Overview
Sequences are outreach campaigns with any number of sequential contact points and tasks that you can customize to personally engage your target audiences at scale. There are several types of steps available in Apollo sequences, including the ability to complete tasks in LinkedIn.
The benefits of using LinkedIn steps in a sequence include:
- Personalization at scale: Create templates for connection requests and InMail messages and personalize your approach with snippets and dynamic variables.
- Streamlined workflow: Access a contact's LinkedIn profile with one click and document key information with ease.
- Improved performance: Keep track of every task you execute and leave suggestions and prompts that can help you increase engagement.
You need a LinkedIn account to see any information about a contact. You can use a different email account for your Apollo account and LinkedIn account.
Click here to create a new LinkedIn account. To learn more about how to prospect with LinkedIn, read the Prospect in LinkedIn article.
The following sections detail the LinkedIn tasks available to you in sequences and how to use them to track your LinkedIn prospecting efforts.
Understand the LinkedIn Tasks
There are 4 LinkedIn tasks you can use in your sequence. These steps create a task in Apollo that can be auto-executed from Tasks and the Apollo Chrome extension. The steps include:
- View Profile: View a contact's LinkedIn profile to gain specific information such as education history, job history, current company details, and colleagues. When executed, this step takes you to the LinkedIn's profile and marks the task as completed.
- Interact with Post: Interact with a contact's posts on LinkedIn. When executed, this step takes you to the activity section of a contact's LinkedIn profile and marks the task as completed. Then, you can manually interact with a contact's LinkedIn post.
- Send Connection Request: Connection requests allow you to direct message a contact and, in some cases, are necessary to see and interact with the contact's posts. When executed, this step automatically sends a connection request to a contact and, if it succeeds, marks the task as completed. You can send connection requests with or without a message.
- Send Message: When executed, this step sends a direct message to a contact and, if it succeeds, marks the task as complete. A contact must be a connection on LinkedIn before a message can be sent to them, so this should be the last step in developing a relationship with a contact through LinkedIn. You only want to message a contact if you are sure they would like to speak with you. Otherwise, it will feel like spam.
When you choose to Send Connection Request or Send Message, you can create a template. You can also use snippets and dynamic variables to personalize outreach to your contacts. For more on snippets, refer to Create and Edit Snippets. For more on dynamic variables, refer to Use Basic Dynamic Variables.
Executing too many LinkedIn tasks at the same time can lead to your account being marked as a bot. LinkedIn temporarily restricts your account if you send too many invitations within a short amount of time, or if too many of your invitations have been ignored, left pending, or marked as spam by the recipients. Please be cautious and restrict the number of invites you send.
For more information about the available step types in a sequence, please refer to the Available Steps in a Sequence section of Sequences Overview.
Add LinkedIn Tasks to Existing Sequences
If you prefer to add LinkedIn steps to a new sequence instead, refer to Create a Sequence.
When you combine prospecting with LinkedIn and the ability to track tasks with sequences, you can reach your goals easier. You can track each step of your LinkedIn prospecting process by adding tasks to your existing sequences in Apollo. To do so:
- Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
- Click the sequence that you want to update.
- Click Add a step.
- Choose the LinkedIn task that you want to add to your sequence.
- Define the amount of time that Apollo should wait before triggering this step when the previous step is complete as well as the priority of the task. You can also add notes about the task.
Use the advanced settings option if you want to automatically skip tasks after the due date.
Then, click Complete.
The LinkedIn task is now added to your sequence. To rearrange the steps in your sequence, drag and drop a step to a different spot.
Add Contacts to Your Sequence
Now that you have your LinkedIn steps in your sequence, you should add contacts. The contacts you add will run through your LinkedIn sequence.
For step-by-step instructions on how to add contacts to a sequence, refer to Add Contacts to a Sequence.
Be aware that a contact should only be in 1 sequence at a time.
Execute LinkedIn Tasks in Your Sequence
With a contact added to your sequence, you can use your LinkedIn tasks to guide yourself through engagement. You do need to be logged in to your LinkedIn Account to execute your LinkedIn tasks.
To execute LinkedIn tasks in your sequence:
- Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
- Confirm your sequence is toggled on, then click your sequence to access it.
- Confirm the steps in your sequence are also enabled.
- Go to Tasks.
- Click the checkbox for each task that you want to execute, then click the Execute tasks icon. You will be taken to LinkedIn where the task will be automatically completed. If a contact does not have a LinkedIn profile, the task will not execute.
You have now executed the LinkedIn tasks in your sequence. A message from Apollo appears in LinkedIn to confirm the tasks have been completed.
You can repeat this process for each task until the LinkedIn sequence is complete.
You are not beholden to any of the tasks you create. You can skip any task that you do not want to complete.
Troubleshoot LinkedIn Task Errors
If Apollo encounters a problem executing a task for a specific contact, you will see an error icon in the tasks queue pop-up next to the contact's name.
There are a few reasons why you might encounter an error when executing a LinkedIn task:
- You have attempted to execute a send message task before the contact has accepted your LinkedIn request. Apollo can only send messages to contacts that are already part of your LinkedIn network. If you see this error, try executing the task later once the contact has accepted your request to connect.
- You use Sales Navigator. Unfortunately, Apollo's LinkedIn automation does not currently support automation for send message tasks if you have an active Sales Navigator subscription.
- LinkedIn temporarily restricts your account if you send too many invitations within a short amount of time, or if too many of your invitations have been ignored, left pending, or marked as spam by the recipients.