InMail messages are private LinkedIn messages that can be sent without being connected to the recipient. They let you reach contacts outside your network, such as potential partners or job candidates. The InMail step in Reply allows you to send these messages automatically as part of a sequence, so you don't have to send each message manually.
To use the InMail step in sequences, you need to connect your LinkedIn account to Reply and have an active Sales Navigator subscription enabled on your LinkedIn account.
💡 Important: Other LinkedIn subscription types, such as Premium or LinkedIn Recruiter, are not supported for InMail steps.
How to set up an automatic InMail step?
To add an InMail step to your sequence:
Go to the Steps tab of your sequence.
Click the + button and select LinkedIn.
Choose Automatic from the first drop-down list and InMail from the second.
Add a subject (up to 200 characters) and a message body.
Click Save.
You can also use variables, AI variables, and templates in the InMail step to help create your messages.
The LI Sales Navigator field in the contact card is automatically filled in and used for sending InMail messages.
💡If a LinkedIn member has privacy settings preventing InMail, the step will not be sent to them.
InMail messages in Logs
Go to Sequence → Logs to see all activities for your sequence, including InMail messages. There, you can check when messages were planned and sent, as well as view any errors if they occurred.
InMail records in a contact card
All InMail activity is also saved in the contact's card.
To view it:
Open the sequence and go to the People tab.
Click the contact to open their contact card.
Expand the card by clicking the arrow.
Go to the Activity tab to see all InMail messages sent to this contact.
Safety limits for InMail messages
The number of InMail messages you can send daily is controlled by safety limits. For InMail steps, it's also important to have enough InMail credits on LinkedIn. If you run out of credits, Reply won't be able to send the InMail messages.
Safety limits in Reply apply to all LinkedIn steps in sequences and help prevent sending too many actions at once.
To check or change your limits:
Open Settings from the top menu.
Go to the LinkedIn Accounts tab and select your connected account.
Your Safety limits appear under your profile info.
💡 You can adjust the daily limit, but it cannot exceed 100 InMail messages per day.
Tracking InMail messages in Reports
You can track the progress of your InMail messages on the LinkedIn dashboard.
Go to the Reports page.
Open the LinkedIn dashboard.
On the dashboard, you can see:
Replied auto InMails
Sent auto InMails
Sent manual InMails
💡 For more details, see our guide on using the LinkedIn dashboard.
Common issues & FAQs
What happens if I run out of InMail credits?
Reply will attempt to send the InMail, but if your LinkedIn InMail credits are used up, the message will not be sent. The contact will stay on the InMail step until your credits reset. They will not move to the next step automatically.
Can I use a Premium or Recruiter account instead of Sales Navigator?
No, only LinkedIn Sales Navigator accounts are supported for automatic InMail steps.
Free, Premium, or Recruiter subscriptions cannot be used.
What happens if I don't have a Sales Navigator subscription?
Since other subscription types are not supported, the system will not be able to execute the InMail step. Contacts will skip this step and continue to the next step in the sequence. You will also see a record of the attempted InMail in the contact card:
I got the error “We got some issues with InMail step execution, contact our support.” What should I do?
This error can happen for several reasons, such as:
Your InMail credit limit has been reached
The contact's LinkedIn privacy settings prevent receiving InMails (for example, they only accept messages from connections)
Contacts will remain on the InMail step until the issue is resolved. If you see this error, please contact our support team at [email protected] so we can help identify the exact cause.
If I send InMails to prospects with an Open Profile, will it consume my InMail credits?
No, sending messages to LinkedIn members with an Open Profile does not consume your InMail credits.
Do I need to use Sales Navigator profile links for contacts?
No, it's not required. You can add contacts using public LinkedIn profile links, and the system will automatically populate the Sales Navigator field for the contact. Once this field is filled, Reply will be able to send the InMail message as part of the sequence.