What should you say after someone accepts your LinkedIn request?
Say one specific thing about them and ask one question, in about two short sentences, then plan for three messages in total. That is where Expandi's State of LinkedIn Outreach H2 2026 report points. Expandi sells LinkedIn automation, and every number below is Expandi's own data from campaigns run on its platform. The report shows no publication date; its page metadata shows a last update on 17 August 2026.
Three findings matter for the first message after someone accepts. Each comes from a different sample and uses a different measure:
| Finding | Expandi's number | What was measured | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acceptance | 28.5% | Accepted connections divided by all connection requests sent | 13.2 million requests from 13,302 accounts, May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Message length | 8.5% reply rate at 151 to 200 characters | Reply rate in campaigns that sent one message and took no other outreach action | 458 campaigns created in 2026 |
| Message count | 9.8% reply rate with three messages; 5.0% with five or more | Reply rate by the number of messages in a campaign | 2,966 campaigns with at least 50 contacts each |
Expandi calls all of its findings observational: they show association, not cause. Its methodology also says rates from its main dataset (the acceptance row) and its research dataset (the length and count rows) are not directly comparable in absolute terms. Compare the patterns inside each table below, and don't set one table's numbers against another's.
How many people will get your first message?
Roughly 28 of every 100 people you invite, at Expandi's average. Across 13,218,869 connection requests sent through 13,302 Expandi accounts between May 2025 and April 2026, 28.5% were accepted: 3.77 million accepted out of 13.22 million sent.
Expandi defines that rate in the methodology of its LinkedIn Outreach Benchmarks 2026 article (published 19 May 2026), which uses the same dataset: accepted connections divided by total connection requests sent, including mobile and CSV-uploaded requests. Expandi reports two other rates from the same dataset next to it, and both are easy to misread:
- Message reply rate, 10.4%. Replies to outbound messages divided by all outbound messages sent. Expandi counts welcome messages, follow-ups, group messages, event messages, InMails and emails, so it covers far more than messages sent after connecting.
- Connection-request reply rate, 3.0%. Replies to the connection note divided by all connection requests sent.
The average hides a wide spread. By sender seniority, acceptance ran from 26.3% for junior senders to 29.4% for C-level senders. By the sender's own industry (Expandi's benchmark is sender-side, not by the industry of the people invited) it ran from 17.5% to 40.1%, and Expandi says the 40.1% row, Broadcast Media, rests on 14 accounts and should be treated as directional. Check your own acceptance rate before you judge your first message: if few people accept, the message after it reaches very few people.
How long should your first message be?
Aim for 151 to 200 characters, about two short sentences. In Expandi's analysis of single-message campaigns, meaning campaigns that sent one message and took no other outreach action, that band had the highest reply rate among lengths with enough data: 8.5%, against a 6.8% baseline across 458 campaigns.
| Length (characters) | Campaigns | People contacted | Reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-50 | 9 | 4,113 | 15.7% (too few campaigns to rely on) |
| 51-100 | 60 | 20,453 | 5.1% |
| 101-150 | 60 | 29,964 | 6.3% |
| 151-200 | 57 | 30,121 | 8.5% |
| 201-300 | 116 | 27,341 | 5.9% |
| 301-500 | 59 | 19,495 | 7.6% |
| 500+ | 97 | 22,430 | 5.8% |
Three things to read before you copy the 8.5%:
- The shortest band is the highest and the least reliable. Messages of 1 to 50 characters replied at 15.7%, but Expandi says that figure rests on only 9 campaigns and is too thin to treat as a reliable trend.
- Long messages did not collapse. 301 to 500 characters replied at 7.6%, above the baseline. Expandi calls length a weak lever compared with having one clear ask or one specific value reference.
- The report leaves out who received them. It doesn't say whether these single messages went to existing connections, or what they said. It compares different campaigns that happened to be different lengths, so it is not a test of one message written at several lengths.
Example first messages at each length
Here is one example for each length band up to 500 characters, for the first message after someone accepts. We wrote these for this post; they are not messages from Expandi's data, and the character counts include spaces. Apart from the shortest, each one carries one detail about the person and one question or offer.
1 to 50 characters (46 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Priya. How is Q4 going?"
51 to 100 characters (81 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Tom. Are you still running every onboarding call yourself?"
101 to 150 characters (122 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Lena. Your post on late invoices was spot on. Is chasing payments still a weekly job for your team?"
151 to 200 characters (190 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Aisha. Your post on cutting onboarding from six weeks to three stuck with me. Was the bigger change the kickoff call or the checklist? We are trying both with clients."
201 to 300 characters (217 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Marco. I saw your team is hiring two SDRs. Adding reps is often when account ownership gets messy, so we made a one-page territory sheet for that moment. Want me to send it over? No call needed."
301 to 500 characters (352 characters)
"Thanks for connecting, Ruth. I run a small payroll firm for UK companies with 20 to 100 staff. I noticed you started as finance lead last month, which is often when payroll gets a second look. Two questions, if useful: is payroll still run in-house, and is month-end close where it hurts most? If neither is a priority, say so and I will not follow up."
We left out the 500+ band (5.8% across 97 campaigns). At that length the message is a pitch, and Expandi's own advice is two short sentences: who you are and what you are offering or asking.
Notice what the 151 to 200 example does with its extra characters compared with the 51 to 100 one: it names the specific post and gives two options to answer, which makes replying easier. For 21 more first messages and follow-ups, see our LinkedIn follow-up message templates.
How many messages should you send after they accept?
