How to increase your influence in 2021 using LinkedIn Messaging

03 January 2021 | Produced by Jonathan Pollinger

In 2021 there’ll be more emphasis on creating a one-to-one relationship with your existing and potential new clients. Clients are getting tired of broadcast style marketing messages that don’t apply to them. A move to a more personal and conversational style will be a trend to follow. Give your audience what they are looking for, improve your customer services and drive extra sales by making your messaging personalised. A return to ‘old school’ social media.

Over the past couple of years LinkedIn have been improving their messaging features. You might not even be aware of some of them. So here’s a summary of the key features you can take advantage of . With LinkedIn Messaging you can communicate with your first degree connections. To communicate with your wider network you’ll need InMail which comes with LinkedIn Premium.

LinkedIn Messaging features to improve your communication

As you’d expect you can add photos and videos (via Camera or storage) to your LinkedIn messages. But you you also attach PowerPoint files and Word documents. Handy for collaborating with colleagues and for sending slide decks to clients.

A convenient time saving feature is the ability to drag and drop images and files straight into your messages.

As with Messenger and WhatsApp you can record and send audio messages on the mobile app. Hold down the microphone symbol then release to send when you’ve completed your recording. Each message can be up to 1 minute long. You can slide your finger away to cancel the message whilst recording.

Perhaps surprising for LinkedIn but it’s great to have the option of adding emojis and GIFs. You’ll find an emoji picker on desktop although it’s an odd omission from mobile. However, there’s a GIF picker on both desktop and mobile. Initially, this included a small collection of hideous GIFs unique to LinkedIn, but fortunately you can now select GIFs from TENOR.

To save you time LinkedIn now suggests Quick and Smart Replies, the latter are composed with machine learning, that help you acknowledge and respond to messages efficiently. These can come across as impersonal but they make a good base for composing a message and can save you a bit of time.

You can now @ mention people in LinkedIn messages. Handy when referring a LinkedIn connection to your recipient.

On desktop there’s an option to send messages by selecting the return key. Whilst saving time, this takes some getting used to as you have to remember not to hit return when creating a line space.

Finally, a feature I’ve really taken too is the ability to setup a Zoom or Teams video call directly from your conversation. Once you’ve given authorisation, it’s really easy to move a text conversation to a video call.

Here are some tips for personalising and creating a bigger impact with your LinkedIn messages.

Creating LinkedIn messages that make a mark

• Use your connections first name in the salutation
• Get the opening words right – this will encourage the recipient to read on. Keep it informal but intrigue them to read on. For example, ask a question or refer to something that’s hyper relevant to them.
• Mention a mutual connection – refer to a mutual connection to ensure you’re taken seriously. This works best if the mutual connection is a client of yours.
• Keep your message concise – make sure every word counts and don’t waffle on. Keep it short and readable.
• End with a call to action – you want your prospect to do something as a result of your message so make sure you ask eg book a Zoom call, which you can now do directly from your conversation (see above).

So given the features above and some ideas of how you can improve your messaging, will you be sending more messages on LinkedIn in 2021?