Our LinkedIn DM rules for your lead generation
This article is not about marketing, it is about how we work with LinkedIn DMs to generate leads and start conversations with the people our clients want to do business with.
Most outreach fails because it feels automated, robotic, lacks context and is ill-timed.
Your Lead Generation has successfully incorporated LinkedIn in our human focused lead generation strategies by following 3 simple rules:
3 golden rules of LinkedIn DMs
Rule 1
- If you wouldn’t say it to another human, either at a networking event, or while queueing for a coffee don’t type it in a message. No We’s. No menus. No “we provide xyz”.
- Ask one small, relevant question. In practice, rather than: Hi Fred Thanks for connecting… we provide xyz services… instead we start with Good morning Fred how do you currently manage your XXXXXXX – is it inhouse or outsourced? kind regards [yourname]
- Short, human, relevant answerable in one line (and even one word) question.
Rule 2
- If no response we have a couple of further nudges before we park it and move on. We don’t need to be a pest, this is only one part of a much larger human to human outreach campaign.
- The flow is driven by their response. Eg: If they reply “outsourced / in-house / mixed our reply is: Thanks Fred. Who’s best to speak to about the contract and/or when do you usually review suppliers? Don’t want to be a pest but it would be great to see what value we can add when the time is right. [yourname]
- Reply, stay polite, positive, interested and unpushy.
- We don’t launch into all the other services that they might be interested in we are just introducing, seeing if there is any initial common ground and response. We have started a process and we can come back with other approaches/services later.
Rule 3
- See Rule 1.
LinkedIn DM’s roll in human focused lead generation
Outreach is like herding cats, no loud huge movements just confident nudges to be there when they are ready. Uncover initial intelligence, build familiarity and have the tenacity to remain on the catwalk so they can see us when they pop back into view. Our aim is to get the first 3 key pieces of intelligence which are usually something around current partners (or is it all inhouse), buying window (timescale) and the key decision maker/person of influence.
We are not using the LinkedIN DM as a one trick pony. It is part of an orchestrated cold outreach campaign which consists of lots of links that we are trying to join up. LinkedIn is a networking site not an instant messaging. Only a minority of users check daily, so DMs can sit unseen. We use LinkedIn to open doors and build credibility, then email and phone to create a timely conversation. That mix gets faster answers without being pushy and also builds the background familiarity/recall.
Lead gen is messy and busy but our basic starting point for LinkedIn outreach is that the first DM must do 3 things:
- One job: spark a reply (not explain everything).
- One ask: simple, binary, low effort.
- One outcome: learn some part of the 3 key pieces of intelligence we want.
We come back to all prospects at a later date about other services or from a different angle. Even if they don’t reply our simple conversational style will feel human not canned.
6 guidelines that help us get that golden first response:
- One sentence, one question no friction – no we’s allowed we are only interested in them.
- Binary options eg in-house or outsourced? Our one questions is crafted so that a one-word reply is fine and still helps us.
- Timing led as this intel helps both parties? Don’t want to be a pest we can now get in touch at the right time.
- Right person led: If not you, who is best?
- Plain English, their language no brochures or PDFs
- Continue away from LinkedIn be a human asap
What the big guys are saying about Linkedin usage
LinkedIn reach is big but lumpy. Which means lots of members and potential reach but attention isn’t steady so replies aren’t regular and consistent. LinkedIn report on members not active users and industry trackers claim 16% of users check daily and roughly 50% monthly with average mobile time of 51 mins a month so plenty of our connections wont see a DM for days. (https://datareportal.com/essential-linkedin-stats https://metricool.com/linkedin-statistics/ https://buffer.com/resources/linkedin-statistics/).
To summarise what that means for us in our lead generation work:
- many don’t check daily,
- logins bunch around events (new post, job change),
- usage varies by role/sector so replies aren’t regular and consistent. For instance recruiters/sales live there; ops/MDs dip in.
- Lots have push alerts off; DMs get seen when they next log in.
- When they do log in, feed/notifications steal their focus (the dastardly power of the algorithm)
- Day/time, month-end, holidays mean variable visibility.
- How knowing that guides our work:
- Treat DMs as asynchronous. Don’t expect same-day replies.
- Design early LinkedIn outreach purely for a reply. One simple question; no pitch.
- Orchestrate channels with multiple complimentary nudges.
- Be a relentlessly consistent human being. At the end of all those touchpoints is a person and don’t forget that.
In summary LinkedIn is brilliant for context, credibility and warm starts and getting that person to person connection. All that being said it is a conversation starter not the whole thing and you are leaving a lot to chance and hopium without an orchestrated human approach with the phone and email to really build business relationships with those people that we ultimately want to do business with.
And finally, if there is no success at some stage you need to decide that is because no one is interested in buying what you sell or maybe how you are selling it. With our human approach which validates markets message and positioning very quickly its crucial feedback we get for you so we can help you build the best possible sales process and converting pipeline.
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