We’ve been so concerned with AI slop but what about the dumpster fire that is the LinkedIn inbox?

Yes, I said it and don’t take it personal but maybe take it personal. 

I just started clearing out my inbox and gave up. There were a handful of lovely messages, brief comments and personalised outreach but the rest? I’m dizzy from all the circling back. 

Picture this. You’re walking down the main street where you live. A random person grabs you by the arm and says “I know someone you know, let’s work together”. Do you say, “Sure, take my money?”. 

I hope not. 

It seems that the LinkedIn inbox needs to have a date with a buyer journey map. 

The buyer journey stages are the foundation of successful content, networking and outreach - pretty much everything we do in marketing strategy! 

We need to meet the customer where they are at right now rather than where we’d like them to be. 

Let’s have a quick look at the stages. 

Awareness - first touch point, you’ve just met or your working to get on their radar. 

Consideration - know of you, building trust.

Decision - taking steps to decide to convert (first conversion may be just an email sign up etc. - the journey may not be direct and require multiple decision points). 

Retention - as we know, it’s easier to keep a customer than find a new one! 

Advocacy - your super fans - they recommend you, tag you, leave reviews…

Now, I’m not saying that cold outreach doesn’t work - it’s a sales tactic and has its place - but it’s not a stand alone marketing strategy, especially for a social networking platform. 

When I work with clients on in-person networking strategies, I get them to set goals around relationship building. More often than not, referrals are second hand or word of mouth - how good is it when you meet someone for the first time and someone else has already told them about you?! 

When it comes to social media strategy, I break it up into micro segments which means there are specific action items just for DMs, articles, posts and so on. 

Have a think about what you’d like your inbox to look like - full of unread, cut and paste sales pitches or 10-20 genuine conversations? 

So, how do we action this and make our inbox more human in 2026? 

Start with 5-10 people and identify where there sit in the buyer journey. 

If it’s a new connection, it’s awareness. Maybe it’s someone you met at an in-person event and connected with (consideration) and so on. 

Next, do you research and send them a personalised message but remember the CTA (call to action) doesn’t need to be ‘work with me NOW!!!’. It can be asking a question that they respond to, for example; 

Hi Jenny, 

Congratulations on finishing your degree in business. How did you find studying at xyz Uni?  

You’re showing you care enough to check out their profile and engage with them as a person rather than a prospect. 

Just because we know LinkedIn is a platform for professional networking, doesn’t mean we abandon our manners! Opening up your own doors for conversation is more fun that repeatedly messaging and being ignored.

Last but not least - don’t try to push through the buyer journey stages too fast. Some connections may stay in awareness but also be great advocates that talk about you to others, they may convert years down the track or the connection may be a great collaboration instead. 

Looking forward to some great conversations in the LinkedIn inbox with you soon.