Your 1st degree connections on LinkedIn aren’t making money.
What transforms LinkedIn connections into paying clients is providing value, understanding needs, and being proactive about presenting what you offer.
All of this can be done through LinkedIn nurture campaigns.
What are LinkedIn nurture campaigns?
Nurturing on LinkedIn is unique because there are many ways to do so.
In email marketing, the only nurturing you can do is follow up with another email. On LinkedIn, you can get creative.
For example, you can tag a connection on a post, send an article link, or give a straight-up pitch.
The critical thing to note is that nurturing means you provide value for your prospects.
But, you have to do it in a way that moves the needle for your goal: turning connections into clients.
LinkedIn nurturing at scale: The essential tools and preparations
There’s always a sense of intimacy on LinkedIn.
The platform is stricter about automation, so most interactions (aside from the occasional InMail pitch) are pretty much organic.
That means nurturing a handful of connections organically is doable... but time-consuming.
If you want to do it at scale for all connections that fit your ideal customer profile, you’ll need a LinkedIn automation tool that mimics human behavior.
One of the best tools on the market is Zopto.
But with a monthly cost of almost $200/month, people have been looking into Zopto alternatives like Botdog, which at the time of writing is at $29.99/month.
Regardless of what automation tool you use, ensure that you’re only sending invites to people who get the most value out of your products or services.
When they accept, start building a nurturing campaign lead list.
Before starting, segment your connections. Your prospects might be in the same industry, but each decision-maker prioritizes different things.
Try segmenting by demographic, revenue, company size, and milestones. From here, you can start building your nurture strategies.
LinkedIn nurture strategies: How to provide value at scale
Each strategy we’ll list will be based on a value-driven outreach approach. The more value you bring, the more you’ll stay top-of-mind.
Here are the strategies that let you nurture at scale:
Create an automated drip campaign on LinkedIn
Drip campaigns on LinkedIn start with the initial message and progress depending on your prospect's actions (or inaction).
Some example cadences you can try are:
- Send message > No Reply after X Days > Send Follow-up
- Send message > Prospect replies positively > Alert Sales of Hot Lead
- Send message > No reply > Like or comment on one of their posts > Send follow-up mentioning their post to reignite the conversation
Run a LinkedIn poll to start conversations
Run an engaging poll relevant to your prospect’s industry or role.
Once they interact (vote or comment), follow up with a personalized message referencing their response to start a meaningful conversation.
The leads you get from these interactions can be added to a new nurturing campaign tailored toward their chosen answers.
Since they already engaged with you, try to prioritize people who voted and commented—sending a message would be the next logical step.
Re-engage webinar attendees with targeted LinkedIn messaging
Webinars are a cheat code because they position you as an authority while attracting people interested in your topic.
But the real leverage comes after the event, when you continue the conversation.
Once the webinar ends, export the attendee list and segment them based on who attended live, who registered but didn’t show up, and who engaged during the session (asked questions, commented, or those looking to connect).
From there, you can:
- Send personalized thank-you messages to attendees.
- Reconnect with no-shows by sending a replay link.
- Follow up with active participants to continue the conversation.
- Add engaged attendees to a LinkedIn drip campaign or invite them to the next event.
New connection to nurturing pipeline
As the saying goes, strike when the iron is hot. When someone accepts your connection request, it's the perfect time to start building the relationship.
Don’t let them sit in your network without a next step. Move them into your nurturing pipeline while you’re still top-of-mind.
This could mean:
- Sending a quick thank-you message with a relevant insight or resource.
- Asking a light, non-salesy question to spark conversation.
- Adding them to your segmented outreach or drip campaign.
The key is to show up with value, not with a pitch. Start small, stay relevant, and build trust before discussing your offer.
And if it doesn’t work out, you can always ask them to refer you to someone who might need your services more.
Key takeaways
LinkedIn nurturing is one of the best ways to stay top-of-mind. Prospects get value, and you get one step closer to getting new clients.
To recap, here are the LinkedIn nurturing strategies you can leverage in your next outreach campaign:
- Create automated drip campaigns using tools like Botdog or Zoptop
- Run a poll on LinkedIn and add those who engaged in a segmented outreach campaign
- Do a webinar and re-engage with attendees with targeted messaging
- Nurture new connections immediately by sending relevant content