If you’re getting started on LinkedIn, or you want to grow your professional network, then this article is for you! I will show you how to master the LinkedIn connect message, this is the most important part of your prospecting strategy, because it will be the first impression that you will give to your leads. 🤓
The connection note can either make it or break it! 👈
That’s why we did a quick case study to know which connect message to use.
Here’s our ultimate guide to know all the connection request templates that actually work and our full guide on prospecting. ⚡️
How to connect on LinkedIn?
Sending connection requests might sound complicated at first… who to send it to? What should I put in my request note? When should I send it? And so on! 🙊
Well, you’re in luck my friend because I’m here to answer all those questions, and more!
Often when you’re scrolling down your LinkedIn feed, you might come across a profile that looks interesting, and you want to add this person to your connections. 🧐
Instinctively, you will follow these steps to connect :
- Go to their profile (this counts as a visit, and thus they will receive a notification),
- And from there you just have to click the “Connect” button.
- After, you can either send the request with note, you have to click “Add a note” or without note, you have to simply click “Send”.
- If you click “Add a note”, then you will have an optional invitation message with 300 characters to use. Then click “Send” when you’re done :
Great, now you know how to connect on LinkedIn ! 👏
Here’s an article to know more about LinkedIn messaging, and how to use those 300 characters wisely. 💡
Do you have to send a note with the connection request on LinkedIn?
As we saw earlier, you have the option to either send a LinkedIn invitation to connect with or without a note. 🤔
Which is the best way to go then?
Actually, we made a statistical study on this topic last year, and the results showed that you don’t need a note to have a good acceptance rate. Instead, things like the job title and the length of the connect message were the determining factors! 👀
So, it’s up to you, however it’s always nice to see a new message with your name, from someone who wants to connect with you. 😍
I would say that you can try to send 50/50, meaning send half of your connection requests without note and half with a note, and do an A/B testing to see which campaign works best. 💯
The only thing to keep in mind, is that if you’re going to send a standard cliché note, then it’s better to leave it empty! If you send messages, make sure it’s a personalized message, or don’t do it!
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Case study : LinkedIn connect message
Don’t have the time to test this yourself? 🕒
Good news is that I’ve already tested it for you! 💃
This case study, to know which LinkedIn connect message works best, was performed on a 300 prospects sample. ✍️ The Waalaxy campaigns to connect lasted roughly 1 week, and they were launched from 6 different accounts :
- 3 different job titles,
- 3 male profiles,
- 3 female profiles,
- 50 requests sent per profile,
- 25 sent with invitation message A (good),
- 25 sent with invitation message B (bad).
The 3 different job titles were : SEO copywriter (like yours truly), Business Developer and Founder. I scrapped similar profiles to connect with those, in France. 📍
As I explained earlier, factors like job titles can have an impact on your acceptance rate. 💬 However, in this study, we focused more on the content of the connection messages itself using the Waalaxy app. 👇
LinkedIn invitation message examples
These are the 6 templates I used, in order to send connection requests from each profile.
Half of the prospects were contacted with a “good message” (A) and the other half with a “bad message” (B). Each connect message was sent two times, once from the male equivalent profile, and once from the female equivalent profile. 👫
Here’s an article, with the dos and don’ts of writing prospecting messages on LinkedIn. 👈
3 Bulletproof templates :
Following those principles, I wrote templates for message A (one for each profile type/job title). ✔️
A1:
Hello {{firstname}},
I came across your profile and was very interested in your experience in SEO copywriting.How about we get in touch? I share a lot of content related to prospecting on LinkedIn that I think you might find useful.
A2:
Hello {{firstname}},
I saw that you are the Founder at {{companyname}}. I’m looking to connect with entrepreneurs like you and me, to better understand the challenges in your field.
A3:
Hi {{firstname}},
It seems we both work in Business development. I would love to connect with successful people in sales to talk more about this subject, and help each other find leads. 😀
Are you interested in discussing a bit further?
I look forward to adding you to my network!
3 Bad templates :
On the other hand, I wrote templates for the messages B, aka the “don’ts”. ❌
B1:
Hey {{firstname}}, how are you?
I see we have a few interests in common, so I would love to add you to my network!
B2:
Hi {{firstname}}, I would love to connect with you!
I have a question for you, if you don’t mind. Where do you find most of your customers at {{companyname}}?
B3:
Hello,
I saw that you were in the middle of developing your network on LinkedIn.
At Waalaxy, we develop tools that can help you generate more leads, especially through the automation of your actions on LinkedIn.
Would you like to know more?
At a first glance, you might think that there is nothing particularly wrong with those “bad messages”, right? 🤷
Well, let me explain to you exactly what the problems of those invitation messages are, versus the “good messages”. (I put it in quotes, because you might need to do a little testing of your own, in order to define what a good connect message for your target audience is!) 🎯
Comparison #1:
Message B1 is the most cliché of all cliché connection messages! 🤢 Haha, please stop using this one. It’s completely overrated, even though it has personalization at the beginning, this is a connection message that your prospects will receive on average 100 times a day in their inbox. So, your connection request will probably get declined. 🙅
Try being more specific with your intentions to connect. As you can see in message A1, I mention their experience and their field of work, this shows that you did a little research to reach out to them specifically, and that it’s not a random connection request. 🏹
Comparison #2:
Alright, message B2 has a lot of personalization too, but… it’s a little too aggressive! 🙉 Remember that this is the first time “meeting” this person, and right away you want them to give you all the details of their activity. I don’t think so!
