How to Run a LinkedIn InMail Campaign

Tired of sending sales emails that vanish into the void? LinkedIn InMail offers a direct line to the people you want to reach, bypassing crowded inboxes and capturing C-level attention. This guide will walk you through setting up and running a successful InMail campaign from start to finish, from refining your target audience to writing messages that actually get a response.

What is a LinkedIn InMail Campaign?

LinkedIn InMail lets you send a direct, private message to any LinkedIn member, even if you’re not connected to them. While you can send a limited number of individual InMails with a Premium, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter account, an InMail campaign (or "Sponsored Message") allows you to reach a highly targeted list of people at scale through LinkedIn's ad platform.

Here’s why it’s such a powerful tool:

• Unbeatable Deliverability: Unlike cold emails that get caught in spam filters, InMails are delivered directly to a user’s LinkedIn inbox when they are active on the platform. This guarantees your message will be seen.
• Higher Open Rates: Because it comes through a professional social network and not a generic email address, people are more inclined to open an InMail. Open rates often exceed 50%, dwarfing the average for email marketing.
• Direct Access: You can skip the gatekeepers and talk directly to the VPs, directors, and managers who make purchasing decisions.

Simply put, it’s one of the best ways to start a qualified B2B conversation. But "with great power comes great responsibility." You can’t just spray and pray, you need a strategy.

Before You Hit 'Send': Building a Strong Foundation

The success of your campaign is determined long before you write a single word of your message. Careful planning and setup can make the difference between a high-ROI campaign and a waste of your budget.

Step 1: Define a Crystal-Clear Goal

What do you want this campaign to achieve? Get specific. A vague goal like "generate leads" isn’t helpful. Instead, try one of these:

• Recruit 5 qualified candidates for an open Senior Engineer role.
• Book 15 demos for your new SaaS product with Marketing Directors in the tech industry.
• Drive 500 registrations for your upcoming webinar on supply chain management.
• Secure 3 new strategic partnership conversations with e-commerce founders.

Your goal will dictate your audience, your offer, and how you measure success. Be precise about what a "win" looks like.

Step 2: Identify Your Ideal Audience

This is the most critical step. LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities are incredibly deep, allowing you to build an audience based on real professional data, not just assumptions.

You can target users based on criteria like:

• Company: Company Size, Industry, Company Name, Company Growth Rate
• Job Experience: Job Title, Job Function, Seniority Level, Years of Experience
• Education: School, Degree, Field of Study
• Interests: Groups they’re in, Skills listed on their profile

Pro Tip: Get hyper-specific. Don't just target "Marketing Managers." Instead, narrow it down to "Marketing Managers at B2B SaaS companies with 50-200 employees located in the U.S. who have an interest in content marketing." The more targeted your audience, the more personal and relevant your message can be.

Step 3: Craft a Compelling Offer

Why should someone take time out of their busy day to reply to you? You need a valuable offer that speaks directly to their needs. Your offer is not your product, it's the valuable thing you are giving them in exchange for their attention.

Examples of great offers:

• Value-Based Content: "A link to our new report on the 2024 trends in cybersecurity."
• Exclusive Event: "An invitation to our private webinar for FinTech leaders."
• Expert Insight: "Could I get your expert opinion on a new feature we're developing for product managers?"
• A Low-Friction Demo: "A 10-minute micro-demo showing how companies like yours are solving X."

The best offers are generous, relevant, and require very little effort from the recipient.

Anatomy of a High-Converting LinkedIn InMail

With your strategy locked in, it's time to write the actual message. Remember, you’re interrupting someone’s day on a professional platform. You have seconds to earn their attention, so make every word count.

1. The Subject Line: Your First Impression

Think of your subject line as the gatekeeper. If it sounds like spam, your message will be immediately deleted. Good subject lines are short, personal, and spark curiosity.

Avoid spammy templates:

• "Can I get 15 minutes of your time?"
• "Introductory offer for you"
• "My company can help your company"

Try these proven formulas instead:

• Reference a Mutual Interest: "Your thoughts on the latest AI in marketing trends?"
• Keep it Simple and Direct: "Quick question about [Company Name]"
• Provide Immediate Value: "A report for tech leaders"
• Leverage Personalization: "Hey %{FIRSTNAME}% - Saw you run marketing at %{COMPANYNAME}%"

2. The Opening Hook: Make it Personal

The first line of your message must prove this isn't a blast sent to 1,000 other people. Show you’ve done your research. Personalization is more than just using their first name.

