Effective LinkedIn Connection Reply Guide (4 Steps)

As a sales professional, your LinkedIn network is one of your strongest assets. Knowing how to maintain those relationships can either make or break your career in the age of connectivity. So when a new contact reaches your inbox to say “nice connecting with you,” you need to respond quickly and effectively to keep that momentum going.

In this blog post, I’ll show you my 4-step process for crafting the perfect nice connecting with you reply on linkedin and provide a few different templates for inspiration. I’ll also show you how AI tools like the Bardeen AI Message Generator make it even easier to respond to a linkedin connection message. 

Bardeen can help you quickly take action after connecting with someone on LinkedIn. After receiving a "thank you for connecting" message, Bardeen can automate sending a personalized reply to keep the conversation going and even create a contact record in your CRM. This allows you to build the relationship with minimal effort.

Try out these playbooks:

Send an email to the currently opened LinkedIn user

Try it

Create a personalized sales outreach email in Microsoft Outlook from a LinkedIn post

Try it

Create an AI-generated outreach email for the currently opened LinkedIn profile

Try it

Save LinkedIn profile to HubSpot as a new contact

Try it

How to Reply to Thank You for Connecting on LinkedIn

When someone sends you a message thanking you for connecting on LinkedIn, it presents a unique opportunity to foster a meaningful professional relationship. Crafting a thoughtful reply to a LinkedIn message can set the tone for future interactions and potentially lead to beneficial collaborations or insights. Here are several strategies and templates to consider when responding to such messages.

Step 1: Express Gratitude

Begin your LinkedIn message with a brief and polite acknowledgment of the thank you message. Express your gratitude for their willingness to connect and share a bit about why you're looking forward to the connection. It's crucial to keep your message concise and focused on the recipient rather than yourself. Avoid any sales pitches or self-promotion in this initial interaction, as the goal is to establish rapport and genuine interest in the other person's work or achievements.

Bardeen can help you personalize your outreach at scale by automating the process of drafting emails based on context about the person you're reaching out to. Try these playbooks to create personalized outreach emails:

Create a sales outreach email from the current LinkedIn profile

Try it

Create a sales outreach email from the current LinkedIn profile

Try it

Create a draft email in Gmail for a Salesforce contact using OpenAI

Try it

Step 2: Personalize your response

Personalize your response by mentioning something specific you found interesting in their profile or a mutual connection you both share. This shows that you've taken the time to learn about them and are genuinely interested in what they have to offer. You can also ask a thoughtful question related to their work or interests to encourage further conversation.

Step 3: Keep it brief

Make sure you are respecting the person’s time by keeping your message short and to-the-point. You don’t need a lot of details in your response; simply thank them for the message and state that you would like to continue the conversation.

Studies show that shorter messages get 22% higher response rates than long ones. I recommend keeping your responses close to 400 characters and try to avoid going over 1200 characters as much as possible.

Step 4: Include a CTA

Finally, every message needs a clear call-to-action. Tell the other person that you would like to continue the conversation and provide them with a clear next step. Whether that is visiting your website, viewing some helpful content, or simply responding to your message is up to you. Just don’t leave your response open to interpretation.

Linkedin Message Templates for Various Scenarios

If you still need some help with your LinkedIn messages, you can use these templates I created. They are all tailored for different situations you might find yourself in after connecting with someone on LinkedIn:

• General Response: "Hi [Name], thank you for your kind message. I'm also glad we're connected now and look forward to learning more about your work with [Company/Project]. Is there a particular aspect of your work you're most passionate about?"
• After Meeting at an Event: "Hi [Name], it was great meeting you at [Event]. Thanks for connecting here. I was really intrigued by what you shared about [Topic]. Could we perhaps dive deeper into that discussion sometime soon?"
• Shared Interest or Experience: "Hi [Name], thank you for the warm welcome. I noticed we both have an interest in [Interest/Experience]. I'd love to exchange thoughts and learn from your experience. What's been your biggest takeaway in this area?"
• Offering Help: "Hi [Name], thanks for reaching out and connecting. I'm thrilled to be part of your network. If there's anything specific you're working on or need help with, feel free to let me know. I'm always happy to share insights or support in any way I can."

These LinkedIn message templates will help you move the conversation forward and build strong relationships with your LinkedIn connections. But don’t rely on them too heavily. Feel free to inject some personality into your responses and avoid sounding generic. 

Crafting the Perfect Follow Up Message on LinkedIn

The key to a successful LinkedIn interaction is authenticity. Tailor your response to reflect genuine interest and openness to engaging further. Using this approach and the template I provided will help you in building a strong professional network and also in establishing meaningful connections that could lead to future opportunities.

For more tips on successful LinkedIn messaging, check these other articles on How to Send LinkedIn Messages That Get Replies and How to Set Up LinkedIn Auto Messages: The Easy Steps.

Replying to a 'Thank you for connecting' message on LinkedIn is an excellent opportunity to engage further and build a meaningful professional relationship. While it's possible to manually craft and send each reply, automating this process with Bardeen can save you time and ensure consistent, personalized responses.

Here are some ways Bardeen can automate your LinkedIn interactions:

1. Connect with a LinkedIn user and display a message: Automate the process of personalizing connection requests by extracting information from profiles. This playbook helps you to craft custom messages, making each interaction feel personal and increasing your network's growth.
2. Create a personalized sales outreach email in Microsoft Outlook from a LinkedIn post: This playbook enables you to create tailored outreach emails based on LinkedIn posts, directly improving your sales prospecting efforts.
3. Send mutual connections from a LinkedIn profile to Slack: Enhance team collaboration by automatically sharing mutual LinkedIn connections to a Slack channel or user, leveraging shared connections for sales prospecting or networking.