LinkedIn InMail Explained: Your Guide to Effective Communication

Network with high-quality connections by learning to use LinkedIn’s InMail Messages.

LinkedIn InMail Explained: Your Guide to Effective Communication
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One of the best ways to network with high-quality connections is by using LinkedIn’s InMail Messages. Learn how to use it properly.
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LinkedIn InMail Explained: Your Guide to Effective Communication
Leveraging business opportunities on LinkedIn is a logical decision for recruiters, consultants, entrepreneurs, founders, and job seekers.
One of the best ways to network on LinkedIn is by using LinkedIn’s InMail Messages. These messages allow you to reach high-quality connections who work at companies you're interested in.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about LinkedIn InMails.
Need help with crafting LinkedIn InMails?
Let Taplio AI simplify your life with a wealth of LinkedIn post ideas designed to expand your network.

InMail’s Technical Details

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Note: you need a LinkedIn Premium Account to send out personalized messages. This article teaches you everything about the different types of Premium subscriptions.
As mentioned, a LinkedIn InMail Message lets you communicate with people who aren’t part of your 1st-grade network.
Once you have a LinkedIn Premium account, every time you browse to a 2nd or 3rd-grade connection, you’ll see the ‘Message’ button at the top of your profile.
Pressing this button will open a widget to set a personalized message including the option to add a subject line.
Perfect to stand out in the busy inbox of the recipient.
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On the other hand, this is how the recipient receives the InMail message.
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And, for the record, these are private messages, straight into the inbox of the recipient.
This brings us to the next step:

How many InMails messages can you send?

As we stated before, LinkedIn InMail messages are a premium feature, coming with the LinkedIn Premium subscription.
The number of InMail message credits is based on your subscription type:
  • LinkedIn Premium Career: 3 InMail messages per month
  • LinkedIn Premium Business: 15 InMail credits per month
  • LinkedIn Premium Recruiter Lite: 30 InMail messages per month.
  • LinkedIn Premium Sales Navigator (Team, Enterprise): 20-50 InMail credits per month
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For a full breakdown of the different subscription types and their features, head over here. Or here for LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

How to write a good InMail message?

Sending a LinkedIn InMail message is basically doing cold outreach, so you want to be mindful of a few things to improve your response rate:
  • A direct, informative subject line helps capture the attention of the recipient.
  • In the body of the InMail, avoid lengthy job descriptions or URLs.
  • Leverage the InMail message as a conversation starter.
  • Adopt a conversational, enthusiastic tone.
  • Use clear wording and get to the point.
On average, simpler and more direct InMail messages tend to produce a better response rate.
So, don’t overcomplicate your messages.
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Are you a recruiter? Candidates are more likely to respond to shorter messages. As your InMail gets longer, the character counter will change color and encourage you to keep your message concise.
It’s important to note that InMail messages have a character limit of 200 characters in the required subject line and up to 1900 characters in the body.
In the process of writing your InMail message, a dynamic character counter shows in the bottom right section of the widget to display how many characters you've entered.

Part 2: InMail Prices

InMail prices are tied to your LinkedIn Premium account. LinkedIn has four plans and each of them focuses on a different audience:
  • Job Seekers
  • Recruiters
  • Salespeople
  • …and companies.
The price ranges from $29.99 to $59.99 per month for job seekers. Sales professionals pay $79.99 per month and recruiters are priced at $119.95 per month. Choosing to pay annually comes with a slight discount.
The various Premium subscriptions are:
  • Career: This helps you get hired and get ahead in your professional life
  • Business: This helps to get detailed business insights and expand your business.
  • Recruiter Lite: This helps you find and hire quality talent.
Type of subscription
Use case
Price per month
InMail messages
Premium Career
Jobseekers
$29.99
3
Premium Business
Entrepreneurs/founders
$59.99
15
Sales Navigator
Sales professionals
$79.99
20-50
Recruiter Lite
Recruiters/HR
$119.95
30
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It’s good to know that you can try LinkedIn Premium for free for one month, to explore its features and make a better decision if LinkedIn Premium is worth it.

Part 3: Execution

The majority of LinkedIn would agree with the following statement:
“Most InMail messages are too spammy and generic.”
They typically lack personalization and are often not relevant to the person receiving the message. As a result, LinkedIn users – and potential candidates – ignore most of the InMail messages they receive.
Good news for those who do a better job at sending appropriate LinkedIn InMail messages.

LinkedIn InMails for Recruiters

For recruiters, in particular, LinkedIn InMails are essential for doing a good job.
In their search for the perfect candidates for many job openings, they scout and sift through countless LinkedIn profiles. It wouldn’t make sense for recruiters to have to connect with possible candidates first before they can initiate a conversation.
Yet, it isn’t a wise decision to send out thousands of messages and hopes for the best.
Here are a few things you can do as a recruiter to increase your chances to hire the right candidate for the job:
  • Don’t copy and paste the job description or URL to the job post.
  • Start a dialog about their career path and goals.
  • Give them a reason to reply by asking them for advice, opinions, and referrals.
  • Leverage the candidate’s slide-in profile to reference relevant experience easily.
  • Focus on finding out their availability and interest in a job or networking opportunity.
A good recruiter has read their profile upfront, so they already know if the candidate is qualified. Sending the right InMail message then becomes a piece of cake.

Using InMails messages within Taplio

As aforementioned, LinkedIn will only allow you to send direct messages to your 1st-degree connections.
Yet, using the InMail messages, you’re able to reach out to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections in Taplio as well. head to the tab ‘Engage’ and click "Use Premium InMails" to craft your message.
The process is identical to crafting a direct message.
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Summary

Even 20 years after its origin, LinkedIn has proven to be the best platform to connect with professionals, colleagues, and other experts in your niche. With LinkedIn InMails messages, you unlock the enormous potential LinkedIn has to offer.
Being able to message anyone or search for anyone will help you maximize your outreach efforts, no matter your situation.
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You never know when a new networking connection leads to high-value opportunities down the road. With Taplio, you can create your own list and start engaging with them.

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👉 Try Taplio for free!
Flavio

Written by

Flavio

Writer @ Taplio

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