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Free template · Outreach & Email

LinkedIn InMail Template

A LinkedIn InMail template is a message built for LinkedIn's own character budget and mobile preview, not a cold email pasted into the platform. Use it to reference a real profile signal, choose between a connection request and an InMail, and stay well under a wall of text. This set covers a senior contact, a hard-to-reach specialist, and a re-contact.

Last updated

InMail lives inside a phone-sized preview window, so the first two lines decide whether it gets opened at all. A connection request note has an even tighter character budget than InMail itself, so pick the right tool before you write the message. The drafts below are shorter than a cold email on purpose - that brevity is the format, not a shortcut.

01 Copy & adapt — replace every [placeholder]

Senior individual contributor

[FIRST NAME], your work on [SPECIFIC PROJECT/POST] is exactly the [SKILL] we need for a [JOB TITLE] role at [COMPANY NAME].

You are clearly not looking, so feel free to ignore this.

If you are ever curious, I would welcome fifteen minutes.

[YOUR NAME]

Hard-to-reach specialist

Connection note: Hi [FIRST NAME] - hiring a [JOB TITLE] with [SPECIFIC SKILL], thought of you. Open to connecting?

Follow-up InMail after they accept:

Thanks for connecting. The role is [JOB TITLE] at [COMPANY NAME] - [ONE LINE ON THE PROBLEM THEY WOULD OWN]. Worth a quick call?

[YOUR NAME]

Re-contact after no reply

[FIRST NAME], reaching out again in case this got lost in your feed.

Still hiring the [JOB TITLE] role I mentioned - happy to send details if useful, otherwise I will leave it here for good.

No response window pressure, just wanted to close the loop.

[YOUR NAME]

What to reference before you send

A recent post or article they wrote: [SPECIFIC DETAIL]

A shared group or community you are both in: [GROUP NAME]

A mutual connection who can open the door: [MUTUAL CONTACT NAME]

A project, talk, or repo tied to their actual profile, not their job title alone

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02 In practice

How to use this template

  1. Check whether a connection request or a full InMail fits the situation - a hard-to-reach specialist often needs the lighter-weight request first.
  2. Open with a real profile signal, not a generic your experience looks great line, so the message reads as written for them.
  3. Keep the whole message inside what previews on a phone without a tap to expand - two or three short lines, not a paragraph.
  4. Wait for a reasonable response window before assuming silence means no; LinkedIn replies often arrive slower than email.
  5. If you are re-contacting someone who ignored a message before, acknowledge it briefly and give them an easy way to say not interested.

Tips

Reference something specific from their profile - a post, a project, a shared group - rather than a generic compliment about their experience. A connection request note has a much smaller character budget than InMail; write it as a one-line hook, not a pitch. Check for a mutual connection or shared group before you send; opening with that context usually gets a faster response. Preview your own message on a phone before sending - what looks fine on a desktop screen often wraps badly in the mobile inbox. Give a re-contact message room to be ignored again gracefully; do not reference the earlier silence more than once.

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FAQ

LinkedIn InMail Template — FAQs

How is an InMail different from a regular cold email?
InMail lives inside LinkedIn's own interface and character budget, and most recipients read it in a phone preview before opening the full message. That means the opening line has to work harder and the whole note needs to be shorter than a typical email, with less room for a long pitch.
Should I send a connection request or an InMail first?
A connection request works well when you do not have InMail credits to spare or want a lighter first touch; it has an even tighter character limit, so use it as a one-line hook. InMail suits a case where you need to say a bit more up front, such as a hard-to-reach specialist who rarely accepts requests.
What should I reference in an InMail opener?
A real signal from their profile - a recent post, a specific project, a shared group, or a mutual connection - works far better than a generic line about their experience. It shows the message was written for that person and not copied across a search result list.
How long should I wait before re-contacting someone who ignored my InMail?
There is no fixed response window, but giving it a few weeks before a re-contact is reasonable since LinkedIn messages are often checked less often than email. When you do re-contact, keep it short, acknowledge it briefly if at all, and make it easy for them to say it is still not the right time.
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