LinkedIn InMail Examples That Actually Get Replies

Why Most InMails Fail Before Anyone Reads Them

I've reviewed thousands of outreach messages from agency owners and sales reps inside my programs. LinkedIn InMail is consistently one of the most underused - and most misused - channels out there. People spend money on Sales Navigator, get their InMail credits, then send the same garbage pitch they'd email to a cold list.

Here's the reality: InMail gets response rates between 10-25%, which is dramatically higher than cold email. But that advantage evaporates the second you send something generic. You're not competing with email anymore - you're competing with every other sales rep who figured out the same channel. That means your message quality is everything.

This article breaks down exactly what makes a LinkedIn InMail work, with real examples across different use cases - sales prospecting, recruiting, partnership outreach, follow-ups, job seekers, and more. Copy them, adapt them, and test them against your audience.

The Specs: What You're Working With

Before you write a single word, understand the constraints. LinkedIn InMail gives you up to 200 characters in the subject line and roughly 1,900-2,000 characters in the body. That's your playing field.

Now here's the data that should shape every InMail you write: messages under 400 characters get a 22% higher response rate than the average across all InMails. Messages over 1,200 characters perform 11% below average. The sweet spot most people ignore is right there - short, focused, one clear ask.

Subject lines should land between 25-40 characters for maximum performance. You have 200 characters available, but shorter is sharper. Think of it like an email subject line: the goal is to get the open, not tell the whole story. InMail can deliver open rates as high as 57.5% compared to the average email open rate of around 21.6% - but only when the subject line earns it.

Timing matters too. Avoid Fridays and Saturdays - InMails sent on Saturday see 8% fewer responses than average, and Friday isn't far behind at 4% below average. Sunday through Thursday is your window, with Tuesday through Thursday mornings performing best for most industries.

Understanding InMail Credits: How the System Works

Before we get into examples, you need to understand the credit system - because it changes how you should prioritize every message you send.

Sales Navigator Core gives you 50 InMail credits per month. Credits roll over month to month, but your maximum accumulation caps out at 150 across all Sales Navigator editions. If you don't use them, you don't lose them right away - but burning through them on lazy, untargeted messages is just as wasteful.

Here's the mechanic that most people overlook: if someone responds to your InMail within 90 days - even if the reply is a hard "no" - you get the credit back. That means a declined message costs you nothing in the long run. A message nobody responds to? That credit is gone. So the goal isn't just to get a yes - it's to get any reply. Even a "not interested" earns your credit back. Write your CTAs with that in mind.

LinkedIn Premium Career accounts get just 5 credits per month. Premium Business gets 15. Recruiter Lite gets 30. Sales Navigator is by far the best value for high-volume outbound sales, but even 50 credits per month isn't enough to build an entire pipeline. That's why InMail needs to be one piece of a multichannel system, not your only play.

There's also a lesser-known workaround worth knowing: Open Profiles. LinkedIn Premium members can enable an "Open Profile" setting that lets anyone message them for free - no credit required. These profiles display a gold LinkedIn icon next to their name. You can message Open Profile users without spending a single InMail credit, and the volume ceiling for these free messages is significantly higher than your paid credit allotment. If you're identifying prospects manually, always check for that gold badge before burning a credit.

The Anatomy of a High-Converting InMail

Every InMail that works has the same four parts. They don't have to be labeled or obvious, but they need to be there:

• A specific, relevant subject line - not "Quick question" or "Opportunity for you." Something that signals you did your homework.
• A personalized opener - one sentence that proves you know who they are. Recent post, company news, shared connection, specific role detail. One sentence. Not three.
• A clear reason you're reaching out - what's in it for them? Don't bury this. Lead with value, not your pitch.
• A single, low-friction CTA - not "Would you be open to a 30-minute discovery call?" Ask something easier. A yes/no question. A reaction. Anything that doesn't feel like a commitment.

And the cardinal rule: do not pitch in the first message. Your goal is to start a conversation and qualify the prospect - not close a deal in one shot. The fastest way to kill your reply rate is to attach a calendar link and a product deck to a message someone wasn't expecting.

