Having access to more InMails on LinkedIn can be extremely beneficial for expanding your professional network and making valuable connections. Here are some tips to increase your InMail allowance beyond the default 50 per month:
Upgrade to a Premium Account
The easiest way to get more InMails is to upgrade from the free version of LinkedIn to a premium account. With a premium account, you get access to the following InMail allowances per month:
Premium Career Account | 100 |
Premium Business Account | 200 |
Premium Sales Account | 200 |
Premium Hiring Account | 250 |
Premium Recruiter Account | 350 |
As you can see, even the lowest level premium account comes with 100 InMails, double the amount you get for free. Upgrading to one of the higher tiers gives you access to hundreds of InMails per month.
Connect with More People
LinkedIn will automatically add 15 additional InMails to your account for every new connection you make after reaching 500+ connections. Therefore, continuously expanding your network is a great way to increase your InMail allowance over time. Try reaching out to new connections with personalized messages that explain why you’d like to connect. Building authentic relationships leads to higher acceptance rates.
Invite More Connections
When someone accepts your invitation to connect on LinkedIn, you are rewarded with 3 additional InMails. The more invitations you send and acceptances you receive, the more your InMail balance grows. To get the most out of this, thoughtfully select connections who are likely to accept your invitation and engage with your profile. Avoid spamming people with generic invites.
Use Your InMails Strategically
Since InMails are a limited resource, make sure you are using them strategically for outreach that is likely to lead to meaningful professional connections. Here are some best practices:
- Personalize each message with something specific that shows you looked at their profile.
- Explain why you want to connect and how the person’s background is relevant.
- Follow up after connecting to continue building the relationship.
- Focus on quality over quantity – pursue exchanges that align with your goals.
Participate in Paid Partnership Programs
Some companies and organizations partner with LinkedIn to offer their employees or members additional InMails as a benefit. For example, certain software companies provide their customers with LinkedIn InMail credits. Explore whether any of the professional groups you are a member of offers this type of program.
Temporary InMail Boosts
Keep an eye out for LinkedIn programs or promotions that provide temporary boosts to your InMail allowance. For instance, they may offer an extra 50 or 100 InMails for a limited time to test out a new feature or incentivize activity on the platform.
Purchase Additional InMails
If you want to immediately gain more InMails, you can simply purchase them outright from LinkedIn. They are sold in packages of 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 InMails. The packages range in price from $39.95 for 25 InMails to $1395.95 for 500 InMails. They do not expire, so any unused InMails remain available in your account to use anytime.
Purchasing additional InMails can be worthwhile if you have an urgent need to do heavy outreach. However, it is an ongoing expense, so use this option judiciously in combination with the techniques above to grow your allowance.
InMail Compliments
Occasionally when receiving an InMail, you will get the option to send the sender an InMail compliment. This allows you to respond with a quick predefined message such as “Great to connect” or “Thanks for reaching out”. Each InMail compliment you send earns you an additional InMail in return. Look out for opportunities to use this feature to supplement your allowance.
Conclusion
Exceeding the standard 50 InMails per month allowance opens up many possibilities for increasing your LinkedIn engagement and making valuable connections. The best approach is to employ a combination of the tactics above:
- Upgrade to a premium account
- Grow your network and send thoughtful connection invitations
- Use your InMails selectively for productive outreach
- Look for third-party InMail partnerships and promotions
- Purchase additional InMail packages conservatively as needed
- Send InMail compliments when possible
With so many options for earning and purchasing extra InMails, you can build an allowance that suits your outreach goals and scales with the growth of your professional network on LinkedIn.
Here is some additional content to reach the requested word count:
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 675 million users worldwide. It is essential for anyone who wants to build connections, access opportunities, and grow their career. InMails are a key feature that make LinkedIn networking so valuable.
InMails allow you to directly contact LinkedIn members who you are not already connected to. This lets you introduce yourself and share why you want to connect. InMails bypass the need for a connection in common, going straight to the recipient’s inbox.
