LinkedIn Outreach Tips for Marketing: Dos and Don'ts

A powerful LinkedIn message is vital, as it directly impacts professional relationships and opportunities. Lack of LinkedIn communication reduces professional perception and networking efficiency. When using LinkedIn messaging, be personal, keep it short, offer value, maintain a business tone, and follow up politely. You shouldn't spam, send generic messages, sell too much, use rude language, or ignore people's replies. 

Recruitment firms use LinkedIn to look at job candidates 87% of the time. It shows how beneficial the platform is for business networking.

This post will cover some essential LinkedIn messaging dos and don'ts, along with some insights. In this way, you can ensure your outreach is well-received and effective.

Quick Overview

Many marketers must pay more attention to crafting unique messages rather than resorting to generic or overly promotional content. It can hinder their marketing efforts and professional networking on LinkedIn.This is a quick chart that explains the dos and don'ts of LinkedIn messaging for marketing purposes:

Dos

Don'ts

Be Personal: Tailor your message to the recipient’s interests and needs.

Avoid Spamming: Don’t send the same generic message to multiple people.

Keep it Short: Make your message concise and to the point.

Don't Go Too Long: Avoid lengthy messages; stick to under 100 words.

Offer Value: Provide helpful information or solutions to common problems.

Don't Hard Sell: Avoid immediately pushing your products or services.

Use a Business Tone: Maintain a professional and respectful tone.

Avoid Overly Casual Language: Avoid slang, emojis, and informal language.

Follow Up Politely: Send a gentle reminder if there’s no response.

Don't Ignore Replies: Always respond to messages and follow up appropriately.

Check for Errors: Proofread messages for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Don't Send Irrelevant Messages: Ensure your message is relevant to the recipient.

Ask Before Sending Files: Request permission before sharing attachments.

Don't Share Personal Information: Keep sensitive information off LinkedIn.

Segment Your Audience: Target messages based on industry, job, and company size.

Don't Ignore Negative Feedback: Accept rejections gracefully and open the door for future opportunities.

Plan Your Outreach: Consider time zones and optimal times for messaging.

Don't Overdo Follow-Ups: Avoid excessive follow-up messages that can seem aggressive.

Test and Improve: Use A/B testing to optimize message formats and content.

Don't Violate LinkedIn’s Rules: Always follow LinkedIn’s guidelines and ethical standards.

LinkedIn DM's Tip for Marketing: What To DO

LinkedIn is a great place to find new clients, and the messaging feature can help you connect with possible clients and find new leads. Since professionals use LinkedIn to network, reaching them with relatable messages is crucial. 

Social media marketing companies get  80% of their B2B leads from LinkedIn. It has more than 850 million members, including significant influencers and decision-makers.

However, you must use LinkedIn messaging wisely, as sending spam or inappropriate messages can hurt your image.

Here are some essential dos and don'ts of LinkedIn messaging and tips to grow your business.

Know Your Prospects' problems

When you reach out to prospects on LinkedIn, it's essential to know their-

  • Needs,
  • Pain points, and
  • Hobbies inside and out
  • Challenges


You significantly improve the chances of getting a positive response by making your messages more interesting and relevant. The best way to do this is to address your prospects' specific problems or interests.

Personalized outreach messages can lead to a 20% increasein response rates.

This method is essential for all sales channels, like phone, email, and LinkedIn messages. Knowing what problems matter to your clients is the key to getting them to engage with you.

Make Your Message Unique

Personalization is a key part of LinkedIn messaging.

“Studies have shown that personalized messages get 20–30% more responses than general messages.”

By researching a lead's profile and including specifics in your message, you show that you've spent time understanding their background and hobbies. This makes your outreach more convincing and makes you more likely to connect with the recipient.

Don't Go Too Long

When you're professional networking, you need to send clear and to-the-point texts.

Yesware, a sales engagement platform, analyzes anonymized sales emails from 2020. They found that emails with 50-125 words had the highest average reply rates (around 30%). These data cover sales emails, and "reaction rate" refers to getting a reply, not necessarily an action.

This shows how helpful brevity is for LinkedIn outreach. You can ensure your message is exciting and respectful of the recipient's time by getting right to the point without losing courtesy.

