You took the plunge and sent an InMail to a potential job candidate on LinkedIn and now you’re waiting for a response. But did you optimize your chance of standing out? LinkedIn conducted an analysis of tens of millions of InMails sent by recruiters globally between April 2020 and February 2021. And it revealed which ones were likely to get a fast response.
Note: Although these data points apply to recruiters who sent InMail to potential jobseekers, the findings are good general guidelines for anyone trying to message through the platform.
The analysis looked at:
- length of the message
- which day of the week it was sent
- whether the message was personalized or not
The results were pretty straightforward.
Shorter is better
Those that delivered their message between 201-400 characters got a 16% higher than average response rate and 41% better than InMails with more than 1,400 characters. In short (pun intended) people are busy so make your point concise.
Monday is the best day to send an InMail
But just by a slim margin. Monday gets a 2% higher response rate while Saturday accounts for 13% fewer responses. Let people have their weekend.
Personalized InMails perform about 20% better
In messaging, as with most things, people like to feel special. So avoid sending out generic messages and take the time to personalize the note with someone’s name and some unique details.