r/LinkedInTips

Hey guys, we just wrapped one of our best performing outreach campaigns. 410 replies, 300+ positive, over around 30 days.

The reason I can share the full breakdown is that we ended the campaign. We changed our offer, so the sequence is dead and there's nothing to protect. Everything below is exactly how we ran it.

Results

• 4,860 leads scraped from post likers on competitor content about LinkedIn outreach
• 2,484 of them matched our ICP
• 2,058 connection requests sent
• 1,259 accepted (61% acceptance rate)
• 410 total replies, 300+ positive

Sequence overview

The sequence had four steps.

1. If Connected (condition)
2. ICP Scoring/lead qualification (condition)
3. Send connection request (action)
4. Send message (action)

Here's how each one worked.

Step 1: Filter out existing connections + ICP scoring

The first node checked whether the sender was already connected with the lead.

• If connected: stop the sequence (117 leads removed)
• If not connected: continue (4,723 leads remaining)

After that, every remaining lead went through an ICP scoring step before we sent a single connection request.

Our ICP is broad so we just used "Founder, owner, CEO, SDR, GTM expert, or Executive". Anyone that didn't matched that were removed from the workflow. We used a built in AI feature for this.

Out of 4,723 leads, 2,484 leads matched our ICP. That's the pool we actually contacted.

Step 2: The connection request (blank)

We sent every connection request with no note. I don't believe in connection notes. It mostly comes down to number of mutual connections, your profile picture, and your headline. Sometimes the location matters as well (mainly when targeting the US market).

Our acceptance rate was 61%, meaning 1,259 accepted out of 2,058.

The acceptance rate was consistent across all LinkedIn senders, regardless of follower count and gender.

Step 3: The message

After someone accepted, we waited 15 minutes and sent this:

>

What made it work was the anchor. Instantly and Smartlead are tools people in this space already know. Saying "like that, but for LinkedIn" gives them an instant frame of reference without needing a long explanation.

When leads responded positively, we just sent them a link to our AppSumo page. I don't have the exact conversion metrics for this, but our AppSumo campaign generated over $500K in gross sales and I have confirmed that $25K came from this campaign, but it is likely a lot more than that.

The setup

• We used 7 LinkedIn accounts, all human verified.
• 4 accounts had under 200 connections when we launched the campaign.
• 80 connection requests per day in total across all accounts, Monday to Friday
• Around 12 connection requests per account per day
• The same accounts were running other campaigns at the same time, this was not a dedicated setup
• No formal warm-up period before the campaign started

Account safety

We got zero restrictions on the campaign accounts across 45 days.

The accounts belonged to my girlfriend, friends, and team members. Most of them started from zero connections around 6 months ago and were built up organically before we used them for outreach.

One thing worth being transparent about: my personal account and our two founder accounts did get banned. That had nothing to do with the campaign or the tool we used. Our company breaks LinkedIn's terms of service at the platform level, the same reason Heyreach got banned earlier this year. Every other account we used is still active.

If you're running outreach through your own account or a client's account without that kind of platform-level exposure, the risk profile looks very different.

Happy to answer questions on any part of this. Drop them below.

If it doesn't what really works?

Im new on LinkedIn and need some advice on tools and other general things(not consistency is key or branding advice) for example things like:

1. Hashtags
2. Does Alt text in image work in any way, if yes how to use it
3. How to determine correct posting time for my audience (is it through trial and error or is there any other way)
4. Does commenting at least 2 3 genuine comments right before and after posting helps?
5. Does posting articles in company accounts help with seo in general?

I believe you get what im asking. Would appreciate advice on any others that you do to push your posts to the RIGHT AUDIENCE except networking/commenting

Quick context: I'm the founder of WaveGen, a tool that turns newsletters and blog posts into LinkedIn carousels. One of our users sent me 90 days of his LinkedIn analytics last week, and the breakdown across post types was interesting enough that I wanted to share.

