LinkedIn has become an invaluable platform for sales professionals to connect with prospects and generate new business opportunities. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn offers access to the largest professional network on the planet. However, simply having a presence on LinkedIn is not enough to achieve sales success. Crafting an effective sales message to send to prospects via LinkedIn messaging is critical for cutting through the noise and capturing attention.
But what is the optimal length for a LinkedIn sales message? Should it be a short and sweet elevator pitch or a detailed, comprehensive message? In this article, we will explore the pros and cons of different LinkedIn sales message lengths and provide recommendations for writing messages that generate responses.
The Importance of LinkedIn for Sales
Before diving into ideal message length, it’s worth reviewing why LinkedIn is such a valuable platform for sales in the first place. Here are some of the key benefits LinkedIn offers sales professionals:
- Access to extensive professional profiles – LinkedIn profiles provide a wealth of information for identifying and qualifying prospects, including job titles, skills, experience, education, locations, and more.
- Ability to establish connections – Salespeople can connect directly with key decision-makers and buyers at target companies.
- Engagement opportunities – Features like content sharing, commenting, liking, and messaging allow for meaningful engagement with prospects.
- Targeted advertising – Sponsored content and InMail ads enable highly targeted promotion to ideal audiences.
- Lead generation – Tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator make it possible to generate qualified B2B leads at scale.
- Credibility-building – A complete, optimized LinkedIn presence lends credibility and professionalism.
With these benefits in mind, developing LinkedIn messaging best practices is essential for capitalizing on the platform’s sales potential.
Short Messages: The Elevator Pitch Approach
One potential approach for LinkedIn sales messages is to keep them extremely short and high-level. This elevator pitch style gets right to the point within just a few sentences. Here are some examples of ultra-short LinkedIn sales messages:
- “Hi {First Name}, I help B2B companies generate more pipeline and accelerate deal velocity with LinkedIn Lead Gen. Would you be open to a quick chat about your current sales challenges and how we may be able to help?”
- “Good morning {First Name}, I wanted to introduce myself. I work with software companies to drive more enterprise demos and G2B sales via targeted LinkedIn outreach and social selling. Is this an area you are looking to improve?”
- “{First Name}, are you happy with the current results you’re getting from LinkedIn for lead generation and pipeline creation? If not, I may be able to help. I have a proven process for optimizing LinkedIn outreach and delivering real sales results. Are you open to discussing this further?”
The main advantage of the elevator pitch approach is it’s quick and easy. Only taking up a few sentences, these short messages can likely be read and understood quickly by prospects. They also get right to the point of the value proposition without overwhelming the recipient with too much info upfront.
However, ultra-short LinkedIn sales messages also have some potential drawbacks to consider:
- They provide limited context or details about what you do
- It’s harder to demonstrate expertise and credibility
- There may not be enough information to motivate further engagement
- Messages this short could come across as spammy
While brevity can be useful in some cases, LinkedIn sales messages generally require a bit more substance to make an impact.
Medium-Length Messages
A sweet spot for many LinkedIn sales messages is a medium length that provides more detail than an elevator pitch but without getting overly drawn-out. Here are some examples of messages in the medium length range of 50-150 words:
- “Good morning {First Name}, I noticed that {Company} works within the {Industry} industry. We work with a number of {Industry} companies to improve lead generation through LinkedIn using content marketing, company page optimization, employee advocacy, and targeted outreach campaigns. Our strategies have helped clients increase pipeline by 2-3X in many cases. Would you have a few minutes to connect about your current LinkedIn approach and whether any improvements could help you hit your sales goals for the quarter?”
- “Hi {First Name}, I came across your profile and saw that you’re in sales at {Company}. I specialize in helping {Industry} companies drive more qualified demos and pipeline using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for targeted outreach. My process involves optimizing profiles, creating relevant content, training reps on effective messaging, and implementing sequenced nurture touchpoints. I’d love to learn more about your sales objectives and see if this is an area where I could potentially help {Company} generate more opportunities in the market. Are you open to a quick 20-30 minute call to discuss?”
- “Good afternoon {First Name}, I’m messaging you because here at {Company}, we work with brands like {Competitor} and {Competitor} to increase awareness, generate leads, and build credibility through strategic use of the LinkedIn platform. We help configure company pages for lead gen, coach employees to establish thought leadership, and execute multi-touch outreach campaigns that spark real engagement. This often translates into 2-3X more leads from LinkedIn in a relatively short period of time. Is this an initiative {Your Company} may have interest in pursuing? I’d be happy to provide some quick ideas for how we could help.”
These medium-length messages balance concision with enough details and context to get the prospect’s interest. Key advantages of this approach include:
- Provide a clearer understanding of value proposition
- Build more credibility by demonstrating expertise
- Include some light social proof via competitor references, metrics, etc.
