6 Tips for Writing the Perfect LinkedIn Cold Outreach Message

Remember what it was like to be a kid on the first day of school, and you didn’t know anyone in your class? You had two choices: approach the other kids and try to make new friends, or sit by yourself at lunch every day.

Outbound sales is a lot like that. You hardly know anyone you’re trying to sell to, and you can either make an effort to get to know them—or you can completely miss your quota. So what’s it going to be?

When I was first starting out in sales, I hardly knew anything about communicating with inbound leads, let alone prospecting for outbound ones. But it didn’t take long before I overcame my fear and realized that being a successful salesperson depends on initiating conversations, just like making new friends at school. If I wanted to generate interested outbound leads, I needed to put myself out there.

Fortunately, today’s outbound sellers no longer have to rely on cold calling off a lead list. LinkedIn can be particularly powerful among the many tools used in modern social selling because it allows you to connect one-on-one with potential customers in a way you couldn’t before.

Since not everyone publicly lists their work email address on their company websites, it can be hard to find direct contact information for every person you want to reach out to. This makes LinkedIn a great backup option when you’re running into a wall trying to find a potential buyer’s email address or phone number.

LinkedIn also features instant messaging and shows when your connections are online, allowing you to have more personalized, real-time conversations with your leads.

Table of Contents

• What is LinkedIn outreach?
• What are the benefits of LinkedIn outreach?
• 6 of the best tips for writing LinkedIn cold outreach messages
• Cold message templates you can try
• LinkedIn connection request message templates
• Follow-up strategies for LinkedIn cold outreach

What is LinkedIn outreach?

LinkedIn outreach is the art of connecting with new prospects on the platform, aiming to engage potential buyers and business partners. It involves leveraging LinkedIn to network within your industry and reach out to ideal customers for your products or services.

The benefits of learning how to cold message on LinkedIn

Mastering the art of the LinkedIn cold message has its advantages, including the following:

• Improved response rate: Personalized cold messaging on LinkedIn tends to yield better responses compared to other outreach methods. By examining your target audience’s profile, you can effectively tailor your message to resonate with them.
• Targeted leads: LinkedIn boasts a diverse pool of professionals across various industries. Utilizing the right search filters allows you to identify qualified leads, leading to enhanced sales outcomes. With strategic outreach, you can attract high-quality leads with minimal effort.
• Enhanced effectiveness: Unlike email, LinkedIn offers prospects the opportunity to view your profile, adding a personal touch to your outreach efforts. This human connection often results in higher reply rates than traditional email correspondence.
• Reduced inbox clutter: Compared to email inboxes, LinkedIn inboxes are typically less crowded, providing a better chance for your message to stand out amidst the competition.
• Personalized approach: Building strong relationships hinges on personalization. When reaching out to numerous clients, crafting messages that feel tailored and genuine fostering meaningful connections is crucial.

6 of the best tips for writing LinkedIn cold outreach messages

While it may be easy to find prospects on LinkedIn, things get complicated if you don’t have a playbook for cold messaging them. Here are my six best tips for using LinkedIn cold outreach messages to start sales conversations.

But before we start, remember that if you want to message LinkedIn users you’re not already connected with directly, you will need to be a LinkedIn Premium user or purchase InMail credits. Of course, any LinkedIn member can include a message with a connection request for free. But those messages are limited to 300 characters, and the recipient can decline your connection request without ever reading your message. (Some people don’t like to be bothered by strangers, go figure.)

If you want to utilize cold messaging on LinkedIn in your sales outreach, we highly suggest upgrading to LinkedIn Premium so that you can take advantage of all the messaging capabilities available on the platform. A LinkedIn Premium account is essential if you are utilizing the website to prospect for outbound leads.

Nutshell ProspectorIQ is a sales prospecting tool that lets you find the LinkedIn profiles – as well as phone and email addresses – of your ideal prospect from a database of 200 million people and companies. Find pre-qualified prospects using search criteria such as company size, industry, job title, and more. Save your search criteria to find new prospects every month and fill your pipeline with high-quality LinkedIn leads.

Related: 48 Eye-Opening LinkedIn Statistics for B2B Marketers in 2019

Now, let’s work through a cold LinkedIn outreach strategy together.

1. Find common ground

The key advantage of LinkedIn as an outreach channel is the amount of relevant information you can find about a person’s job role, work history, educational background, and interests. When you find a potential customer on LinkedIn and want to connect with them, you should first scan through their profile to find some common ground between yourself and the person you’re messaging.

