LinkedIn InMail Workflow: A Recruiter-Controlled Guide

Want to know how top recruiters fill positions faster? It rarely comes from sending more InMails. It comes from a clear workflow around them: who gets an InMail, what it says, what happens next by email, and when to follow up.

This guide walks through that workflow. The idea is simple. A recruiting tool like Leonar organizes the candidate list, drafts the messages and reminds you when a step is due. You send every InMail yourself, from your own LinkedIn account. Stick around and you will see how to run InMail outreach that stays personal, consistent and fully under your control.

What are LinkedIn InMails?

Have you ever needed to reach out to top talent outside your immediate network? LinkedIn InMails give you a direct line to candidates without a mutual connection. They let you send a private message to someone you have not connected with yet, which makes them a core tool for recruiters.

Using InMails well is a matter of strategy, not volume. The number of InMails you can send depends on your LinkedIn plan, and each unanswered InMail costs a credit. That is why the way you pick candidates and write messages matters as much as the message itself.

Want a deeper look at InMail credits and their pricing per plan? Read our guide: How much do LinkedIn InMail credits cost?

What LinkedIn Recruiter already offers for InMails

LinkedIn Recruiter includes its own InMail features. You can save message templates, insert variables such as the first name, and schedule one follow-up message. On Recruiter Corporate, you can also select several candidates from a project and send them the same InMail at once, up to 25 at a time.

These features cover the InMail itself. They do not cover everything around it: the email follow-up three days later, the WhatsApp message a week after that, the note you took during a call, or the reminder that a candidate went quiet. That is the part a recruiting workflow tool takes care of.

For a detailed walkthrough of the Recruiter features, including how to segment candidates before you message them, see our guide to segmented messaging on LinkedIn Recruiter.

What a recruiting workflow tool does around InMails

When you compare tools, start with one question: what does the tool do on LinkedIn, and what does it leave to you?

The answer that keeps you in control is clear. The tool prepares the work. It builds the candidate list, drafts the InMail, and puts a task on your list on the right day. You open LinkedIn, send the InMail from your own account, and mark the task as done. LinkedIn steps are tasks you complete yourself on LinkedIn.

Email, WhatsApp and SMS are different. Those channels can run on their own inside the sequence, with timing set in days and follow-ups that stop when the candidate replies.

Leonar works this way. It sits alongside LinkedIn Recruiter as the place where you organize candidates, write messages and keep every follow-up on schedule. It never sends anything on LinkedIn for you.

A LinkedIn InMail workflow in five steps

Step 1: build the candidate list in your workspace

Start by gathering the people you want to reach. In Leonar, you can build that list in several ways:

• From Leonar’s own database: search a licensed candidate database with AI ranking and build a shortlist without leaving the tool.
• From your Applicant Tracking System (ATS): bring in candidates you have talked to before.
• From a CSV file: upload a list you compiled elsewhere, including a file you exported with LinkedIn Recruiter’s own export options.
• One profile at a time with the Chrome extension: when you are on a profile you want to keep, the extension creates a candidate record from the details you confirm.

The list is the foundation. A well-targeted list of 40 candidates beats a broad list of 400 on every metric that matters.

Step 2: define the sequence

Next, plan the order of your touchpoints. A typical InMail sequence looks like this:

• Day 0: LinkedIn task. Send the InMail from your Recruiter account.
• Day 3: email. Sent by the sequence if a verified address is available.
• Day 7: WhatsApp or a second email, with a short reminder.
• Day 12: LinkedIn task. A short follow-up InMail, sent by you.

Timing is set in days. Follow-ups on email and WhatsApp stop as soon as the candidate replies on those channels. For LinkedIn steps, you decide on the day whether the step still makes sense.

Tailor the sequence to each role and audience. Need inspiration for the messages themselves? Read our guide on crafting effective LinkedIn messages.

Step 3: draft the InMails with AI, then edit them

Personalized messages perform better than generic ones, especially when they mention the candidate’s current role, location or a likely motivation. Writing that by hand for every candidate takes time.

AI can draft the first version. In Leonar, you give a prompt, your search criteria and the candidate record, and the tool suggests an InMail draft or a connection request note. You read it, adjust it and keep it in the task. The draft is a starting point, not a message that leaves without you.

Curious about what AI can do for recruiting messages? Read our AI for recruiting guide.

Step 4: work through your LinkedIn tasks

Once the sequence is live, the email steps run on their cadence. The LinkedIn steps show up as tasks on the day they are due, each with the candidate, the draft and the context.

You open the candidate in LinkedIn, paste or adapt the draft, and send it from your own account, within the credits and limits that account allows. Then you mark the task as done and log the outcome. That log is what keeps the rest of the sequence on track.

Step 5: measure and adjust

Track reply rates and reply quality as the campaign runs. Email replies are counted by the sequence. For InMails, the outcome you log after each task feeds the same reports.

Use those numbers to adjust the audience, the timing and the message before you widen the list. For a deeper look at which metrics matter most, see our guide on strategic sourcing KPIs.

Combine InMail with email and WhatsApp

InMail works best as one channel among several. A multichannel workflow keeps the InMail task, the email follow-up and the WhatsApp reminder in the same sequence, instead of scattering them across tools.

• Follow-ups on email and WhatsApp: these run on their own and stop when the candidate replies, so you stay consistent without chasing every reminder by hand.
• LinkedIn as a task: the InMail or connection request is prepared for you and sent by you, at the moment the sequence suggests.

Why a multichannel approach pays off

Connection requests have a high acceptance rate and cost no credit. InMails reach people outside your network but come in fixed monthly amounts. Email reaches candidates who rarely open LinkedIn. Each channel fills a gap the others leave.

That is why it pays to weigh an InMail against a connection request for each candidate. It also helps to know that Recruiter offers a send-as-email option in the compose window when the candidate’s email is saved on their profile.

Useful multichannel capabilities to look for:

• Email finder: find and verify candidate email addresses so the email steps have somewhere to go.
• Email sending: send personalized emails as part of the same sequence, so communication stays coordinated.
• LinkedIn tasks in the plan: note which candidates you intend to reach with an InMail from your own account, so the rest of the sequence is timed around it.

👉 Working with connection requests as well? Read our guide on how to manage LinkedIn connection requests as a recruiter.

Combine channels without overcomplicating recruitment

Combining channels broadens your reach and gives candidates more ways to reply. The strongest workflows still feel human because the sequence handles timing and coordination, while the recruiter handles every LinkedIn message.

For more information, check our multichannel outreach feature.

LinkedIn InMail workflow: wrapping up

You have now seen how to organize InMail outreach from the candidate list to the follow-up. Leonar helps when you want InMail drafts, LinkedIn tasks and email follow-ups in one place. Our multichannel outreach feature shows how the email steps and the LinkedIn tasks fit together in one sequence.

The main rule stays simple: let the tool prepare and remind, keep targeting and message quality under your review, and send every InMail yourself.

A controlled workflow

Prepare, draft and review each step before you send it from your own account.

Centralize multichannel outreach, prepare follow-ups, and keep control of the actions available in each account.