Why You Need To Send A Connection Message On LinkedIn

It’s important to send a connection message on LinkedIn as it gives you a chance to personalise your approach with a new connection. There are a few things when connecting on LinkedIn that makes it different from most sites. The practice is a bit different, but the fundamentals of how social media works stay the same. Let me explain… 

What Makes LinkedIn Different When Connecting

Connection requests on LinkedIn are different from most social media networks. On Facebook you don’t have any options to send any message beforehand, you can message directly or you can send a request, but one doesn’t mean the other. On Twitter, you can follow each other, but the influence you have with them is solely based on mentions, content and direct messages. 

Think About The Other Person 

If you’ve received a request on LinkedIn you have a similar thought process that most people have. Why did this person send this request? If the answer is obvious then great! You’ll have a new connection. But, if they don’t immediately know you so well, you’ll have to provide some supporting evidence that makes the request easy to understand. Such as engaging with some of their content beforehand, and then sharing a connection request with the message explaining how you enjoyed the content and what to connect. Maybe to share some more thoughts? Possibly to stay with their content? It doesn’t matter the receiver of the request will be happy to connect with you. 

Examples of connection messages on LinkedIn 

Here are a collection of examples of what to write when sending a connection message on LinkedIn – 

Hi John, saw some of your posts and thought I’d reach out.

Hey Phil, saw you in my people you may know section and we have a lot of mutuals, would love to connect 

Hi Paul, thanks for liking my post, happy to connect with you 

Hi Simon, saw your post on {insert topic} and thought it was interesting. Would be great to connect. 

LinkedIn Connection Message Examples

All of these requests have their own stories to them, from engaging with content, to how you found that connection. It clears up why you’re reaching out so the answer isn’t sales. If someone feels like you’re there to sell to them and nothing else, it’ll be harder to convenience them to connect with you. 

Leaving connection requests without a message is basically letting that other person piece together the information on why you’re looking to connect with them. As we can be pessimistic at times we can assume the person on the other end has some kind of motive based on themselves. For sales, marketing, and lead generation. Making them feel like a number. You need to send a connection message on LinkedIn to avoid this pre-judgement on why you’re reaching out.