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A well-designed automated LinkedIn workflow generates a steady stream of qualified conversations without requiring manual intervention at every step. Here's how to build one from scratch.
Step 1: Define the target audience and build the list
Before setting anything up, clearly define your target audience: industry, company size, decision-maker’s title, and geographic area. The more specific the segment, the more relevant the message can be.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is the go-to tool for building this list. Its advanced filters allow you to identify prospects with a level of detail that’s impossible to achieve using the standard interface: recent hires, workforce growth, technologies used, and recent posts.
Export the list to an enrichment tool such as Clay or Apollo to add work email addresses. This step helps prepare the email channel as a backup in case the LinkedIn connection fails.
Step 2: Configure the sequence
The typical process on LinkedIn consists of 4 steps.
Day 1: Connection request. No sales pitch in 70% of cases. Requests without a sales pitch have a higher acceptance rate than those with one. For highly qualified accounts (key accounts, C-level), a short, non-sales-oriented message can be effective.
Day 3 after acceptance: first LinkedIn message. Keep it short, personalized, and link-free. 3 to 5 lines maximum. Goal: to prompt a response, not to sell.
Day 7 with no response: Follow up on LinkedIn or switch to email. If the prospect hasn't responded to the first message, send a cold email at the same time with a different angle.
12 days with no response: final follow-up. Keep it short, ask a direct question, and use a relaxed tone.
Step 3: Customize on a Large Scale
Personalization is not optional on LinkedIn. Generic messages are immediately recognized and ignored. Every message must include at least one element specific to the prospect.
Clay automatically generates icebreakers based on a prospect’s recent posts, their background, or news about their company. These icebreakers are inserted as variables into LaGrowthMachine or Waalaxy templates.
Step 4: Monitor and Optimize
Track the acceptance rate for connection requests (target: 30 to 50 percent, depending on the segment).
First-message response rate (target: 10 to 20%).
Appointment conversion rate (target: 3 to 8% of the initial list).
If the acceptance rate is too low, the problem lies with the outreach message or the profile. If the response rate is too low, the message's copy needs to be reworked.
To learn more about combining LinkedIn and email, the multichannel approach explains how to integrate both channels into a single, cohesive workflow.
