I used to think that when scaling your outreach for B2B clients, there must be a “one-size-fits-all” channel that does most of the work. Spoiler alert: there is not. The truth is, to effectively scale your outreach and achieve sustainable results, you must learn to strike a fine balance between LinkedIn InMails, connection requests, and cold emails.
Each of these channels offers strengths—and pitfalls—to the table. But when properly combined, they become a formidable multi-channel engine for lead generation and developing worthwhile business relationships.
In this article, I’ll guide you through the principles I’ve learned while working with startups, service businesses, and agencies that are attempting to scale.
Whether you’re new to outreach or want to improve what you’re already doing, this is the process we use at our Coldoutreach agency to enable our clients to achieve consistent results.
The Myth of the “Best” Channel
I’ve had countless conversations where people ask me, “What works best—cold email or LinkedIn?” And my answer always starts the same way: “It depends.”
Each platform caters to different user behavior, tone, and expectations.
Cold email is great for volume, automation, and depth.
LinkedIn (Connections + InMail) is perfect for credibility, context, and engagement.
Cold email + LinkedIn combo? That’s where the real magic happens.
You don’t need to pick one or the other. The actual question is: how do you utilize all three effectively without sounding spammy, losing credibility, or burning your list?
Cold Email: The Outreach Workhorse
Let’s begin with the most familiar tactic—cold email. It gets the short shrift because it’s been used so improperly so often. But when executed correctly, it’s the most scalable weapon in your toolbox.
Why It Works:
Increased volume: You can hit hundreds—even thousands—per week.
Message control: You can A/B test subject lines, calls to action, and tone at scale.
Inbox vs social feed: You’re not beholden to an algorithm.
What We’ve Learned:
One of the first important realizations that revolutionized everything for me was coming to the understanding that cold email is not about requesting a meeting. It’s about beginning a conversation.
We’ve tested thousands of emails, and the highest-performing ones followed this formula:
Short, personalized intro
Relevance-driven hook
Casual CTA (Call To Action)—no “15-minute calls” right out the gate
Follow-up strategy that doesn’t feel robotic
Here’s one format that gets strong replies:
> “Hey \[First Name],
> Noticed your team is scaling \[X]—I’ve been helping similar companies avoid \[Y]. Want a quick breakdown on what’s working for them?”
That gentle CTA—”Want a breakdown?”—serves far more interest than an aggressive calendar link.
LinkedIn: The Trust Builder
LinkedIn has evolved beyond being a resume site—it’s become the goto source where people go to validate you. If you’re making a cold reachout, chances are your prospect is opening your profile before responding. So we use LinkedIn as both a credibility gate and an overt outreach tool.
Two Paths to Outreach:
1. Connection Requests + Messaging
2. LinkedIn InMails
Let’s break both down.
1. Connection Requests: The Long Game
Sending a personalized connection request can open up a warm conversation channel—but only if you don’t jump into a sales pitch immediately. We’ve seen better conversion when you space out your touchpoints over 3–5 days after connecting.
Here’s what works:
Personalized connection note (under 300 characters):
“Hi [Name], saw your recent work on [Topic]—would love to connect and stay in the loop with what you’re building.”
Day 2-4 message: Offer a helpful insight, resource, or ask a genuine question. Keep it light.
Avoid dumping your pitch right after they accept. That’s the fastest way to get ignored—or worse, removed.
2. InMails: The Premium Shot
If you’re on LinkedIn Sales Navigator or have a Recruiter account, InMails allow you to get in touch with someone without requesting a connection. They are best utilized when contacting high-level decision makers who don’t usually accept unfamiliar connection requests.
However, InMails use credits, so you need to make the most of them.
Best practices we’ve learned:
Make the first 20 words personal—that’s what will preview.
Make a non-pitchy start: “I noticed you’re looking for [X]—do you consider new approaches we’ve noticed to be effective in [industry]?”
Highlight insight, not introduction: They won’t care who you are until you provide them with a reason to care.
Why Multi-Channel Wins
Now here’s the twist: most companies select a single channel and double down. But prospects don’t reside in one location. They hop between platforms, check email between meetings, scroll LinkedIn on commutes, and avoid anything that feels too pushy.
That’s why scaling your outreach requires creating a journey, rather than a message.
Here’s what a multi-channel sequence could look like:
Day 1: Cold email 1
Day 2: LinkedIn profile view
Day 3: Connection request
Day 5: Email follow-up
Day 6: LinkedIn message (if connected)
Day 8: Last email (with soft CTA)
This staggered schedule gets you top of mind without making you ubiquitous.
What is fascinating is that most prospects don’t respond to your initial touch, they respond after having seen your face on LinkedIn and your name in their inbox a few times.
