Ultimate LinkedIn Playbook: 11 GTM Plays That Get Replies & Meetings
Check out 11 sales plays you can run on LinkedIn to win meetings
LinkedIn is where business gets done.
With over a billion entrepreneurs and professionals in one place – including your next customers – it’s a gold mine for B2B outreach.
Even better?
Nail your LinkedIn outreach game, and you can book qualified meetings, nurture relationships, and close deals without burning your TAM or budget.
Why make LinkedIn part of your sales outreach?
If you’re not already generating leads on LinkedIn, you’re missing a major opportunity.
Here’s why LinkedIn is one of the best tools for modern B2B outreach.
Stronger credibility
LinkedIn is famous for its strict verification procedures, which is why users generally trust what they read on others’ profiles.
That’s why you can even use your LinkedIn profile as a landing page for your personal brand.
When a prospect checks out your profile, they can instantly see:
- Your education
- Your job title and work history
- Projects you’ve worked on
- Endorsements and recommendations from other users
- Any success stories and expertise you want to share (e.g. posts, portfolio)
This information goes a long way towards building trust through social proof. For best impact, you should structure your projects and work experiences as mini-case studies, highlighting the results you helped your clients achieve.
Hyper-targeting
You can search and filter LinkedIn profiles by job title, company size, industry, recent job changes, or keywords.
This means you can target exactly the group you need and connect with decision-makers directly, bypassing any gatekeepers.
For instance, if you’re looking for CMOs at Series B US-based startups, you can build a decent lead list within 10 minutes.
More engagement
The average response rate for outreach emails is only 8.5%, and it’s not uncommon for cold campaigns to end with zero deals (good campaigns yield about a 1-3% conversion rate).
For LinkedIn messages, the reply rate jumps to 10%–25%.
This happens because LinkedIn inboxes are generally less crowded. And there are fewer obstacles to LinkedIn outreach, like spam filters, bounces, and inbox saturation.
Warming up prospects is also a lot less painful than warming up email accounts.
For example, you can leave likes and comments on their content several times before sending a connection request. And prospects will view your offer more favorably if you’re part of their network.
Building a network
LinkedIn outreach is a marathon. Not a sprint.
Many people will accept your connection request even if they’re not interested in your offer right now. Several months down the road, they may approach you and ask about your product.
Sending and accepting requests to expand your LinkedIn network can help your sales outreach in multiple ways:
- You generate qualified leads whom you can approach later
- You can use content marketing to engage your network and turn them into inbound leads
- You appear more trustworthy to new prospects if you share connections with them
Despite all the benefits of LinkedIn outreach, you still need to consider your first move with great care.
Unlike other social media, LinkedIn won’t let you delete a failed InMail message. It will stay there forever, so you won’t be able to engage this prospect from a clean slate three months later.
To improve responses, make sure to craft a compelling LinkedIn headline.
5 tips for effective LinkedIn outreach
Years of LinkedIn lead generation have shown a clear pattern.
Personalization and authenticity consistently outperform high-volume mass sends.
Here are 5 tactics for generating better results.
Personalize your message
LinkedIn gives you a ton of data about your leads.
So why not use it? 🙂
If you reach out, try mentioning your mutual connections, shared communities, specific content like a podcast, or a recent event or industry trend:
“I saw we both know [Name] from [Company]. They mentioned you’re deep in [industry issue].”
Or…
“I saw we both watched [podcast]. How did you like their take on [industry issue]?”
This shows your outreach is intentional, not random.
Pro tip: Avoid cliches like mentioning a shared alma mater unless it’s highly relevant (e.g. “Saw you’re from Dartmouth. Are you going back for homecoming/Carnival/Green Key?
Keep your tone friendly (but not too friendly)
LinkedIn isn’t email.
But it’s also not a frat party.
Avoid being too formal (a la “Dear Mr./Mrs.” or “To whom it may concern:”) or too casual (“Hey dude”).
If it’s someone you have no connection with at all, aim for somewhere in between – friendly, like how you’d approach someone at a conference or tech meetup.
“Hey Alex,
I’ve noticed you’re leading product at [Company]. I’ve worked with teams solving similar onboarding issues. Thought I’d reach out.”
That’s casual, confident, not too sales-y, and not too forced.
Reference the lead’s recent activity
People like it when others actually pay attention to what they post.
If your prospect recently posted content relevant to you, leave a comment publicly, then follow up with a DM:
“I really appreciated your post on remote onboarding. We’ve seen the same thing with our clients.”
This creates a natural, authentic opening.
After all, you’ve done your homework, and you’re not just blasting out the same template to everyone. What’s more, it gives you a natural way to start a conversation without diving straight into your pitch.
