11 Battle-Tested Tips for Mastering LinkedIn Outreach
Get 11 actionable LinkedIn outreach tips for driving better results
“Hi {{Name}}! I help businesses like yours achieve {{goal}}”
Sound familiar?
It’s the classic LinkedIn cold message. And the fastest way to scream mass outreach.
It’s also easy to criticize… until the tables turn and you have to come up with a better option.
If you’re stuck staring at a blinking cursor and don’t want to send one of “those” messages, here are 11 top tips for LinkedIn sales outreach to connect with your audience, pique curiosity, and build pipeline.
What is LinkedIn sales outreach?
LinkedIn outreach is not about sending a bunch of identical messages here and there, inserting a prospect’s company name and industry, and calling it a day.
It’s a targeted strategy for finding and connecting with potential customers and starting conversations that eventually lead to deals. Your strategy is exactly what differentiates great outreach from a waste of time and money.
LinkedIn outreach is also not all about sales, or at least not as much as you probably think. It’s about building connections, sharing expertise, and delivering value.
tl;dr?
LinkedIn outreach is hard.
But the right strategy gives you a leg up on your competition.
What makes outreach on LinkedIn challenging?
LinkedIn is a B2B prospecting gold mine. But this also makes LinkedIn a noisy, competitive battlefield.
Here’s what you’re up against:
Message fatigue
Most LinkedIn inboxes are flooded with cookie-cutter DMs. Cheap outreach automation tools use the same approach. And when all messages sound similar, prospects tune out.
- Lesson: Craft messages that feel 1:1, not 1:many. If you want to stand out, you have to invest time and effort in crafting a unique, personal messages.
Inbox overload
“Spray and pray” tactics lead inboxes overflowing. If you’re not laser-focused on the right people, you’ll waste time (and burn your TAM). You need to be more selective to stand any chance of connecting.
- Lesson: Strategy beats volume. Know your buyer persona and ideal customer, and start building a lead list. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck looking for a needle in a haystack.
Results take time
Consistency matters. LinkedIn outreach is a marathon, not a sprint.
It demands patience, resilience, and analysis. You’ll need to constantly test and analyze your LinkedIn activity and improve it based on your results.
- Lesson: If you don’t put in the work, you’re just shooting in the dark. And your ROI will suffer.
Getting started: 6 steps for a winning LinkedIn sales strategy
Follow this 6-step blueprint to lay a strong foundation for LinkedIn outreach success.
Optimize your LinkedIn profile
Improving your outreach starts with you.
Think of your LinkedIn profile is your business card or landing page. If a prospect isn’t impressed at first glance, you’re wasting an opportunity.
Everything on your profile needs to have a reason to be there.
Use a good photo and header image
Your photo and header image should work together to show who you are and how you can help.
You’ll want a high-quality profile photo that clearly shows your face.
As for your header image, it’s a great place to tell more about who you are. Instead of a basic background image, use the space for your logos, social proof, slogan, or customer reviews to catch your prospect’s attention.
Include a compelling headline
Your headline is the next thing your prospect sees after your image.
Stick to the point and use facts that are relevant in your prospect’s world. You should also include your current position, skills, expertise, achievements, and value proposition. Emojis can also work if they fit the vibe you’re going for.
Here’s the LinkedIn headline our CEO Yuriy uses to cover all these bases:
Co-founder & CEO at AiSDR | 2x Y Combinator alumni | 2x Forbes cover | 1 exit | Building the leading AI sales platform in the world and sharing the journey publicly
Add value to your “About” section
In the “About” section, describe how you help your target audience solve their pain points and why they should reach out to you. If possible, include statistics showing how you have already helped customers.
For example:
“In my role as {{your role}} at {{company name}}, I’ve helped companies grow their client base by {{%}} and increased annual revenue by {{number}}. My approach and focus on customer relationship management have resulted in a 25% increase in client retention rates. I’m always eager to connect with new businesses and share my experience.”
Build your network
Most of the time, cold outreach fails because it’s too cold. You need to build relationships and trust with your LinkedIn audience before you start to connect.
Here’s how to expand a LinkedIn network and build your authority.
Create thought leadership content that shows expertise
Use first-hand content (information you’ve gained from experience) to position yourself as an expert in your field and improve your visibility. This is exactly the type of content that stands out on LinkedIn.
This means sharing personal thoughts, tips, insights, research, or polls.
Consistent posting will “warm up” your audience. When you decide to reach out, they’ll already know who you are.
Stay consistent with content creation
Create a content plan that states the type of content you’ll post and when.
This helps you stay consistent so that you always have something to write about and keep your content diverse. Allow time in your content plan for commenting on posts, answering questions, and interacting with your audience.
