By the end of this tutorial, you'll know how to integrate LinkedIn actions into your email sequences, set up conditions to control when LinkedIn steps trigger, and create effective multichannel workflows that increase visibility and reply rates across platforms.

Multichannel outreach combining email and LinkedIn typically generates 2-3x higher engagement rates than email alone. By reaching prospects where they're most active, you stay top-of-mind, build credibility through multiple touchpoints, and create more opportunities for meaningful conversations. LinkedIn steps help you stand out in crowded inboxes and demonstrate genuine effort in your outreach.

Before you start, make sure you have:

Lemlist offers five LinkedIn actions you can integrate into your sequences:

Profile Visit: Automatically visit a prospect's LinkedIn profile to get noticed without direct contact. Ideal for warming up cold leads.

Invite: Send regular or personalized connection requests to grow your network and establish first contact.

Message: Send private LinkedIn messages to your connections. Note: These are standard messages, not InMails.

Disclaimer: LinkedIn only allows sending messages to people you’re connected with (1st-degree connections). If the lead is not connected to you, the message can’t be delivered as a regular LinkedIn message—depending on how your step is configured, lemlist will either send an invite instead (when an invite fallback is available) or the step will fail.

Voice Message: Record or upload authentic audio messages (up to 1 minute, max 20 MB) to create deeper, more human connections.

AI Voice Message: Generate natural-sounding, personalized voice notes using AI (powered by ElevenLabs) with your cloned voice or professional voices.

Strategy: Combine multiple LinkedIn actions with email to create a comprehensive multichannel sequence.

Step 1: Open your campaign sequence

From the left sidebar, go to Campaigns, then click the campaign you want to edit and open the Sequence tab.

This is where you'll add and configure LinkedIn steps alongside your email steps.

On the Campaigns page, select the campaign you want to work on.

After opening the campaign, switch to the Sequence tab at the top.

Step 2: Set LinkedIn profile conditions

Before adding LinkedIn steps, configure when they should trigger.

Click the + button under the step where you want to branch → open the Conditions tab → select Has Linkedin URL.

This ensures LinkedIn actions only send to leads with LinkedIn profiles in your list.

Why this matters: Without this condition, Lemlist will skip LinkedIn steps for leads missing profile URLs, preventing errors and wasted actions.

Step 3: Add and configure a LinkedIn Profile Visit (warm-up)

Once your Has Linkedin URL condition is in place, add LinkedIn actions on the Yes branch, click the + button → open the Steps tab → select Visit profile (LinkedIn).

After adding the Visit profile step, configure it:

Why warming works: Profile visits increase connection acceptance rates by 15-20% by creating familiarity before your invite.

Step 4: Add a connection invite

Under your Visit profile step, click the + button → open the Steps tab → select Invitation (Send on LinkedIn).

After adding the step, configure the sender and click Add personalization to tailor your note.

In the personalization window, pick the variables you want to insert and write a short, personalized connection note and include variables like {{firstName}} or {{companyName}} to customize each invite.

Character limits: LinkedIn allows up to 200 characters, but keep it under 150 when using variables to prevent automatic trimming.

Step 5: Add a conditional wait for acceptance

After your invite step, set a wait time condition to give prospects time to respond.

Click the + button → choose Condition → select Accepted invite on LinkedIn and set the wait time (commonly 4 days, as shown below) to give prospects time to respond.

The "Wait Until" condition pauses the sequence until an invite is accepted, ensuring messages only proceed when the desired condition is met. In contrast, the "Within (Wait X Days)" condition offers a set timeframe (e.g., 3 days) to check for invite acceptance. If met, leads move forward; if not, they take an alternative path.

Why this matters: This prevents sending messages to people who haven't accepted your connection yet, which would fail and waste LinkedIn actions. Delayed system checks for invite acceptance may also impact timing. To avoid issues, ensure your sequence includes appropriate conditions and verify their configuration in the campaign setup.

The sequence now includes an Accepted invite condition before moving to the next LinkedIn message. If you want to reassess invite acceptance multiple times, such as after follow-up emails, add "Accepted Invite" conditions after each email step to ensure these leads can continue receiving messages.

Step 6: Follow up with a LinkedIn message

Under the branch where the invite was accepted, click the + button → select the LinkedIn Chat message step → write your follow-up message (and personalize it with context from their profile or your previous email).

Disclaimer: You can’t send a LinkedIn message to someone who isn’t connected to you. If the lead is not part of your LinkedIn network, lemlist will either send an invite instead (if you configured an invite fallback for non-connections) or the LinkedIn message step will fail.