One more thing before we get to examples: personalization is not optional. InMails sent individually see response rates roughly 15% higher than InMails sent in bulk. That number comes straight from LinkedIn's own data. Sending the same cookie-cutter message to 50 people simultaneously is the fastest way to burn through credits and get nothing back. Do the work. Reference something real about the person.

LinkedIn InMail Examples for B2B Sales

These are designed for outbound sales prospecting. Keep them tight. Notice how none of them pitch a product in the first message.

Example 1: The Trigger-Based Open

Subject: Congrats on the Series B

Body: Hey [Name] - saw the funding announcement. Big milestone. Quick question: with the team scaling, how are you currently handling [specific pain point relevant to your offer]? Asking because we've helped a few companies in your space solve exactly that post-raise. Happy to share what worked if it's relevant.

Why it works: It's timely, it's specific, and it asks a question instead of making a pitch. The prospect feels seen, not sold to. Funding rounds, new product launches, leadership hires, and press mentions are all triggers worth monitoring. Set up Google Alerts for your top target accounts.

Example 2: The Mutual Connection Play

Subject: [Mutual name] suggested I reach out

Body: Hey [Name] - [Mutual] mentioned you're the person to talk to about [topic]. We recently helped [similar company] [specific result]. Worth a quick conversation? I'll keep it short.

Why it works: Social proof does the heavy lifting. Mentioning a former employer you share with a prospect increases your chances of getting a response by 27%. A warm referral, even a loose one, dramatically increases open and reply rates. Always check shared connections before sending a cold InMail - even a second-degree connection you both know can be a bridge.

Example 3: The Insight Hook

Subject: Something I noticed on your site

Body: [Name] - ran across [Company] while researching [industry] companies doing [specific thing]. Noticed you're [specific observation - e.g., using X tech, missing Y, doing Z differently]. We've worked with a few teams in your space on exactly this. Would it be useful if I sent over a quick breakdown of what we found?

Why it works: It's specific enough to feel like genuine research, not a mass blast. The CTA is a yes/no and extremely low commitment. The phrase "would it be useful" is particularly effective because it frames the ask as service to them, not a request from you.

Example 4: The Straight-Line Opener

Subject: Quick question - [Company]

Body: [Name] - I'll be direct. We help [their type of company] do [specific outcome]. Saw [Company] on LinkedIn and thought there might be a fit. Not pitching yet - just curious if [specific challenge] is something your team is actively working on. Worth knowing?

Why it works: Some buyers appreciate bluntness more than manufactured warmth. The phrase "not pitching yet" removes the defensive posture most prospects take when reading unsolicited messages. It also signals confidence - you're not desperate, you're qualifying them.

Example 5: The Social Proof Open

Subject: How [Competitor or Peer Company] did [result]

Body: Hey [Name] - we recently helped [company they'd recognize] [specific measurable result] in [timeframe]. They were dealing with [pain point] - similar to what I've seen a few [industry] teams run into. Curious if that resonates with what you're seeing. Happy to share what actually moved the needle.

Why it works: Naming a specific result with a recognizable company does more persuasion work in 100 characters than three paragraphs of feature description. Keep the result credible - use real numbers where you can, and make sure the company you name is actually recognizable to your prospect.

LinkedIn InMail Examples for Recruiting

Recruiters live and die by InMail. Same principles apply - shorter is better, personalization matters, and the ask needs to be easy. Candidates who follow your company on LinkedIn are 81% more likely to respond to your InMail, so filter for warm signals where you can. Candidates who are already connected to someone at your company are 46% more likely to accept your message. Use those filters before you write a single word.

Example 6: The Passive Candidate Approach

Subject: Your work on [specific project/skill]

Body: Hi [Name] - came across your profile while looking into people doing [specific work]. Your background in [X] stood out. We're building something interesting at [Company] and I think you'd want to hear about it. Not asking for a resume - just a 10-minute conversation to see if there's a fit. Worth it?

Why it works: "Not asking for a resume" removes the biggest friction point for passive candidates. It signals low commitment and genuine curiosity. Most passive candidates are not actively job hunting - they need a reason to even engage, and the lowest possible ask is the right way to get that first reply.

Example 7: The Referral Ask

Subject: Quick favor - know anyone?

Body: [Name] - we're hiring a [role] at [Company] and your network came up. I know you might not be looking, but if anyone in your circle is - I'd love an intro. Happy to return the favor. Thanks either way.

