10 Proven LinkedIn Message Templates 

B2B LinkedIn direct message strategy is crucial for success in 2025.

LinkedIn’s TV ads proclaim it’s ‘THE place to B2B’:

Therefore, it’s essential to not sleep on this goldmine.

The HyperSocial team analyzed tens of thousands of LinkedIn conversations since 2019.

What we found?

Five distinct B2B LinkedIn direct message strategies consistently create results.

Let’s explore these proven strategies and templates you can use today.

[Before we start: Make your LinkedIn profile attract prospects. When you message someone, they’ll view your profile – make it compelling.]

LinkedIn Message Strategy #1: The Network Builder

Purpose: Get your ideal prospects on the phone/virtual meeting

Positives: Highest amount of calls scheduled from responses

Negatives: Lowest response rate, First call to presentation rate is the lowest – not going to know pain before call is scheduled so might not always be the right fit

Best used by: People who are just getting started, do not have an extensive network in the industry to call on, great if you have high comfortability conversing and converting cold leads to next step

Template 1 – The Network Builder

{first_name}, it looks like you are absolutely crushing in your industry. Huge congratulations on your successes so far! I know as an entrepreneur, the effort to get where you are is an incredible achievement. I would love to set up a quick networking call – between our resources, network, and connections I know there’s an opportunity to collaborate on a much higher level. Let me know the best time for us to connect and chat for a few mins!

Template 2 – The Network Builder

Hi {first_name}, I appreciate you accepting my invitation. I’m looking to diversify my professional network. I figure the only point of building up my network is if I actually know who they are and what they do. Would you be up to have a 5-10 minute networking call?

 

LinkedIn  Message Strategy #2: The Conversation Starter

Purpose: Get your ideal prospects chatting with you in the DMs

Positives: Allows for qualification, being more selective with who you choose to have calls with

Negatives: Lower response rates

Best used by: People who do not want to be “salesy” in the direct message with completely cold prospects, relationship-driven industries

Template 1 – The Conversation Starter

Hi {first_name}, noticed we’re both [COMMONALITY]! I’ve been super caught up {something specific to work} and {something specific to personal life}. Look forward to learning more about you. Where are you at on your journey to {end goal}// What’s the big focus for you currently?

Template 2 – The Conversation Starter

Thank you for connecting, {first_name}. It’s so important to surround ourselves with other [COMMONALITY WITH PROSPECT]. I know that to get where you are as a [ROLE] is an incredible achievement. Congratulations on your successes so far with {company_name}. I look forward to crossing paths at some point.

 

LinkedIn Message Strategy #3: The Brain Pick

Purpose: A sales pattern interrupt technique; get a non-salesy dialogue going to disarm and make the prospect feel they can be helpful to you

Positives: More qualified 1-1 conversations

Negatives: More strategy in steering 1-1 conversation toward sales conversation

Best used by: People who host routine events with high comfort and experience in sales OR people who have a product/service where it’s hard to pinpoint the exact best person to reach out to.

Template 1 – The Brain Pick

Hi {first_name}, can I pick your brain over a virtual coffee? I host [EVENT TYPE] and I want to learn more about what business leaders are looking for relating to [TOPIC]. Could we have a quick 15-20 minute conversation about this?

Template 2 – The Brain Pick

{first_name}, I’d like to learn more about what you might be looking for in a {product/service} partner. I specialize in {what you specialize in} for {industry} companies like yours.
Would you be up for a 30-minute discussion about it over a virtual coffee?

LinkedIn Message Strategy #4: The Event Invite

Purpose: Invite people to an event to allow prospects to experience your expertise without a long-term or high ticket commitment

Positives: Qualified 1-1 conversations before or after the event, highest amount of leads generated

Negatives: Time and effort on creating a free/low ticket event, longer sales cycle

Best used by: People who have high ticket offerings that need to establish their expertise, need clear upsells/downsells

Template 1 – The Event Invite

{first_name}, based on my impression of your role, I think the {typeoftopics} topics and {another benefit from the event} that comprise my {event} may interest you – it might be valuable for you to attend our next one as my guest?

Template 1 – The Event Invite

How are you {first_name}? I’m hosting an in-person event in [CITY/AREA] on [DATE] for [PERSONA DESCRIPTOR] to [GOAL OF EVENT]. Can I send you more info so you can decide if you want to join us?

B2B LinkedIn Direct Message Strategy #5: The Direct Ask

Purpose: Ask cold prospects if they are interested in exploring your product/service on a phone call/virtual meeting

Positives: Best response rates, higher quality interest in service on 1st call

Negatives: Will get a lot of no’s; if they have said no to a sales call, harder to reroute to something else

Best used by: People who are focused on volume of yeses to calls right now, do not have a sophisticated sales cycle

Template 1 – The Direct Ask

Hi {first_name}, I’m looking for X [ideal clients] who want [known desired result] in the next xx days, without/with [something they don’t want/something they DO want]. Hope we can find some time to chat about it.

Template 2 – The Direct Ask

{first_name}! Great to connect. We’re up to some exciting things – {exciting thing 1} and {exciting thing 2} that is establishing our product/service ability to {end result of using product/service}…
Excited to find out more about what work you do and see if there’s any partnership or collaboration potential… Interested in a quick chat?

Making these Templates Work for You

Do not overthink and overcomplicate out of the get go.


The key to effective LinkedIn outreach isn’t complexity – choose an approach for your specific situation, executing it consistently and making adjustments as you go.