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6 Tips to Boost your InMail Response Rates

Kevin DuBay | October 28th, 2009 | 10:03 am
Kevin DuBay

Learn how to boost your InMail response rates with 6 easy steps

As I’ve mentioned in previous entries, the key to boosting your InMail response rates is writing a message which is targeted as closely to the recipient as possible.  This can be difficult when sending the same InMail template to 20 members simultaneously.  But by following a few simple guidelines, you can craft a message which is personal enough to still elicit responses from multiple people.

When you compose your InMails, consider the following:

Tip #1: the first message should be a conversation starter.

  • The goal of your first message is to start the conversation, not seal the deal.
  • Mention the content in their LinkedIn profile which prompted you to write to them.

Tip #2: adopt a conversational, enthusiastic tone to your message.

  • Find the words that best represent your own “personal voice.”
  • Frame your message around how you can help them in their goals, instead of on your need to fill the position.

Tip #3: be brief and to the point.

  • If you share too much, you may take away the reason for the person to reply.
  • The first 255 characters are delivered in the notification email, so keep it under 255 characters so they can read your entire message in the notification.

Tip #4: focus on finding out their availability/interest in a new job or networking opportunity.

  • A new networking opportunity today could lead to multiple candidates in the future.
  • You have read their profile, so you already know they are qualified.

Tip #5: DO NOT cut and paste the job description into your InMail.

  • Reaching out to passive candidates is not “look at the job and tell me if you’re interested”.
  • Your message should start a dialog about their career path and goals.

Tip #6: always ask for advice/opinions/referrals

  • This will give them a more compelling reason to reply by making them feel like you value their expertise and network.

Stick to these guidelines when developing your message and you will see a marked increase in your response rates.   I should know.  A while back I received just such an InMail.  It was a short message saying simply “we are looking for great public speakers with backgrounds similar to yours, based on your LinkedIn profile.”  Needless to say it was flattering to think that someone saw my profile and took the time to write just to me.  Well, now I know that message was part of an InMail campaign.  It wasn’t sent “just to me”  but it sure felt like it was.  After exchanging a few messages with the sender followed by several face-to-face meetings, I was offered this position at LinkedIn.  And this past week marked my 1 year anniversary.

new-template

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Posted in Education, For Recruiter Customers | 1 Comment »

LinkedIn Recruiter Tip: InMail Response Guarantee

Kevin DuBay | September 16th, 2009 | 3:37 pm
Kevin DuBay

Get the most out of your InMail.  Learn more about the LinkedIn InMail 7-day Response Guarantee

You probably already know that your unused LinkedIn InMail credits rollover from month-to-month like cellphone minutes (though they do max-out at 3x your monthly allotment). But did you also know that they only count if the candidate responds?  It’s called the InMail 7-day Response Guarantee and it works like this:

Let’s say you use the Advanced Search in LinkedIn Recruiter and find 20 potential candidates who have the skills, qualifications, and experience to fill your open position.   So you create an InMail campaign, using one of your templates, to send them each a message.  After clicking SEND,  browse back to your Dashboard and you’ll see that 20 credits have been deducted from your InMail counter.

inmail-credits

Then over the next 7 days, watch for the responses to arrive on your Dashboard.  Depending on the field, industry and the content of your message (more on that in another post), the general response rate for InMail is 30-60 percent, so let’s say 10 of 20 reply.  8 days after you sent the message, your Dashboard InMail counter will increase by 10 credits.  Now your team has 10 more InMail credits to use.  BONUS!

And to top it off, you could still receive replies from any of the 10 people who did not respond within the 7-day guarantee window.  Maybe they were on vacation or at a conference so they waited to reply until after they returned.  DOUBLE BONUS!

It’s almost as good as having your cake and eating it, too!

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Posted in Education | 2 Comments »

LinkedIn Recruiter Tip: Who’s Read My InMail?

Kevin DuBay | September 9th, 2009 | 9:51 am
Kevin DuBay

Learn how to use the Who’s Viewed My Profile feature to determine who has read your InMails

During training sessions LinkedIn Recruiter, I am often asked if it’s possible to tell if an InMail message has been read.  Technically, I have to say no, but with a little detective work, you might be able to figure it out using the Who’s Viewed My Profile (WVMP)  feature built right into your LinkedIn Recruiter Dashboard.