Add Value to Your Outreach.

Focusing on giving prospects value instead of pushing goods or services right away is essential. Businesses can establish themselves as trustworthy sources by sharing helpful information, such as-

  • Industry trends
  • Solutions to common problems
  • Insightful material.

However, 96% of respondents say they are more likely to buy a product from a company with good customer service. This shows how important it is to give value to outreach efforts.

Use a Business Voice

When you reach out to people on LinkedIn, the tone of your message is very important because it determines how the conversation goes.

In the 7-38-55 rule, verbal words account for only 7% of communication, while tone of voice accounts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55%.

Even, a polite greeting and keeping a professional tone are much more likely to get replies. Let’s see why a professional tone is important.

  • A professional tone shows respect and builds credibility.
  • It helps create a positive personal image and a solid professional reputation.
  • Using a professional tone increases the chances of positive responses.
  • It helps in building meaningful connections with industry peers and potential clients.
  • Professional outreach efforts are more effective and impactful.

A polite and professional attitude shows you are experienced and helps you build a solid and trustworthy personal brand.

Monitoring and Follow-up

After your first attempt to get in touch, sending a nice follow-up message can help get more responses.

Following up promptly can get 40% more responses

But it's essential to find a balance and keep asking for an answer for a short time. Because that can be seen as annoying and hurt your professional image.

Look for Spelling and Grammar Mistakes

 LinkedIn texting requires you to keep your messages free of mistakes. Messages full of typos and grammar mistakes can make you look less trustworthy.

59% of respondents said they would not work with a company whose marketing materials or website had obvious spelling and grammar mistakes.

So, it's essential to review messages carefully to ensure they are clear and professional.

Before you send files, ask.

It's wise to ask permission before sharing attachments in places that care about security. Unrequested attachments may be perceived as suspicious, which could affect how professionally the receiver perceives you.

Besides showing respect for the recipient's security concerns, asking for permission before sending files increases the likelihood that your attachment will be viewed.

Make Groups for Your Audience

 Sending highly targeted messages requires segmenting prospects by-

  • Industry
  • Job
  • Company size and other factors


Use your knowledge of the audience to create groups with similar characteristics. Customers who receive highly relevant messages via personalized emails convert six times more often.

 You should also ensure you provide content relevant to the group

Plan Your Time and Outreach Carefully

When planning an outreach effort, it's essential to consider the target audience's time zones and work hours. The right time to send emails dramatically impacts how many people open and respond to them.

For example: Tuesday emails have the highest open rates, illustrating the importance of planning outreach tactics.

Test and Try Again

Optimizing outreach tactics requires A/B testing.

Trying out different message formats, subject lines, and calls to action (CTAs) can help you determine the best prospects to respond to, eventually making your outreach efforts more successful.

It has been shown that A/B testing can raise conversion rates by 49%, which shows how important it is for improving outreach tactics.

Say Thanks

Recognizing someone's work or response is key to building a good working relationship. Gratitude improves work interactions a lot. 

Example: A simple "thank you" message can show that you appreciate something and keep the lines of contact open when you need to talk again.

Using these best practices when messaging people on LinkedIn can improve your business conversations, strengthen your networks, and show each person that you are professional and pay attention to details.

What Not to Do in LinkedIn DM's

LinkedIn is Truly very strict for making the user experience better. It removes countless of Accounts for LinkedIn Violation in terms. If you'r Outreach/DM's are not interesting, its a high chance you may drop your marketing goal sometimes account restrictions. Here is a report from LinkedIn Community, it will show you how strict is LinkedIn. Thanks Linkedin for this report sharing with people. 

LinkedIn Account Restriction statistics for Violation

We have researched from sources & asked industry experts also successful marketers for LinkedIn outreach success and we get a significant outcome after Applying these rule on Doplac CRM. So, if i start over this journey, i must avoid these before starting a LinkedIn Campaign.