1. Real-life photos performed best

Photos with family, clients, real-world moments. Highest engagement, highest impressions by a clear margin.

Not surprising in hindsight. LinkedIn heavily rewards signals that feel socially authentic.

2. AI-generated "status" images performed second best

Things like fake conference keynote photos, fake award ceremony shots.

These got strong engagement at first because they trigger curiosity. But two things happened:

• Impressions stayed relatively capped by the platform
• Engagement declined over time as people started recognizing the AI pattern

AI images can manufacture novelty, but novelty decays once audiences detect it.

3. Educational carousels had the most stable distribution

His WaveGen carousels consistently pulled solid impressions — better than most of the other content formats he tested. Engagement was more moderate, but the floor was higher and steadier. Obvious bias since I make the tool, but the "carousels = stable distribution" pattern shows up across most creator analytics I've seen, so I think it generalizes.

Takeaway from his data:

• Real photos build trust
• AI fantasy images create temporary attention
• Educational carousels create scalable distribution

Best strategy probably isn't picking one - it's combining them intentionally. People follow people, but they stay for useful ideas.

Hey fellow B2B marketers, quick question.
How do you typically approach the launch of a major report?

We have an upcoming annual report on AI in business, and I’m exploring different ways to make the rollout more impactful. The report is targeting senior business leaders so how would you design a LinkedIn campaign to promote the upcoming report.

Would love to hear what’s worked for you.

I worked at LinkedIn for 3 years. Some things you should know.

Easy Apply is a black hole. One job post is like 800 applications. The recruiter filtered by Premium users and stopped reading after about 20

The "Open to Work" banner is bs as well, I heard it in internal meetings multiple times hiring managers saw it as a red flag but LinkedIn never told anyone this.

Most jobs were already filled internally before the post even went live. HR policy just required a public listing. This happened constantly.

Stop applying through LinkedIn. Start talking to people on it. Completely different outcomes. hope this helps!

I really need help or advice because I honestly don’t know what to do anymore.

I had two LinkedIn accounts. One was an old inactive account that I no longer used, while the other was my active professional account. LinkedIn kept asking me to complete Persona identity verification again and again whenever I tried logging in.

At first, I verified using my PAN card. Later, during another verification attempt, I used my National ID because it includes my address details.

To avoid any confusion and follow the rules properly, I deleted the inactive account and kept only my active one.

After that, I suddenly lost access to my active account. I contacted LinkedIn support multiple times and explained everything honestly. I also completed national ID and face verification when they requested it.

Now they replied saying my account violated the LinkedIn User Agreement and Professional Community Policies, and that my account will remain restricted. But they never explained:

• what exact policy I violated
• what activity caused the restriction
• whether the duplicate account issue caused this automatically

I have never used automation, fake identity, spam, or anything against the rules. I only had an inactive account which I already deleted myself.

What makes this even harder is that I am currently jobless, and LinkedIn is extremely important for job searching, networking, and applying for opportunities. Losing access without a clear explanation has been very stressful and discouraging.

I asked them for a manual review and proper explanation, but I’m worried they’ll just close the ticket without helping.

Has anyone experienced something similar after Persona verification or duplicate account issues? Were you able to recover your account somehow?

Any advice would really help.

I know this probably goes against every piece of advice you've ever heard about LinkedIn, but hear me out.

Personalization has been run into the ground. Every founder/manager you're trying to reach is getting bombarded by personalised notes in their DMs.

SDRs are now using AI and they're sending personalised notes at scale.

Your best bet: skip the note.

Try this instead:

1. Send them a connection request.

2. If they accept, that's your first touch point. Stay put.

3. Engage with their content for the next few days. Get your name on their notifications tab. Now, you're not a complete stranger.

4. Drop a DM. Something very simple like: "Thanks for the connect, I appreciate it. Good to be in your network."

That should get a conversation started.

The least salesy approach is sometimes the most effective one.

