What should a cold LinkedIn message say?
Say why you are writing to this person now, ask one question they can answer in a line, and give them an easy way out. LinkedIn's own pages describe much the same message:
- Its page on how to personalize invitations to connect (shown as updated 6 months ago on 4 November 2026) suggests saying how you found the person or what you have in common and why you'd like to connect now, in a clear, polite tone.
- Its InMail best practices page (updated 5 years ago) says to be brief, mention the profile content that prompted you to write, explain what you hope to achieve, and give them a reason to reply by asking for advice, opinions or referrals.
- Its Professional Community Policies say: "Do not use our invitation feature to send promotional messages to people you don't know or to otherwise spam people." A pitch in a connection note to a stranger is exactly that.
The four parts we use, in order: the reason you're writing (a post, a change, a question they asked), one line on why it might matter to them, one question, and a way out. Your product gets one plain clause, or none until they reply.
How long can a cold LinkedIn message be?
Up to 200 characters for a connection note, which is LinkedIn's limit, and, by LinkedIn's own data, under 400 for an InMail, far below the 2,000 LinkedIn allows. The route sets the ceiling. These limits come from LinkedIn's help pages, checked on 4 November 2026; our guide to messaging someone on LinkedIn, step by step covers who each route reaches and where the buttons are.
| Route | Room LinkedIn gives you | What that means for the message |
|---|---|---|
| Connection request with a note | Up to 200 characters; free accounts can add a note to three requests a month (LinkedIn) | Reason and question only. No pitch, and no product description. |
| InMail | Subject up to 200 characters, body up to 2,000 (LinkedIn) | You can't send a second InMail until they respond (credits page), so the first one has to stand alone. |
| Message request to a group member or coworker | Attachments can't be sent (LinkedIn) | Mention the group or team you share in the first line. |
An older LinkedIn page, shown as updated 3 years ago, still says free members get five personalised invitations and that Premium notes can run to 300 characters. Write notes to 200 and you fit both.
For InMail, length shows up in LinkedIn's own numbers. In a May 2022 analysis on its Talent Blog, Greg Lewis (Insights Associate Program Manager) compared LinkedIn data on response rates across tens of millions of recruiter InMails sent between May 2021 and April 2022:
| InMail length | Response rate against the average for all InMails |
|---|---|
| Under 400 characters | 22% higher |
| Up to 800 characters | 5% higher |
| 800 to 1,200 characters | 6% lower |
| Over 1,200 characters | 11% lower |
Only 10% of those InMails were under 400 characters, and InMails sent one at a time got responses about 15% more often than bulk sends. These were recruiters writing to job candidates, so treat the numbers as a direction for sales messages: aim for under 400 characters, about three or four short sentences.
A cold LinkedIn message, rewritten line by line
Here is a typical first draft, an example we wrote. Priya at Acme (a sample company) posted that the operations team rebuilds its delivery routes by hand every Monday, and the founder of Northwind Ltd, a sample route planning company, writes to Priya in 484 characters:
| Line of the draft | Characters | Keep or cut |
|---|---|---|
| Hi Priya, I hope this message finds you well! | 45 | Cut. Filler in the preview. |
| I came across your profile and was really impressed by your journey at Acme. | 76 | Replace with the post that actually prompted the message, as LinkedIn's InMail page advises. |
| I'm the founder of Northwind Ltd, a platform that helps operations teams streamline their delivery workflows with AI-powered route optimisation. | 144 | Shrink to one plain clause. |
| We've worked with companies of all sizes to save time and cut costs. | 68 | Cut. Any vendor could say it. |
| I'd love to set up a quick 15-minute call to show you how we could help Acme. | 77 | Replace with a question Priya can answer in one line. |
| Here's my calendar link: [link]. | 32 | Cut. |
| Looking forward to hearing from you! | 36 | Cut. |
The six cut or replaced lines add up to 45 + 76 + 68 + 77 + 32 + 36 = 334 characters, or 334 / 484 = 69% of the draft. In a February 2023 post on LinkedIn's Sales Blog, Will Allred, cofounder of Lavender, which calls itself an email intelligence company, makes two points that explain the cuts: phrases like hope this finds you well waste the preview, and links unfurl below an InMail and take up preview space.
The rewrite is 484 - 325 = 159 characters shorter and sits in LinkedIn's under-400 band; the note fits the 200-character limit.
Cold LinkedIn message templates for small B2B teams
Three templates use the asks LinkedIn's InMail page suggests (advice, opinions or referrals); one is a direct offer for someone who asked in public, and one offers something back for their time. We wrote them for small B2B teams, with no measured reply rates behind them. Counts are before you fill in the braces.
Once the braces are filled, count again: anything over 200 characters belongs in an InMail, an Open Profile message or a message request. For notes built around a shared event, mutual contact or their company, our 30 connection request templates cover the other situations.
What do people on the receiving end say?
They say they can spot fake warmth, and they disagree about when to pitch. We read four threads in which people judged cold LinkedIn messages: a July 2025 r/sales feedback thread (43 archived comments), a June 2025 r/linkedin rate-my-message thread (28), a May 2024 r/sales thread on connection notes (27) and a January 2025 r/sales thread about a stranger messaging daily (44). That is 142 comments, from people who chose to reply, so it shows what those threads report and proves nothing about buyers in general.
- Fake warmth gets called out. In three of the four threads, commenters said they could tell when the friendliness was put on: flattery, AI-sounding wording or a pretend relationship. The fourth, about connection notes, was mostly about tactics. The most upvoted reply in the July 2025 thread (14 points) said: "Just tell me what you can do for me, how much it'll save me and what I need to do if I'm interested."