Be clear about why you’re reaching out
Decision-makers are busy people.
They appreciate it when you get to the point. Without being aggressive.
So keep it short and clear why you’re messaging them:
“We’re helping teams cut onboarding time by 40%. Reading your recent post, I thought it might be useful.”
Other good reasons are offering insights into specific topics that interest the prospect, asking for feedback, or suggesting collaboration.
Make it human and genuine
Of course, while your ultimate goal in LinkedIn outreach is a sale, don’t make it immediately obvious to your prospect.
Avoid leading with a pitch, asking for a call in the first sentence, or dropping a Calendly link (or any other link) uninvited. Instead, compliment them on something you liked about their content/work or their company:
“I see you’re growing fast. congrats. We’ve worked with similar teams, and I’d be curious to hear what’s working for you right now.”
This opening includes an ice-breaking compliment and explains your reason for reaching out. After that, give your prospect some space to process it. If you’re a good fit, a sale will happen anyways.
11 GTM plays you should be running on LinkedIn
These LinkedIn outreach plays cover several of the most common prospect signals, as well as internal and external insights.
As a result, you can repurpose them as go-to-market sales plays for running signal-based outreach. With the right setup and AI sales platform, you can book meetings in as little as 12 minutes.
Website visit
Matched a website visitor to a LinkedIn profile?
You should reach out while their interest is fresh and you’re still on their mind.
Example 1
Hey, I saw you checked out [your company]. Just wanted to see if you had any questions.
Feel free to shoot me a text or email anytime.
[your cell number]
[your email]
Example 2
Hey, noticed you swung by [your company]’s site. appreciate you checking us out.
If anything caught your eye or you’ve got questions, just hit me up.
[phone number]
[email]
Why it works: Website visitors are already curious, as seen by the fact they checked out your website. And by reaching out, you’re giving them a low-pressure way to continue the conversation.
No-brainer offer
A no-brainer is an offer that’s extremely hard to say “no” to, so long as you’re sending it to people who are the right fit. (That said, finding best-fit prospects is half the battle.)
Example 1
Hi {Name},
We build and run AI-powered outbound for you, guaranteeing at least 1 booked meeting per 100 leads since Day 1.
We’ve built outbound engines for [big client names] + we’re backed by Y Combinator.
If that’s relevant, I’d love to connect.
Example 2
Hi {Name},
We help B2B teams turn cold leads into warm intros. without lifting a finger.
Our platform automates LinkedIn + email outreach, fully personalized, and guarantees 10+ replies per month.
If that’s something your team’s exploring, would love to connect.
Why it works: While you’re walking a thin line between making an irresistible offer and pushing a sale, this works because the opening hooks the prospect (provided they’re a qualified lead), while the last line gives them space. And accepting a connection request on LinkedIn is non-committal. Your prospect’s much more likely to do that than jump on a call right away.
Technographics
Technographics means choosing your prospects based on their technology stack. This is a new take on demographics and firmographics.
You can pull data from AiSDR’s database of 700+ million contacts to find people who are using a competitor’s tool and have a LinkedIn account:
Example 1
Hi {Name},
I see you’re using [competitor tool]. We’re different: [differentiator 1], [differentiator 2], and [value prop]. Is that worth a quick chat?
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Saw you’re currently using [competitor product]. Just wanted to say. we do things differently: [differentiator 1], [differentiator 2], and we make sure [value prop].
Open to a quick chat?
Why it works: People who are already using a competitor’s solution are already aware of the problem. So long as you can show better value for their money, you can convert a competitor’s customer into your customer.
LinkedIn profile view
What’s in a profile view? It could be mere curiosity. Or a potential customer taking an interest. It never hurts to check if the viewer’s profile matches your buyer persona or ideal customer and follow up if it does.
Example 1
Hey {Name},
I see you checked out my profile. Just wanted to reach out. Any questions about what we do at [company]? Happy to chat if you’re curious.
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Thanks for stopping by my profile. always great to connect with folks in [industry/role].
Let me know if anything sparked your interest. I’ll be happy to chat.
Why it works: Just like profile views are not committal, this play works because you’re being casual, friendly, and non-committal too. You give them an opportunity to express their interest and ask questions without pushing a sale. Even if you don’t eventually sell to this person, you’ll at least make a connection that can turn out useful sometime later.
Company page follow
Following the company page is one of the subtle intent signals that’s easily overlooked.
Just like with profile views, it never hurts to reach back to the person if they seem like a customer doing their research. Filter out your current or churned customers and keep your message brief and casual.
Example 1
Hi {Name}, thanks for following [your company]!
