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Financial Planning > Behavioral Finance

5 ways to improve the ROI of LinkedIn messages and InMails

By Nate Isaacson

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One of the most common questions I receive from financial professionals is, “Why are my LinkedIn InMails or messages not getting many responses?” In reviewing hundreds of messages recently, the most common issues tend to be that financial professionals don’t type like they would speak and they try to close the deal on the first message. LinkedIn is actually a lot like online dating, if you think about it, and it starts with building a relationship first.

Below are some tips for improving your ROI of your LinkedIn InMails or LinkedIn messages.

1. Creativity counts

Creativity is most important when it comes to the subject line. We have all received an email from a sales person that says “Generate more leads with XYZ Company” or “Buy this. It will change your life” and, if you are like me, you instantly delete it. By simply adding some creativity and taking the time to actually look at the person’s LinkedIn profile, you will improve your response rate drastically.

Here are some examples that actually prompted responses:

“Go Dawgs! // Nurses Rock // Digital Photography // Coffee?”

“Rugby // Northeastern // Mutual Connection – John Smith // Coffee?”

2. Make it personal

Don’t forget to personalize your InMails or messages. As someone who met their wife on Match.com, I can tell you simply doing copy and paste and playing a numbers game doesn’t work. This holds true on LinkedIn as well.

You need to make the message personal and show that you took the time to read their LinkedIn profile. Consumers will see right through your copy and paste job very quickly. So, take interest in the things they included in their profile and don’t talk about yourself; there will be plenty of time for that later.

3. Be specific

As a financial professional, you were trained to tell your prospective clients or clients when you are available to meet next. But, for some reason, too many financial professionals don’t do that in InMails or messages. If the goal of the message is to meet for coffee or speak via phone, ask the person you are writing if they are available on specific days don’t ask “Are you free to get coffee sometime soon?” instead ask, “Are you free to grab coffee on Thursday or Friday morning this week?”

4. Keep it short

Don’t get overly wordy, as no one wants to read a long InMail or message on their iPhone. Keep in mind the vast majority of people will read your InMail or message on their iPhone, so one to two swipes down is how long your message should be.

5. Drop the sales pitch

This might be the biggest buzz kill for most financial professionals. The goal of your LinkedIn InMail or message is to simply get a meeting, not sell a financial product. So, with this in mind, don’t include what you do or talk about the firm you work for or the product you want to talk to them about in that message.

Keep these tips in mind and you will see improved response rates on your LinkedIn InMails or messages. 

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