Why Your LinkedIn Messages Aren’t Getting Responses and Driving Leads

If your LinkedIn messages feel like cold emails, that’s your problem.

Most people write on LinkedIn like they’re crafting outreach for a cold email campaign. Overwritten. Over-polite. Over-eager. You’d never talk like this to someone at a bar or a networking event, but for some reason, the moment people open LinkedIn, they start writing like an intern who just learned what a CTA is.

The result? Ghosted. Ignored. Archived without a glance.

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LinkedIn Is a Social Platform, Not a CRM

If you were standing next to someone at a party, you wouldn’t start the conversation by listing your credentials and pitching your services. You’d make a comment. You’d ask a question. You’d say something casual to break the ice.

Something like:

• “This music kind of sucks, am I right?”
• “You get those shorts from TJ Maxx?”
• “You come here before?”
• “Saw your jacket. Go Bears. This season is going to rock.”

That’s how normal people start conversations. And on LinkedIn, the equivalent should feel just as low-pressure and observational.

Here’s what that might look like:

• “Saw your post about hiring—feels like everyone’s rebuilding their teams right now.”
• “Your comment on that Drift thread cracked me up. Not enough people say it that plainly.”
• “Recognized your name from that Webflow event last year. You spoke on the AI panel, right?”
• “You’ve been posting a lot about demand gen lately—curious what you’re seeing that’s working.”
• "Ya'll still going through EOY planning?"

No pitch. No ask. Just a reason to reply.
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Unconventional Best Practices to Actually Get Replies (trust me on this)

Keep it low-stakes, easy to engage with, and native to the platform. That means:

• Don’t start with “Hi [First Name]”—just get into it
• Lowercase everything
• Use shorthand (tbh, rn, ty) if you normally would
• Be a little funny if the moment calls for it
• Ask a quick, open-ended question
• Use short stacked messages instead of one long block
• Throw in a typo here and their ;)

It should feel like a human typed it using their thumbs on a phone keyboard.

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Start the Relationship Before You Make the Ask

The biggest mistake people make is assuming they have permission to pitch after one message. You don’t. You have permission to talk.

You build permission over time. That means following up without an agenda. Commenting on their posts. Reacting to their wins. Staying top of mind without asking for anything in return.

Eventually, when you do have something worth sharing—a relevant opportunity, a good intro, an ask that feels right—you’ve earned the right to make it.

And it won’t feel like a pitch. It’ll feel like a favor.

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Keep It Native. Keep It Light.

Messages should look like they were typed with one thumb. Lowercase is fine. Fragments are fine. Emojis? If you use them in real life, sure.

Don’t write like a brand. Write like a person.

The goal isn’t to “convert” in one message. The goal is to make it easy for someone to reply. Once you’re in a real conversation, you can steer it wherever it needs to go.

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