Why it works: Even a "no" on the candidate side opens a referral conversation. And people love being seen as well-connected. This also bypasses the awkwardness of pitching someone who's clearly happy where they are - you're asking for their help, not their resume.

Example 8: The Specific Skill Callout

Subject: Your [specific skill] experience

Body: Hi [Name] - I've been specifically looking for people with hands-on [specific skill or technology] experience, and your background at [Company] caught my attention. We have a role that's a direct match - and honestly, it's one of the harder positions to fill because the skill set is rare. Would it hurt to hear more in 10 minutes?

Why it works: Scarcity framing - telling someone their skill is rare - triggers curiosity even in passive candidates. Most recruiting InMails sound like job ads. This one sounds like the candidate was specifically chosen. The difference in response rates is significant.

Example 9: The Culture-First Pitch

Subject: Not your typical recruiting message

Body: [Name] - I'll skip the job description. Here's what I actually want to tell you: the team you'd be joining is [specific detail - e.g., entirely senior, fully remote, ex-[Company] veterans]. I think the work itself would interest you based on your background in [area]. Would you be open to a candid 15 minutes? I'll tell you exactly what the role involves and you can decide from there.

Why it works: Candidates are drowning in identical recruiting InMails. Leading with culture and candor stands out immediately. The subject line sets expectations, and the body delivers on them by being refreshingly direct about what you're actually offering.

LinkedIn InMail Examples for Partnership Outreach

Partnership InMails fail when they lead with "synergies." Lead with specificity instead. The mistake most people make is opening with what they want - a partnership, a deal, a co-marketing arrangement. Open with what you've already given thought to doing together, and make it easy for them to say yes to just exploring the idea.

Example 10: The Content Collaboration Ask

Subject: Idea for your audience

Body: Hey [Name] - love what you're building with [their content/community/product]. Had an idea that might be useful for your audience: [specific idea - a collab, a guest post, a co-webinar]. Happy to do all the heavy lifting. Would that be worth 15 minutes?

Why it works: "Happy to do all the heavy lifting" removes the fear that saying yes creates work for them. Most people turn down collaboration because they assume it means effort. Flip that assumption in the message itself.

Example 11: The Integration or Referral Angle

Subject: [Their company] + [Your company]

Body: [Name] - we work with a lot of [their ICP] who also use [their product]. Thought there might be a natural way to share value with each other's audiences. Not a pitch - genuinely curious if you've explored this. Open to a quick chat?

Why it works: "Not a pitch" does real work here. It immediately reframes the conversation from vendor-buyer to peer-to-peer. This makes the prospect feel like an equal rather than a target, which dramatically changes how they respond.

Example 12: The Event or Community Angle

Subject: Speaking idea for [their event/community]

Body: [Name] - followed [Event/Community] for a while. We've built something that I think would genuinely resonate with your audience - specifically around [topic]. Not looking for a paid slot - just a quick conversation to see if there's a real fit. Would that be worth exploring?

Why it works: Event organizers are constantly looking for good speakers and content. Leading with the audience benefit rather than what you get out of it reframes the entire pitch. "Not looking for a paid slot" also preemptively addresses the assumption that you want something from them.

LinkedIn InMail Examples for Job Seekers

Job seekers often underuse InMail as a proactive tool. Most candidates apply through the front door - job boards, application portals, and recruiter submissions. InMail lets you go around all of that and land directly in a decision-maker's or hiring manager's inbox. The key is to not make it feel like a cover letter in a message box.

Example 13: The Hiring Manager Direct Approach

Subject: [Role] background - quick question

Body: Hi [Name] - I've been following [Company]'s work in [specific area] and noticed the [Role] opening. Rather than go through the standard application process, I wanted to reach out directly. I have [specific relevant experience] and have [specific relevant result]. Would you be open to a quick conversation to see if there's a match?

Why it works: Bypassing the application process signals initiative. Hiring managers see hundreds of resumes but receive far fewer direct InMails from candidates. The message leads with the relevant credential immediately - no throat-clearing, no "I'm very excited about this opportunity."

