Should I cold email or message on LinkedIn?

This is a common question for sales and business development professionals. Cold outreach can be an effective way to connect with potential customers and generate new business, but it’s important to use the right platform and strategy.

Quick Answers

Here are some quick answers to common questions around cold email vs LinkedIn messaging:

• Cold emailing strangers directly can come across as intrusive, while LinkedIn messaging tends to feel more natural as people connect there for business reasons.
• Response rates are typically higher for LinkedIn messaging vs cold email.
• It’s easier to personalize messages and establish a relationship over LinkedIn.
• LinkedIn’s spam filters are less aggressive compared to email.
• Prospects can easily view your profile and credentials on LinkedIn.
• Email inboxes are increasingly crowded, making it harder to get attention.

Overall, LinkedIn messaging tends to be more effective for cold outreach, though email still has its uses in some situations.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Presence

Before reaching out to prospects on LinkedIn, make sure your profile looks professional. Follow these tips:

• Have a professional headshot photo.
• Showcase your skills, experience, and credentials in your profile summary and experience section.
• Get endorsements and recommendations from past colleagues and clients.
• Highlight any awards, certifications, patents, publications, etc.
• Be active by posting updates, sharing articles, joining groups, etc.

An optimized profile establishes credibility and gives prospects more confidence in connecting with you.

Finding Prospects on LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers powerful searching and filtering capabilities to find your ideal prospects. Try these approaches:

• Search by company: Find people who work at target companies you want as clients.
• Search by job title: Connect with prospects by roles like “Director of Marketing”, “Head of Sales”, etc.
• Search within groups: Join relevant industry groups and search for prospects within them.
• Advanced search filters: Narrow down your search criteria by location, company size, seniority level, and more.
• Sales Navigator: This paid tool lets you save advanced searches and filters to automatically surface ideal prospects.

Take time to identify and target the prospects most likely to benefit from your offering.

Personalize Your LinkedIn Outreach

Generic outreach messages are easy to ignore. Make yours stand out by personalizing it with these tips:

• Mention how you found them or what caught your interest in their profile.
• Reference any common connections, groups, or interests you share.
• Show you understand their role, company, and pain points they may have.
• Explain why it makes sense to connect now vs. a generic sales pitch.
• Tell them you enjoy helping others in their profession.
• Make it conversational rather than sounding like a form letter.

Taking the time to personalize messages significantly improves response rates.

Crafting Effective LinkedIn Messages

Follow these best practices when writing your messages:

• Keep the message brief at 2-4 sentences max.
• Focus on introducing yourself and why you want to connect.
• Avoid sounding salesy or pitching too hard.
• Use a warm and helpful tone.
• Make it easy to continue the conversation.
• Give a specific ask like requesting a short call or intro email.

A short, friendly introduction focused on getting acquainted works better than a long sales pitch.

When to Use Cold Email Outreach

Despite LinkedIn’s advantages, cold email still has some uses in prospecting:

• Following up after initially connecting on LinkedIn.
• Reaching prospects who aren’t on LinkedIn.
• Contacting prospects after meeting them at an event.
• Following up on referrals that give you an email address.

Combine cold email and LinkedIn messaging for the best results reaching prospects.

Optimizing Cold Emails

If sending cold emails, optimize your chances of a reply with these practices:

• Personalize each email extensively with research on the prospect.
• Use a customized subject line speaking to their needs.
• Establish common ground and relevance in the opening.
• Make the email conversational and not overtly salesy.
• Highlight the unique value you provide.
• Make it very easy for them to respond or schedule a call.

Cold email requires extensive personalization and finesse to work well.

Improving Deliverability

Getting your cold emails past spam filters starts with these steps:

• Use a professional email address with your domain name.
• Send from a domain with good sender reputation.
• Warm up new IP addresses by sending regular non-sales emails first.
• Include the prospect’s full name, company, and contact info in the email.
• Avoid flagged spam words like “free”, “guarantee”, “trial”, etc.
• Send at optimal times based on when prospects open email.

Good deliverability maximizes the number of prospects who actually see your emails.

Managing Opt-Outs

Some prospects will opt out of your outreach emails. Manage opt-outs properly by:

• Immediately removing opt-outs from your lists.
• Respecting their wishes and not contacting them again.
• Sending an apology and confirmation of opt-out.
• Notifying your email provider of complaints.
• Reviewing your messaging and targeting strategy.

Handled correctly, most prospects understand opting out and don’t hold it against you.

Measuring Response Rates

Track key metrics to optimize your outreach process:

• Open rate – Percentage of messages opened.
• Click rate – Percentage who click links in messages.
• Reply rate – Percentage who respond to messages.
• Unsubscribe rate – Percentage who opt out.
• Quality of leads – Relevance and value of respondents.

Aim for open and response rates above industry benchmarks as you refine your process.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Steer clear of these outreach mistakes:

• Sending spammy templates to generic lists.
• Contacting people who are wrong fits for your offer.
• Pitching too aggressively without personalizing.
• Not having a clear call to action for the prospect to take.
• Harassing prospects who don’t respond or ask to opt out.
• Breaking anti-spam laws in your region.

Stay respectful, relevant, and personalized to build trust.

Following Up

To maximize conversions:

• Follow up politely if you don’t receive a response within a week.
• Try changing subject lines and rewording messages in follow-ups.
• Offer new information of value to renew interest.
• Know when to stop following up if leads consistently ignore messages.
• Consider automated follow-up sequences spaced a few days apart.

Ongoing nurturing and follow-up converts more initial outreach into sales conversations.

Integrate With CRM

Streamline your process by integrating your CRM system with:

• LinkedIn – Sync contacts, monitor prospect activity.
• Gmail – Track emails and schedule sends.
• Outreach tools – Sequence messaging and follow-ups.

Integration saves time manual importing/exporting data between platforms.

The Role of Automation

Automating parts of the outreach process can greatly improve efficiency:

The right automation frees up your time to focus on high value prospect conversations.

Cold Outreach Laws and Regulations

Be aware of anti-spam laws in the regions where you are contacting prospects:

• US CAN-SPAM Act – Allows commercial email, requires opt-out.
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) – Stricter opt-in requirement.
• EU GDPR – Restricts unsolicited electronic marketing.
• Australia’s Spam Act – Prohibits sending spam.

Check regulations for each country and comply with opt-in/opt-out rules.

Getting Consent

These methods help secure valid consent for your outreach:

• Collecting business cards and requesting email/messaging consent.
• Adding a newsletter signup on your website.
• Asking for consent whenProspects complete contact forms.
• Following up after Prospects inquire about your product.
• Getting intros from existing customers or partners.

Document consent records to prove leads opted in to communications.

Conclusion

LinkedIn messaging typically outperforms cold email, but both have their place for sales prospecting. Focus on personalization and adding value, leverage automation to scale efforts, and comply with anti-spam regulations in your region. With the right approach, outbound outreach can become an efficient source of new business.

Key Takeaways

• Prospects respond better to LinkedIn messages vs. cold emails.
• Personalize every message and focus on starting a conversation.
• Automate finding prospects, messaging, and follow-ups to scale efforts.
• Carefully manage opt-outs and comply with anti-spam laws.
• Track open/reply rates to refine your outreach process.