Connect with people who reflect your ICP or buyers
Avoid random connection requests by using your ICP or buyer persona to filter out meaningless connections.
A sales intelligence tool like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or ZoomInfo can do some of the work for you. Or you can use an AI solution like AiSDR to automate the process of finding and connecting with leads.
And when you do connect, don’t rush to pitch your offer.
Introduce yourself. Ask some questions to start the conversation. Show that you want to build a connection.
For example:
Hi {{Name}}! Really liked your post on {{topic}}. Looks like we’re both interested in {{pain point}}. Would love to connect with you here to discuss {{topic based on recent post}}.
Leverage another person’s or company’s network
Building a network takes time. Or you can trigger faster growth by riding someone else’s network.
For instance, you can use AiSDR to surface leads who engage with a person’s LinkedIn content, then filter them to match your ICP and reach out.
We’ve seen engagement-based campaigns regularly outperform traditional cold outreach by 10% or more.
Figure out which types of LinkedIn outreach you’ll use
Different LinkedIn outreach channels serve different purposes.
Direct messages
The classic form of outreach is direct messaging to first-degree connections. In direct messages, try to be yourself, write how you speak, and not sound salesy. Remember that most of your sales message should be about your lead, not about you.
Direct messages work better if there’s a context behind your message. For example, you could comment on a prospect’s post and then reach out to continue the conversation. Or you can ask them about their challenges and goals, based on what you’ve read from them, like this:
Hi {{Name}}, I saw your last post on {{topic}}. I totally agree with your points on {{list of points}}. Recently, I worked with a similar use case but found that {{contrasting observation}}. Are you open to sharing insights?
Connection requests
An invitation to connect can be a first step to building a relationship with your prospect. Look for people who’ve just launched something new or people with questions you can answer. This makes your connection request more relevant to them now.
InMail messages
InMail messages are private LinkedIn DMs you can send to anyone on LinkedIn. With InMail, you don’t have to connect with someone before you can message them. However, it’s a paid feature that needs LinkedIn Premium or LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
InMail messages are also limited, so they shouldn’t be used for untargeted mass messaging.
Timing can make a difference: Monday may work better, and avoid sending InMail messages on Friday and Saturday, as they can have a lower response rate.
Message requests
A message request lets you communicate with people in the same LinkedIn group or event as you without sending a connection request.
It’s a great way to start a conversation if your prospect is an active member of a group. You can analyze their activity in the group, learn their pain points, and reach out with a personalized message.
Bonus tip: inbound outreach
Not all LinkedIn outreach needs to be outbound. This case study describes an alternative strategy that regularly brings the author high-end deals: instead of writing to prospects, he makes targeted and timely visits to the profiles of people who match his ICP.
This works because people sometimes check out your profile after seeing that you’ve visited their page. The key is to have an optimized LinkedIn profile and view the profiles of the right people at the right time.
As an example, you can set up triggers to find companies that have just raised funding, and then view the profiles of decision-makers.
Do your research
Generic outreach = ignored outreach.
Personalization makes your message stand out from the crowd. Good personalization involves deep prospect research into their social media pages, their company website, and recent posts so you can make your outreach message all about them.
AiSDR speeds up this process with LinkedIn social signals that discover leads who’ve expressed an interest in a solution like yours, engaged with posts about a problem you solve, or received a recent promotion or job change.
With this LinkedIn data in hand, you’re no longer a stranger in somebody’s inbox.
You can also use the CCQ method to add convincing context to your message:
- Compliment your lead on a new post, podcast, or release
- Highlight something you have in common like similar interests, groups, or mutual connections
- Ask a question
Here’s an example of a personalized, warm, and curious message:
{{Prospect’s name}} Thanks for your insights on my post in {{common group name}}. How does your company deal with {{pain point}}? My company supports teams with {{solution}} and customers typically see {{benefit}}. Mind if we connect so I can share what works for them?
Write for engagement
LinkedIn offers a lot of possibilities for creating content that gets people to engage.
Create polls
Polls are a great way to catch the attention of your target audience. You might run a poll asking people about the biggest pain points in their industry and then reach out to voters to strike up a conversation.
Be curious about people’s challenges and how they overcome them. Don’t expect that these people will buy from you right away, but be helpful and show your expertise. This is a great way to connect with your audience and learn what they really need.
Try a hand-raiser message
For this technique, you’ll need two things: a well-optimized LinkedIn account where you share your expertise and an active community.
A hand-raiser post is a post with a clear CTA that makes a reader identify themselves (e.g., “Comment ‘interested’ below to get the tool”). For example, you can call for decision-makers in a certain industry who want to overcome some burning challenge and offer them support or a resource.
