Cold Outreach Messages on LinkedIn: a Full Guide for Beginners

Why LinkedIn Сold Messaging?

Before we start, let's determine the reasons why LinkedIn is so effective for lead generation. The point is, LinkedIn has 722 million members from more than 200 countries, 55 million registered companies and a great number of targeting characteristics. All this makes LinkedIn a perfect platform for reaching out to your potential clients, employees or partners.

Outbound sales is a great way to increase awarness of your product or service and get customers. But large scale requires productive solutions. Which is where cold messaging comes in handy.

So why not?

Some Preparation Would Be Nice

1. Before start sending messages to hundreds of people, make sure your profile inspiers trust.

2. Define a proper target. A basic difference between spam and cold messages is targeting. Dwell on the location, profession, years of experience of the audience... or should they have a dog? Never mind. Do it.

3. To help your plan, ask yourself several qustions. Are you trying to inform, motivate, persuade, solicit feedback, make a request, or smooth ruffled feathers? What must be accomplished with this message? What does the reader need to know, to understand, to act upon?

4. Try to find a common ground. Check mutual connections or groups and use this information in messages to make a person more open to you. People usually tend to ignore mysterious strangers...

5. Prepare several strategies and write a report describing its results. This simple method lets you see which particular strategy is the most powerful for your campaign.

Let's Get Down to Brass Tasks

Well, you optimized your profile, defined a target, dreamed a little... It's high time to start messaging.

There are some recommendations to make your message catchy and encouraging to reply.

• Avoid the use of industry jargon, complex sentences, and inaccurate language
• Write in a straightforward manner and make your writing easily understood by any adult
• Use active voice instead of passive one. Active voice is much stronger and simplier. For example, instead of "it was stated to me", say "she described to me"
• Avoid fussy endings such as -ion, -ing, and -ness. For example, instead of "let's take the time for contemplating", just say "let's contemplate"
• Give a reason to reply. To keep the dialogue active, ask personal questions at the end of the message
• Personalize your messages. Make every person you write feel special. Mention the information that avaliable on the profile: their name, industry, location, company and so on
• Don't apologize. "Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can posess." (с) Blake Lively

That's the way it's supposed to look:

"Hi {First Name}! I've just run across your profile and I see you're a great specialist in {Industry Name}. Would love to connect!"

Or...

"Hi {First Name}! I see we have some mutual connections from {Industry or Company Name}. I'd love to connect and learn more about your occupation!"

Alternatively...

"Hi {First Name}! I see we are both from {Industry Name}. I'd love to connect to share experience."

So which methods do you prefer for reaching out to new leads on LinkedIn?