One of LinkedIn's most popular features, InMails, is a blessing and a curse. For recruiters, it's a great way to 
contact talent via an appropriate medium, as presumably they've agreed to discuss opportunities and network when they opted in to the site. However, it's unfortunately been misused by many and as a result has led to many prospective candidates being rubbed the wrong way. Well, LinkedIn listened to the complaints, and as of late last week they've introduced some changes to the Inmailing process that will serve to help both recruiters and candidates get the most out of the tool. Read on to see what's new and what it means for your recruitment efforts!
As explained in the LinkedIn blog, there are a handful of key changes starting this August:
- We’ll notify Recruiter users if their InMail response rate drops below 13 percent on 100 or more InMails sent over a 14-day period, and give them tips to help increase it
Personally, I love this move. From what I've been told, many recruiters are so busy sourcing, messaging, phone screening, and interviewing that they don't take the time to step back and look at the metrics of what is and isn't working. Now, LinkedIn will automate this for you and let you know when your messaging could use some work, and what you can do to fix it.
After this one-time notification, users who continue to have a less than 13 percent response rate will only be able to send one-to-one InMails for a 14-day period.
Don't heed LNKD's warning? Do not pass go, do not collect placement commission because you're going straight to Recruiter Jail. The idea here is that if your mass messaging isn't working, you'll only be able to send single messages, which naturally will allow you the time to make your outreach more personal and meaningful to the candidate.
- After the 14-day period, users who meet the threshold will be able to send bulk InMail messages. Users who don’t will not be able to send bulk InMail messages for another 14-day period.
LinkedIn is willing to forgive those who can turn around their poor response rates. As their post then notes, these updates will not affect the vast majority of recruiters (meaning, the good ones!), yet everyone stands to benefit. A common complaint I hear from recruiters is that it's merely the actions of a lazy few who are ruining the good name of pros truly looking to find candidates a job they'll love. Hopefully, with these updates, messaging will become more direct and meaningful, and talent will open themselves up to the improved outreach.
What do you make of the LinkedIn updates? Do you expect things to improve? Leave a comment or tweet @EnteloRob!