This strategy is not about asking; it’s about giving. Use it to prove your expertise and attract people who are interested in your offer.
Comment on others’ posts
Set aside time on one or two days per week to comment on the posts of your target audience. Don’t just post a bland comment: aim to add value, share your thoughts, ask questions, and start a conversation. Your goal is to build a connection and engage.
Create a low-commitment call to action
In your CTA, make it easy for a prospect to take action. Avoid big asks such as commenting on an ebook or viewing a long demo video. When you want another person to take action, you have to say what’s in it for them. Show that you respect other people’s time and have a real benefit to offer.
Play the long game
If we’ve said it once, we’ll say it again.
You can’t expect overnight success with LinkedIn outreach. It takes time and plenty of experimentation.
Be patient
Don’t be shocked if there aren’t quick results from your LinkedIn sales outreach. It’s all about persistence and patience.
Sending too many connection requests, cold DMs, or viewing a lot of profiles can cause LinkedIn to block or restrict your account. So wait at least 24 hours before sending a follow-up to avoid seeming spammy.
At the same time, don’t give up if the prospect doesn’t reply after the first touch.
Follow-ups are key. On average, you need to contact your prospect about 2-3 times to get a response.
Each follow-up should be different and add value. AiSDR applies proven high-performance frameworks when creating and sending follow-ups.
Run A/B tests
LinkedIn outreach is all about trial and error.
If you want to see results, be prepared to experiment with:
- Types of messaging – Try different messages such as LinkedIn DMs, connection requests, and InMail to see which type gets a higher conversion rate.
- Timing – Buffer research suggests the best time to post on LinkedIn is between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Posts published at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursdays get peak engagement.
Measure metrics
Four metrics will help you track and improve the performance of your LinkedIn outreach strategy:
- Invite acceptance rate – If people aren’t accepting your invitations to connect or chat, either you’re reaching out to the wrong people or your connection requests need rewording.
- Total response rate – If your response rate on LinkedIn is low, try tweaking your messages, making them more personalized, and offering more value.
- Positive response reply rate (percentage of replies interested in your offer) – A high total response rate and a low positive reply rate mean that you need to improve your targeting.
- Percentage of closed deals – This metric shows the overall success of your LinkedIn sales outreach and ROI per campaign.
Remember that LinkedIn is about consistency and analysis, so don’t give up if your ROI is low. Try A/B testing various approaches, and keep tracking your key metrics to define what works best for you.
11 tips for writing a winning LinkedIn message
A solid LinkedIn strategy is powerful. But it only works if your messages cut through the noise.
Here are 11 tips for writing LinkedIn cold messages that get replies.
Know your goal
One message, one goal.
Before you write, ask yourself what you want to achieve with your message, and build everything with that in mind. Keep it focused, and don’t overload your recipient with multiple questions and offers.
Personalize the message
Mass blasts feel like spam. Make the message about the recipient and show that you’ve created it just for them, not a mass audience.
Engage before you send a DM
Don’t be a stranger. Like their posts and leave comments before sending a connection request, let alone a message. This helps your name feel familiar before you land in their inbox.
Keep it brief
A DM isn’t an email. Keep your message short, to the point, and tailored for mobile. Just like you would when texting on other social media.
Hook them fast
Get to the point.
There’s plenty of debate over how many seconds you have to grab a person’s attention, but the end result is the same.
It’s always short.
Every word is prime real estate, so start off with the hook and get straight to the value you offer.
Don’t overcomplicate
Are your sentences simple? Will a 5th grader get your point? Use short sentences, plain words, and clear ideas. No fluff allowed.
Show the cost of inaction
Don’t just pitch benefits.
Highlight what they have to lose if they do nothing. FOMO and a sense of urgency can improve the success of LinkedIn cold outreach.
Pro tip: This works best when you’ve done deep research on their pain points.
Break the mold
A pattern interrupt surprises the person you’re writing to by disrupting an expected communication pattern.
For example, a thought-provoking question (“Do you believe in serendipity?”) is a much more engaging opening line than the standard “I’d like to connect” or “I’m reaching out because…”.
Use social proof
Credibility sells. Use social proof in your LinkedIn cold messages to make your outreach more trustworthy. Show how other companies or clients have already benefited from your solution.
Avoid feature dumps
Nobody cares about features. They care about outcomes.
Go customer-first. Focus on their pains and goals. Not your product specs.
Deliver a 15-word pitch
Imagine you have just 15 words to close a deal: what would you say?
Get straight to what matters to engage your prospect and stick in their mind.
