Building an effective LinkedIn outreach sequence

A well-structured LinkedIn sequence follows the natural flow of a LinkedIn conversation: connect first, then message. Here is the recommended pattern and the reasoning behind each step.

The recommended pattern

Step 1: Send Connection

Send a connection request with a short, personalised note. Notes are limited to 300 characters, so keep it concise and genuine. Focus on why you want to connect, not a sales pitch. Personalised notes significantly improve acceptance rates.

Send Connection automatically branches for you once the contact responds — there's no separate wait or check step to add:

• Accepted — continues to your message step
• Declined, or no response within your withdrawal timeframe — goes to a "No" branch, which you can leave as-is or build on later

Step 2: LinkedIn Message

Once the contact has accepted, send your first message. Use personalisation tokens to make it relevant. This is a direct LinkedIn message, which is separate from the connection request note.

Why this is simpler than it used to be

LinkedIn does not allow direct messages to contacts you are not connected with. Send Connection takes care of this for you by only continuing to the message step once the connection is confirmed, so there's no risk of a message firing too early.

Using the legacy pattern

If your sequence still uses Send Connection (Legacy), you'll have a longer pattern: Connection Request → Wait 3-7 days → Connection Check condition → Message. This still works, but it's slower to respond and needs more steps to maintain. See "Migrate from the legacy LinkedIn connection request to the new Send Connection action" to switch over.

Keeping activity safe

Sendr spaces out LinkedIn actions with randomised delays between steps to keep activity patterns natural. Keep your daily limits conservative, particularly on newer accounts. See "How to keep your LinkedIn account safe while using Sendr" for full guidance.