We’re helping teams with [value prop]. Is that on your radar? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Example 2
Hi {Name}, appreciate the follow!
We’re working with teams to [value prop], and I thought it might be relevant for what you’re doing. Are you looking into this?
Why it works: To make this play work, check the follower’s profile to see which aspect of your value proposition they’re most likely to be interested in. Don’t overwhelm them with detail though. Bring up one point or feature that seems most relevant.
Content engagement
Another subtle buyer signal is regularly “liking” and commenting on your content. If this person looks like a potential customer, use that to start a conversation naturally.
Example 1
Hey {Name},
I see you liked my post on [topic]. I deeply appreciate the support. Is [value prop] a priority for you? I’d love to hear your take.
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Saw you liked my post on [topic]. thanks for that!
Curious if [value prop] is something you’re focusing on lately? Would love to hear your perspective.
Why it works: It’s natural. You’re responding to their engagement. Not cold pitching.
Like with the “Company page follow” play, you need to bring up just one aspect of your value proposition. Focus on what’s most relevant to the post. This way, you’ll invite the prospect to share their problem (which you have a solution for) without forcing them.
Influencer engagement
Are you working with a high-profile expert in your field? In that case, you can tap into the expert’s audience to generate leads. Approach those who liked or commented on the influencer’s content and who seem like your ideal customer with this message:
Example 1
Hi {Name},
I’ve noticed you’re following [expert name] I’m working with. We’re building [product] to solve [problem]. would love to show you what we’ve got.
Example 2
Hi {Name},
Noticed you follow [expert name]. I’ve been working closely with them on [product]. We’re tackling [problem] in a new way. Happy to show you what we’re building if you’re open to it.
Why it works: It leverages the influencer’s credibility and expands your reach. After all, you’re introducing a new solution that the person likely hasn’t seen before, and you’re using your connection with the expert to establish credibility.
Competitor engagement
People interested in your competitor’s product can become your customers if you step in and nudge them in the right direction. Reach out to those who engage your competitor’s content with this message:
Example 1
Hi {Name}, I noticed you commented on [competitor]’s post. Are you interested in their product? You may want to know that we [differentiator 1], [differentiator 2], and [value prop]. Curious if that’s worth a quick chat?
Example 2
Hi {Name},
Saw your comment on [competitor]’s post. appreciate folks staying sharp on what’s out there.
We take a different route: [differentiator 1], [differentiator 2], and [value prop]. Want to take a peek?
Why it works: People are clearly interested in solving the problem, if they’re scoping out your competitors. If you highlight your product’s advantages in a compelling way, the prospect will be hooked. For that, make sure to study the competitor’s offer and the lead’s profile.
Pricing page
Visiting your website’s pricing page is a strong buyer intent signal. While there’s a small chance it could be random, it’s far more likely that a potential customer is seriously considering your product. Filter out those who don’t fit your buyer persona and send a message to those who do:
Example 1
Hey {Name}, I see you checked out our pricing. We deliver [value prop]. any questions about how it works for you?
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Saw you checked out our pricing. thanks for taking a look.
We’re all about [value prop]. Happy to walk you through how it fits your needs.
Why it works: In this play, you’re gently nudging the prospect toward the decision, inviting them to ask questions about your product. They’ll certainly reach back to you if they’re truly interested.
Demo page
Demo is another high-intent page. Even those who left it without booking are worth following up, as long as they match your buyer persona:
Example 1
Hey {Name}, I see you checked out our demo page but didn’t book. We deliver [value prop]. any questions about how it works for you?
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Caught that you visited our demo page but didn’t book. no worries. If [value prop] is still on your radar, I’d be glad to answer any questions.
Why it works: This play is similar to the pricing page one. It nurtures the lead who has already shown their interest. You’re inviting them to share their concerns without putting too much pressure.
Compliment + insight
Most of the plays listed above depend on the prospect’s actions. They have to “like,” comment, or visit a website page before you can approach them.
This play is for you if you prefer to be more proactive in your LinkedIn outreach. Start by reading LinkedIn posts relevant to your niche. Take note of people posting fascinating content, filter out those who don’t match your buyer persona, and reach out to the rest with a message like:
Example 1
Hey {Name},
I came across your post on {problem}, which I struggled with in the past. How did you manage to overcome {pain point}? Curious to know and looking forward to exchanging tips!
Example 2
Hey {Name},
Just read your post on {topic}. really sharp take. I’ve run into similar challenges with {pain point}. Would love to hear how you’ve handled it and swap ideas!
Why it works: Everyone likes to be acknowledged as an expert and a role model. By asking the prospect for insights, you’re warming them up to you and engaging them in a natural, non-sales-y conversation.