Who would've thought?

I work for a company that is exploring Carousel format. I know how to create the carousels but I am not really sure what type of content works best for carousel versus post with images. We want to make product walkthroughs, like user guides.
At the moment everything is an experiment so all opinions are welcome, I am not an expert so let me know if I am wrong here.

Few specific questions:
- What content is better suited for Carousel format?
- Is it worth going through that pain of creating the PDF or I can just post with images attached?
- What type of content should I never create in carousel format?

Thank you in advance.

I’m the co-founder of a very early-stage legal tech SaaS (B2B), and I’m currently trying to build a consistent LinkedIn content strategy.

My idea was to:

- post once a week from my personal account with a more “founder / behind-the-scenes / industry reflection” angle,

- and once a week from the company page with a more business/product-oriented angle.

Does this make sense as a strategy for an early-stage startup?

And also: do you consider this as “posting twice a week”, or is company-page content basically a separate thing in terms of visibility/growth?

Would love feedback from founders or people growing B2B SaaS on LinkedIn.

Thank you for your help !!!

There's this thing that happens when a post flops.

You check it an hour after posting. 4 likes. 1 comment from your cousin.

Embarrassing. So you delete it and pretend it never happened.

I did this for months.

What I didn't know, and genuinely wish someone had told me earlier, is that deleted posts kill your momentum. The algorithm doesn't forget what you removed. And those "flops" sometimes resurface weeks later with zero effort from you.

But the bigger mistake wasn't deleting posts.

It was obsessing over big creator accounts while completely ignoring everyone else.

I was spending all my engagement energy commenting on posts from people with 50k-100k followers. Thoughtful comments. Real effort. And they'd get buried under 200 other replies within minutes.

Nobody saw them. Including the creator.

One day I just randomly commented on a post from someone with maybe 3,000 followers. Not strategic. I just had something real to say.

That comment brought more profile visits than my own posts did that week.

So I shifted the whole approach.

I started finding people in my niche under 5k followers and engaging with their content genuinely. Their audiences are small but actually paying attention. Comments don't get buried. Conversations actually start.

And I stopped deleting anything. Flops stay up now. I go back and reply to late comments. Sometimes they get a second life.

The boring version of this is: 7-10 real comments a day on smaller accounts in your niche. No tricks. No pods. Just consistency.

Growth got more predictable after I made the least glamorous change possible.

Has anyone else noticed that smaller creator engagement hits different than chasing the big names?

(Context: I run a LinkedIn ghostwriting agency and I ask these before writing every single post.)

1. Why should anyone care?

If your post only matters to you, it won't land. Anchor it to something your audience feels. It could be an industry frustration, a question, maybe a belief they already have. Something that makes people in your industry share it on their group chats.

2. Would you stop scrolling for this?

Most people don't read LinkedIn posts, they scan. Your first two lines decide if they'll stick around. So if you think your hook won't hit, rewrite it.

3. Does it sound like you?

The fastest way to lose trust on LinkedIn is to sound like everyone else. Stuff like robotic writing, generic advice, and obvious clichés. It'll make your post easy to scroll past.

If you can say yes to all three, you're already ahead of most of what gets posted.

And if you can't, fix that before you hit publish.

My LinkedIn account got restricted. I appealed but they rejected it saying it violated Professional Community Policies.
I then created another account using a different email and phone number, but that also got restricted quickly.

I used my real name details. I’m a student and genuinely need LinkedIn for internships and networking.
Has anyone successfully recovered a restricted LinkedIn account after rejection?
What should I do now?
Should I wait some time, or create a fresh profile later?

Any genuine advice would help.