Example 14: The Warm Intro to a Recruiter

Subject: [Your role] background - exploring options

Body: Hi [Name] - I'm currently a [role] at [Company] with [X] years in [domain]. I'm selectively exploring what's next and saw you focus on [their niche or industry]. Not in a rush - but open to a conversation if you're working on roles that might be a fit. Happy to share more context if helpful.

Why it works: "Selectively exploring" and "not in a rush" signal that you're a passive candidate with leverage - not a desperate job seeker. Recruiters respond better to candidates who come across as in-demand. The message is also short enough that it takes five seconds to read and five seconds to reply to.

LinkedIn InMail Examples for Investor or Advisory Outreach

Reaching investors or advisors on LinkedIn is one of the higher-stakes uses of InMail. These people get pitched constantly. The messages that land are almost always short, clearly researched, and lead with something the investor actually cares about - not the founder's passion for their idea.

Example 15: The Warm Investor Intro

Subject: [Company] - [one-line traction stat]

Body: [Name] - I've been following your portfolio, specifically [portfolio company]. We're building [one sentence on what you do] and hit [specific traction metric] in [timeframe]. We're currently raising and I thought this might fit your thesis on [specific area]. Worth 20 minutes?

Why it works: Investors are pattern-matching constantly. The message leads with the signal they care about most - traction - rather than a long pitch. Referencing a specific portfolio company proves you did homework and aren't spraying the same message to every investor on LinkedIn.

Example 16: The Advisory Ask

Subject: Your experience with [specific topic]

Body: [Name] - your background in [specific area - e.g., scaling a SaaS to Series B, enterprise sales at Oracle] is exactly the kind of perspective I'm looking to learn from. I'm working on [brief what you're building] and would love to hear how you'd approach [specific challenge]. No agenda beyond learning from someone who's done it. Open to a quick call?

Why it works: People who have succeeded love talking about it - especially when there's no implicit pitch. This message flatters through specificity (you know exactly what they did and why it's relevant), makes a small ask, and frames the conversation as being about them. That's the trifecta for high reply rates from senior people.

Subject Lines That Work (Swipe File)

Your subject line is the only thing standing between your InMail and the trash. Here are formats that consistently perform:

• Specific + complimentary: "Your talk on [topic]" / "Your post on [subject] was sharp"
• Intrigue-based: "Something I noticed" / "Quick question about [specific thing]"
• Result-driven: "[Company] + [specific outcome]" / "How [Similar Co] did [result]"
• Mutual connection: "[Name] suggested I reach out"
• Role-specific: "For [their job title]s doing [specific thing]"
• One-word subjects: "Idea" / "Question" / "[Their company name]" - these look like colleague messages and trigger curiosity
• Trigger-based: "Congrats on the [funding/promotion/launch]" / "Saw your recent [press/post/announcement]"
• Contrast-based: "Not your typical [recruiter/sales/partnership] message"

Notice what's not on this list: "Exciting opportunity," "Let's connect," "Partnership inquiry," "Quick question" (without context), or anything that sounds like it was generated by a bot and sent to 500 people simultaneously. Those subject lines don't just underperform - they actively hurt your sender reputation on the platform over time.

One tactical note on character count: LinkedIn caps subject lines at 200 characters, but mobile devices cut off subject lines at around 30-40 characters. Write for mobile first. If your subject line reads well in 30 characters, it reads well everywhere. If it requires 80 characters to make sense, it's too long.

Personalization at Scale: How to Do It Without Losing Your Mind

The biggest objection I hear when teaching this: "I don't have time to personalize every InMail." Fair. But here's the reframe: you shouldn't be sending InMail at mass scale anyway. InMail is a high-cost, high-return channel by design. Sales Navigator caps you at 50 credits per month. That's 50 messages max. You should be able to personalize 50 messages.

Here's the system I use and teach:

Before you write, spend 90 seconds on their profile. Look for: a recent post they made, a company announcement, a mutual connection, their current job title and how long they've been in it, and any shared background (industry, city, alma mater, former employer). You don't need all of these. You need one.

Build a personalization variable into your template. Don't rewrite the whole message per person - just the opening hook. Everything after the first sentence can be templated. The first sentence does the personalization work: "Saw your post about [topic] last week" or "You've been at [Company] for about [X] years now - did you oversee the [specific thing] rollout?" One line. That's all it takes to prove you're not a bot.

