list.
InMails are often seen as one of the best ways to put LinkedIn to work on Sales and can be a great way to get more sales through your pipeline using the Sales Navigation lead generation tool.
Inmail Vs Standard Messages
So, what’s the difference between InMail and a standard message on LinkedIn?
If you’re looking to send a standard message on LinkedIn, you can only send one to your 1st degree contacts – unless a user has an open profile.
But, InMail reaches users outside of your network.
The character limit of a message also varies depending on the message type.
Within a standard message, the character limit is 8,000 which is usually higher than InMail messages.
InMail messages allow you to use a subject line to catch a user’s attention which is often limited to 200 characters and 1900 characters within the messages themselves, working out at roughly 350 words.
InMail Credits
LinkedIn InMails also works on a credit system and the number of credits you receive depends on your type of LinkedIn account.
- If you have a free LinkedIn account, you won’t receive any InMail credits.
- A LinkedIn Premium account provides you with 5 InMails each month.
- A LinkedIn Sales Navigator Professional account gives you 20 per month, whilst the team version provides you with 30.
The credits are placed into your account monthly but they can roll over for up to three months, meaning you can accrue up to 15 InMail credits for a Premium account and up to 60 InMail credits for a Sales Navigator account.
Linkedin users will also receive a credit for any InMail messages that receive a response within three months (or 90 days).
How To Send a Message
The credits are essentially what allow you to send a message, so if you’re looking to reach a user through InMail, you must have the correct number of credits available on your account.
To write the message, simply…
- Open the profile of the LinkedIn users you would like to contact.
- Click the ‘more’ button and click on the ‘message’ button.
- Type the subject line, message bulk and hit send.
Top Tip: Short messages work better as people don’t want to study long texts in private messages.
Once you’ve sent your messages, they will appear separate from your basic inbox, with alerts, notes and your own signature.
The responses can be found in your Sales Navigator inbox, which can be found through messaging at the top of your homepage and within your Sales Navigator inbox.
LinkedIn InMails are a great way to reach new prospects and the inbox of your most promising leads, but they are an expensive resource to waste on cold outreach.
Once you understand the process and take the time to compile personalised InMails, message-based LinkedIn marketing can be a highly effective approach.
If you’d like to know more, get in touch today.