Assume that you are at an event and see somebody you don’t know personally. Maybe this person is a great businessman you’ve always admired or a top-rated professional it would be great to learn from. So, you’d find a common acquaintance or a subject to start a conversation to get introduced but won’t bother people out of the blue. This is exactly what happens on LinkedIn. You don’t know the person, but you send him a message. What do you think his reaction will be? In most cases, such messages are left with no reply.
So how can you get people to respond and raise the acceptance of the connection? Let’s find out.
When writing a message to a total stranger, follow some tips.
Include a meaningful subject line
What do you do first when you get an email? Yes, you check for the sender’s name and the subject line to get an idea of what it can be about.
Before you start writing a LinkedIn message, answer a few questions:
- How do you know the person?
- Why do you want to reach out to them?
- Is this person someone you want to get help or advice from?
- Is this someone from your industry you wish to connect with, hoping to collaborate in the future?
After you get answers, you will be able to create a meaningful subject line that will most likely give the idea of the message to the responder. For example, instead of writing “Follow up’ write more specifically, “Following up from the Digital marketing conference.”
Don’t sell; connect!
This is to continue the previous tip. Your main goal is to connect with the prospect. Do not try to sell anything straight away.
Before sending the LinkedIn message, explore the profile page of the person you want to contact and find any commonality to arouse their interest. It could be an industry you both work in, a mutual connection, or an article or post on LinkedIn you both engaged with.
Just write about this common interest, and you’ll see that this will positively affect the decision to reply.
Play on the person’s passion and build relationships
Again, you need to find something that your prospect is passionate about. How to use it in messages? The thing is that these are like bricks that you can use to build long-lasting relationships.
Most likely, this person is a professional in a specific area, so go ahead and ask for his or her professional opinion on a particular issue or topic you are also interested in. It is a great way to engage the prospect and continue the conversation. Try it; the tactic works its best.
Personalize the LinkedIn messages
Continuing the previous tip, it is worth saying personalization is a critical point in LinkedIn messages. To draw the attention of a person you are writing to, you need to personalize the message. If you send the same message to dozens of people, they will feel it. Your pitch will sound too detached, which won’t build any trust.
Spend a little time and make some modifications to the message depending on the person who will receive it. However, you can save some time while using the LInked Helper. It is a LinkedIn automated messaging tool that allows you to personalize messages that will be sent to dozens of people. With the assistance of Linked Helper, you can create a personalized message and even add a custom image to it and send it to your first-degree connections. Save you time creating message sequences with powerful templates, custom variables, or even hyper-personalized images.
Include the reason to reply
If you receive a message from a total stranger, you won’t reply unless it has a strong reason for it. So when contacting someone else, you should also give them a reason to respond.
Your LinkedIn message should contain some type of question at the end. It can be anything: a question about their experience, job, interest, even the last post on their LinkedIn page. But here is a trick, ask something that only this person can answer or provide more detailed and qualified information. It will make them feel valued and give a solid reason for a reply.
Send follow-ups
There is always a part of people who only respond after receiving the follow-up. A pro tip: instead of just saying, “Hey, just checking on the last email,” use humor and some portion of surprise. For example, GIFs always attract attention. They are funny and original, and people do not always expect to see them in LinkedIn messages. It is a perfect way to create an emotional impact and push the conversation further.
Conclusion
So here is what we’ve learned about effective LinkedIn messages. Constantly personalize the messages; even if you send them to twenty people at once, there are automated tools for this too. Look for the common interest and do not try to sell right away. LinkedIn messages can help you build strong relationships with your prospects.
