Subject Lines That Actually Get Opened

While InMail has high open rates naturally, your subject line still matters. It frames whether someone opens your message with curiosity or annoyance.

Personalized subject lines boost response rates by 30.5%. That means referencing something specific about them, their company, or a mutual connection.

Top-performing subject line formats: “Question about [Company] expansion” “Mutual connection: [Name]” “[Specific topic] strategy”

Avoid vague clickbait like “Quick synergy chat” or “Partnership opportunity.” These scream spam. Your subject line should give them a legitimate reason to care.

Personalization: The Non-Negotiable

63% of people never respond to non-personalized messages. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of your market is completely invisible to you if you’re sending generic templates.

Personalized InMails achieve 15-20% higher response rates than bulk messages. But here’s the catch: typing “Hi {{FirstName}}” doesn’t count as personalization anymore. That’s a token. True personalization requires connecting your outreach to specific context about the prospect.

Examples of real personalization: “Saw your LinkedIn post about [topic]” “Congrats on the Series B funding” “Your comment on [article] resonated with me”

Deep personalization—referencing specific content or mutual connections—can boost reply rates by 40-300% compared to zero-context outreach.

Timing: When to Send Your InMail Messages

Behavioral patterns on LinkedIn follow the professional work week. Here’s when to hit send:

Best Days: Tuesday: 6.90% reply rate (highest performer) Thursday: 6.85% reply rate (close second)

Decent Days: Monday: 6.85% reply rate (risk of weekend backlog getting bulk-archived)

Avoid: Weekends: 2.6-6.40% reply rate (people aren’t in business mode)

Best Times: 8:00-10:00 AM (morning routine, coffee scroll) 5:00-6:00 PM (commute time on mobile)

The morning window aligns with professionals checking LinkedIn before diving into deep work. Evening timing captures people browsing on their phones during commutes.

Sales Navigator: Advanced Targeting Features

Sales Navigator isn’t just about having more InMail credits. It’s about targeting intent, not just identity.

Job Change Signal: People who changed jobs in the last 90 days are 3x more likely to respond. New hires are actively evaluating tools and processes.

Company Followers: Prospects following your company page already have brand affinity. They’re warmer targets with significantly higher conversion potential.

Profile Views: Users are 78% more likely to accept InMail from someone who viewed their profile in the last 30 days. This simple pre-warming tactic creates familiarity before you message.

Smart Links: Share trackable documents (decks, PDFs, case studies) and see exactly who opened them and how long they spent on each page. This data enables hyper-relevant follow-ups.

InMail vs Cold Email: The Real ROI Comparison

Let’s talk numbers. InMail costs roughly $1.60 per message (based on Sales Navigator subscription and credit allocation). Cold email costs $0.01-$0.10 per send.

But here’s what matters: It takes approximately 100 cold emails to generate the same number of replies as 4-10 well-crafted InMails.

For high-ticket B2B sales where average contract value is $10K+, the higher cost of InMail is negligible compared to the time saved. For low-margin products, cold email remains the only economically viable channel.

The winning strategy? Use both. Cast a wide net with email, then use InMail for VIPs who didn’t respond or to multi-thread into accounts where you already have engagement.

Multi-channel outreach (Email + LinkedIn + Phone) boosts results by 287% compared to single-channel approaches. The InMail acts as air cover, making your name familiar when you eventually call or email.