A connection request is accepted 30% to 40% of the time on a tight list, a cold email replies positively at 3% to 6%, and InMail, in our experience, sits below a connection-first approach for the same audience. So the order that works is connection request first, email second, InMail last. The channels are not really competing: the strongest results come from running them together, which lifts positive replies from about 5% on email alone to about 8%.
This post compares the three on response, cost, and scale, says which to use when, and gives the order and cadence. It is for anyone deciding how to split effort between LinkedIn and email, and it sits under cold call vs cold email vs LinkedIn, which chooses the lead channel by deal size. The numbers here are directional, from MarginSales campaigns across 200+ programs.
How do the three channels compare?
Each measures a different thing, which is why comparing them on one number is misleading. A connection accept is not a reply; a reply is not a meeting. Read the table by what each channel is for, not by which percentage is highest.
| Channel | Typical response | Cost | Scale ceiling | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connection request | 30% to 40% accepted on a tight list; replies follow a note, not a pitch | Free | 20 to 30 a day per profile | First touch on senior, tight lists; warms the name |
| Cold email | 3% to 6% positive reply; 8% to 11% raw on a tight list | Low per contact | Thousands a day across warmed mailboxes | Volume, technical buyers, the workhorse channel |
| InMail | Below a connection-first approach in our experience; no reliable public number we would quote | Credits, paid | Limited by credits | People you cannot connect with and have a specific reason to reach |
A note on the InMail row: we do not have a response figure we would stand behind, so we will not invent one. What we can say from running both is that for the same audience, a free connection request plus a follow-up beats a paid InMail with a lazy pitch, and the deciding factor is relevance, not the channel. The LinkedIn mechanics that lift accepts are in LinkedIn connection requests that get accepted.
When should you use a connection request?
As the default first touch on a senior or tight list. It is free, it opens a real thread you can return to, and a short, specific note is accepted 30% to 40% of the time. The connection also makes every later touch, on LinkedIn or by email, land as a follow-up to someone the prospect has already accepted, not a cold approach.
- Keep the note short and specific. You have 300 characters. One line on why them, specifically, beats a paragraph of pitch. For senior titles a good note lifts accepts; for peers, no note is often fine.
- Respect the daily ceiling. 20 to 30 requests a day per profile. A loose list drops accepts toward 15% and risks a restriction for low acceptance, so a tight list is not just better outreach, it protects the account.
- Do not pitch in the request. The request earns the right to a conversation; it is not the conversation. Pitching in the note is the fastest way to get ignored or reported.
What to say once they accept is in our LinkedIn outreach playbook: a short message that references why you connected, not an immediate ask.
When should you use cold email?
When you need volume, when the buyer is technical or email-native, or when the list is larger than LinkedIn's daily ceiling can reach. Email is the workhorse: it scales to thousands a day across warmed mailboxes, where a LinkedIn profile tops out at 20 to 30 requests. It is also the channel you own, independent of a platform's limits and restrictions.
Positive reply rates run 3% to 6% on a tight list, with raw replies of 8% to 11%. The templates that hit those numbers are in cold email templates that work, and the deliverability setup that gets them into the inbox is in outbound sales infrastructure. Email's weakness is the cold first touch to a senior buyer with an assistant filtering the inbox, which is exactly where a prior LinkedIn connection helps.
When should you use InMail?
Rarely, and only in three cases: the person is outside your network and unlikely to accept a request, a senior buyer ignores requests but might open a paid message with a relevant subject line, or you need to reach someone now and cannot wait out a connect-and-warm sequence. Even then, InMail follows the same rule as everything else: relevance over pitch.
The reason InMail is last is not that it never works, it is that it costs credits to do what a free connection request does better for most audiences, and a paid message with a generic pitch performs worse than a free request done right. If you are spending on InMail, spend the effort to make each one specific to that one person, or spend the credits somewhere else.
What order and cadence actually works?
Connection request first, email second, InMail only for the unreachable, all run as one sequence rather than three separate campaigns. The lift from combining is real: in our campaigns email alone produces about 5% positive replies and email plus LinkedIn about 8%. The channels reinforce each other because a name seen in two places reads as familiar, not cold.
- Day 1: view the profile and send a connection request; send email one if you have the address.
- After the accept: a short LinkedIn message referencing why you connected, no pitch.
- Days 4 to 10: email two and three carry the specifics and the ask, spaced a few days apart.
- Throughout: stop every channel the moment they reply on any of them. Nothing reads worse than a follow-up to a message someone already answered.
The full multichannel cadence, with phone added for senior and enterprise buyers, is in how to sequence a multichannel campaign.
When does LinkedIn not belong in the mix?
When your list is large and low-ACV, LinkedIn's 20-to-30-a-day ceiling makes it too slow to matter, and email should carry the campaign alone. When you are tempted to automate LinkedIn actions to get past that ceiling, stop: automated profile actions are the fastest way to get an account restricted, and buyers can tell. LinkedIn is the one channel where automation is a liability, not a tool, so keep it manual and small, and let email do the volume.
How MarginSales runs LinkedIn and email together
MarginSales provides sales outreach services for companies that want to extend their outbound capacity without building the entire sales development function internally. We run LinkedIn and email as one sequence: a connection request warms the name, a short message follows the accept, and email carries the specifics, with human-written notes rather than automated profile actions that get accounts restricted. We reserve InMail for the few people worth a paid, specific message and report replies by channel so the mix is tuned on evidence, not preference.
If you want a LinkedIn-and-email motion built around your buyer instead of a generic template, that is a short conversation. See how the channels fit together in cold call vs cold email vs LinkedIn.
Frequently asked questions
Is LinkedIn InMail or a connection request better for outreach?
A connection request, in almost every case. Requests are free, they open a real two-way thread, and on a tight list they are accepted 30% to 40% of the time. InMail costs credits and, in our experience, its reply rate runs below a connection-first approach for the same audience. Use InMail only when you genuinely cannot connect and have a specific reason to reach that one person.
Does LinkedIn get better response rates than cold email?
For the first touch on a tight, senior list, often yes, because a connection request is accepted 30% to 40% of the time and a cold email replies positively at 3% to 6%. But they measure different things: an accept is not a conversation. The strongest results come from using both, which in our campaigns lifts positive replies from about 5% on email alone to about 8%.
In what order should you use LinkedIn and email?
Connection request first, email second, InMail last. A connection request warms the name; once accepted, a short message or a well-timed email lands as a follow-up rather than a cold approach. Reserve InMail for people you cannot connect with and have a strong, specific reason to reach. Run the channels as one sequence, and stop all of them the moment someone replies.
Get a LinkedIn and email sequence for your buyer
Tell us the titles you sell to, your list size, and your deal size, and we will map which channel should lead, what each touch says, and the response numbers to expect, whether or not you work with us. Book a 20-minute review.