- Motivate further engagement by piquing interest
The main risk with medium-length messages is prospects may not read through the entire content. But overall this tends to be an effective length for piquing interest while still respecting the recipient’s time.
Long-Form Messages
At the far end of the spectrum are long-form LinkedIn sales messages exceeding 150+ words. These messages go into greater detail explaining the prospect’s pain points and how the sender’s offering provides the ideal solution. Here’s an example:
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“Hi {First Name}, I was looking through your profile and thought you’d be a great person to connect with. As the VP Sales at {Company} in the {Industry} space, you likely face challenges with things like inefficient social media lead gen, low sales rep productivity, and lack of visibility into your sales funnel and pipeline health.
Here at {Company}, we work with {Industry} sales teams to resolve these exact issues by leveraging the LinkedIn platform to its fullest. From a strategy and training perspective, we conduct workshops to get salespeople generating and nurturing more leads through optimized content sharing, thoughtful commenting, strategic profile updates, and one-to-one engagement via InMail.
We also utilize software tools like Sales Navigator to identify ideal prospects based on strong fit characteristics and intent signals. Our reps then execute multi-touch, personalized outreach campaigns to convert prospects into marketing or sales qualified leads.
The results speak for themselves. Our clients typically see a 2-3X increase in pipeline within six months or less. We accomplish this through expertise in the LinkedIn platform, data-driven targeting, and world-class training and coaching.
I’d love to learn more about your team’s current sales process and objectives, and explore whether our LinkedIn selling methodology could potentially help take {Company’s} performance to the next level. Would you have 20-30 minutes for a quick intro call? I’m confident I can provide valuable insights and ideas even within our initial discussion.
Looking forward to connecting further!
Best,
{Your Name}”
This detailed approach attempts to establish pain points upfront, demonstrate expertise, build credibility through social proof, and compel the prospect to learn more. Potential upsides include:
- Demonstrating extensive knowledge of prospect’s needs
- Clearly conveying your capabilities and differentiation
- Building a stronger relationship through personalization
- Reducing prospects’ concerns by anticipating objections
However, very long messages also have some clear drawbacks to consider:
- Prospect may not read the full message
- Comes across as overly salesy or spammy
- Provides too much info upfront vs. spreading across a conversation
- Easy to come across as impersonal if not tailored effectively
Therefore, long-form messages longer than 150 words or so should generally be used quite selectively for LinkedIn outreach.
Ideal LinkedIn Sales Message Length Recommendations
Based on the pros and cons of each approach, here are some best practices and recommendations for selecting your LinkedIn sales message length:
- For cold outreach, keep messages under 150 words when possible
- If opting for an elevator pitch approach, use 50+ words to provide adequate context
- Aim for 50-150 words as a sweet spot for intriguing prospects while respecting their time
- Only use 150+ word messages selectively for well qualified, high priority prospects
- Make messages skimmable by formatting with paragraph breaks and bullet points
- Personalize message content and tone for each prospect vs. overly generic language
Additionally, here is a breakdown of recommended word counts based on relationship level:
Relationship Type | Recommended Word Count |
---|---|
Cold Outreach | 50-150 words |
Warm Outreach | 100-200 words |
Existing Connections | 100-250 words |
Cold outreach where no prior relationship exists warrants shorter messages to avoid coming across as spammy. Warm outreach to prospects you have some existing connection with, or who have engaged with your brand, can support longer messages.
Personalization is Key
Your messages should also be adapted and personalized for each prospect based on their unique needs, challenges, and interests. Even when using templates, customize the language, integrate specifics about the prospect’s company and role, and tailor the tone as needed.
Personalized messages demonstrate you care about addressing each prospect’s situation vs. blasting generic copy/paste messages. LinkedIn messaging best practices always emphasize relevance and personalization.
Test and Refine Based on Response Rates
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for optimal LinkedIn sales message length. The ideal length can vary based on your industry, prospect type, offer, and outreach strategy. The key is to test different message lengths and formats, then analyze response rates to determine what resonates best.
Track open and click-through rates for short vs. long messages. Try different word counts and message structures. Experiment with media like images or videos. Use the data and feedback to continuously refine your messaging for maximum impact.
Set Proper Expectations
No message length can guarantee a prospect will engage or convert. While a compelling message improves your chances, prospects will only respond if the message is relevant and you have credibility in their industry. Set proper expectations by developing highly targeted outreach lists, personalizing content, and being persistent through multi-touch campaigns.
With hundreds of messages being received, you may need 5, 10, or even 20+ touches before a prospect fully engages. Patience and consistency are vital.
Conclusion
LinkedIn messaging opens up game-changing access to prospects, but only if executed effectively. While there are no hard and fast rules, 50-150 words balances brevity with details to pique interest for cold outreach. Go longer for warm contacts or existing connections if appropriate. Remember to always personalize messages and continuously test and refine based on data.
With these tips and best practices in mind, you can craft LinkedIn messages that captivate prospects and open up new sales opportunities.