LinkedIn steps

A sequence can send LinkedIn connection invites and direct messages from your own LinkedIn account, alongside email. The invites, notes and replies show on each contact’s activity, so you and the agent see the whole conversation in one place.

Who can use it

LinkedIn steps are on Growth and Enterprise. Owners, admins and members can use them.

On Pro, sequences send email only. To add LinkedIn, an admin changes the plan in Settings → Billing, or you contact Lightfield. Until then, reach those contacts by email or send a message yourself in LinkedIn.

Earlier plans can differ. Check your workspace’s available features.

Before you start

Each person connects only their own LinkedIn account:

1. Connect your LinkedIn account in Settings → External apps.
2. Turn on Enable for sequences for it on your sender page in Settings → Sequences.
3. Designate the account in the Senders row of each sequence that uses it.

You can draft LinkedIn steps before this, but you can’t activate the sequence until a LinkedIn account is enabled and designated on it.

Add LinkedIn steps

A DM can only reach a connection, so LinkedIn steps follow this order:

LinkedIn invite → Wait for connection (up to 5 days) → optional wait → LinkedIn message

1. Open the sequence, open a step’s menu, and choose Add above or Add below to add a LinkedIn invite. Or ask the agent to add one.
2. Choose its connection note (see below).
3. Add a Wait for connection right after it.
4. Add a LinkedIn message step, and choose Agent or Template for it.
5. Publish the change.

An invite must be followed by a Wait for connection, and can’t be the last step.

Keep the invite step even for people you’re already connected to. An invite to an existing connection succeeds without sending a new request. Lightfield rejects a LinkedIn message step that has no invite and Wait for connection before it.

If a contact hasn’t accepted by the end of the Wait for connection, their later DM is skipped and any email steps still run. If the sequence has no email step before or after the invite, the enrollment ends as Not accepted.

Connection notes

An invite sends no note by default. You can add an agent-written note or a template note instead.

• A note can be up to 200 characters, or 300 from an account with LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator or Recruiter. Lightfield reads the account’s subscription and shows it next to the account on your sender page.
• On an account without one of those subscriptions, Lightfield allows at most 5 invites with a note per rolling 30 days. On a subscribed account, notes count only against the daily invite limit.
• The editor warns when a template note could run over, counting each variable at its fallback. A contact whose filled-in note runs over is held and shows Needs attention.

Add a note when you have a specific reason to connect. Keep it brief and relevant to the person.

LinkedIn invites and DMs also have daily limits per account; see Sending limits.

Where LinkedIn activity shows up

Each invite a sequence sends appears in the Activity log on the contact’s page, as “Sam sent an invite to Dana on LinkedIn.” If it had a note, the note shows under that entry. When the contact accepts, a second entry says so.

Lightfield automatically includes LinkedIn direct message history for contacts you message from a sequence in their activity, unless you have explicitly hidden that conversation. To sync other contacts and choose visibility, see LinkedIn. A reply from a person ends the contact’s sequences (see When a contact replies).

When LinkedIn stops your sends

When LinkedIn refuses sends because an account hit its limit, Lightfield stops sending from that account and pauses its contacts. LinkedIn usually lifts an invitation limit within about a week, and a message limit within 24 hours. Then mark the account healthy on your sender page (see Settings → Sequences), and its contacts resume. Consider lowering the account’s daily invite limit, since hitting the limit repeatedly can get it restricted by LinkedIn.

If you disconnect LinkedIn, sequences can’t send LinkedIn steps from it until you reconnect, and its contacts show Needs attention when they reach a LinkedIn step.

Troubleshooting

My sequence won’t activate and it mentions LinkedIn

No LinkedIn account is enabled for sequences and designated on the sequence. Connect LinkedIn, turn on Enable for sequences on your sender page, then designate the account in the sequence’s Senders row. If the message says your plan doesn’t include LinkedIn, remove the LinkedIn steps to run the sequence by email.

My LinkedIn account doesn’t show on my sender page

It isn’t connected yet, or your plan doesn’t include LinkedIn steps. Connect it in Settings → External apps first.

A LinkedIn step failed on a contact I’m already connected to

Being connected isn’t the cause; an invite to a connection succeeds without a new request. Open the enrollment for the real error. If it says LinkedIn would not return the profile for this contact, check the contact’s LinkedIn URL and click Resume (see Needs attention).

LinkedIn stopped letting me send requests

The account hit LinkedIn’s invitation limit. Wait about a week, then mark the account healthy, and its contacts resume. If it happened early, your acceptance rate may have dropped and LinkedIn tightened your allowance.

Common questions

Can I see the note I sent with a connection request? Yes. Open the contact and find the LinkedIn invite in their Activity log; the note shows under it.

Can I send a LinkedIn DM without an invite step? No. Lightfield rejects a LinkedIn message step that has no invite and Wait for connection before it. Keep the invite; for existing connections it sends nothing new.

Can I connect a teammate’s LinkedIn account? No. Each person connects their own. On a teammate’s sender page, the button says only they can connect it.

Do LinkedIn steps work on Pro? No. On Pro, sequences send email only. LinkedIn steps are on Growth and Enterprise.