Important: LinkedIn messages steps in lemlist don't support adding custom hyperlinks with anchor text. However, if you paste a URL directly into your message, LinkedIn will automatically convert it into a clickable link. Keep this in mind when crafting your messages - the full URL will always be visible.

Step 7: Configure a manual voice message

Click Add Step → LinkedIn → Voice Message

Choose your sender (only one sender per voice message step—voice is personal)

Record your message:

Personalization in Review mode: Record different versions for specific leads during campaign review, then revert to your main version anytime.

The Voice message step lets you record or upload the audio that will be sent on LinkedIn.

Step 8: Set up AI voice messages (Optional)

For AI-generated voice messages, click Add Step → LinkedIn → AI Voice Message

Configure your AI voice settings (requires ElevenLabs integration)

Write your script with personalization variables. AI will generate unique audio for each lead

Use case: Perfect for scaling personalized voice outreach without recording hundreds of individual messages.

Step 9: Configure sending limits

From the bottom-left profile menu, click Settings.

In the left sidebar, open Sending settings, then next to your LinkedIn account, click Edit limits.

In the LinkedIn limits pop-up, set your daily action limits (recommended: 100 actions per day maximum). This includes all visits + invites + messages combined.

Account safety: LinkedIn monitors unusual activity. Staying under 100 actions per day protects your account from restrictions.

First, open your profile menu in the bottom-left corner and click Settings.

Inside Settings, go to Sending settings and click Edit limits next to your LinkedIn account.

Then, in the LinkedIn limits pop-up, adjust the daily limits for invites, messages, and visits.

B2B Sales Sequence Example: 4-Step Multichannel Flow

Day 1: Send a personalized email introducing your solution

Day 3: LinkedIn Profile Visit to create awareness

Day 5: Send LinkedIn connection invite referencing your email

Day 9 (after acceptance): LinkedIn message with case study or value proposition

Day 12: Follow-up email with demo offer

Results: This sequence structure typically sees:

Voice message use case: A sales team selling high-ticket B2B software used AI voice messages as their third touchpoint. By adding a 30-second personalized audio note referencing specific pain points, they increased their meeting booking rate from 8% to 19%.

LinkedIn outreach works when it feels relevant, timely, and easy to respond to. Most prospects don’t ignore you because your offer is bad—they ignore you because your timing, cadence, or message doesn’t match how they make decisions. The strategies below (gradual, high-intensity, and conditional) help you increase response rates while building credibility.

Prospects evaluate you in seconds on LinkedIn: your profile, your approach, and whether you sound like you understand their world. If your outreach is too aggressive, you trigger resistance; if it’s too passive, you’re forgotten. A strong strategy balances soft touches (visibility and familiarity) with hard touches (clear asks via messages, email, or calls).

Principle 1: Familiarity reduces friction

Most buyers respond when you feel “known,” not when your pitch is perfect. Profile visits, thoughtful follows, and context-based messages create familiarity before you ask for time.

Principle 2: Cadence should match urgency

The right frequency depends on the situation: time-sensitive initiatives justify a tighter cadence; longer buying cycles need spacing and patience. Misaligned cadence is a common reason prospects ghost.

Principle 3: Every touch must add something new

Repeating the same value statement across messages feels like spam. Each follow-up should introduce a new insight: a sharper problem, a proof point, a relevant example, or a smaller, easier-to-answer question.

Principle 4: Use channels for what they do best

LinkedIn is strong for credibility, context, and warm engagement; email is strong for clarity and longer-form value; calls are strong for speed and qualification. A good strategy mixes channels intentionally.

When to use: Longer buying cycles, senior personas, or when you want to build familiarity without pressure.

How it works: Mix soft touches (profile visits) with hard touches (messages, emails, calls) across a month to stay visible while giving prospects time to engage naturally.

Example cadence (spread over 30 days):

Messaging example (connection note):

Invite note: “Hi {{firstName}} — noticed you’re leading {{team_or_function}} at {{company}}. Quick question: are you focused this quarter on improving {{relevant_outcome}} or is that owned elsewhere?”

When to use: Narrow window (event-driven outreach, active hiring, new funding, time-bound initiative) or when you need to qualify fast.

How it works: Compress touches into two weeks, combining LinkedIn + email with an early call attempt. Each touch should move the conversation forward (not “checking in”).

Example cadence (spread over 14 days):

Messaging example (email follow-up that adds value):

Subject: Quick idea for {{company}}

Body: “Hi {{firstName}}, I’m reaching out because teams like {{peer_company}} often hit {{specific_problem}} when they scale {{relevant_process}}. If helpful, I can share a 3-step checklist we use to reduce {{pain_metric}}. Worth sending, or is someone else the right person?”