Avoid Hard Selling:

Hard selling is not a good idea. Many LinkedIn users find it rude to start a sales pitch right away. People use LinkedIn to learn and connect with others, not to be sold to immediately. Instead, spend some time getting to know each other.  Before you offer your product or service, please take a look on:

  • Know what they want
  • What they need
  • What they're interested in

This method makes your pitch more relevant and raises the chances of getting a good answer. According to research, selling based on relationships can help you get more sales and keep customers longer.

Don't Send Irrelevant Messages

Some people think it's spam when you send the same message to many people without changing anything about it. It shows that you don't value the person or their time. 

Instead, ensure that each person gets the proper word for them. This indicates that you have thought about who they are and what they might need, which makes them more likely to interact with you.

Don't Share Personal Information

LinkedIn is not the place to share private information. The message system is not encrypted, so sharing private details is unsafe. 

If you need to talk about private things, move the chat to a safer place, like email or a secure messaging app. This shows you care about privacy and helps keep your business information safe.

Wait for Responses

People are busy; only some check LinkedIn daily, so wait for a response. Wait a little while if you don't hear back right away. 

Sending too many follow-up texts at once can be rude and aggressive. Let them have some time to answer. If you still need to hear back after a fair amount of time, send them a polite follow-up.

Avoid Overly Casual Language

Be friendly, but avoid using slang, emojis, or casual language. LinkedIn should be pleasant and responsible. When you talk, think of it as a business meeting or event: be polite, clear, and professional.

Avoid using informal language, such as "LOL" or "OMG" in responses. Limit the use of emojis, as they can be misinterpreted. 

Over the last five years, 70% of Brits have noticed language changes at work have become more casual, according to a study by Barclays LifeSkills. The study indicated that 73% of respondents communicated less formally, with Gen Z leading the change.

This study revealed that different age groups have different preferences when it comes to email sign-offs and instant messaging platforms at work

Examples of Casual vs. Professional Language on LinkedIn:

Casual Language

Professional Language

"Hey there!"

"Hello," or "Dear [Name],"

"That's awesome!"

"That's impressive," or "I'm very interested in..."

"Totally agree!"

"I completely agree with your point about..."

"Gotta run!"

"Thank you for connecting. I look forward to staying in touch."

Using excessive emojis

Using emojis sparingly and professionally (if appropriate)

Finally, remember to give proper attribution to sources when using other people's ideas.

Don't Forget to Check LinkedIn

When you talk to someone, it's essential to answer. Make it a habit to check your LinkedIn account often. Responding quickly shows that you are serious and professional, which can help people trust you and keep the talks moving in a good direction.

Text Only a Little

Keeping in touch is good, but sending too many can be annoying. To find a balance, send a few careful follow-ups at the right time instead of posting many messages. 

This helps keep the friendship polite and respectful.

Don't Ignore Follow-Ups:

It's essential to keep in touch with people to build connections but only do it a little. A gentle warning can work, but too many can be annoying. 

Add value to your follow-ups by sharing helpful information or letting them know you're still interested in meeting.

Take Time to Listen:

Reaching out to prospects isn't just about telling them what you want to say; it's also about paying attention to what they have to say. 

Have deep talks with them, ask them questions, and genuinely listen to what they have to share. This makes them trust you and helps you help them.

Don't Ignore Negative Feedback

If someone rejects your offer or acts uninterested, you should accept their choice. It could hurt your image if you push too hard or don't listen to what they say. 


Take note of-

  • What they said
  • Thank them for their time,
  • Leave the door open for future chances.

 Be Moral and Follow the Rules:

Always follow LinkedIn's rules for behaviour and ethics. Don't do things that can get your account shut down or hurt your reputation, like scraping data or buying contact lists.

 Focus on making genuine relationships by reaching out openly and politely. You can Read their Rules and Policy for assistance. 

Last Words

LinkedIn messaging for marketing is a great way to connect with possible customers and grow your business network. If you Know the psychology behind Do’s & Don’ts , you will become one step ahed.

To increase LinkedIn communication, you can use Automated CRM software by Doplac CRM to followup your outreach & engaged potential clients. 

Remember that LinkedIn messaging is about personalization, value-based communication, and respectful interaction. Take the time to compose your message carefully and be relevant to the recipient. And remember to follow up and stay in touch.

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