No, LinkedIn InMail credits do not roll over from one month to the next. Any unused InMail credits will expire at the end of each month. There is no way to carry over or accumulate unused credits to use in future months.
What are LinkedIn InMail Credits?
LinkedIn InMail credits allow you to directly contact other LinkedIn members outside of your network. With a basic free LinkedIn account, you can only message people who are in your 1st degree network. InMail credits let you bypass this limitation and message anyone on LinkedIn, even if they’re not connected to you.
InMail credits are a paid feature on LinkedIn. You have to purchase them as part of LinkedIn premium subscriptions like Premium Career, Premium Business, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter Lite. The number of credits you get per month depends on the level of subscription you choose.
For example, with Premium Career you get 5 InMail credits per month. With Sales Navigator, you get 25 credits. And with Recruiter Lite, you get 50 credits. The higher level subscription plans include more credits because they are geared towards sales professionals and recruiters who need to reach out to a lot of people.
Why InMail Credits Expire Each Month
LinkedIn designed InMail credits to expire each month so that you continue paying for the feature regularly through your subscription. If credits rolled over indefinitely, you could just purchase a subscription once and accumulate enough credits over time without having to renew your paid account.
By putting an expiration on unused credits each month, LinkedIn incentivizes users to actively use their credits regularly to get the most value. It also ensures continued revenue for them through monthly or annual subscription renewals.
Strategies to Use InMail Credits Each Month
Since InMail credits don’t roll over, you want to make sure to use your full allotment of credits every month. Here are some tips to help you maximize your InMails:
- Set a reminder to use credits at end of month – Set a calendar reminder for the last week of the month to check your account and use any credits you have left.
- Track your usage throughout the month – Periodically check how many credits you have used vs. remaining. Aim to pace yourself to use them all.
- Have a list of targets ready – Maintain a list of LinkedIn members you want to contact via InMail so you can easily reach out when you have credits.
- Use credits for introductions – If you see someone who would be a great contact for someone in your network, use InMail to introduce them.
- Follow up on conversations – If you had a good conversation with a new connection, use an InMail for follow up if you have credits.
- Send relevant articles – If you come across an article or piece of content that would interest a particular person, use a credit to send it to them.
What Happens to Unused InMail Credits?
If you fail to use all of your allocated InMail credits by the end of the month, any remaining credits simply disappear. There is no way to recoup or roll over those credits for future use. They are forfeited back to LinkedIn.
This is why it’s important to proactively use your credits each month. Set goals for how many people you want to contact and put systems in place to ensure you hit that target and exhaust your credits.
Don’t let InMails go to waste when you’ve already paid for them through your LinkedIn subscription fees. With some planning and effort, you can maximize their value and get your money’s worth from the service.
Can You Get More InMail Credits?
If you use up all your InMail credits before the month ends, you cannot purchase additional credits a la carte. The only way to get more InMail credits during the month is to upgrade to a higher LinkedIn subscription plan.
For example, if you were on Premium Career and used up your 5 monthly credits, you would need to upgrade to Sales Navigator to get 25 more credits immediately. There is no way to just buy 5 or 10 extra credits.
So before upgrading your account, evaluate if you really need ongoing extra credits each month or if you just had a one-off busy month. Don’t get locked into a higher subscription tier and fee if you won’t use the extra credits regularly.
Can You Share or Gift InMail Credits?
No, LinkedIn does not allow users to transfer, give, or share InMail credits. The credits are tied to the individual user account that purchased the subscription. You cannot combine credits from separate accounts or gift credits to other users.
This restriction is to prevent users from sharing paid subscription benefits with others for free. Again, it comes back to LinkedIn wanting each user to pay for access to InMail credits via their own subscription plan.
What Happens if You Cancel LinkedIn Premium?
If you downgrade or cancel your paid LinkedIn subscription, you will immediately lose access to any unused InMail credits remaining in your account at the time of cancellation.
For example, if you had 10 credits left this month but decided to cancel your Premium account today, all 10 of those credits would be voided and unavailable to you going forward.
So if you are planning to cancel LinkedIn Premium, be sure to use up all your available InMails first. Otherwise you are throwing money away on credits you’ve paid for but won’t be able to use after canceling.
InMail Credit Usage Reports
LinkedIn does provide InMail credit usage reports to paid account holders. You can find these reports in the “Communications” section of your account settings.
The InMail usage report shows how many credits you used over the past 12 months and your monthly average. This can help you analyze your messaging patterns and fine-tune your approach to optimize your credit expenditure.
Review the usage reports before your monthly credits reset to see if you have any remaining. Identify what target members you should reach out to in order to avoid any credits being forfeited when the month ends.
Tools to Manage InMail Credits
There are third-party browser extensions and tools available that can help you track your remaining InMail credits and send messages in bulk. Examples include:
- SalesMessage – Chrome extension to manage InMails
- Lusha – Browser extension that includes InMail tracking
- Mailshake – Tool for automating and tracking InMail outreach campaigns
- Mixmax – Email productivity platform with LinkedIn integration
- Outreach.io – Software with sequences and analytics for InMail
These tools pull your latest InMail credit balance automatically and let you schedule and manage messages in a streamlined way. That helps ensure you efficiently use all your credits each month.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn InMail credits expire at the end of each month and do not roll over.
- To maximize value, strive to use all of your monthly credits.
- You can’t purchase extra credits mid-month – only by upgrading your account.
- Credits cannot be shared, gifted, transferred between accounts.
- Canceling Premium will invalidate any unused credits immediately.
- Leverage InMail usage reports and tools to optimize your strategy.