Linkedin Campaigns 101

0. Linkedin Software

0. LinkedIn Software

At ColdIQ, we use Lemlist (go.coldiq.com/lemlist) to power our LinkedIn outreach campaigns. There are several reasons for that, but we mainly like lemlist for its UI, how fast & robust the tool is and its multichannel features (you can automate your outreach via email + LinkedIn)

Another advantage they have, over other platforms, is their integrations. It’s pretty easy to set up with platforms such as Clay, Phantombuster, Pipedrive & Hubspot.There are several other platforms we’d recommend, depending on your needs such as:

• La Growth Machine: https://go.coldiq.com/lgm

• HeyReach: https://go.coldiq.com/heyreach

• Expandi: https://go.coldiq.com/expandi

1. The Limits

First things first… The limits.

You might be wondering why we’re making such a big point about this, but Linkedin are very strict with the limits they set for outbound.

In order to make sure you don’t end up wanted by the LinkedIn FBI, you must ensure your outreach doesn’t go over the numbers below.

On LinkedIn you get:

• 400 Connection Requests a month.

• 800 Open Inmails a month. (If you’re a premium member).

• 120 “interactions” a day. (Stay well below this number).

On a weekly basis your limits should look like this:

• 15-20 Direct Messages sent per day.

• 30-40 Open Inmails per day.

• 40 “other interactions” per day.

You might be thinking, well if I’m allowed 120 interactions why am I only using 40?

Because 60 are already taken up through your direct messages & open inmails, these count as interactions.

Interactions are:

• Direct Messages

• Connection Requests

• Open Inmails

• Inmails

• Profile Views

• Post Likes

• Page Likes

• Endorsements

• Joining Events

• Joining Groups

An example:

Only 1200 new prospects a month…?

In short? Yes.

But here’s how you can use the limits to your advantage.

We get 400 connection requests a month, but we have no limit to how many people we can message that are within our own audience already.

This makes messenger campaigns very valuable as you’re able to send 30-40 DM’s a day to your own existing audience.

But!

Keep in mind the number of interactions you have per day, this is where it can get tricky and where MOST people end up burning an account.

Another example:

If I was to make a campaign that has all the previous steps for new prospects:

1. Views a profile.

2. Likes a post.

3. Sends a connection request.

4. Sends a message / open inmail.

But I also had a campaign for my own existing audience that was:

1. Viewing a profile.

2. Sending a message. (30-40 a day).

This is 60-80 interactions a day, combine that with the 80 interactions from the other campaign we’re at 140-160 interactions. (Over the limit!)

It can be really easy to slip up when you’re running multiple campaigns at a time, so always make sure you’re under the limits.

P.S. These are the limits as of 6/20/2024, but they’re always changing. Normally whichever tool you use will announce it on their platform, but make sure to occasionally check for any new LinkedIn updates.

Important to note!

2. Targeting Ideas

Now we know the limits…

Let’s make the most of our limited connection requests.

We only have 400 connection requests to work with, so we want to ensure that these 400 people are our absolute top prospects.

I’d recommend scoring leads via Clay, and picking out the top prospects to be sent to LinkedIn. Simple enough? Kind of.

We only have 400 connection requests, and we can’t afford to waste them on profiles that aren’t that active. If they’re inactive on LinkedIn, it doesn’t matter what lead nurturing tactic we use to get them to accept our connection request because they most likely won’t see it.

So let’s get creative with Sales Navigator!

With Sales Navigator we have the ability to see if a profile has made a post within the last 30 days through this option here:

If they’ve posted within a month, they’re highly likely to be active on the platform. We’re aware not everybody posts on LinkedIn, but this option also counts shared posts. Campaigns tend to perform better when we target audiences with this option turned on.

Remember, don’t worry about volume here. We’re looking to niche down all the way to 400 prospects, be as specific as possible.

This isn’t the only way we can see if they’re active on the platform, we can also target various Linkedin posts / events that were made recently, as this is also an indicator they’re active on the platform.

There’s too many methods to cover in one guide, but that is just a couple ways you can ensure your prospect is actively using their LinkedIn profile.

We don’t have to focus on “active” prospects for Open Inmails as they only send to other premium LinkedIn members, if they’re paying for Linkedin they’re most likely using it.

3. Linkedin Copywriting

We know how to target our audience, and how many we can reach…

What do I say?

For a general rule on LinkedIn, never send a message that’s over a paragraph long. It’s simply just way too long, and isn’t even readable for the prospect.

We’ve all got a message on LinkedIn from somebody trying to sell us through DM’s, it appears as a huge block of text that is too easy to just close and forget about.

Here’s a couple examples of bad Linkedin copy:

It’s simply too long, even with the extended view on LinkedIn I have to scroll to read the entire message.

