The art of the InMail. What a topic.
In this piece we tell you why you need to know about writing better LinkedIn InMails (even if you don’t think you do), and help you brush up your skills with 5 practical tips. Skip to the end if you want a simple example of how to put these tips into action. For free online recruiting software, click here to try Recruiteze!
Your Current LinkedIn InMail Tactics Aren’t Good Enough
Loved by recruiters and HR professionals, InMails are much maligned by approximately everyone else. Why? Because, spam.
It’s common knowledge that LinkedIn makes most of its money from selling specialized profiles for recruiters, so the InMail function makes good sense.
You’re giving recruiters and HR folk a direct line to potentially very senior candidates who might otherwise be inaccessible. That’s the carrot – the reason 51% of recruiters hold a LinkedIn Premium account of some description and are willing to pay through the nose for it (LinkedIn Recruiter comes in at nearly $1000/month, for example).
On the other hand, InMails were easy to take advantage of, in their early days, and plenty of recruiters saw fit to fire out endless identical messages to everyone with a keyword on their profile. Every non-recruiter on LinkedIn found themselves inundated with messages (“my biggest BIGGEST, BIGGEST frustration with LI now is spam. It has almost got out of control”, writes someone on Quora) and they’ve had enough. Getting people to open an InMail is increasingly difficult: they’re simply becoming immune to our charms.
At the same time LinkedIn is trying to combat the spam situation for fear of members storming out in high dudgeon, the recruiters (and their wallets) trailing after them.
To that end, they’ve introduced numerous policies designed to handcuff recruiters. Notably, the 2014 anti-spam policy, demanding Recruiter account users maintain a response rate of 13% of above. Fall below that and your use of the InMail function is severely curtailed, even if you’re paying for it.
And that’s why, friends, none of our existing tactics are good enough. Members are becoming increasingly unresponsive, and LinkedIn is demanding that our response rates go up.
LinkedIn InMails can still be a useful tool – but knowing how to get people to respond to them is more important than ever.
Which LinkedIn InMail Tactics SHOULD You Be Using?
I’m going to say the obvious thing first, to get it out of the way: don’t spam. Think personal, not generic. Don’t be the bad noughties equivalent of a door-to-door salesman.
With that in mind, let’s look at 5 practical tips to help you write better LinkedIn InMails.
Subject Lines
The first thing your “prospects” see, it’s fitting to address the subject line first.
Subject lines – whether for InMail or Email – are one of the most important components of a cold email. Copywriters and marketers have spent years perfecting and testing the science of the perfect subject line, so there’s a lot hiring professionals can learn from them.
I could write a whole piece about subject lines (and I probably will, at some point) but I’ll summarize:
- Keep it short: 6 – 10 word subject lines have the highest open rate (21%)
- Focus on the benefit – why should your prospect care?
- Be personal – personalised subject lines get up to 41.8% more opens
- Choose your words wisely – some perform a lot better than others
- Be specific – the reader should know what to expect inside the message
- Ask a question – questions force the reader to engage, pause and consider
Establish Commonality
If you’re a candidate getting a ‘cold’ InMail from a recruiter or HR professional, it’s easy to immediately write that off as spam, particularly if you’re not actively on the market.
The key is to build trust as quickly as possible, and the best way to build trust is to establish common ground. LinkedIn offer many features that identify points you have in common, so there’s really no excuse not to use them:
- Connections in common – mention your common acquaintances; even ask for introductions where appropriate.
- Groups in common – according to LinkedIn, you’re 21% more likely to get an InMail response from someone you share a Group with.
- Companies in common – a response is 27% more likely from someone within a company you used to work for, according to the same LinkedIn research. That’s a big competitive advantage!
- Education in common – make sure to mention any schools or universities you both attended; an easy conversation starter.
- Company followers – you’re a whopping 81% more likely to get a response from prospects who already follow your company, say LinkedIn
- Other commonalities – Failing all of the above, comb through their profile (or search them on Google or Facebook) for an interest or activity you both share, and leverage that to create a connection.
Getting the conversation started is the hardest part of sending a cold email, and establishing commonality can help you get a foot in the door. It’s a no-brainer.
Focus On The Benefit
A great subject line and a shared interest might get your prospect to read your email… but if you don’t quickly and clearly define what you’re offering and why they should care, you won’t get a response.
Professional copywriters have a lesson to teach us here: focus on the benefits. This will be familiar advice for anyone with sales training, too: features are fine, but benefits sell.
What do I mean by this? I mean, don’t focus on what your offer *is*