Batch your research and writing separately. Don't open a prospect's profile, try to personalize, and write at the same time. First, spend 20 minutes researching 10 profiles and writing personalization notes. Then spend 20 minutes writing the 10 messages. Separating the tasks makes each one faster and better.

If you're using a tool like Expandi to manage LinkedIn outreach sequences, you can build the personalization into dynamic variables and still send manually reviewed messages at scale. But be careful - LinkedIn's algorithm is increasingly good at detecting templated messages that are technically personalized but feel robotic. The goal is to write messages that read like something a human actually wrote - because they should be.

How to Build a Prospect List Worth InMailing

The best InMail in the world sent to the wrong person is a wasted credit. Before you write a single message, make sure you're targeting people who actually match your ICP.

Sales Navigator is the obvious starting point - use its filters to narrow by title, seniority, industry, company size, and geography. Pair that with engagement signals: prioritize people who are active on LinkedIn, post regularly, and have complete profiles. InMails sent to recipients with high connection counts and recent activity see a 27% increase in response rates.

Filter for people who are already warm to some degree before you spend a credit. LinkedIn's data shows that candidates who follow your company are 81% more likely to respond, and candidates connected to someone at your company are 46% more likely to accept. The same logic applies in sales - if someone has already engaged with your company's content, your InMail isn't entirely cold. Use that signal.

If you need to build a prospect list faster and pull it outside of LinkedIn - for example, to enrich it with direct emails before you even spend an InMail credit - ScraperCity's B2B lead database lets you filter by title, seniority, industry, location, and company size to pull a targeted list before you even log into LinkedIn. You can also grab the Sales Navigator guide here if you want a deeper breakdown of how to build those search strings.

For LinkedIn-specific automation and sequencing across InMail and connection requests, Expandi is worth looking at - it handles LinkedIn outreach safely within platform limits and lets you A/B test message variants at scale.

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Before You Send InMail

Here's something most InMail guides skip: your profile is part of the message. Every InMail you send includes your name and profile photo, and most recipients will click through to your profile before deciding whether to respond. If your profile looks empty, generic, or irrelevant to the prospect, you've already lost the reply - regardless of how good your message is.

Before you run any InMail campaign, audit your profile with this checklist:

• Profile photo: Professional, clear, not a group photo or blurry headshot. This is the first thing they see. It matters more than most people admit.
• Headline: Not just your job title. Your headline should communicate what you do and for whom. "VP of Sales at Acme" is generic. "Helping SaaS teams book more enterprise meetings" is a hook.
• About section: The first two lines of your About section are visible in previews. Make those lines count. Lead with what you do and who you help - not your career history.
• Experience: Relevant entries should have descriptions. Someone who clicked through from your InMail will scan your experience section to see if you're credible. Give them something to work with.
• Activity: Recent posts and comments signal that you're an active, engaged professional - not a zombie account that only shows up to pitch people.

The sender's authority matters significantly on LinkedIn. Messages from profiles that look credible, active, and senior get meaningfully higher response rates than messages from thin profiles. If you're running InMail campaigns from a new or sparse account, fix the profile first.

The Follow-Up Game

Most people send one InMail and wonder why nothing happened. One message isn't a campaign - it's a lottery ticket. The data is clear: most replies don't come from the first message. They come from follow-up. If someone doesn't reply within 4-5 days, you have options:

• Send a connection request with a short, contextual note (reference the InMail so it doesn't feel random)
• Comment on one of their recent posts - genuinely, not as a fake warm-up
• If you have their email address, hit them there with a shorter version of the same message
• Try a LinkedIn voice note as a follow-up - it's one of the highest-performing tactics in the platform right now because almost nobody is doing it

Speaking of email - if you want their direct email to run a parallel outreach sequence, an email finding tool or Findymail can pull verified addresses for most professionals. Running LinkedIn InMail alongside a cold email sequence is one of the highest-leverage multichannel plays you can run. Businesses that combine InMail with multichannel prospecting - email, phone, and LinkedIn together - see up to 60% better results than those relying on any single channel.

Once you have emails in hand, tools like Smartlead or Instantly handle the email sequencing side. You can grab my full LinkedIn Playbook here for the complete multi-touch strategy I use across both channels.

