How to Adjust Your LinkedIn® DMs Based on “Warmth”
Did you know that your approach to direct messaging (DMs) should change depending on how “warm” the person is?
Let’s start by saying that your outreach must comply with both your local laws and LinkedIn’s® guidelines. Most importantly, it should be acceptable to the people who receive your messages. If no one reports you for sending spam, local authorities and LinkedIn® have no reason to investigate your message content.
So, from this point forward, we will look into what kinds of messages people are actually comfortable receiving. It depends entirely on the group of people we are targeting:
Group No. 1
Group of people: 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections who don’t interact with you.
Warmth level: Most likely super cold (unless they know you from somewhere other than LinkedIn®).
The excuse: Shared traits, such as common connections or attending the same college, are not strong enough pretexts to message them out of the blue.
Reasonable approach: Don’t DM them. Send a connection request with no note attached. Publish great content and warm them up over time.
Group No. 2
Group of people: 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-degree connections who have just interacted with you.
Warmth level: These leads are the best. They knocked on your door first by visiting your profile, following your personal or company page, liking or commenting on your post, voting in your poll, subscribing to your newsletter, reading your Smart Link, etc.
The excuse: You have a perfectly valid excuse to DM them. Just keep it short and be quick about it, a week from now, they might have already forgotten about you.
Reasonable approach: If their interaction is obvious (e.g., a like, comment, profile follow, or connection request), you can mention it in your DM. However, you don’t want to come across as “Big Brother,” so avoid mentioning behind-the-scenes tracking, such as Smart Link clicks or Buyer Intent data.
Group No. 3
Group of people: Your 1st-degree connections with zero interactions.
Warmth level: This highly depends on your posting frequency. If you don’t post, they have probably forgotten ever connecting with you. If you post three times a week, it is quite probable they know who you are and are fine with you (since they always have the option to disconnect).
The excuse: I am sorry to say this, but in some cases, being connected is not a strong enough excuse. A lot depends on the volume of messages they receive from people like you. If your offer is unique, they might be receptive. If you are the fifth marketing services rep approaching them this month, they might be allergic to your pitch.
Reasonable approach: If you are unsure, you can start with an invitation to an informal event that isn’t directly tied to your business. For example: “Hey George, a bunch of other CEOs and I play football weekly. We need an extra buddy. Care to give it a try?”