LinkedIn proudly stands atop the social media heap but it’s a bit different from the other social networks out there. Yes, you can connect with people and share messages but it’s mainly for professionals that want to connect with others.
It’s an avenue for people from every corner of the globe to create an online resume that showcases their contacts, work experience, and current career path. When used properly, it can be a source of leads and business opportunities that don’t run dry.
If you can tap into the source that is LinkedIn, you can create a lead pipeline that explodes the growth of your business. But you already know that.
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The challenge most people face is the amount of manual work needed to get it to work. LinkedIn bots and automation tools can reduce your workload while improving your results. This guide dives deep into the best LinkedIn automation tools that help you create, nurture, and close quality LinkedIn leads.
Best LinkedIn automation bots
1. Salesloop
Salesloop is a popular LinkedIn bot designed for both solopreneurs and larger brands to tackle the complexities of LinkedIn. It allows you to launch campaigns via multiple channels (LinkedIn and email) to improve the results you get.
It has robust targeting options that make it a breeze to find prospects that meet the criteria that you set. Filtering options include industry, geography, job title, and more. When the tool is in use, it automatically connects with people on your behalf and sends the personalized messages that you created.
Another good thing about Salesloop is that it’s a cloud application, unlike many other LinkedIn automation tools that work on a desktop. That means you don’t have to worry about IP restrictions and it’ll continue to work even if you’re away from your computer.
Key features
- Multiple targeting options such as geography and job title
- Able to personalize messages
- Launch multi-channel campaigns with LinkedIn and email
- Stop sending messages after someone replies
- Cloud service so it isn’t tied to your computer or IP
- Simple clear reports
- Campaign reporting
- Includes a simple CRM
Cons
- Further development is required to make it really shine
- You have to know about and set usage limits yourself
Pricing
Salesloop starts at $39/m with one user and caps out at $799/m.
2. Dux-Soup
It has a funny name but Dux-Soup is a powerful LinkedIn automation tool. It does the basics like send connection requests on your behalf and but it also goes further. It can engage with prospects across different areas of LinkedIn such as interacting with posts and endorsing their skills to get on their radar.
After connecting, you have the ability to send out an automated message sequence. After the messages have started going out, you can filter by how active the prospects you’re interacting with are and focus more attention on them. You’ll be able to save time and get better results simultaneously.
The tool comes with a basic CRM so you can keep tabs on the people you’ve interacted with using tags and notes. If you don’t want Dux-Soup to handle prospecting for you, it’s possible to upload a contact list to the tool and start your outreach that way.
Key features
- Create automated LinkedIn messages and emails
- A simple CRM that helps you stay organized
- Upload your own prospect list to Dux-Soup
- Go beyond messaging and interact with posts and endorse skills on LinkedIn
- Download prospect information to your local storage
- Keep track of interactions through the CRM by using notes and tags
Cons
- Unfortunately, it lives on your desktop and is therefore tied to your computer
Pricing
You can get started with Dux-Soup for free but if you need more power the paid plans start at $14.99/m.
3. LeadConnect
LeadConnect is a tool that’s balanced on multiple fronts and powers your LinkedIn automation with many useful features. It takes advantage of LinkedIn search through the basic interface or Sales Navigator to better define your target audience.
After you’ve set up targeting, you’re able to send connection requests that have been personalized to the recipients. If they accept, an automation is launched to nurture the relationship.
It’s one of the few tools that has native integrations with other tools – namely email lookup software – which makes it easier to get the right contact information to continue the conversation beyond LinkedIn.
It doesn’t stop there. It also has a Hubspot integration that allows you to send all of the prospect’s information to the CRM and follow up at the right time in the right way.
Key features
- It has a useful Chrome extension
- Send contact to HubSpot CRM
- Create detailed targeting criteria
- Integrations with third party tools like email lookup tools
- Send multiple follow-up through LinkedIn
- If someone replies, the automation is ended and you can take over the conversation
- Team management features
- Personalize the message you send
- Activity reporting
Cons
- The interface is confusing for many people
- The support is slow but there are self-help resources
Pricing
Like other LinkedIn bots, it starts with a free plan then paid plans start at $25.95/m.
4. Expandi
Expandi isn’t as established as some of the LinkedIn bots on this list but it prides itself on being a safe LinkedIn automation tool. Recently, LinkedIn has tried to combat automation by handing out permanent restrictions. Though an account can be salvaged, it’s better to avoid that in the first place. Because of this, it’s more important than ever to use automation tools that look natural. That’s where Expandi comes in.
It has dedicated country-based IPs for each account, there is a warm up period, natural delays between actions, and limitations that LinkedIn gave guidelines on. Safety features aside, there are solid features for automation like personalization, follow-up messages, and integrations with CRMs.
Key features
- Can connect with major CRM solutions
- Able to target based on multiple criteria
- Safety limits automatically imposed
- Pre-built playbooks incorporating best practices
- Supports multiple accounts
- Manage your LinkedIn chats with an inbox
- Reporting to understand performance over time
- All messages are personalized
- Reply detection to stop sending automated messages
- Robust targeting tools
Cons
- The price is higher than comparable tools
Pricing
Expandi keeps it simple with a lone pricing plan that comes in at $99/m.
5. Zopto
It’s easy to call yourself the #1 LinkedIn automation tool like Zopto but you need the execution to back that assertion up. Zopto has attempted to make that a reality by bringing useful features to the table.
It’s a cloud-based platform so you’re not dependent on your computer for it to run and it takes advantage of AI to copy human behavior. A responsive support team rounds out the offering from Zopto and makes it one of the top contenders for the LinkedIn automation throne.
