Connecting with other professionals on LinkedIn is an important part of building your professional network and advancing your career. However, making meaningful connections requires engaging in two-way communication. If you reach out to someone on LinkedIn and don’t hear back, how long should you wait before following up or moving on?
The factors that determine LinkedIn response time
There are several factors that influence how quickly someone will respond to a LinkedIn message:
- Their notification settings – Do they have notifications turned on for LinkedIn messages? If not, they may not see your message right away.
- How often they check LinkedIn – Some people check LinkedIn multiple times per day. Others only log in occasionally.
- Their current workload – If they are very busy with work/life demands, responding to LinkedIn messages may not be a top priority.
- The depth of your existing connection – People are more likely to prioritize responding to someone they know well vs a random stranger.
- The complexity of your request – A short, simple ask may get a quick reply. Longer, more demanding asks tend to need more response time.
There is no one-size-fits-all timeframe for LinkedIn responses. The factors above mean response times can range from within minutes to multiple weeks. However, there are some general benchmarks you can use.
LinkedIn response time benchmarks
Here are some typical LinkedIn response times to use as a gauge:
| Type of LinkedIn Contact | Typical Response Time |
|---|---|
| Someone you know well professionally | Within 24 hours |
| A casual business acquaintance | 2-4 days |
| Someone you have limited or no prior contact with | 1 week or more |
| Influencer/executive outside your network | May receive no direct response |
For people you don’t know well, or requests that require more time/effort to respond to, you may be better off not expecting an immediate reply.
Following up on LinkedIn
If you haven’t heard back on LinkedIn within what you feel is a reasonable timeframe, when and how should you follow up? Here are some best practices:
- Wait at least 2-3 days before your first follow up. Avoid pestering someone who may just need more response time.
- Send your follow up message from the same message thread to keep the conversation connected.
- Keep your follow up simple and casual. A brief “Hi [name], just wanted to make sure you received my previous message” is sufficient.
- Only follow up 1-2 times. If there’s still no response, move on and refocus your efforts elsewhere.
When to cut your losses
While following up is appropriate, you also don’t want to harass someone who may intentionally be ignoring your message for any number of reasons. Here are some signs it may be time to stop following up and move on:
- You’ve followed up 1-2 times with no response.
- Weeks have passed since your initial outreach.
- The person has viewed your profile or updated their own LinkedIn but has not responded to you.
- Your request was very demanding or self-serving.
- You don’t have a strong existing professional connection.
Rather than continuing to pursue non-responsive contacts, focus your energy on new outreach to more receptive prospects.
Expanding your network
Don’t get discouraged if people don’t respond on LinkedIn. Focus on volume when doing outreach to expand your network. The more people you contact, the more likely you are to get some positive responses. Here are some tips for getting the highest response rates:
- Personalize each connection request with a custom message.
- Focus on people you share common backgrounds and interests with.
- Make the value proposition clear – how connecting can help both parties.
- Make requests simple and casual – don’t overthink them.
- Follow up tactfully to remind people of pending requests.
With an effective outreach approach, you can build a thriving LinkedIn network with people who genuinely engage.
Key takeaways
Here are some final tips to keep in mind when waiting for LinkedIn responses:
- How quickly someone responds depends on many factors including notification settings, workload, and depth of existing connection.
- For casual acquaintances, wait 2-4 days before following up.
- Only follow up 1-2 times to avoid pestering people.
- If no response after a few follow ups and weeks of waiting, move on.
- Don’t take non-responses personally, just refocus efforts on other prospects.
- With an effective outreach approach, you can build a strong LinkedIn network over time.
Patience and persistence pay off when connecting on LinkedIn. Apply these best practices to expand your professional network efficiently.
Conclusion
Building an engaged network on LinkedIn takes time and effort. How long you should wait for responses depends on many contextual factors, including existing connections, outreach approaches, follow-up tactics, and when to strategically move on. By applying the recommendations in this article, you can effectively manage LinkedIn outreach and response timelines. The key is having patience and not taking non-responses personally. With a focused, value-driven approach you can gradually build a thriving professional network.