If you want to add a voice note layer to your LinkedIn outreach on top of InMail, check out the LinkedIn Voice Note Script here - it's one of the most underused tactics in the channel right now.

InMail vs. Connection Request: Which Should You Send First?

This is a question I get constantly, and the answer matters more than people realize because it affects both your credit burn and your response rates.

The general rule: try the connection request first, InMail second. Here's why. A connection request with a personalized note costs zero credits and, if accepted, opens a free messaging channel. InMail costs a credit and is flagged as a premium outreach message - which some prospects treat with more suspicion precisely because it signals that you paid to reach them.

Use InMail when one of two conditions applies: First, when you've already sent a connection request and it wasn't accepted after a week or two. Second, when you see that a prospect has an Open Profile (the gold badge) - because in that case, your InMail is free anyway and you might as well use the longer message format.

The sequencing that works best in practice: connection request with a short note - wait 5-7 days - InMail if no acceptance - wait 5-7 days - cold email if you have it - wait 5-7 days - LinkedIn voice note or comment engagement. That's a full multichannel sequence from a single LinkedIn prospect, and it's what separates teams booking 30+ meetings a month from teams wondering why nobody replies to their InMails.

How to A/B Test Your InMails (The Simple Version)

If you're sending InMail at any kind of volume, not testing is leaving money on the table. But most people overthink testing. Here's the simple version:

Pick one variable per test. Subject line vs. subject line. Short body vs. slightly longer. Question CTA vs. soft CTA. Never change two things at once or you won't know what moved the needle.

Run each variant for at least 20 sends before drawing conclusions. InMail volume is limited - 50 credits a month means you might need two months to get statistically meaningful data on a single test. That's fine. Be patient. The insights compound.

Track it in a spreadsheet. Date sent, subject line used, body variant, reply rate, type of reply (positive/negative/neutral). This is not glamorous but it's the difference between running an outbound system and sending random messages hoping for the best.

Variables worth testing in order of impact:

1. Subject line - highest leverage, most variation between winning and losing versions
2. Opening line - second only to subject line in determining whether the message gets read
3. CTA format - yes/no question vs. open question vs. soft opt-in
4. Message length - under 400 characters vs. 400-800 characters
5. Send day - mid-week vs. Monday/Friday

Combine this with Expandi's built-in A/B testing if you're running sequences, or track manually if you're sending messages individually. Either way, test systematically and your reply rate will compound over time.

What to Do When Your InMails Stop Working

If your response rate tanks, it's almost always one of three problems:

1. Your targeting is off. You're sending to people who don't match your ICP tightly enough. Tighten the filters. Better to send 30 highly relevant InMails than 150 spray-and-pray messages.
2. Your message is too long. If you're consistently over 400 characters and not getting replies, cut the message in half. Literally. Delete the second paragraph and test again.
3. Your subject line is generic. If your subject line could have been sent by anyone to anyone, rewrite it. One personalized detail makes a measurable difference.

There's also a fourth problem people don't talk about enough: your profile. If your LinkedIn profile looks thin, inactive, or irrelevant to who you're reaching out to, prospects click through and immediately lose trust. Profile optimization is part of InMail optimization.

And if you're getting replies but not converting them to meetings, the problem has moved downstream - it's your follow-up or your conversation skills, not the InMail itself. The InMail's only job is to get the reply. Everything after that is a different skill set.

Building a Full Multichannel System Around InMail

InMail alone is not a pipeline. It's one channel in a system. The teams hitting serious outbound numbers are running InMail alongside cold email, connection request sequences, LinkedIn content, and in some cases cold calls. The combination is what compounds - each touchpoint reinforces the last.

Here's how a basic multichannel sequence looks in practice:

1. Day 1: LinkedIn connection request with a short personalized note
2. Day 5: If not connected, send an InMail with a trigger-based or insight-based opener
3. Day 10: Cold email to their direct address (find it with an email lookup tool or Findymail)
4. Day 14: LinkedIn voice note or genuine comment on their recent post
5. Day 21: Final cold email with a breakup-style close ("Last reach out - happy to leave you alone if timing's off")

This sequence works because it uses different formats and touches across multiple days. Each touchpoint gives the prospect a new way to engage without feeling spammed. And because each message is short and contextual, none of them feel like a campaign - they feel like a persistent but professional person trying to get a meeting.