Key features
- Many options for prospect targeting
- It purges stale lists using AI
- Parses emoji in names when personalizing messages
- Can manage multiple LinkedIn accounts
- Safety features included
- Can run multiple campaigns simultaneously
- Reply detection
- Over a thousand integrations available through Zapier
Cons
- More expensive than other tools
- There’s a single inbox so it can be confusing when running multiple campaigns
Pricing
It costs $215/m for one account and goes up to $815/m.
6. Alfred
Bots named after people have, in my experience, delivered the goods. Alfred attempts to live up to the hype by improving your results without increasing your workload. It does this by giving you the tools to create multi-channel campaigns through LinkedIn, Twitter, and email.
Alfred has the basics covered like sending connection requests and personalized messages to follow-up. It also allows you to automate engagement with prospect’s posts and view their profiles. Like a few of the other tools, Alfred has an emphasis on safety and imposes usage limits that’ll keep you in the green.
Key features
- Twitter, LinkedIn, and email multi-channel campaigns
- Built-in CRM
- Simple analytics to gauge results
- Supports multiple users
- Schedule posts for specific times
- LinkedIn limitations for safety
Cons
- The interface while not difficult is quite different so it’ll take some getting used to
Pricing
Alfred has an entry level tier that starts at $49/m.
7. Phantom Buster
Phantom Buster is a bit different. It’s not a LinkedIn bot in the traditional sense. It’s an automation service that works with LinkedIn, Facebook, Google services, Twitter, etc. It’s meant to automate single tasks using what’s known as modules and scrape the data you need. LinkedIn is the perfect place for it to do that.
Each module can be mixed up and used as you desire. For example, a prospecting module can be used with a messaging module but each one takes up a single slot. All the LinkedIn tools together use 8 slots. Each action also has a specific duration associated with it.
Key features
- It’s modular so you can use only what you need and nothing else
- Scrape LinkedIn profile information to personalize outreach
- Message personalization
- Send LinkedIn connection requests
- Export search results from LinkedIn
Cons
- It doesn’t have built-in safety precautions to protect your account
- It can get expensive fast if you want the bot to run for hours a day
Pricing
It’s free to get stated then pricing begins at $30/m. It provides you with 1 hour of work and 5 slots total.
8. We-Connect
We-Connect is another LinkedIn automation tool that focuses on how safe it is to use. It enforces usage limits on users, works with randomized actions, and gives customers a unique IP address. In addition to the safety features, you get access to an API, a Zapier connection to integrate with over 1,000 tools, and much more.
Key features
- Follow-up automations with up to ten messages in the sequence
- Contact requests in bulk
- View LinkedIn profiles
- Data export
- Reports on your campaigns
- Automated reply detection
- Mange your messages in box
- Personalize all messages sent out
- Tag and make notes against contacts
Cons
- Only one campaign can be run at a time
Pricing
There is no free tier and pricing starts at $49/m/user
9. LinkedIn Helper
LinkedIn Helper focuses on providing the tools you need to get more out of basic LinkedIn automation. This comes in the form of a more advanced CRM to help track and follow-up with the right people. It claims to have over 90,000 users and that’s not hard to believe considering the features it brings to the table. Like some of the other tools, there’s a clear emphasis on the safety of your LinkedIn account.
Key features
- More advanced CRM
- Also integrates with 3rd party CRM
- Send out invites to bring connections into specific LinkedIn groups
- Set up automated messages for new contacts
- Personalize messages
- Contact tagging
- Can send InMail to second and third degree contacts
- Native integrations with email lookup tools
Cons
- It’s not cloud based so the tool is dependent on your computer’s capacity
Pricing
It costs $15/m per account.
10. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
It’s no secret that LinkedIn has its own sales prospecting tool. It may be the safest of the bunch because it’s provided by the company itself. You have unfettered access to LinkedIn and are able to prospect, send more InMail, save lead lists, and get access to video training.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow you to automate much of the process like third-party tools do but you get more access to data. It’s best used when paired with one of the other tools on this list.
What to look for in LinkedIn automation tools
Just like with other automation tools, there are things to look out for if you want to choose one that will help you instead of hurting you. It’s a combination of the features you need and safety. The following criteria are important for any LinkedIn bot you’re considering.
The following areas are must haves for any LinkedIn bot you choose to work with.
Targeting
What kind of targeting is available? If you can’t target the right people then your money and time is as good as gone. How granular can your targeting get and is it enough for you to accomplish what you set out to do?
The right LinkedIn automation tool will allow you to target based on multiple criteria and pull in prospects that are more likely to become clients and customers. Subpar bots only have the ability to target along one or two dimensions at a time which leads to more manual work.
Contact management
How are you able to categorize and manage the contacts you acquire through your LinkedIn activity? Does the tool allow you to integrate with another CRM or is there a built-in one available as part of your subscription plan?
How do you keep up with the connection request and replies to the messages you send out? An inbox and some form of CRM is essential to make the most out of LinkedIn automation. Does the tool you’re using or considering have it?
Personalization
LinkedIn is quickly devolving into a pitch fest. If you’re a power user then you’ve likely gotten your fair share of connection requests followed by a poorly worded message that you can spot as automation from a mile away.
Some people have started putting an emoji in front their names. The poorly designed tools will pick up on the emoji and will add it to the message that goes out. This is an obvious tell for using an automation bot and defeats the purpose of personalization.
The more advanced tools can help you avoid this while using personalization properly. They’ll parse the emoji out of the message and further personalize the message with things like area, title, etc.
Conclusion
There are many LinkedIn automation tools springing up but not all of them are able to give you the results you’re looking for. Every tool on this list brings something unique to the table but all of them will serve you well.
If I had to choose, I’d go with Salesloop, Dux-Soup, or Expandi. That’s because of their features and the emphasis on safety features. They also won’t break the bank when you sign up for a subscription. Let me know what LinkedIn bots you’re using in the comments and don’t forget to share.