Introduction
Linkedin inmails, the feature Linkedin has found to counteract emails. First of all, if you don’t have any premium subscriptions, don’t look for them – you don’t have any. In fact, this feature is only available to paying users. The aim of this article is to explain how and when inmails can be useful.
What are inmails on Linkedin?
Inmails on LinkedIn, distinct from regular messages, are a preferred communication tool for users with premium accounts. These special messages allow you to directly contact LinkedIn users who are not in your direct network, without needing their e-mail or phone number, which is particularly useful for recruiters looking to reach potential candidates.
Unlike conventional messages, which are limited to first-degree connections, inmails enable second- and third-degree contacts to be reached without requiring a prior connection request. This gives you greater reach and makes it easier to contact prospects or professionals who are not part of your immediate network.
Inmails are a paid feature of LinkedIn, available through various premium subscriptions. Each subscription offers a specific number of inmails credits per month, ranging from 5 to 150 credits depending on the type of subscription. These credits are used to send e-mails.
Beyond their extended reach, inmails have higher open and response rates than traditional emails, making them particularly effective for lead generation and prospecting. They can also be automated with the help of specialized tools, enabling mass e-mailing without having to write them individually.
As we’ve just seen, inmails are very limited per paying user, so it’s very important to consider when it makes more sense to use inmails rather than a classic connection request.
How and why use inmails?
Inmails on LinkedIn are particularly useful for contacting people outside your direct network. This tool offers several advantages:
- Extended accessibility: inmails allow you to contact people even if you don’t have their email addresses or telephone numbers. This comes in handy when you only have the first and last name of the person you want to contact, enabling direct access via their LinkedIn profile.
- Messages to all members: With a premium account, you can send messages to all LinkedIn members, regardless of their account type. This considerably extends your communication reach on the platform.
- Personalization: Inmails offer the possibility of personalizing your messages, which is crucial for adapting your communication to recipients’ preferences, or for effectively presenting your company’s needs.
- Use of templates and statistical tracking: LinkedIn offers templates to make it easier and quicker to write inmails. What’s more, the platform provides statistical data to track the effectiveness of your messages, offering feedback on recipient engagement.
In practical terms, we use inmails as a last resort, since this is the lever with the fewest credits available. Here are our steps:
The particularity of inmails lies in 2 aspects:
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There is no network limit. Whether you’re in the 2nd or 3rd network, you can send a Linkedin message using inmail.
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An inmail, like an email, has a title/subject. This allows you to have a greater impact.
Inmails are therefore another acquisition channel that is underestimated by many companies. It’s a powerful feature, but it has several disadvantages.
Our advice on inmails
As we’ve seen, inmails can be a formidable weapon in surgical prospecting. However, the fact that the prospect doesn’t need to be in your network to respond is a real disadvantage. At first glance, we might think that this is no big deal. But you lose all interest in how Linkedin is built.
When your prospect joins your 1st network, he’ll see all your content, comments and likes on Linkedin. It’s precisely this proximity that makes Linkedin one of the channels of choice for both prospecting and recruitment. With MirrorProfiles, you can increase your prospecting volume tenfold, and consequently the network reach of your Linkedin accounts.
In addition to the distance that inmail causes, you have few inmails per subscription. 50 for a 100-euro Sales Nav subscription. That’s an expensive message! Especially if your prospect doesn’t respond.
The best strategy is still to make a connection request. Optimizing your acceptance rate is one thing, but you’ll never reach 100%. Take advantage of MirrorProfiles to make connection requests with various Linkedin profiles, always reusing those that didn’t accept the connection request from your previous Linkedin profile.
Here’s how it works in practice:
If after 3/4 different Linkedin profiles, with different branding, the person doesn’t accept you, it’s probably because they don’t use Linkedin, so using inmail won’t help. On the other hand, you can enhance this person’s value by contacting them by email.
Conclusion
Inmails on LinkedIn are the platform’s innovative answer to traditional emails, offering a privileged means of communication for users with a premium subscription. This tool enables you to contact users outside your immediate network, without requiring their personal contact details. Unlike traditional messages, inmails give access to more extensive contacts, with higher open and response rates, making this tool particularly effective for prospecting and lead generation.
However, inmails have their limits. Access is reserved for premium accounts, with a limited number of credits per month. So it’s essential to use them wisely. A recommended strategy is to prioritize conventional connection requests before resorting to inmails, optimizing the chances of these requests being accepted. This strategy, made possible by MirrorProfiles, allows you to increase your return rates while keeping Linkedin’s primary interest: the network.
This approach helps to maintain interest and engagement on LinkedIn, while maximizing the use of limited email resources. In short, although powerful, inmails must be used with discretion as part of a communication and prospecting strategy on LinkedIn.
