MightyRecruiter
Despite all the controversy, LinkedIn InMails remain a go-to tool in most recruiters toolboxes. Like the cold email, it means messaging someone you’ve probably never met about an opportunity they’ve probably never heard of. It’s at the crux of where the art meets the science of recruiting.
LinkedIn offers some statistics about the InMail, such as the best time to send it (9-10am on weekdays), how different types of connection referencing can impact the response rate, and how it compares to cold email outreach (BIAS ALERT).
Some of the most interesting statistics, though, center on the subject of a message and what’s most likely to compel recipients to respond to a complete stranger.
LinkedIn claims that subject lines that are 3 words or less increase the response rate by 14 percent. In a nutshell, keep them snappy and short.
We talked to some other LinkedIn Premium users to get some insider insight into what they recommend for increasing their hiring success rates via InMail.
- SUBJECT LINE: $XXX,XXX Salary
Robert Barrows, CEO of Barrows, errs on the side of transparency, and he also knows that money talks.
“If you want a lot of response to your recruitment ad, show the salary!” argues Mr. Barrows. “The best recruitment line is a big salary! If they want it, they will apply.”
- SUBJECT LINE: Stop wasting time on mindless work
Brad Shaw, CEO Dallas Web Design Inc., uses LinkedIn to hire and says his top 3 LinkedIn InMail subject lines include the one above and these two below:
- SUBJECT LINE: We are not gonna Give Up on You!
- SUBJECT LINE: *Ready for an upgrade?*
- SUBJECT LINE: Would you be interested in this?
David Attard, Founder of Collective Ray, typically hires programmers for several of the businesses he oversees. He has one very simple subject that is always opened and almost always gets a response.
“It rouses curiosity because the recipient can’t tell what it’s about, and it must be some kind of offer,” explained Mr. Attard. “Although I don’t have statistics, I’ve had an excellent success rate with it such that I keep using it.”
- SUBJECT LINE: Your experience at {Company 1} working on [product X] makes you a perfect fit at [Company 2}!
Mark Bechtholt, the cofounder and CEO of FameMoose.com, has been testing different methods to increase talent conversion on LinkedIn for years. He shared a technique which raised his candidate response rate from 12 percent to over 55 percent:
“We are constantly recruiting in the technology sector, where it can be extremely difficult to get responses from talent,” explained Mr. Bechtholt. “We started experimenting with writing very personalized subject lines and InMail copy based on the individual’s experience and it really moved needle! For example, we were trying to find a front end developer and found some profiles that we really liked. One of them was a developer from Lyft who had worked on a product that was a perfect fit for the role we were looking to fill.
Then in the email we went on to describe why we thought their work was so impressive and how we thought they would be a critical part of our team. This was a huge success. It definitely took more time, but the quality we put into tailoring the message to the prospective employees really set conversations on the right path and got us to hiring the right employee quickly. We now take this approach in all our recruiting efforts!”
- SUBJECT LINE: CTRL+INSERT [ “Opportunity” ]
Teresa Walsh, a Marketing Executive at Cazana, is relatively new to Linkedin Premium, having recently made her first public relations hire through the platform.
“In every message I sent, I used the word opportunity in the title to make sure the person receiving the email knows it is worthwhile for them to open and read my message,” explained Ms. Walsh. “You should treat InMail the same way you would treat any cold outreach email, try to personalize it, write a short, snappy and to the point title/subject line, and keep the message to the point.”
- SUBJECT LINE: Is this a right fit for {Candidate First and Last Name}
Jitesh Keswani, the CEO of e-Intelligence.in, has used LinkedIn InMails to hire, but also uses LinkedIn InMail to constantly reach out to and collaborate with influencers for content marketing campaigns. He sends A LOT of InMails. He offered us the subject line above as well as the one below. He explains that much of their value rests in the fact that they are straight to the point and no nonsense.
- SUBJECT LINE: [Name] suggested I get in touch –
Here you are establishing your credibility by using a common mutual reference’s name.
Hopefully these LinkedIn InMail subject line options from LinkedIn premium users can help you in your next InMail outreach campaign. Who knows? You just may get the candidate response that the GreenPal founder Gene Caballero once got from a candidate, “I haven’t felt this way since prom….”
Got a better subject line for a colleague to try? Tweet @MightyRecruiter.
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