This feature shows you how many people have been viewing your profile over a random number of days.  It also shows how many times your name has appeared in search results.  Now let’s put on our detective caps and learn how WVMP can help solve the mystery of WRMI (Who’s Read My InMail).

wvmp

Some of the people listed under WVMP may have found you through other means (Search, Company Page, Groups, etc), but a few of them found you because you sent them an InMail and they clicked through to your profile to learn more about you.

wrmi

Compare this list to the messages in your Sent Items, and you’ll soon learn WRMI.  For participating members who have chosen not to share their full names, you’ll see anonymous data about them.   But if you see that “A director in the Hospital & Health Care industry in the Seattle Area” looked at your profile, and you know you sent an InMail to “A director in the Hospital & Health Care industry in the Seattle Area” - then chances are that person read your message before clicking through to your profile.

Mystery solved?  Well, it’s not a perfect solution, and it doesn’t work 100% of the time, but it’s a good indicator of the quality of your InMail messages. If a lot of people are clicking though to your profile you’re doing something right.  If not, you might want to retool your message template.  More on that later.

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Recruiter Job Posting Tip: Making it easy for job seekers to “Apply Now”

Kevin DuBay | August 24th, 2009 | 12:17 pm
Kevin DuBay

Fill your reqs faster by effectively using the Apply Now button to provide a simple and direct way for candidates to apply to your open positions.

LinkedIn is the #1 resource for passive candidates, but it’s also a prime destination for active job seekers, too. And providing a simple and direct way for them to apply for your open positions will help you fill your reqs faster. This is why every posting on the LinkedIn Jobs Network features an Apply Now button prominently at the top of the page, but what happens when applicants click that button can determine whether they actually follow through and apply.


1_applynowbutton1


Some recruiters choose to send applicants to their company’s career page (i.e http://www.companyx.com/careers), where the job seeker must search again for the job they already found on LinkedIn. But this method puts a barrier between the applicant and the application, thus some job seekers may not follow through, regardless of how qualified they may be.


2_applicant-routing


Finding the best URL to enter in the Applicant Routing field of your job post can be tricky. Not every ATS makes this easy. Try each of the following methods and use the one that provides you with the optimum URL .

Method #1

This method will apply to the vast majority of ATS systems

1. Open the exact job listing in your browser and copy the URL from your browser’s address bar.
2. Test the link in another browser window to make sure it works properly.
3. Success? Then paste that URL in the Applicant Routing field.


3_copy-url-address

Method #2

If method 1 doesn’t work or your ATS is BrassRing or Teleo follow this steps:

1. Return to the job listing in your ATS
2. Click the button which says “Email this job to a friend” or something similar.
3. Enter your own email address as both the sender and recipient and click Send.
4. Open the message that arrives in your Inbox and copy the URL there.
5. Test this URL in a new browser window
6. SUCCESS! Paste that URL in the Applicant Routing field.


5_email-url

Method # 3

Use this method if your ATS uses frames (a page within a page).

1. Return to the job listing in your ATS
2. Right click in the middle of the posting and choose “Open Frame in new window” 3. Copy the URL from that window and test the link again.
4. SUCCESS? Paste that URL in the Applicant Routing field


4_open-frame

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Posted in Education | 3 Comments »

LinkedIn Recruiter Tip - A time-saving search tip to help you pinpoint the right candidates for the job

Kevin DuBay | August 17th, 2009 | 10:42 am
Kevin DuBay

Save time and increase productivity by scrubbing your search results in LinkedIn Recruiter

A key part of generating search results containing candidates with the right skills, qualifications and experience is knowing how to weed out those who are overqualified, under-qualified or simply unsuitable for the specific position.  Here is a tip on how to weed out these people using LinkedIn Recruiter.

This is called “scrubbing” your results, reducing them to only the most viable of candidates.  You many have done this before by excluding words like “VP” or “assistant” from the title field.  But it may also be beneficial to scrub current employees from your results.

Whether you are a software company searching for software engineers or a financial firm searching for financial analysts, your search results probably contain tons of profiles of people that already work for you.  That’s great when you want to promote from within, but time wasting when you don’t.

Scrubbing your results of current employees reduces the number of profiles you have to review and saves you time.

Here’s how you do it in LinkedIn Recruiter:

Create your search as you normally would, entering your keywords and title criteria.  Then in the Company field type NOT and enter your company’s name (remember to use quotation marks if your company name has more than one word or contains a non-letter character such as an apostrophe or ampersand).  Next change the drop-down to “Current”.

not-company

The search results will exclude all of your current employees, leaving you with a more relevant and viable list of candidates.  Don’t forget to save your search!

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