You should aim to keep your copy on Linkedin as short as possible, try and keep it to 3-4 sentences max.

A great way to bypass the need for a long message is through sending a Loom video in your copy.

This is one of the most effective outreach strategies on LinkedIn as it’s really eye-catching due to the video auto-embedding inside the inbox.

An example:

Our goal here is to create a conversation, the easiest way to do that is by keeping it super short and easy to respond too. If you try and use LinkedIn like it’s cold email, it’s not very effective.

We can do a deep-dive on LinkedIn copywriting, but the general rule is keep it short, focus on creating a conversation not selling, and use an eyecatching lead magnet. (Invite them to a webinar, send them a loom, offer to send through a free resource, etc).

A few eyecatching auto-embedding resources could be:

• A valuable loom video. (Loom auto embeds in the inbox).

• Sending a Linkedin post that’s relevant to them.

• A link to a Webinar hosted on Linkedin.

• Sending a LinkedIn newsletter via DM’s.

These all embed in the inbox and make your message more eye-catching then most.

4. Campaign Creation

We have the targeting, the copy, now lets make the campaign.

[1] Creating a campaign

💡

Since we’re using Lemlist we could have the power to make this a multichannel campaign and incorporate email steps on top of our Linkedin steps.

For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus purely on Linkedin steps.

• First step is to head over to Lemlist’s dashboard and press create campaign.

You can either choose to create the steps manually yourself or head over to their library and pick from previous successful templates. (https://www.lemlist.com/cold-email-templates)

I’d recommend creating the steps yourself as you will know what works best for your own audience, but feel free to use these templates as inspiration.

Next!

[2] Simple Steps / Making it appear "Human".

We’re looking to emulate a real human here, Linkedin is a very personal platform and it needs to feel real to get people to reply.

So take a moment to think how you would actually act if you were looking to outreach to this person manually. You’d probably view their profile to check them out before connecting with them.

You might choose to interact with their content, for example:

Maybe you like a post, view their profile, then send them a connection request. (This can all be automated with tools like Heyreach & Expandi).

To keep it super simple, here’s a few steps setup through Lemlist to appear like you’re constantly awaiting to hear their response, viewing their profile multiple times, and showing good initiative.

[3] Scheduling & Limits

Back again with the limits, but they’re the most important part of the campaign. Here’s how your campaign scheduling should look.

You can get creative with the timeframes you use. We’ve ran successful campaigns just blasting out 20 DM’s in the hours between 5 PM and 7 PM, or between 10 AM and 12 PM.

If you’re running a campaign for the first time and you’re unsure what works best, using the whole work day is the safest option. (9 AM - 6 PM)

Make sure to only run on weekdays, you can have results with adding in Weekends but you will have to play around with the limits to incorporate the two extra days. You should always have at least one break day to make it seem natural to Linkedin as well.

When you’re targeting an audience on Linkedin, since we only have 400 prospects to work with it’s good practice to make sure they’re in similar timezones.

Otherwise we could be wasting our effort by sending messages well outside of work hours. If we’re sending an email to a US prospect at 9 AM, it’ll be 11 PM in Australia.

Here’s an example of what your schedule should look like:

… And that’s it!

You should be able to successfully run a campaign on Linkedin now, while it can feel complicated at first don’t overthink it.

Think about the messages you receive on Linkedin, which ones do you reply too and which ones do you outright ignore. Stay well under the limits to start, and make sure to start slowly and figure out what works best.

5. Key Takeaways

1. Make sure you do not breach Linkedin’s limits, this is the most important takeaway.
   

2. Ensure the audience you’re attempting to reach are active on the platform, it’s important to not waste any of the limited 400 connections requests.
   

3. Keep your message super short & focus on creating a conversation rather than pushing them through a sales process. (Try and stick to 3-4 sentences max).
   

4. Incorporate an eye-catching lead magnet into your outreach. (This can be a valuable loom video, an invite to a webinar, a link to a valuable post, and more).
   

5. Make your campaign steps appear human, try and think what you would do normally if you was to see somebody on Linkedin and then choose to message them.
   

6. Schedule your campaign to operate within your audience’s timezone. (Really important, ideally we want to message them when they’re on the site so the inbox pops up automatically).
   

7. Now generate some leads through Linkedin!

6. Learn More

Hope this was helpful and will help you get started with LinkedIn outreach campaigns.

If you want to further improve your skills, we recently launched an Accelerator program in which we’ll teach you everything we know about Cold Outreach, Sales Automation and AI applied to Sales.

That is, the exact processes we use to deliver results for 40+ clients as a 7-Figure Outbound Agency.

You’ll find more information here: https://www.coldiq.com/accelerator

Happy prospecting!