Wondering if your important messages on LinkedIn are actually being read? I‘ve got you covered.
In this detailed guide, I‘ll explain everything you need to know about LinkedIn‘s read receipts feature. You‘ll learn how to use read receipts to improve your messaging and connect with more people in 2024.
Let‘s get started!
Contents
A Quick Intro to LinkedIn Read Receipts
First things first – what exactly are read receipts on LinkedIn?
Put simply, read receipts allow you to see if the person you messaged has opened and read your note or not.
On desktop, you‘ll see this little icon under messages you‘ve sent:
Hover over it, and it will show the exact date and time the message was read.
On mobile, tap a sent message and look for the same icon in the bottom right corner.
For read receipts to appear, both you and the recipient need to have the feature enabled. Don‘t worry – it‘s switched on by default for new LinkedIn accounts.
4 Big Benefits of Using Read Receipts
Enabling read receipts can seriously boost your LinkedIn messaging. Here are some of the key benefits:
1. See if your messages are getting attention
Knowing a connection has opened your message gives you confirmation your outreach reached its target. No more wondering if important messages went ignored!
Conversely, if your messages consistently go unread, something may be off with your messaging approach. Time to rethink your strategy.
2. Prioritize your follow-ups
For pending conversations, you can focus first on messages marked as read, rather than those still sitting unopened.
This lets you chase hot leads who clearly saw your note rather than wasting time following up prematurely with lukewarm prospects.
3. Identify inactive connections
Notice certain connections never opening your messages? They may be inactive on LinkedIn.
You can use read data to pinpoint which connections are best avoided in future outreach attempts.
4. Avoid annoying uninterested prospects
If your sales or recruiting messages go unread, avoid repeatedly badgering those members.
Take the hint – they likely didn‘t open your note because they weren‘t interested in the first place. No need to bug them further.
As you can see, leveraging read receipt data can really optimize who and how you message on LinkedIn.
How to Use Read Receipts Like a Pro
Want to maximize your success with LinkedIn read receipts? Here are my 5 top tips:
1. Personalize your messages
Generic "Dear Sir/Madam" notes are far less likely to get opened than personalized messages.
Tailor your messaging with personal details like "Hi [First Name]" or "Hope you‘re well, [Full Name]". This boosts open rates dramatically.
According to ResponseSource, personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates. The same principle applies to LinkedIn messages.
2. Follow up once on unread messages
If your first message goes unread, try a single follow-up in case it got overlooked.
But if both messages go unopened, take the hint and move on. Avoid pestering uninterested connections.
3. Prioritize hot leads
Use read receipts to distinguish hot leads from cold contacts.
For instance, if you messaged 10 prospects and only 3 opened your note, focus your follow-up efforts on those 3 high potential leads first.
4. Consider other engagement signals
Profile views, shares, reactions, and endorsements also indicate interest levels.
Combine read data with these other signals to get a 360-degree view of prospect engagement.
5. Respect others’ preferences
Some prospects may deliberately not open messages from certain senders. Respect their choice and don‘t call them out publicly for not responding.
Now you‘ve got insider tips to transform your LinkedIn messaging using read receipts!
A Quick Guide to Toggling Read Receipts On or Off
Want to adjust your read receipt preferences? Here‘s how to toggle them on or off in a few quick steps:
On Desktop:
- Click your profile picture and choose Settings & Privacy
- Select Communications from the menu
- Under Messaging experience, turn read receipts on or off
Fig 1. How to enable/disable read receipts on LinkedIn desktop
On Mobile:
- Tap your profile and choose Settings
- Click on Communications
- Tap the switch for Read receipts & typing indicators
Fig 2. Managing read receipts on the LinkedIn mobile app
And that‘s all there is to it! Now you can control whether others see your read statuses or not.
Key Read Receipt FAQs Answered
Let‘s quickly tackle some common questions about LinkedIn‘s read receipts:
Does LinkedIn show when you were last active?
Yes, the "Recent" status on your profile shows when you were last active on LinkedIn. This can be disabled in Settings & Privacy.
What does the green dot mean on LinkedIn profiles?
A green "Active Now" dot indicates the member is currently online and active on LinkedIn. No green dot means they are not currently online.
Can someone see if I viewed their profile?
Anonymous visitors are untracked. But connections can see profile views in their "Who‘s viewed your profile" section.
How do you see how long someone‘s been on LinkedIn?
For 1st-degree connections, you can see their join date on their profile. You can also see when they connected with you.
I hope these FAQ answers cleared up some of the common uncertainties around read receipts!
Must-Have Messaging Tools to Boost Engagement
Beyond built-in read receipts, here are some of my favorite tools to upgrade your LinkedIn messaging:
- Funnel helps you craft engaging cold messages at scale with AI writing assistance.
- Mailshake allows you to automate and track LinkedIn outreach right from Gmail.
- Dux-Soup finds and extracts LinkedIn data to identify promising leads.
- Meet Alfred makes it easy to quickly find the right prospects and start meaningful conversations.
| Tool | Key Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Funnel | AI message templates, response tracking | $49+/mo |
| Mailshake | Gmail integration, outreach templates & workflows | $50+/mo |
| Dux-Soup | Lead list builder, profile scraping, data exports | Free – $97+/mo |
| Meet Alfred | Lead finder, conversation starter templates, messaging automation | Free – $69+/mo |
Table 1. Handy tools for better LinkedIn messaging
Give these a try to take your messaging to the next level!
Let‘s Recap…
The ability to see read receipts on LinkedIn provides valuable visibility into how your messages are being received.
Used strategically, read data can help you identify hot prospects, refine your outreach, and boost engagement.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Personalize messages to increase open rates
- Follow up once on unread messages, then move on
- Prioritize prospects who open your notes first
- Combine with other signals like profile views to gauge interest more accurately
- Respect recipients‘ messaging preferences
- Easily toggle read receipts on or off in Settings
So now you‘ve got an actionable game plan to start analyzing and improving your LinkedIn messaging using read receipts.
I hope this guide gave you a clear picture of how to benefit from LinkedIn‘s read status feature. Let me know if you have any other questions!
