In short: LinkedIn and email work well together when they tell the same story in two places, without repeating themselves. In the Sales Farmer Growth plan, a sequence can mix an invitation, a LinkedIn message and an email, sent from your own mailboxes. A reply on either channel stops the whole sequence. The deliverability of your domain then becomes your responsibility.
Why combine two channels?
Because not everyone reads in the same place. An executive may ignore a LinkedIn invitation for weeks and answer an email within five minutes. Another opens LinkedIn every day and never looks at their prospecting inbox.
A second channel also gives you a second chance without repeating the same message in the same place. Following up twice on LinkedIn wears out the person's patience. Following up once on LinkedIn and once by email changes the scenery.
The limit: two channels also double the risks. Each channel has its own rules, caps and penalties. A badly targeted email damages the reputation of your domain, and a badly targeted LinkedIn message puts your account at risk. Add a channel when the first one is working well, not to make up for poor targeting.
How does Sales Farmer mix the two?
Email is a step of the sequence, just like the invitation or the message. You place an email between two LinkedIn messages, or after them, with the delays of your choice.
Emails go out from your own mailboxes, up to three: Gmail, Outlook (connected with your account), OVH or any provider that gives SMTP and IMAP access. Replies are read in the same mailbox, and the sequence stops as soon as a reply arrives, whatever the channel. Every email carries an unsubscribe link.
Sending follows an office rhythm: 30 emails a day per mailbox by default, 100 at most, on weekdays from 8 am to 6 pm Paris time. This low cap is deliberate. It protects your domain.
People with no known email address do not get an email step. The enrichment credits of the Growth plan, 300 a month, are used to find an address or a phone number. They do not guarantee that an address exists.
Which order should you write in?
Start with LinkedIn, then add the email. There are four simple reasons.
- The LinkedIn invitation is a light contact that asks for nothing. The email is more direct.
- A person who accepted your invitation already knows you a little. Your email arrives less like a message from a stranger.
- If the person replies on LinkedIn, you never send the email. You have avoided a useless message.
- The email address stays in reserve for a moment when LinkedIn gets no answer.
A typical sequence, to adapt: an invitation with a note, then a first LinkedIn message a few days after the acceptance. A first email follows three days after the last message, then a follow-up on the most active channel. Sales Farmer offers this logic for the dormant contacts of your CRM, with a short first email that comes before the invitation. The exact delays remain yours.
The limit: this order suits cold prospecting of business contacts. For a contact who has already written to you by email, start with the email.
What should the email say, and what should it avoid?
The email should stay short and refer to the context, not repeat the LinkedIn message. Take up the idea and change the angle. Sales Farmer has four angles for follow-ups: a new piece of information, a simpler question, a concrete example, a polite way out. Each follow-up picks one, and it varies from one person to the next.
A few basic rules.
- A subject line that describes the content. No capital letters and no promise.
- A single request. A meeting, a question or a resource.
- No attachment in a first contact: it raises the risk of being filtered.
- A clear exit line. "If the topic does not concern you, tell me and I will stop."
Our guide to LinkedIn follow-ups contains templates that adapt well to email.
How do you protect deliverability?
This is the point that teams underestimate. When you send from your own domain, its reputation is at stake.
Sales Farmer checks three records of your domain: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. The screen shows for each one whether it is present, missing or badly configured, and suggests the fix for your provider. Gmail and Yahoo require these records from anyone who sends in volume.
A few common-sense practices.
- Use a domain or an address you can afford to risk. Many teams keep their prospecting apart from their main mailbox.
- Ramp up slowly. The cap per mailbox exists for this reason.
- Clean your lists. A nonexistent address makes the message bounce, and bounces hurt your reputation.
- Watch for unsubscribe replies and respect them right away.
The limit: Sales Farmer checks the configuration of your domain, but it does not guarantee that a message reaches the inbox. That also depends on the content, the history of your address and the recipient's filters.
Do you need to think about GDPR?
Yes, before you launch. Prospecting by email does not follow the same rules as prospecting on LinkedIn, and it depends on the status of the person (business contact or private individual) and on the country. Our article on GDPR lays out the principles. It informs, but it does not replace legal advice: have your practice checked.
How do you measure whether the second channel helps?
Look at replies by source and by channel, not only the total. The Results page shows the people contacted, the invitations accepted, the replies and the meetings, compared with the previous period. The Replies page lets you filter by channel.
Before you conclude anything, check the sample. With few people contacted, the rates move a lot from one week to the next, and the page invites you to wait. No reference figure is given here: we have not read one from a reliable source, and your market differs from the average of any study.
A simple test: two campaigns of the same size on similar targets, one with LinkedIn only, the other with email added. Compare after three to four weeks of messages, not before.
Limits
Worth knowing before you turn on the second channel.
- A Growth plan feature. Mailboxes and email steps are not in Starter.
- Three mailboxes at most, with 30 emails a day per mailbox by default, 100 at most.
- No email without a known address. Enrichment helps, but offers no guarantee.
- Deliverability remains your responsibility. SPF, DKIM and DMARC help, but they are not enough.
- The extension must stay open for the LinkedIn part.
- LinkedIn limits very active accounts, whatever channel you add alongside.
- Sales Farmer does not offer SMS.
For the LinkedIn caps, see the LinkedIn limits page.
FAQ
Do I need a dedicated mailbox?
It is not required, but it is wise. If prospecting damages the reputation of a mailbox, you would rather it not be the one you use to talk with your customers.
What happens if someone replies by email?
The reply is read in your mailbox, the sequence for that person stops, and the conversation appears on the Replies page, with the email channel.
Do emails go out during the night?
No. They go out on weekdays, from 8 am to 6 pm Paris time, within the cap of each mailbox.
Can I use Gmail or Outlook?
Yes. Gmail and Microsoft connect with your account. OVH and other providers use SMTP and IMAP access with an app password.
Two channels, one message
Start with a short sequence, check your domain, then add email. Try Sales Farmer free for 14 days, no credit card needed, and move to the Growth plan to send from your own mailboxes.