It’s more than just a DM

People see LinkedIn DMs as a one-trick pony, aimlessly targeting anyone with a pulse in the hope that someone, somewhere will bite. Endless contact lists of people far and wide fulfilling a range of positions from pioneer to pot washer. 

But an effective LinkedIn DM strategy is just a small part of a bigger picture that includes effective content creation and community-building processes. When you nail those two things, possibly with the help of our coaching course, a LinkedIn DM starts to become a whole lot warmer. 

This means when people see you sliding into their DMs (whoever came up with that term definitely has issues), they don’t instantly hit the delete button, as they do with almost every other cold spammer that slips into their inbox. Jesus, now I’m even doing it! 

Target the right people

There’s never an exact science to targeting your ideal customer when sending LinkedIn DMs. But using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can create custom lists with a whole bunch of filters from location, industry, job title, and how active they are on the platform. 

There is an argument to say that in the time it takes to create lists and check whether someone is a good candidate for your business, you could have sent 10 DMs to a bunch of randoms. And if you want to build a reputation of being a shady LinkedIn spammer with no skill and even less class… Go ahead. 

Stalk your prey

Ok, this sounds a little creepy but the concept is very simple when you know how and have the tools. With any LinkedIn DM strategy, your goal is to warm people up before you land in their inbox. The reality is people know you are ultimately trying to sell to them, and that’s not the bit they mind. The issue they have is the lack of effort, creativity, or thought going into the approach.

Using Sales Navigator, you can easily narrow down your target audience with a series of filters. One of the said filters on this extensive list is ‘Posted in the last 30 days’. This is your secret weapon to becoming memorable before you pull the trigger in someone’s DMs. 

Build into your strategy a 2-week window of adding valuable comments to their posts, demonstrating a clear understanding of their industry and placing you well and truly at the forefront of their minds on DM day. The art of delivering an effective LinkedIn DM strategy is making sure your targets are as warm as possible before you strike. 

Send more than one

The times I’ve seen people send one LinkedIn DM, not get a response and give up. So disgusted with the fact that their mediocre message didn’t hit the right note, that they dismiss the prospect forever. 

What this approach fails to appreciate is that at any given time, probably less than 5% of the people you contact are in a position at that time to act. This means out of 100 DMs, you’ll be lucky to catch 5 people at the right time. 

A good LinkedIn DM strategy continues to touch base with people month after month. It’s not about the hard sell, but rather checking in and reminding them of your existence. Remember, people may not be ready for your first 9 messages, and then instead of giving up, you go for number 10. 

BOOM. Your target is now ready.

Keep them light and humourous 

Put yourself in the position of your buyer for a second. Imagine how many LinkedIn DMs they receive in a day pitching them anything from VA services to Viagra. Just like when you are trying to capture people’s attention with your LinkedIn content, you are trying to stand out in a sea of spammy DMs all attempting to extract money from suspicious and sceptical buyers. 

Focus on the small percentage of people that will give your DM the time of day and grab them with the very first line. Stop trying to sell to them, or tell them about your services they don’t know they need. This is your chance to make their day just a little less mundane and actually raise a smile from an otherwise fed-up and frustrated face.

Right now, they don’t want your services, no matter how good they are. The first line of your LinkedIn DM has to do more than the inevitable eye-roll usually associated with cold DMs. People buy from messages they remember for the right reasons. How are you going to remain memorable?

If you would like to work with us to develop the skills to master LinkedIn DMs, Content and Engagement strategies, please get in touch below.