In mid-2021, LinkedIn introduced a new rule to limit scammers and spammers.
Prior to the rule change, an algorithm determined the maximum number of invitations a user may send in a week. This algorithm considered various account activity metrics, like invite acceptance rate.
The new rule outlines that individuals can only send 100 invites per week. Additionally, if you don’t follow LinkedIn’s rule, you will receive more restrictions on this new limit. You can find LinkedIn’s rule listed under their Types of Restrictions for Sending Invitations, which states the following:
“Your LinkedIn account may be temporarily restricted from sending invitations to people for the following reasons:
You’ve sent many invitations within a short amount of time.
Many of your invitations have been ignored, left pending, or marked as spam by the recipients.”
So, the million-dollar question here is, can you still do prospecting through LinkedIn?
And the answer to that question is no. At least, not like before.
Now more than ever, it’s important to have an outreach system like Outreach Magic that adheres to LinkedIn’s reinforced crackdown. It’s also crucial your outreach system follows the necessary standard to remain effective. There are several measures we take to ensure this standard:
1. Outreach Within LinkedIn Limits
Our system follows the rules and sends LinkedIn invites and messages daily at randomized patterns to replicate human activities. Focus on the quality of the outreach rather than the quantity. In addition, work on your copywriting to yield better results.
2. Stay On Top of Pending Invitations
An excess of pending invitations could halt your outreach, even before you reach the limit. Therefore, you can’t have too many pending invitations. With the Outreach Magic system, you can automatically cancel pending invitations past a certain amount of days. In most cases, we usually recommend seven days.
3. Avoid Links and Hyperlinks
Similar to emailing practices, links and hyperlinks could get you penalized by LinkedIn. Truthfully speaking, sending links in your cold outreach and expecting strangers to click on it is a hopeless strategy anyways. Focus on a good copy and build rapport first. After that, you can start redirecting them to your website, Calendly, or other links you desire.
4. Utilize Inbound Marketing
While the primary goal of LinkedIn outreach is initiating a response and scheduling a meeting, it’s not the only goal. With LinkedIn outreach comes more connections and a broader reach. A lot of the time, invitations are being accepted without a response. Outreach doesn’t have to stop the moment a cold message receives or doesn’t receive a response. At this point, content becomes king. Strive for engaging posts that captivate your audience’s attention and retarget them that way. You don’t always have to conduct your sales pitch inside a direct message.
While LinkedIn’s new rule makes it difficult to prospect, it is not impossible. However, it is important to have an outreach system that stays updated with Linkedin’s ever-changing landscape to stay efficient.