If the person is active on LinkedIn, read what they are sharing and interested in. Take note of their current position, how long they’ve been with their company, their past professional experiences, and which LinkedIn groups they belong to. Try to find some commonalities between yourself and the lead. Are you from the same area? Did you attend the same university? Do you know anything special about their industry? What about their profile do you find interesting?

Whatever you find in common between yourself and the potential lead, keep that in mind when crafting your first message to them so that your first touch is targeted, personal, and relevant. Don’t just copy and paste the same message to every single lead. Instead, use what you learned from their LinkedIn profile to tailor your message to each individual so they know you paid attention to their profile.

2. See if a mutual connection can introduce you

Next, determine if you have any mutual connections with your potential buyer. It’s often easier to strike up a conversation with a stranger if there’s someone else who can vouch for you. So, if you have mutual friends or a former co-worker in common (and you feel comfortable doing so), try asking one of your shared connections to introduce you. Your mutual connection could start a group message and share how they know each of you. After that, you can message the lead individually.

Another more traditional approach is to mention your mutual connection in your first message to the lead. You can start your message by writing something like this: “Hi [first name]! I noticed you and I are both connected to [name of mutual connection], and I thought I would also reach out to connect with you. Where do you know [name of mutual connection] from, anyway?”

3. Keep it short

Think of cold messaging on LinkedIn as similar to instant messaging rather than emailing. That means not sending paragraphs of text when a few concise sentences will do.

As with cold emails or voicemails, the length of your message significantly impacts whether the lead will reply. Your first LinkedIn cold message goal is to get the recipient to respond. That’s it. So, keep your message short and to the point so your recipient actually reads it.

Keeping your LinkedIn prospecting messages short can be challenging while still conveying warmth. Don’t be blunt or abrasive. Instead, focus on how you came across their profile, what you have in common, or what about their experiences interests you.

4. Save the selling for later

In any form of cold outreach, asking for a sale in your first message is a deadly sin. If you need to beg a stranger to buy your product, it sends the message that you aren’t successfully drawing in customers, and your product probably isn’t worthwhile.

So, as you introduce yourself to potential buyers on LinkedIn, keep reminding yourself that your goal isn’t to push your product or service—it’s to make a connection and start a conversation.

5. Give them a reason to reply

If you received a message from a stranger, you probably wouldn’t be inclined to respond unless they gave you a good reason, right? While your initial contact should focus on establishing a relationship instead of selling, you do want to include some sort of ask to keep the conversation active.

Include a question at the end of your message to give the prospect a reason to respond. This could be a question about their experiences, interests, a mutual connection, or even their occupation or position. Ask them something that only someone in their position would know. People love being helpful, so asking a prospect for their insight or expertise on a particular topic might make them more inclined to respond.

6. Keep track and follow up

You probably aren’t reaching out to only one lead at a time on LinkedIn, so it’s important for you to keep track of the leads you reach out to and follow up with them if they don’t reply right away. (A CRM can help you keep track of each person you reach out to and the dates you reach out to them so that you don’t forget to check back in.)

Before you reach out on LinkedIn: A profile checklist

Before you begin your LinkedIn outreach campaign, you want to ensure that you’re putting the best foot forward. When prospects read your message, they’ll also take a look at your profile to check your credibility. 

Here are a few things you want to optimize to give a great first impression.

• Is your work and education timeline up-to-date and accurate? Make it clear which company you work for or with at a glance. Do the same with your education. 
• Is your profile picture friendly and professional-looking? Check that the picture is recent and clear.
• Do you have good endorsements and recommendations? Having at least one glowing recommendation from a previous associate will go a long way in building credibility.
• Have you added a concise and appealing headline? Your headline is your first chance to make a good impression, so fill this section out with a relevant description of who you are and what you do. 
• Is your other profiles and contact information easily available? If you have a website or other prominent online spaces, you want to be sure that visitors can find them and create a more well-rounded impression of your accomplishments.

When you’re satisfied with your answers to the above questions, you can go ahead and reach out to prospects on LinkedIn. Try using some of the LinkedIn cold message templates we’ve added below.

Cold message templates you can try

Now that we’ve covered some best practices for connecting with potential buyers using a LinkedIn cold outreach message, here are a few sample cold message templates you can try out yourself.

1. A simple and friendly LinkedIn cold outreach message

Hi {{first name}}! I noticed we’re both connected to {{name of mutual friend}}. How do you know {{him/her}}? I also checked out your profile and saw that you and I both {{went to the same school, are from the same area, are interested in the same topic, other commonality, etc.}}. Judging from your role at {{company}}, we might be able to help each other out. Let me know if you’d like to connect sometime and talk shop. Take care!