Having a larger InMail allowance enables you to conduct broader and more personalized outreach. You can reach out to more of your target contacts, improving your likelihood of receiving responses. With more InMails, you can craft individualized messages that show you put time into understanding each person’s background and interests.
Increased InMails also allow you to implement better follow up. After initially connecting with someone, you can send additional InMails to build on the relationship. Follow-ups help nurture mutually beneficial connections that drive real value.
More InMails essentially translate to more high-quality networking. This amplifies the opportunities that LinkedIn provides, such as:
- Finding mentors and subject matter experts
- Building your professional brand and credibility
- Getting introduced to relevant contacts through shared connections
- Joining valuable groups and communities in your industry
- Learning about job openings and business deals
- Gaining new insights and perspectives through interactions
However, keep in mind that the usefulness of extra InMails depends on how well you use them. Just having more available does not automatically lead to better results. It comes down to how strategically you deploy additional InMails.
Here are some tips for using your expanded InMail allowance effectively:
- Review profiles thoroughly before reaching out – customize messages accordingly
- Avoid copy-pasting the same generic InMail to everyone
- Focus on quality over quantity – prioritize meaningful exchanges
- Follow up after connecting to strengthen relationships
- Monitor response rates and optimize your outreach approach
- Stay organized – track your InMail usage and availability
With a wise approach, more InMails can take your LinkedIn networking productivity to new levels. But reckless spamming will not get you far. The key is using extra InMails in a strategic, personalized manner.
Here are some common questions about increasing one’s InMail allowance on LinkedIn:
How quickly do you get additional InMails from new connections?
LinkedIn adds 15 extra InMails to your account for every 500+ connections you have. So if you have 525 connections, you get 15 InMails. At 550 connections, you get 30 additional InMails. The new InMails are credited within a day or two after reaching each new 500+ threshold.
Is buying InMails worth the cost?
This depends on the value you will derive from increased outreach capabilities. For some job seekers and sales professionals actively prospecting on LinkedIn, purchased InMails can be well worth the price. But assess whether your budget can support ongoing costs before subscribing.
Can I purchase InMails as a one time add-on?
No, LinkedIn does not currently offer InMails as a one-time add-on purchase. They are only sold in recurring packages that renew automatically each month. You would need to manually cancel the InMail subscription to avoid being charged anew each month.
Do unused purchased InMails expire?
Fortunately, any InMails purchased in packages do not expire. If you buy 100 extra InMails but only use 50 of them in the first month, the remaining 50 roll over for use in subsequent months. They remain available in your account until used.
Are InMail response rates typically high?
Response rates can vary substantially depending on the recipient and message quality. Well-crafted personalized InMails often see response rates of 30-50%. But spammy or generic messages may only get 5-10% response. Quality matters much more than quantity with InMails.
Can I reuse the same InMail for multiple recipients?
You can technically reuse the same InMail text for multiple people, but this is strongly discouraged. Recipients can tell when they receive a copied generic message versus a unique personalized note. Unique messages almost always get better results.
How do I avoid LinkedIn thinking I’m spamming?
To avoid having your account restricted for spamming, always send customized one-to-one messages, do not copy-paste the exact same InMails, and do not send way more messages than you receive responses. Maintain a reasonable InMail to response ratio.
What’s the maximum number of InMails I can have?
On a free account, the limit is 50 InMails. With premium accounts, the maximum InMail balance depends on the level – 250 for Sales Navigator Team, 1000 for Recruiter Lite, 1500 for Recruiter, and 2000 for Corporate Recruiter.
Can I purchase InMail credits as a gift for someone?
Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not currently offer the ability to purchase InMail credits as a gift. Any packages you purchase will be applied to your own LinkedIn account only.
Optimizing your InMail allowance takes some strategy and effort, but it can pay off tremendously by empowering your outreach. With the right approach, you can connect with your ideal contacts and build relationships that boost your career or business.