- One opener drew a specific complaint. In the same thread, one commenter said messages opening with this might seem out of the blue lose their interest straight away.
- When to pitch is split. Answers ranged from pitching as soon as someone connects to engaging with their posts before any pitch.
In our view, the four-part message works for either camp: it says who is writing, gives a real reason and asks a question instead of a meeting.
How do you tell if a LinkedIn message is real or fake?
Check it against LinkedIn's own list of warning signs of fraudulent messages (updated 4 years ago), then check the sender's profile. The list includes offers that seem too good to be true, bad spelling or grammar, messages not addressed to you personally, pressure to act immediately, requests for personal or banking details, and messages asking you to open an attachment to install a software update, which LinkedIn says its own messages never do. LinkedIn also says it flags messages where the sender appears to be trying to move the conversation off LinkedIn, showing the recipient a warning and an option to report.
Some of these signs describe lazy sales messages as well as scams: no personal detail, false urgency and, from LinkedIn's flag, a rush off the platform. One commenter in a May 2026 r/sales thread said they had seen people do very well with LinkedIn messages that are short and try to move the conversation off LinkedIn as fast as possible. Given LinkedIn's warning, we would keep the first exchange on LinkedIn and let the other person offer an email address or a call.
- Use their name and one detail they will recognise as theirs.
- Give no deadline, attach nothing, and leave links out of the first message.
- Make your profile match the message: the same company, a real photo and a headline that says what you do.
- Add a verification badge if you can; our guide to LinkedIn check marks and read receipts shows how to get one.
What to do this week: send ten and track them
Send ten cold messages using the four parts, then read what came back before sending more. This plan is ours, sized for a founder or a two-person team.
Pick ten people with a dated reason
A post about the problem you solve, a new role or a question in a group, from the last few weeks. No one-line reason, no message.
Choose the route
Connection note first, an Open Profile message if they have it on, InMail only for the one or two who matter most.
Write, count and check
Under 200 characters for a note, under 400 for anything else. Run each message past LinkedIn's warning-sign list before you send it.
Log every send
Date, route, character count, the reason you wrote, and whether they replied or accepted.
If you draft with AI, our look at what Expandi found about AI-written LinkedIn messages explains how to test drafts against your own copy. When a note gets accepted, see what to say after someone accepts for message two. And if finding the reasons is the slow part, Siela's Lead Finder looks for a reason to reach out now, such as someone asking how to solve the problem you solve or changing role, and a second AI checks each LinkedIn message before it is sent.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 4+1 rule on LinkedIn?
We couldn't find a LinkedIn page that uses the term, and a web search on 4 November 2026 pointed to the 4-1-1 rule instead. One version is a Twitter posting ratio that a 2013 Computerworld tip attributes to Mediotype: four tweets of other people's content and one retweet for every self-promoting tweet. It is about posts, so it says little about messages.
What should I put as the subject of a LinkedIn InMail?
LinkedIn makes the InMail subject optional and allows up to 200 characters. Treat it like a cold email subject: a few plain words naming the reason you're writing, such as their post, a group you share or the problem you want to ask about. Skip hype and anything that pretends you've spoken before. A connection note has no separate subject field.
Can you send a cold message on LinkedIn without Premium?
Yes, in three ways. A free account can add a note to up to three connection requests a month, according to LinkedIn's newer help page. It can send a message request to someone in a group you both belong to. And it can message a Premium member who has Open Profile turned on, which costs nothing. InMail itself needs Premium.
Should a cold LinkedIn message include a link?
Usually not in the first one. Will Allred of Lavender, writing on LinkedIn's Sales Blog in February 2023, said links and PDFs unfurl below an InMail and eat preview space, and advised leaving them out of a true InMail because you can't follow up until the person replies. Offer the resource in words and send the link once they say yes.
Is it rude to send a cold message on LinkedIn?
Not when it is specific and easy to decline. LinkedIn's policies object to untargeted, irrelevant or obviously unwanted messages and to promotional invitations sent to strangers. A message about something the person posted, with one question and no pressure, follows LinkedIn's own advice: say what prompted you to write and what you hope to get from the conversation.
Sources
- LinkedIn Help: Personalize invitations to connect (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 6 months ago))
- LinkedIn Help: Writing InMail Messages - Best Practices (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 5 years ago))
- LinkedIn Professional Community Policies (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Talent Blog: How to Improve Your InMail Response Rate, According to LinkedIn Data (Greg Lewis) (19 May 2022)
- LinkedIn Help: Send an InMail Message (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 7 months ago))
- LinkedIn Help: InMail message credits and renewal process (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 3 months ago))
- LinkedIn Help: Send an Open Profile message on LinkedIn (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 1 year ago))
- LinkedIn Help: Send, receive, and manage message requests (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 2 years ago))
- LinkedIn Help: Differences between InMail Messages and personalized invitations (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 3 years ago))
- LinkedIn Sales Blog: 2 InMail Tactics That Lead to More Responses From Your Prospects (Will Allred) (14 Feb 2023)
- r/sales: Would love feedback on my linkedin outreach messages (10 Jul 2025)
- r/linkedin: Rate this LinkedIn cold outreach message (7 Jun 2025)
- r/sales: LinkedIn Connection Messages waste your time (29 May 2024)
- r/sales: Are the dudes on LinkedIn who message about wanting to connect with people like for real? (14 Jan 2025)
- r/sales: What's worked better for you in sales outreach: LinkedIn messages or email? (5 May 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Warning Signs of Fraudulent Messages (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 4 years ago))
- LinkedIn Help: Detect and avoid scams in your messages (checked 4 Nov 2026 (shown as updated 4 years ago))
- Computerworld: Tweeting for maximum effect: The formula (Melissa Shaw) (20 Dec 2013)