2. A LinkedIn cold message for building rapport when you have no mutual connections

Hi {{first name}}! I came across your profile after seeing your post about {{topic they posted about}}. Interesting stuff—What’s your take on {{related topic}}? I’m trying to learn more about your industry these days—I sell {{product/service}} to {{business type}} businesses—and it seems like everyone I talk to has a different opinion. Care to share some wisdom with me? P.S.:  I also had a friend who worked at {{company}} back in the day. How did you like it there?

3. Cold message when you’re both part of a LinkedIn Group

Hi {{first name}}! I see we’re both members of {{LinkedIn Group}} – I noticed you made some pretty insightful comments about {{something they commented on in the group}}. I was interested to learn that {{something you took away from their comment}}. If you’re open to it, I’d enjoy discussing the topic further. Let me know if you’d like to connect sometime and talk shop. Take care! 

4. A short, sweet, and to-the-point LinkedIn cold message

Hi {{first name}}, I work with {{name of company}} and we’ve developed a {{short description of product/service}} that I think would fit in really well with what you’re doing at {{prospect’s company name}}. Any interest in connecting to discuss?

5. Opening with a compliment

Hi {{first name}}, it’s a pleasure to “meet” you! I’ve been following your work with {{prospect’s company name}} for some time, and was really impressed to hear about {{something recent and notable they’ve done}}. I’ve worked with companies like {{prospect’s company name}} to bring similar projects to life, and if you’re open to it, would love to discuss. Let me know!

6. Asking a mutual connection to introduce you

Use this message template to ask a mutual connection to introduce you to your prospect.

Hey {{mutual’s name}}, I noticed that {{prospect name}} is a part of your network. I’ve been following them for a while now, and I just wanted to chat about their experience as a {{prospect’s job position}}. Would you mind if you introduced me to {{them/him/her}}? It’s always better to be introduced, rather than reaching out of the blue. It would mean the world to me. Thanks so much!

LinkedIn connection request message templates

While we recommend using InMail or LinkedIn Premium to message prospects that aren’t connections, if you’d prefer to make a request, then adding a short message is key to get the ball rolling once they accept. Below are a few ways to approach your initial connection request message.

Connection request template #1

Hi {{first name}}, I noticed you liked {{author}}’s post on {{topic}}. I loved it as well. Especially the part about {{mention specific part}}. I’d like to connect since I can see you know a lot about {{Topic}}.

Connection request template #2

Hey {{first name}}, I loved your post about {{topic}}. What I loved most was {{mention specific part}}. Anyway, I wanted to connect and chat about how you as a {{prospect’s position}} handle {{pain point}} in your daily work life.

Connection request template #3

Hi {{first name}}, I noticed you work as {{job position}}, so I wanted to reach out and chat about your position. I’m curious what {{industry-specific term}} strategy has the best {{industry-specific metric}} result from your experience 🙂

Follow-up strategies for your LinkedIn cold outreach campaign 

When your prospect opens up their LinkedIn page, they’re often inundated with a sea of messages and connection requests. So even if they like your message or idea, they may not reply right away and possibly forget. 

That’s why you have to make sure you follow up on no-replies. Here’s a quick list of strategies for following up on LinkedIn cold messages.

• Space your messages out well: Generally, LinkedIn follow-up can be spaced the same as email follow-up campaigns – the second message can come 2-3 days after the first, and your third and fourth can be sent 4-5 days after the previous message.
• Send a “break-up” message after 2-3 non-replies: When you communicate that you will no longer be reaching out, it’s more likely that interested prospects will reply. Even if you get no replies after this point, do not be tempted to keep messaging after this point.
• Keep your follow-ups short: Something as simple as “Hey, {{first name}}, just reaching out to see if you’re interested in {{topic of first message}}” should be enough to get interested prospects to reply.
• Always give a CTA: it could be that your prospect is overwhelmed by having to send a wordy reply to your cold message. In that case, your follow-up messages could simply point them to a link or ask for a quick one-word answer.

Make the most of your LinkedIn cold outreach with Nutshell

With Nutshell, you can take charge of your prospecting campaign, whether through LinkedIn, email, or even SMS. 

Get access to features such as sales automation, pipeline management, reporting and analytics, and even a prospecting tool to help you find the LinkedIn profiles of your target audience.

Try us out free-of-charge for 14 days, and discover how Nutshell can elevate your prospecting results.

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