Scaling outreach can be a bummer if you scale into it too fast. The following are pitfalls we consciously try to avoid at Coldoutreach agency:
1. Shooting everyone the same message in bulk
No matter what tools you use, such as Instantly, Smartlead, or Apollo—if your copy isn’t unique, your responses will be too.
Fix:
Segment by roles, industries, and triggers. Create 3–4 variations. Manually personalize 20–30% of your messages, particularly for higher-tier leads.
2. Over-automating LinkedIn
LinkedIn doesn’t love bots. If you’re sending hundreds of connection requests with tools like LinkedHelper or Expandi without warming up your account, expect restrictions.
Fix:
Keep daily requests under 100. Warm up new LinkedIn accounts. Rotate copy. And pause sequences on weekends—it mimics natural behavior.
3. Only pitching meetings
This one is huge. People aren’t always ready for a 15-minute call. But they might be open to:
A case study
A resource/ebook
A “quick insight” via LinkedIn message
Fix:
Provide value-first touchpoints. You’ll receive fewer ghosted calls and more real interest.
Tools We Use to Scale
Let me lift the veil. Here’s what we utilize at Coldoutreach agency for various components of the stack:
Prospecting & Data: Apollo, Clay, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Leadfuze
Cold Emailing: Instantly, Smartlead, Mailreach (for warm-up)
LinkedIn Messaging: Expandi (with human-like templates), PhantomBuster (light usage)
CRM: HubSpot, Close
Copy Testing: Lavender.ai, ChatGPT for drafts (with human edits)
Technology allows for scale, but strategy compels response rates.
Metrics That Matter
Don’t pursue vanity metrics such as open rate. Concentrate on:
Reply rate (positive vs neutral vs negative)
Meeting conversion rate
Lead-to-opportunity ratio
Response time (how quickly you follow up)
If your cold emails receive 65% opens but only 1% replies, your subject line is fantastic, but your offer is subpar.
We typically shoot for:
8–12% reply rate for cold emails
30–35% acceptance rate for LinkedIn connections
15–20% reply rate for InMails
20–40% meeting booked rate from total replies
Scaling with Systems (Not Hustle)
If your outreach is a grind, it’s because there is no system to it. What we assist clients in creating—and what I advise anyone looking to scale—is a repeatable outreach engine.
Here is a basic structure that you can replicate:
1. Define ICP clearly (job title, company size, industry, tech stack)
2. Create multi-touch sequences on email and LinkedIn
3. Personalize 20–30% of messages based on recent activity or company signals
4. Check replies weekly and customize templates
5. Track what converts—not merely what sends
The objective is not to send more. It’s to send better, at scale.
Final Thoughts: Outreach as a Conversation, Not a Campaign
Scaling your outreach isn’t about force. It’s about empathy, timing, and building layer upon layer of message.
The secret? No single channel will make you grow like a hockey stick overnight. But taking cold emails, LinkedIn InMails, and connection requests and using them in a reflective, permission-based manner—that’s what can scale.
This is the way we live at Coldoutreach agency. Every email we write is founded on two straightforward assumptions:
People react to relevance.
Conversations trump pitches.
So no matter if you are hitting 50 leads or 5,000, keep in mind: outreach is not a trick—it’s a strategy.
If you’d like a free teardown of your current outreach or want help building your multi-channel sequence from scratch, just reach out. Let’s make your messages worth replying to.
FAQs on Scaling Your Outreach with LinkedIn and Cold Email
1. What’s the ideal ratio between cold emails and LinkedIn messages when scaling outreach?
There is no one-size-fits-all formula, but a decent place to begin is 70% cold email and 30% LinkedIn messaging. Cold emails enable you to build volume more quickly, and LinkedIn provides a trust-establishing layer on top. At Coldoutreach agency, we tend to vary the ratio depending on industry and buyer behavior.
2. Should you use LinkedIn InMails or send an initial connection request?
It will depend on your prospect’s seniority level. For C-level executives, InMails are more effective because they won’t accept random connections. For mid-level decision-makers, customized connection requests followed by value-based messages perform well.
3. How can I prevent my LinkedIn account from being limited when scaling outreach?
Steer clear of over-aggressive automated tools. Limit your per-day connection requests to 100, customize your messages, and always include “buffer” days between sequences. We apply human-like copy and intelligent scheduling at Coldoutreach agency to minimize platform risk.
4. What’s a good reply rate for cold email campaigns?
An ideal cold email response rate is 8–12%, but this can differ across industries. The goal is to monitor positive responses, not merely opens. If you’re scaling your outreach but only receiving a 1–2% response rate, your targeting or messaging probably needs adjustments.
5. Can I use the same message in email and LinkedIn?
No, and you shouldn’t. Cold emails may be a bit longer and more explanatory, while LinkedIn messages need to be short and friendly. The tone, structure, and CTA should be tweaked to fit the platform. A multi-channel strategy only works when each touchpoint is platform-native.