So I made my Linkedin account months ago but just created my profile, just filled out where I studied at and then the profile was kept dormant for months (I just created the profile and didn't open the app for months)

Now I login today and now it's restricted? It's asking for my ID to verify the account...I don't want to give my Id. Can I create a new account with a different email or will that get restricted as well?

every message written manually. no automation. just testing what actually gets a reply from a stranger.

here's what flopped:

"i came across your profile and was really impressed" -- 3% reply rate. everyone knows it's a template.

long first messages -- anything over 4 lines got ignored. a wall of text asks for too much upfront.

complimenting their company before making an ask -- sounds polite, reads like a warmup pitch.

here's what worked:

referencing something specific they posted. not "great post!" but actually engaging with a point they made. reply rates jumped immediately when i did this.

asking one small question instead of making a big ask. the goal of the first dm is just to get a reply. nothing more.

reaching out right after they'd been active. if they just posted or commented somewhere, that's your window. timing in dms matters more than people think.

the biggest lesson after 300 messages:

most people are terrible at dms because they focus on what they want to say instead of what the other person wants to read.

flip that and your reply rate changes overnight.

what's the worst linkedin dm you've ever received?

Im a student, joining college this year. Need some tips about setting up my profile from scratch.

Also, I've been going through many profiles to find inspiration but almost all of em looks lifeless. Drop your fav ones, kings n queens.

(I run a LinkedIn ghostwriting agency, these are the same questions I ask my clients.)

1. What's a client question you've answered 50 times this year?

2. What's the biggest misconception about your work?

3. What's a painful mistake you made that your audience can avoid?

4. What do most people in your industry get completely wrong?

5. What's one lesson from outside business (sports, travel, family) that shapes how you work?

6. What was the hardest decision you made this year, and how did you choose?

7. What's one process or system you swear by and why?

8. What's the most underrated skill in your industry right now?

9. What's a belief you had starting out that turned out to be false?

10. What do you want every new client to know before working with you?

Answer these and you'll have 10 posts ready to go.

I will be totally honest,

I do not care at all about engagement on Linkedin, it is dead anyway.

But still, I keep posting and connecting, just so I can keep it filled with keywords and active.

I just see it as an asset in case I need to switch job, which I do every 3 - 4 years.

If it was not for this I would not care less about it.

What is your thought on the subject?

I've written posts that did 100,000+ impressions.

I've also written posts that got 17 likes and died quietly.

For better or for worse, I know a lot about what works on LinkedIn.

So. Ask me anything.

LinkedIn. Content creation. Ghostwriting. Personal branding. Whatever's been on your mind.

I'll answer everything.

I’ve been working for a founder for around a month and a half now. He’s very successful in his field, highly connected, smart when it comes to business and networking, and honestly one of the brightest people I’ve seen in that domain.

But he does not understand content at all.

He hired me to handle content strategy, blogs, podcasts, social media, PR, basically everything related to communication and branding because he himself can’t write or structure content properly.

Initially, I was genuinely excited because I thought I’d get to build something meaningful with someone who already had authority and reach.

Instead, it’s becoming one of the most frustrating work experiences I’ve had.

Every time I suggest ideas, strategies, platform-specific content, storytelling angles, audience-focused approaches, or long-term positioning, the suggestions get dismissed immediately. At this point, I genuinely don’t understand why I was hired in the first place.

What makes it worse is that they expect the exact same content to be copy-pasted across LinkedIn, Instagram, X, YouTube, and every other platform as if audiences behave the same everywhere.

And this is something I’ve noticed with many founders, especially in startup and e-commerce circles:

They know tech.

They know sales.

They know operations.

They know how to make money.

But many of them think content is just “posting online.”

It’s not.

Content requires understanding audience psychology, platform behavior, storytelling, positioning, distribution, and consistency. You cannot build a strong brand by randomly posting recycled thoughts everywhere.

Another funny part is that their former customer support person suddenly became the HR and now gives instructions on content strategy despite having zero understanding of the field. So half the time I feel like I’m being managed by people who neither understand content nor trust the person they hired for it.

I’m exhausted.

Have any of you worked with founders like this? How do you deal with people who hire specialists but refuse to trust their expertise?