Here are a few ways to personalize your opening:

• React to their content: "Your recent article on LinkedIn about remote work culture was excellent. The point you made about asynchronous communication really hit home."
• Mention a company achievement: "Congrats on [Company Name]'s recent funding round! That's a huge milestone."
• Reference a shared connection or group: "I saw we're both in the SaaS Growth Hackers group and noticed you just joined."
• Show appreciation for their work: "I've been following your work at [Company Name] for a while, and the recent product launch looked fantastic."

3. The Body: Keep It Short and Value-First

No one wants to read a wall of text. Get straight to the point. Structure your message body around this simple formula:

1. Why them? State the highly specific reason you’re reaching out. "Since you oversee sales operations at your company..."
2. What's the challenge? Briefly touch on a common pain point relevant to their role. "...many sales ops leaders I speak with are finding it tough to maintain clean data across their CRM."
3. What's your solution/offer? Introduce your offer concisely. "We put together a simple playbook for improving data hygiene that I thought you might find useful."

Use line breaks to make your message easily scannable on mobile, where most users will see it.

4. The Call-to-Action (CTA): Make it Easy and Low-Risk

Your CTA is the final step. Don’t ask for a 30-minute demo right away. That’s too big of a commitment from a cold contact. Instead, focus on interest-based, low-friction next steps.

Weak, High-Friction CTAs:

• "When are you free for a call next week?"
• "Are you ready to book a demo of our software?"

Strong, Low-Friction CTAs:

• "Is that something you’d be interested in taking a look at?"
• "Would you be open to learning more?"
• "If that sounds interesting, what's the best way to share a quick overview with you?"

These CTAs just ask for interest, not a commitment. They make it easy for the recipient to say "yes" without feeling pressured.

Running and Optimizing Your Campaign

Your InMail is written, and your audience is defined. Now it’s time to launch and monitor the campaign inside LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

1. Launch and Monitor

When you set up your Sponsored Message ad, you'll be able to create multiple variations of your message and subject line. This is a perfect opportunity for A/B testing. Try testing two different subject lines to see which gets a better open rate, or two different offers to see which generates more replies.

Once the campaign is live, keep a close eye on your key metrics:

• Sends: How many people have received your message.
• Open Rate: The percentage of recipients who opened your message. (Aim for 40%+)
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage who clicked a link in your message. (Aim for 2-4%)
• Conversion Rate: The percentage who took the desired action (e.g., filled out a form, signed up). This depends on your goal.
• Reply Rate: For 1-to-1 InMails, this is the percent of people who replied. A good cold InMail campaign can see reply rates of 10-25%.

2. Analyze and Iterate

Check your campaign performance weekly. See which message variations are performing best and pause the ones that aren’t. Data tells you exactly what needs fixing:

• Low Open Rate? Your subject line isn’t compelling enough. Rewrite it to be more personal or intriguing.
• High Open Rate but Low Clicks/Replies? Your message body or offer missed the mark. Revise your offer to be more valuable or clarify your value proposition.
• Low Conversions After the Click? Your landing page might be confusing or your lead form might have too many fields.

An InMail campaign isn’t a one-and-done tactic. It's a process of continuously refining your message and targeting based on real-world feedback until you have a winning formula.

Final Thoughts

Running a successful LinkedIn InMail campaign is a blend of science and art. The science is in the precise targeting and data analysis, the art is in crafting a message that feels human, personal, and genuinely helpful. By prioritizing value for the user above all else, you transform your messages from spam into welcome conversations that build real business relationships.

Once those InMails ignite new conversations and grow your network, the work of managing that community in parallel with your other social channels begins. Switching between LinkedIn, Instagram Reels, TikTok, and other platforms to post content and reply to comments can quickly swallow your schedule. At Postbase, we designed a simple, modern platform that organizes everything in one place - from planning your content calendar and scheduling posts to managing all your messages in a unified inbox - so you can focus on building relationships, not juggling apps.