When to use: Lead list quality varies (some have LinkedIn URLs, some don’t), or acceptance status changes the best next step.

How it works: Segment your sequence based on what you know (LinkedIn URL present, invite accepted, role/persona, or other fields). If a prospect can’t be reached effectively on LinkedIn, route them into an email-first path.

Example cadence (with conditional steps):

Condition: “Has LinkedIn URL?”

Messaging example (post-acceptance LinkedIn DM):

“Thanks for connecting, {{firstName}}. Curious—when you think about {{relevant_outcome}}, is the bigger challenge currently {{optionA}} or {{optionB}}?”

Scenario 1: They view your profile but don’t accept the invite

How to respond: Don’t double-message aggressively. Add one new, specific reason for the connection and offer an easy reply path.

Script: “Hi {{firstName}} — quick context: I work with {{similar_companies}} on {{specific_problem}}. If it’s useful, I can share what’s working for them this quarter. Want that?”

Scenario 2: They accept, but stay silent

How to respond: Ask a short, binary question tied to their role and a relevant outcome.

Script: “When it comes to {{relevant_area}}, are you optimizing for {{metric1}} or {{metric2}} right now?”

Scenario 3: They respond with “Send info”

How to respond: Send something specific, but first narrow what “info” means so you don’t send a generic deck.

Script: “Happy to—what’s the most relevant: (1) examples of {{use_case}}, (2) benchmarks on {{metric}}, or (3) a quick checklist to fix {{problem}}?”

Mistake: Sending long LinkedIn messages

Do instead: Use 1–2 short lines, one clear reason, and one easy question.

Mistake: Repeating the same follow-up

Do instead: Add a new angle each time: proof, insight, case example, or sharper qualification question.

Mistake: Overusing hard touches early

Do instead: Warm up with visibility and relevance before escalating to calls or direct meeting asks.

Mistake: Ignoring reachability (e.g., no LinkedIn URL, not connected)

Do instead: Use conditional paths so prospects shift into the channel where you can actually reach them.

Important: If a prospect accepts your connection after LinkedIn message steps have already been attempted, those message steps may not be delivered as intended. Build your sequence so the next best action (often email) still moves the conversation forward.

Issue: LinkedIn steps are being skipped for all leads

Root cause: Leads don't have LinkedIn URLs in their contact data, or the LinkedIn URL column isn't properly named

Fix:

Issue: Invitation notes exceed LinkedIn's 200-character limit

Root cause: Invitation note text + personalization variables combined exceed the limit

Fix:

Issue: LinkedIn message step fails or doesn’t send

Root cause: The lead is not a 1st-degree connection (LinkedIn doesn’t allow standard messages to non-connections)

Fix:

Issue: Voice messages aren't sending

Root cause: Audio file format not supported, file too large, or sender not properly configured

Fix:

Issue: Connection invites being declined or ignored

Root cause: Generic invite messages, no prior warmup, or targeting cold prospects

Fix:

Issue: Hitting LinkedIn daily action limits

Root cause: Multiple campaigns running simultaneously, or limits set too high

Fix:

Issue: My Follow-Up Message Send After Invite Acceptance?

Root cause: Missing or incorrect setup of post-invite conditions.

Fix: Delayed system checks for invite acceptance. Fix: Ensure the sequence includes a "Wait Until" or "Within" condition properly configured. Delayed checks can occur, so confirm sequence progression in active campaigns.

To maximize your LinkedIn integration effectiveness:

Import strategy: Use the Lemlist Chrome extension to import contacts directly from LinkedIn—this automatically captures profile URLs and ensures data accuracy.

Sequence pacing: Space LinkedIn actions 2-3 days apart to avoid appearing aggressive. Natural timing builds trust.

Personalization depth: Reference specific details from their profile, recent posts, or shared connections in your messages. Generic outreach gets ignored.

Voice message authenticity: Keep voice messages under 30-45 seconds. Mention something specific about their company or role to prove you did your research.

Test and iterate: Run small batches (50-100 leads) with different LinkedIn step combinations to find what works best for your audience before scaling.

Monitor acceptance rates: Track connection acceptance rates in your analytics. If below 30%, revisit your invite messaging or add more warmup steps.

Respect LinkedIn limits: Start conservative (50 actions/day) and gradually increase if your account remains healthy. Sudden spikes trigger LinkedIn's spam detect

To retarget leads who have accepted invitations without sending new invites: