How much does a LinkedIn InMail campaign cost?

LinkedIn InMail campaigns allow you to directly contact LinkedIn members through personalized messages in their LinkedIn inbox. This gives you a way to reach your target audience and generate leads without the limitations of organic reach. However, InMails are not free and can get expensive at scale. So how much do LinkedIn InMail campaigns really cost?

The cost of an InMail campaign on LinkedIn depends on several factors:

InMail Credits

LinkedIn sells InMail credits which allow you to send a certain number of InMails. The more credits you buy, the cheaper each InMail becomes. Here are the current InMail credit packages (as of October 2023):

As you can see, the more credits you buy at once, the cheaper each InMail becomes. The price ranges from $15 per InMail for small packages down to $8 per InMail for large packages.

Account Type

The other factor that impacts InMail pricing is your LinkedIn account type. There are three main account types on LinkedIn:

– Basic – Free
– Premium – Paid subscription
– Sales Navigator – Paid subscription for sales professionals

Premium and Sales Navigator accounts get discounted rates on InMail credits compared to Basic accounts. The discounts are:

– Premium accounts: 20% off InMail credits
– Sales Navigator accounts: 30% off InMail credits

So the actual cost per InMail credit depends on what type of LinkedIn account you have. The discounted rates would be:

So Premium accounts get InMails for 20% less while Sales Navigator accounts get them for 30% less.

Cost Per InMail Sent

Now that we know the base InMail credit costs and account discounts, we can estimate the actual cost per InMail sent in a campaign.

The cost will depend on:

– Number of credits purchased
– Account type discount
– Audience size
– Response rate expected

Let’s walk through some examples to estimate the cost per InMail sent for different types of campaigns.

Small Campaign – 500 Contacts

For a small campaign with only 500 contacts, you’ll want to buy the minimum 25 credit package.

With the Basic account and 25 credits at $15 per credit, it would cost $375 to send 500 InMails, or $0.75 per InMail sent.

With a Premium account discount, it would cost $300 for the 25 credits, or $0.60 per InMail.

For Sales Navigator with the max 30% discount, it would cost $262.50 for 25 credits, or $0.53 per InMail.

So for a small campaign of 500 contacts, the cost is between $0.53 and $0.75 per InMail depending on account type.

Medium Campaign – 5,000 Contacts

For a medium campaign with 5,000 contacts, it makes sense to purchase at least 100 credits.

At the Basic 100 credit rate of $11 per credit, it would cost $1,100 to send 5,000 InMails, or $0.22 per InMail.

With Premium discount, 100 credits would cost $880, or $0.18 per InMail.

For Sales Navigator, 100 credits would cost $770 after discount, or $0.15 per InMail.

So for a medium campaign of 5,000 contacts, the cost ranges from $0.15 to $0.22.

Large Campaign – 50,000 Contacts

For a large campaign targeting 50,000 contacts, you’ll need a bigger credit package. The 500 credit package would make sense here.

With the Basic 500 credit cost of $9 per InMail, it would cost $4,500 to send 50,000 InMails, or $0.09 per InMail.

For Premium accounts, the 500 credits would cost $3,600 after 20% discount, making the cost $0.07 per InMail.

With Sales Navigator and 30% discount, 500 credits would cost $3,150, or $0.06 per InMail sent.

So for large campaigns, the cost can get down to just $0.06 per InMail thanks to bulk discounts.

Summary of Cost Per InMail

To summarize, here is the typical cost per InMail sent for different campaign sizes:

Response Rates

The number of InMail credits required also depends on your expected response rate. Credits are only consumed when the recipient responds.

Average InMail response rates are around 10-20% for cold outreach. However, response rates can be higher when messaging:

– Warm leads who know your brand
– Recent website visitors
– Former customers/partners for re-engagement

If you have a high response rate, you’ll need more credits to support back-and-forth messaging conversations.

Here is an estimate of credits needed assuming a 20% response rate:

So if you get a 20% response rate, you’ll need 25% more credits than the number of initial messages sent.

Other Cost Considerations

When estimating your total InMail campaign costs, there are a few other factors to consider as well:

Account Subscription Costs

To get the Premium or Sales Navigator account discounts, you’ll have to pay for the account subscription.

Premium accounts start at $29.99 per month. Sales Navigator starts at $64.99 per month.

So you need to factor in these base subscription costs if you want the lower InMail rates.

Audience Targeting

Using LinkedIn’s targeting tools like contact filters or lead gen forms will increase campaign costs.

Basic targeting is free, but advanced targeting options cost money depending on volume.

Contact filters start at $60 per month, while lead gen forms are $300 per month base price plus $5 per lead generated.

Agency Markup

If you are working with a marketing agency, they will likely markup the cost of InMails and targeting. Agency markups are typically 20-30%.

So if an InMail costs you $0.10, expect an agency to charge around $0.12 – $0.15 per InMail as their fee.

Factor agency markup into your budget if using one.

Personnel Costs

There are also personnel costs associated with managing an InMail campaign over time. An InMail campaign takes consistent work to optimize based on response rates and customize outreach.

You need someone to actually write all the InMail messages as well. Estimate the staff hours required for your campaign and factor in hourly rates for your marketing team members.

Conclusion

LinkedIn InMail pricing ultimately comes down to:

– Number of credits purchased
– LinkedIn account type
– Campaign size and response rates expected
– Additional targeting and agency costs

Cost per InMail sent can range from $0.50 – $0.15 depending on volume.

For most small and medium businesses, expect to pay around $0.25 – $0.30 per InMail sent in a typical campaign.

To get the lowest InMail rates:

– Buy credits in bulk quantities of at least 100
– Get a Premium or Sales Navigator account
– Send high volumes of at least 5,000+ InMails
– Use basic targeting options only
– Avoid agency markups

With the right approach, LinkedIn InMail campaigns can deliver fantastic ROI compared to other paid channels. Start conservatively and scale your spend up based on the results achieved.