When searching for questions about LinkedIn, such as “What is LinkedIn InMail?”, I’ve noticed that users often confuse LinkedIn messages with InMails. Let’s clear that up.
What is the difference between InMail and LinkedIn Message?
LinkedIn Messages, unlike InMails, are a basic (free) feature of LinkedIn. You can only send messages to people you're already connected with. InMail, meanwhile, bypasses this restriction and opens the door to broader professional networking.
Although both LinkedIn messages and InMails go to the same chat section, a user can distinguish the InMail from other messages by the corresponding label.
LinkedIn also offers an Open Profile Premium feature that allows you to contact a Premium user for free, even if you're not logged in yet. This does not count as an InMail message.
What are the benefits of InMail?
So why do people prefer to connect with other LinkedIn members via InMail?
Well, InMail has several purposes:
Expand your network. It helps you reach out to professionals who could be valuable uae phone number data contacts, but with whom you are not yet connected.
Build relationships. You can introduce yourself and start a conversation with someone you respect or who could benefit from your services.
Promote your business or expertise. Share valuable content or showcase your skills to a targeted audience.
Recruiting talent. If you are a human resources professional, InMail can help you reach out to potential candidates.
How many InMails can you send?
The number of InMails you can send depends on the specific subscription plan you choose. LinkedIn offers different tiers, each with a number of InMail credits included each month. You can also purchase additional credits if needed.
InMail credit works as a currency specifically for sending InMails to people outside of your LinkedIn network. One credit equals one InMail message.
You receive InMail credits on the first day of your billing cycle each month. InMail credits expire after 90 days. If a recipient accepts your InMail, you'll receive an InMail credit back.
Depending on your account type, you can get the following number of InMails per month:
Premium Career: 5
Premium Business: 15
Sales Navigator Core: 50
Sales Navigator Advanced: 50
Recruiter Lite: up to 1,000 InMails per day/seat
Recruiter: up to 1,000 InMails per day/seat
Recruiter Professional Services (RPS): up to 1,000 InMails per day/seat*
The amount may change; please check LinkedIn Help for current InMail credit limits.
Go to the “My Premium” page. On the right side, you will see:
The number of credits you receive each month
The renewal date of your InMail
The number of credits you currently have
Source: LinkedIn
What is the average LinkedIn InMail response rate?
According to LinkedIn, the average InMail response rate is 10-25%. When compared to email, the difference is huge. Cold emails typically show a response rate of between 8.5-10% (according to Campaign Monitor), while some people claim their results are between 1%-5%.
How to send an InMail on LinkedIn?
You have three ways to send InMails:
Using LinkedIn Premium
Using Sales Navigator
Using LinkedIn Recruiter
Choose a subscription based on your goals and lead generation strategy.
You can also automate your cold outreach and create full-fledged drip campaigns with the help of Snov.io’s LinkedIn automation tool.
How to create a multi-channel campaign with Snov.io:
1. Collect targeted, pre-verified prospects on LinkedIn using LI Lead Location. You can also explore our database of millions of LinkedIn prospects!
2. Set up omnichannel campaigns, adding LinkedIn emails and automated actions to your sequence:
Profile visits
I like
Custom Connection Requests, Messages, and InMails
3. Analyze detailed data and adjust your cold outreach for better results.
We also ensure the security of your data by providing a location-based proxy for each LinkedIn account you connect. Your campaign will operate within intelligent daily limits to protect your account from LinkedIn restrictions.
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The Limitations of InMail
The most obvious limitations of LinkedIn InMail are:
Monthly message limits
Recipient Privacy Settings
InMail character limits
1. Monthly message limits
As mentioned, InMail has a monthly limit based on your subscription level. The maximum number of InMails you can send per month is 150 in Sales Navigator. Therefore, you cannot send InMails to a large number of recipients at the same time.
2. Recipient Privacy Settings
Some LinkedIn members have strict privacy settings that prevent them from receiving InMails from certain users. If a person has opted out of receiving InMail messages in their preferences, you won't be able to send them any messages without connecting with them first.
We recommend connecting with people relevant to your industry and keeping the number of pending requests below 500 per account.
LinkedIn may consider your activity as spam if you have too many pending applications, which could lead to a temporary suspension or restrictions on sending applications.
With Snov.io's LinkedIn automation tool, you can easily track and manage pending requests in two ways:
Manually
Go to the Connection Requests tab, select some prospects and click “Remove Selected”
Automatically
In this mode, Snov.io reviews the list daily and removes requests until the total number reaches the safe limit for each account. This ensures that the number of pending requests never exceeds your limit.
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3. Character limits in InMail
InMail messages can't be as long as you want them to be. The InMail subject line should be a maximum of 200 characters, and the body of the message can't exceed 1,900 characters. LinkedIn recommends that messages be concise, which is a good thing since it's highly unlikely that anyone will read a long, cluttered, non-personalized message.
