Every campaign is different — your goals, audience, and approach will all vary depending on your unique situation. While we can’t offer one-size-fits-all strategies or tailor-made advice in this article, we can share a few tried-and-true practices that have consistently helped our clients build successful outreach campaigns.
Below are some of our top recommendations to help you get the most out of your experience:
📌 Put "Send Connection Request" Before Any Actions
If your search includes leads who aren’t first-degree connections, we recommend starting with Send Connection Request before adding other steps like Perform Action. Performing actions before connecting can come off as pushy or confusing to the prospect and may reduce your chances of engagement.
If the Connection Request Booster is turned off, our system will still visit the prospect's profile to simulate a profile view. However, this action uses your Views of Profiles limit. This is the only limitation that applies when the booster is disabled.
To ensure you can still send connection requests, keep an eye on your Connection Request daily limits in your account settings and make sure you have enough remaining for outreach.
⏳ Use "Wait Between Steps" to Give Your Prospects Breathing Room
Be mindful of your timing. You're able to set custom wait times between steps, and we highly recommend using this feature. A delay of 3 to 5 days between steps is a good rule of thumb to avoid overwhelming your audience and to create a more natural flow of communication.
✨ Keep It Simple
Some of the most effective campaigns are also the simplest. In fact, our most popular campaign format is still the classic combo of:
Sending a Connection Request
Following up with a combination of Social Messages and emails
There’s no need to overcomplicate things. A clear and concise sequence often performs better than a complex one.
👍 Don’t Skip "Perform Action"
Taking a moment to endorse skills or leave a thoughtful comment on a prospect’s page can go a long way. These small gestures help you stand out and make your outreach feel more personal and genuine.
But everything is best in moderation. The more Perform Action steps you add (especially if each includes multiple actions), the longer your campaign will take to complete. Currently, Perform Action steps take more time than any other step in the sequence.
Additionally, keep an eye on your Views of Profiles limit. These actions consume that limit, and if it runs out, your campaign may stall.
🎥 Use Video for Maximum Impact
Our Video feature is a powerful way to personalize your campaigns at scale. By recording just one video, you can reach thousands of prospects, with each one feeling like you made that video just for them. It's simple, customizable, and a proven way to boost engagement.
Keep in mind that every video recorded for a prospect uses 1 profile view. So this step also contributes to your Views of Profile limit — and it's important to monitor that to avoid your campaign getting stuck.
✍🏻 How Many Follow-Ups Are Too Many?
A good rule of thumb is three emails total—your initial message plus two follow-ups. This strikes the right balance between persistence and professionalism. On the Social Platform, experts recommend no more than 2–3 follow-up messages per connection.
Timing matters: Wait 3–5 business days between messages, gradually increasing the interval with each follow-up. While SalesBlink data shows 50% of sales happen after the fifth follow-up, pushing too hard can hurt your sender reputation and lead to spam reports.
📩 What to Say in a Follow-Up
The best follow-ups add value without applying pressure. Keep it short and relevant -- Social users spend an average of just 17 minutes per month on the platform.
Example:
“Hi [Name], hope you’re doing well! I know things can get busy, but I’d still love to chat about [previous topic]. I recently came across [relevant insight or stat] and thought of you. Let me know if there's a better time to connect.”
Avoid sounding impatient or accusatory. Messages like “Did you see my last message?” tend to irritate rather than engage.
What Else Should You Keep an Eye On?
When building your campaigns, it's a good idea to double-check your settings and understand how they work. Here are a few things to pay special attention to:
When this setting is enabled, the system checks whether any prospects from your current search already exist in other campaigns. If they do, those prospects will be moved to your current campaign automatically.
When this setting is enabled, the system checks if you’ve already had a conversation with a prospect from your search, and if the conversation exists, the prospect will not be paused and will continue through the campaign.
If this setting is disabled, and there is a conversation, the prospect will be paused, and you will decide whether to interact with them from this campaign or not.
Be sure to understand how the campaign will behave when this setting is on versus off — it affects how smoothly your steps will run.
If your campaign includes a Send Connection Request step, but your Connection Request Limit is enabled and set to 0, no requests will be sent. Double-check this setting to make sure your campaign performs as expected.
Don’t Ignore The Notifications — They Matter!
As you build your campaigns and select searches, be sure to pay attention to system notifications. They often explain why your campaign may (or may not) run as expected.
Notifications on the Campaigns Page
If you see an Error label next to a campaign on the main Campaigns page, hover over it to view the message.
For example:
If you see a Sales Navigator Issue/Error, it means there’s a step in the campaign that requires an active Sales Navigator subscription on the Social Platform. If the system detects that your profile has a Basic plan, you will see a notification.
CSV Upload Tips
When uploading a CSV file as your search type, make sure to map the fields correctly. We will only use the data that you’ve mapped — nothing more.
For example:
If your campaign includes a Send Email step and you've selected Work email as the recipient type, but the Work email field wasn’t properly mapped during CSV import, we won’t be able to find the correct email. That prospect will be moved to Pending, and you’ll see a notification explaining why.
To better understand why a prospect might be marked as Pending or Waiting, check out this guide: 👉 Stuck and Waiting Reasons
Building a successful campaign takes time and experimentation, but following these best practices will set you on the right track. If you ever need help fine-tuning your strategy, our support team is just a message away!