Take it step by step. 🚶 First, find common ground with the people you’re trying to connect with, and then you can ask more specific questions. Like in message A2, I mention that we share the same interests, and that I want to understand the challenges of their field. This shows that you’re genuinely interested in connecting with them. 🙏
Comparison #3:
You guessed it! 👍 Message B3 doesn’t have any personalization at all, and that’s a big no, no. The approach is super vague, and right away you’re talking about a service or product that you want to sell them. Don’t be so obvious! 🤐
On the contrary, message A3 has a lighter tone using emojis for example, and stroking their ego! 😏 This is an important notion to remember, the fact that you’re praising their work first, will make them be more open to discussion. The idea is to help each other, and grow your social-network with valuable connections. 💎
Results of the campaigns
Let’s find out! 👂
The theories of the campaigns I did were as follows :
- The LinkedIn job title matters, 🏅
- The content of the message matters, 💌
- The gender of the sender matters. 👫
For the SEO copywriter profiles, here are the results :
- Female profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
- Male profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
Outcomes : In this case, the gender was not relevant for the results of the acceptance rates, around 20% using the “bad message” and around 30% using the “good message” for both profiles. So that means +10% using the latter, meaning the content of the message itself does matter! ✅
For the Business Developer profiles, here are the results :
- Female profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
- Male profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
Outcomes : In this case, the gender did matter! 👀 This might be because people are often apprehensive of sales profiles approaching them, and being a woman might be more reassuring than the male counterpart, who often tends to be a little more persistent or straightforward. 🤫
The “bad message” coming from a female profile got 33% acceptance rate and the one coming from a male profile got only 16%, same for the “good message” it got 41% from a female profile vs. 25% from a male profile, which is roughly -50% less acceptance rate based on gender only! 😱
Once again, there is around +10% acceptance rate when using the “good message” for both profiles, confirming the importance of a good connection message. 🔊
For the Founder profiles, here are the results :
- Female profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
- Male profile, using the “bad message” vs. the “good message”,
Outcomes : Finally, the results were identical for the male profile when using the good or the bad message, but for the female profile it got -6% less acceptance rate using the bad one. Both profiles, got around 30% acceptance rate overall, meaning that the job title in this case was the determining factor for both! ⚖️
Conclusion
To sum up, connections with a note on LinkedIn can be helpful if used correctly! 👌
The case study, performed above, showed that the content of the LinkedIn connect message was the most important thing! ♨️ But for some profiles, the gender and the job position were decisive factors as well, so you need to adapt your speech according to your target. 🏁
Consequently, if you don’t take the time to prepare the connection messages properly, it will not only be a waste of time but also, it will be useless. Instead, you can get the same acceptance rates by sending empty invitations. 🤯
Why do it, then?
Well, it shows that you took the time to connect at a more personal level with your colleagues, with a recruiter, with potential prospects. It’s part of your image, and if your idea to grow your LinkedIn network is to have qualitative 1st degree connections, then this is the way to go! 🔥
Here’s an article with more tips on how to increase your acceptance rates. 📈
FAQ Linked connect message
How to send LinkedIn connect message?
Earlier, we learned how to send a message to connect on LinkedIn, and it’s very easy, and it’s optional too! 🤗
You just have to go to the profile of the prospect you want to connect with, and click on “Connect” in their LinkedIn profile page. Then, send them the request with or without note.
As easy as that! 💥
How to write a networking message on LinkedIn?
To recap a bit, here are some guidelines to keep in mind when writing a LinkedIn connect message:
- Define your audience before sending a request,
- Be original with your approach,
- Show real empathy to stand-out,
- Keep the conversation going.
First, search results of profiles that match your target audience, and find things in common with them, it could be mutual interests or connections. 🤝 Then, start sending requests little by little, to avoid getting reported or declined on LinkedIn.
Try to personalize your connection notes and make them as original as possible. Keep a friendly tone, use emojis 🤩 for example, address to them by their first-name or company, so they know that you’re trying to reach them personally.
Once they accept your request, keep the conversation going politely, by using a sequence of followup messages to get to know them a bit more, before attempting to give them a demo call of your product, etc. 😨
Slowly but surely!
How to mass message on LinkedIn?
Surely, sending a LinkedIn connect message is easy after all! But, you might be thinking that it can be a bit time-consuming, and… you’re right! 🧐
That’s why we have created the perfect tool for LinkedIn automation.
Let me introduce to you Waalaxy, our life-saver. 🙌 You will be able to save time and money, by programming sequences on LinkedIn to send hundreds of connection requests and messages to your contacts, but with only half the effort!
