6 Ways to Get a Higher Acceptance Rate for Your LinkedIn Connection Requests
There are 4 pillars to a successful LinkedIn presence (AKA you are building your brand, positioning yourself as the expert and generating leads. Anything less is missing the mark). An optimized profile, value based content, connection and messaging strategies all need to be working together in order to get results.
If you aren’t getting the results you want from your time, one or more of the 4 pillars are missing.
Let’s focus on the connection pillar here because it’s one of the main reasons the platform can do so much for your business.
LinkedIn is a great tool to strategically connect with potential clients. You can search for them, get in front of them, you don’t have to hide that you’re there to do business and you can start to build a relationship. It’s also one pillar that many people get wrong- if they aren’t ignoring it all together. We want to build our network strategically and in order to do that, you have to be proactive. There’s no way around it, you have to send LinkedIn connection requests. If you don’t, your growth will be very slow and your network will be made up of people who think you are their ideal client, not the other way around. If you get a lot of spammy messages, this is your sign to start being proactive.
As of today, you can send 100 connection requests per week. Gone are the days of blasting out an almost limitless amount of invites, hoping something would stick. We need every connection request to count. Here are 6 ways to get your connection requests accepted:
- Make Sure Your Profile is Properly Optimized
Before you start sending requests, ensure your profile is properly optimized. You want to complete your profile as much as you can. When someone visits it, they should get a quick snapshot of who you are and what you do. At the very least, make sure you have these fields filled out:
- Name
- Profile image
- Banner image
- About section
- Headline
- Education
- Past companies you’ve worked for
By filling out your profile, potential prospects will understand that you are a real person and worth creating a connection and communicating with. There are spam accounts out there, and we don’t want your profile to look like one.
- Research the Prospect
Make sure this person is a quality prospect before sending a connection request. Are they in your target market? Can your product or service help them in some way? Do you want to work with them?
Keep track (either with a doc or through the paid Sales Navigator upgrade) of who you want to connect with and begin to engage with their content. When you send them a request, you won’t be a stranger. Also, don’t you actually want to connect with people that you can build an authentic relationship with anyway? Get to know ’em!
- Personalize the Message
All marketing messages are highly personalized nowadays. Consumers demand it and business professionals are no different. You get 300 characters to make an impression and compel them to accept your connection request. Always include their first name. If you can relate to them in some way, include that too. Here are a few examples of how to relate.
- You two are in the same LinkedIn group
- You have a similar job title or a connection to their company
- You have similar interests, which you can find at the bottom of their profile.
You can also share why you want to connect with them. Is it to learn from each other? Is it to share resources? It can be difficult to fit all of this into 300 characters, so test a few different messages and see what works for your prospects. <<Want help getting started with messaging? Grab the LinkedIn Success Roadmap– a free bundle that helps you get going with messaging templates!>>
- Filter by Second Degree Connections
When you’re researching prospects, you can filter by the degree to which you are likely to know someone. Let’s review what each degree means.
- First Degree: People you are already connected to.
- Second Degree: Your connections, connections. Think of it as a friend of a friend.
- Third Degree: Your second degree’s connections.
Research shows that people are more likely to accept your connection request when you are a second-degree connection. You two know the same person. That is a great talking point in your message to them, which also leads me to my next point.
- Ask for a Virtual Introduction
Since you are specifically filtering by second-degree connections, you can ask your mutual friend for a virtual introduction. Then when you send them a connection request, they are familiar with your name and are more likely to accept.
- Look at Profile Views
With a premium account, you can look at who has viewed your profile. Since they found you, they may be interested in what you have to offer. Send them a connection request and mention that you are grateful for them looking at your profile. Again, research the profile of the viewer before sending the request, but that is an easy way to find prospects. A free account has some limitations, but you can still view general information about the person who viewed it.
Now that you know how to increase your acceptance rate for LinkedIn connection requests, you’re ready to get started! LinkedIn is a powerful tool to create business connections and if used properly, it can skyrocket your business growth.
About Hawthorne House Media
We are your marketing arm, managing all aspects of your digital marketing so you can do what you do best. We manage LinkedIn pages and profiles for personal brands and business owners who want to leverage the world’s largest business networking site to drive consistent business growth.
Want help with your LinkedIn presence? Grab the LinkedIn Success Roadmap– a free bundle that covers all 4 pillars of a successful LinkedIn presence.
We would love to hear from you! Please contact us through the contact form, and we will get back to you shortly!