It seems like almost every day, there's a new way to use InMail for business. But which of these tricks works best? We shared our top tips in a webinar on the topic, so head on over to our channel if you'd like to watch back - 5 InMail Tricks that are getting HUGE results.
If reading is more your thing, then we have the blog for you! Today we’re going to share with you five different InMail hacks, all giving great results. Whether you're looking for a new way to connect with potential customers, or want to get more out of your InMails, read on!
Here, you'll learn how to use InMail messaging with Sales Navigator or Recruiter to bypass LinkedIn limits, scale your outreach and get more leads.
What are InMails and why use them?
An InMail is a direct message that you can send to a person who is not connected to you on LinkedIn. You can send InMails if you have a premium LinkedIn account. Depending on your subscription type, your account is allocated a set number of InMail message credits each month.
There is an option to purchase extra InMail credits from LinkedIn.
InMails enable you to reach out to users without sending connection requests. The message length extends to 2000 characters, much more than the 300 characters for a connection request.
Note: you can’t send a second InMail message to a member until the recipient has responded to your first message. Every InMail message that is accepted/declined or responded to within 90 days is credited back!
How to send InMails with Dux-Soup
You can send automated, personalized InMails to lists of LinkedIn profiles with Dux-Soup Pro, Turbo and Cloud licenses.
There are a couple of options:
● Semi-automated - best for using up InMail credits.
● Fully automated - best for sending InMails to OpenLink members.
This blog post showcases an expert user interface. If you don't see some of the features mentioned in the post, don't worry! Just make sure that you've enabled the "expert" settings in the Options section under the User tab. That should do the trick!
Semi-automated
With the semi-automated option, you manually select who will receive an InMail. This ensures every InMail credit is used efficiently.
To start, open Dux-Soup Options, Action tab, and set up the InMail message template:
Tip: Customize your template using message markers such as _FN_ for the first name or _CN_ for the company name.
To keep track of profiles, auto-tag those you reach out to. Learn more about how to tag profiles with Dux-Soup.
Once you have done that, enable the option to ’Run automated actions while manually browsing profiles’. Then, follow https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people for Sales Navigator and https://www.linkedin.com/talent/search for Recruiter, and apply filters:
Finally, select the right prospect or candidate, right-click on the mouse and choose ‘Open Link in New Tab’.
Dux-Soup will now send an InMail on your behalf every time you view a profile.
Fully Automated
The fully automated process is ideal for contacting OpenLink profiles. These profiles are LinkedIn Premium subscribers who can receive your InMail without it costing you an InMail credit.
The way you set up Dux-Soup is pretty much the same. Write a template, tag profiles (optional), create a search in Sales Navigator/Recruiter, and apply filters. However, instead of ‘Run automated actions while manually browsing profiles’, go to Dux-Soup Options, Skipping tab and enable the option to ‘Skip if not an OpenLink member’:
Afterwards, go back to your search on LinkedIn, click on the Dux-Soup icon at the top-right corner of your browser and choose 'Visit Profiles':
Tip: it’s worth mentioning that all actions set in the Actions tab are executed during auto-visit. So make sure you only enable the ones you need.
Now, Dux-Soup will skip everyone who doesn’t have an OpenLink badge and send a free InMail to anyone who does.
A fully automated process can also be used in the Dux-Soup Revisit Data Tool, where you can manually create a CSV file containing LinkedIn URLs that need to receive InMail and use InMail credit.
Sending InMails as part of a drip campaign
If you have Dux-Soup Turbo or Cloud, then you can add InMails as a step in your drip campaigns. Then you can just enroll profiles from LinkedIn straight into a campaign.
Campaigns can contain up to 12 actions including Endorse, Connection Request, Message, Follow and InMail.
So there you have three ways to automate InMails using Dux-Soup. Now let's look at how you can optimize the effectiveness of InMails.
5 InMail Tips
Tip #1: Use the SN/Recruiter features to filter your targets properly
LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Recruiter have a variety of additional filters. Make sure you use them! Here is the list of advanced search filters that are available for premium LinkedIn users:
Tip #2: Use your credits carefully to target specific people
Purchasing an InMail credit can be an expensive option so make sure you target specific people that fall within your target audience. Use the semi-automated option or the Revisit Data Tool!
Tip #3: Always focus on the content - this is so important!
The content you write in the body of your InMail will determine whether or not you get a response, so take your time on it! We recommend the following approach when writing your InMail template in Dux-Soup Options, Action tab:
- Start with a question
- Include an interesting statistic
- Make a bold statement
- Reference the recipient's LinkedIn profile and use message markers
- Inject some personality
Tip #4: Use Dux-Soup to reach out to more people using free InMails
Dux-Soup can send InMails to 100s of people per day for free, so make use of it and give your InMail response rate a little boost!
Tip #5: Make use of other Dux-Soup features to ensure effective outreach
- Custom messaging
Now you can go forth and InMail!
Did you know - you can start your free Dux-Soup trial today, and enjoy Dux-Soup for 14 days, free, free, free! So what are you waiting for?!
Until next time, happy Dux-ing!
