Linkedin InMail – how to use them correctly in recruitment

What is your strategy when using Linkedin InMail to search for candidates for positions?

Linkedin InMail is a very valuable currency on Linkedin. You do not have access to it with a free account, but when you buy Linkedin Premium (PLN 199.99 per month), you can send 5 inMails per month when you buy LinkedIn Sales Navigator (PLN 299.98 per month) you have access to 20 InMail messages per month.

In this article, we’ll show you why you need to reflect on the content of your InMail messages. We have prepared 5 practical tips for you on how to improve your Linkedin InMail messages.

Although InMail messages are very much liked by HR and recruiting specialists, other Linkedin users have an ambivalent attitude towards them. Why? Because they often associate it with the SPAM message.

For Linkedin, selling specialized accounts is one of the best-selling tools. And their main stakeholders are employees from the HR areas.

Thanks to InMail, HR and recruiting employees have a direct line to potential, highly qualified candidates that they would not have reached otherwise. That’s why more than half of recruiting professionals have a LinkedIn Premium account or one of the other specialist accounts Linkedin offers.

InMail messages, on the other hand, are not always properly used by HR professionals. They send identical messages to all potential candidates with the keyword in their profile. Everyone who uses Linkedin, I received this message. Where an unproposed position is not in line with our professional profile, experience or industry. Therefore, it is getting harder and harder to get Linkedin users to open InMail messages. That is why you need to find a way to show them that your approach is different.

At the same time, LinkedIn is trying to fight SPAM messages on its portal. To this end, they have put in place a number of rules aimed at limiting some of the practices of recruiters. According to Linkedin’s anti-spam rules, if the response rate of a Recruiter account user drops below 13%, the use of InMail will be severely limited.

Therefore, it is increasingly important to be able to get users to respond. You have to make sure that your rate is not too low. It is also the responses to your Linkedin InMail that determine a properly selected target group and proper communication.

What strategies should you use when creating InMail?

Most importantly: don’t spam. Make your message feel like it’s written specifically for that candidate.

Now it’s time for 5 practical tips to help you write better LinkedIn InMail messages.

1. Catchy title

The first thing your „prospects” see is the title of your Linkedin InMail.

Titles – be it InMail or email – are one of the most important elements in communicating with cold leads. What rules to follow when creating a title?

• Get to the point quickly: messages with a title between 6 and 10 words have the highest open rate (21%)

• Focus on the benefits – why a potential client would apply for the position offered

• Personalize your message – personalized titles increase opening results by up to 41.8%

• Choose your words wisely – observe what words get answers from your contacts

• Be direct – the potential candidate should know what to expect in the message

• Ask a question – questions force the recipient to answer and react to the message

2. Create a relationship with the potential candidate

If a potential candidate receives a message from a recruiter, especially when he is not actively looking for a job, he can treat it as a SPAM message.

The key to avoiding this is to build trust with your potential candidate as quickly as possible. The best way is to find a common point of contact on your career path. LinkedIn offers many features that identify common points of contact, so all you need to do is take advantage of them.

• Shared contacts – mention mutual friends,

• Shared Groups – LinkedIn says you are 21% more likely to receive an InMail response from someone you are in the same group with,

• Shared Previous Employer – According to the same LinkedIn survey, you are 27% more likely to reply to a message when you send a message to someone with whom you share your former employer,

• School together – be sure to list any schools or universities you both attended,

• People who follow your company profile – there is an 81% higher probability of getting answers from potential candidates if they already follow your company,

• Other similarities – If you have not found any of the above-mentioned contact points, you can look for the anchor points on the contact’s profile.

Starting a conversation is the hardest part of sending a Linkedin InMail message, but establishing a point of contact can help you take the first step.

3. Concentrate on the benefits

A well-chosen title and common point of contact can get a potential candidate to read Linkedin InMail, but you need to be quick and clear about what you offer and why they should be interested in your offer.

Do not focus on what your offer is, but what it can offer the potential candidate.

4. Don’t go too fast to the goal

One of the biggest mistakes recruiting professionals make when using LinkedIn InMail is getting too quick to the last step of the recruiting process.

If you start an interview with a candidate by requesting an appointment, you lose the interest of many suitable and valuable candidates.

Well-conducted recruitment is when the candidate and the employer find that they are suitable for each other. I both have to meet my needs. Knowing these needs and expectations is, therefore, a critical part of the hiring process. Therefore, take a moment to find out about your candidate’s needs before proposing an appointment.

5. Choose the right moment

While the content of InMail is extremely important, sometimes something else is important – timing.

Research says that users are more likely to open InMail messages at certain times, so setting the time and date when the message is sent is an easy way to increase your response rate.

First, avoid sending InMail on the weekends. According to LinkedIn, the likelihood of receiving a response on Saturdays is 16% lower, and Friday afternoon hours should also be avoided.

For the best response rate, send a Linkedin InMail between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM on Thursday.

Of course, it’s not practical to only send InMail messages within this hourly frame, but definitely avoid the weekends! The best practice is to track your results and see what days and hours are most successful for you.

What now?

Being able to write good InMail messages and maintain a high response rate is increasingly important with the changing requirements and limitations of Linkedin. Use these tips and introduce them to your daily work.