For the email side of this, you need verified addresses. A B2B lead database with email lookup built in - like ScraperCity's database - lets you build the list, find emails, and verify them in one place. Then push the list into Smartlead or Instantly for the email sequencing layer.

For the LinkedIn automation side - connection requests, InMail sequences, and follow-up tracking - Expandi handles the sequencing while staying within LinkedIn's usage limits. It also lets you A/B test at scale, which is the only way to improve your messaging systematically over time.

You can pull the full multi-touch sequencing strategy, including how I structure the touchpoints and what I say at each step, from my LinkedIn Playbook here.

Industry-Specific InMail Considerations

Not every industry responds the same way to InMail. The platform's own data shows significant variation in response rates by function and sector, and ignoring that will make your benchmarking misleading.

Here's what the data shows, and what it means in practice:

Technology/SaaS: Harder to get replies. Decision-makers in tech are flooded with outreach. You need to be more specific, more personalized, and more patient. Tech buyers have also learned to be skeptical of LinkedIn outreach because they receive so much of it. Your message needs to immediately signal that it's not a mass blast.

Hospitality, retail, and in-person services: Higher response rates on average. These industries have less InMail saturation, and decision-makers in these spaces are often more willing to engage because they receive fewer messages. The bar to stand out is lower - even a reasonably personalized message can outperform because the competition isn't as sharp.

Recruiting across all industries: Response rates vary heavily by whether the candidate is actively open to work. Filter for "Open to Work" signals - candidates with that indicator are about 35% more likely to respond than those without it. That filter alone can significantly improve your recruiting InMail performance without changing a single word of your message.

The bigger point: benchmark your InMail performance against your own historical data and your specific industry, not against the global average. A 12% reply rate in enterprise SaaS outbound might be excellent. A 12% reply rate in hospitality recruiting is below par. Know your baseline before you optimize.

Common InMail Mistakes to Stop Making Immediately

I've been reviewing outreach for long enough to see the same mistakes over and over. Here are the ones that kill reply rates most reliably:

Leading with your company or product. Nobody who just got a message from a stranger cares about your company. They care about themselves. Start with them - their company, their role, their situation. Get to you later.

Using "I" as the first word. "I wanted to reach out..." "I work at..." "I'm a big fan of..." The reader doesn't care about you yet. Start with them or with a specific observation about something they'd recognize.

Asking for too much too fast. A 30-minute call is a huge ask from a stranger. A 10-minute call is better. A yes/no question with zero commitment required is best. Calibrate your CTA to the actual level of trust you have with this person - which, in a cold InMail, is zero.

Making it about you. "We've been in business for 15 years and serve clients in 30 countries." Great. Why should they care? Every single sentence should answer the question the prospect is silently asking: "What's in it for me?"

Attaching too much too soon. Do not send a PDF, a deck, a case study, a pricing sheet, or a calendar link in a first InMail. You haven't earned any of that. The first message's only job is to get a reply. Everything else happens after that.

Sending on Friday or Saturday. The data is clear. Friday InMails see 4% fewer responses than average, Saturdays 8% fewer. Schedule messages for Monday through Thursday. If you draft on Friday, set the send time for Monday morning.

Not following up at all. One message is not a strategy. Best practice is 2-3 follow-up touches spaced over a week or two. Make each one value-based - not "just following up" but a new angle, a piece of insight, or a different format entirely.

The Bottom Line

InMail works when you treat it like a precision instrument, not a megaphone. Short messages. Specific subject lines. One ask. No pitch in the first message. Send Sunday through Thursday. Target people who are actually active on the platform. And build a full multichannel system around it - because InMail alone is not a pipeline, it's an opening.

The examples in this article aren't magic - they're frameworks. Your job is to take the structure and inject real specificity about your prospect, their company, and why you're reaching out to them in particular. That's what separates a 25% reply rate from a 3% one. And it's what separates reps who build relationships through LinkedIn from reps who burn credits and blame the channel.

If you want help building and executing a full LinkedIn outbound system - not just writing better InMails but running the whole sequence at scale - I go deeper on this inside Galadon Gold.