Plan three messages in total and stop there. Across 2,966 Expandi campaigns with at least 50 contacts each, campaigns with three messages had a 9.8% reply rate, the highest in the table. Campaigns with five or more fell to 5.0%, below campaigns that sent only one.
| Messages in campaign | Campaigns | People contacted | Reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 619 | 203,520 | 6.3% |
| 2 | 412 | 134,879 | 6.8% |
| 3 | 784 | 277,395 | 9.8% |
| 4 | 429 | 122,567 | 7.9% |
| 5 or more | 722 | 208,336 | 5.0% |
Expandi offers two possible explanations for the drop at five or more and does not choose between them: prospect fatigue, or self-selection, because campaigns that need five touches may be aimed at less receptive people. The table doesn't define what counts as a message, but Expandi's advice lays out its three-message flow as connection request, post-connection message and follow-up.
A second chart shows replies by message position, as the share of people who received each message and replied to it: 6.1% for the first message, 8.8% for the second, 8.1% for the third, 5.0% for the fourth and 5.1% for the fifth or later. Expandi notes that in connector campaigns the first message is the connection note, so the second and third are the first messages sent after someone connects. It gives no sample size for this chart.
Does the time you send the first message matter?
Less than the time you send the request, in Expandi's data. Its send-time analysis sampled roughly 36,500 sent messages and 17,900 connection-request sends from January to mid-May 2026, with times in Amsterdam local time, Expandi's default server time zone.
- Requests: those sent between 6 and 11am were accepted at about 32%, falling to about 24% by the evening. Expandi's summaries give the window as 7 to 11am, and some put the rate at 32% to 37%; its table and main text say 6 to 11am and about 32%.
- Messages: reply rate was flat across the day, and by day stayed between 8.3% and 9.1% except Saturday, which Expandi's day-of-week table shows at 7.7% (its text puts the whole week in the 8.3% to 9.1% band).
Because the times are Amsterdam time, the morning effect may not carry over directly if your buyers sit in another time zone. The practical reading: put your effort into what the first message says and who receives it, and don't hold a good message back to hit a time slot.
A three-message plan to use this week
Write all three messages before you send the first request, so each one has a job. This plan follows the shape of Expandi's data; the wording choices are our advice.
Message 1: the connection request
Send it with a short note if you have a real reason to connect, or without one. Its only job is to get the accept.
Message 2: the first message after they accept
151 to 200 characters: one detail about them and one easy question. Expandi suggests putting your strongest pitch here. We would ask the question first and save the pitch for after they reply, as in our follow-up templates.
Message 3: something useful
A few days later, send one resource, answer or example tied to their situation, with no new ask. If they replied to message 2, this becomes the conversation.
Stop after three
In Expandi's table, five or more messages replied below a single message. Mark the lead as closed and look again next quarter if something changes, such as a new role.
Track each message separately
Record acceptance, replies to each message and meetings booked. If message 2 gets no replies, rewrite it before you add more messages.
If you use Siela's AI SDR, when someone accepts it reads their profile again and picks up from your note instead of introducing you twice, and its follow-ups stop when the person books, says yes, says no or asks to stop.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a LinkedIn message be after connecting?
In Expandi's own data from campaigns that sent a single message, 151 to 200 characters, about two short sentences, had the highest reply rate among well-sampled lengths: 8.5% against a 6.8% baseline across 458 campaigns. The shortest band, 1 to 50 characters, scored 15.7% but rests on only 9 campaigns, which Expandi says is too thin to rely on.
What is the average LinkedIn connection acceptance rate in 2026?
Expandi's own data puts it at 28.5%, from 13.2 million connection requests sent through 13,302 accounts on its platform between May 2025 and April 2026. Expandi defines it as accepted connections divided by all requests sent. By the sender's own industry it ranged from 17.5% to 40.1%, though Expandi says the top row rests on only 14 accounts.
Why did five-message LinkedIn campaigns get fewer replies?
Expandi does not settle it. In its data, campaigns with five or more messages replied at 5.0%, below single-message campaigns at 6.3% and three-message campaigns at 9.8%. Expandi gives two possible reasons, prospect fatigue and campaigns needing five touches being aimed at less receptive people, and its findings show association, not cause.
Which LinkedIn message in a sequence gets the most replies?
In Expandi's per-send data, the second message had the highest reply rate at 8.8% of the people who received it, followed by the third at 8.1%. The first message replied at 6.1%. Expandi notes that in connector campaigns the first message is the connection note, so the second and third are the first messages after someone connects.
Does the time of day matter for LinkedIn follow-up messages?
Not much, in Expandi's data. Reply rates were flat across the day in a sample of about 36,500 messages sent between January and mid-May 2026. Time of day mattered more for connection requests: about 32% were accepted when sent between 6 and 11am, against about 24% in the evening, using Amsterdam time.
What does Expandi's message reply rate measure?
It is replies to outbound messages divided by all outbound messages sent. Expandi counts welcome messages, follow-ups, group messages, event messages, InMails and emails, so its 10.4% average for May 2025 to April 2026 covers far more than messages sent after connecting. Replies to connection notes are a separate rate, 3.0% of requests sent.
Sources
- Expandi: The State of LinkedIn Outreach H2 2026 (no date on page; metadata shows update 17 Aug 2026; checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Expandi: LinkedIn Outreach Benchmarks 2026 (methodology and industry notes) (published 19 May 2026)
- Siela: 21 LinkedIn follow-up message templates (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Siela: AI SDR (checked 20 Oct 2026)