> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.yena.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reach people outside your network: the InMail step

> Add an InMail to any campaign. Yena sends it from your Premium, Recruiter or Sales Navigator seat, uses free InMails where it can, and sends a connection request instead when a credit is missing.

## Why it matters

Lena fills site manager roles for construction firms around Munich. Her shortlist for a new mandate has 30 strong people, and 26 of them are not connected to her on LinkedIn.

A connection request reaches those 26 only once they accept. Many accept days later, some never do, and the client wants a first call this week. An InMail lands in their LinkedIn inbox on day one, with a subject line, from the seat Lena already pays for.

Until now that meant leaving Yena and writing 26 InMails by hand. With the InMail step she writes the message once, puts it first in her campaign, and Yena sends it person by person. People with an open profile get it for free. Anyone who does not answer gets her connection request three days later. Anyone who does answer drops out of the campaign, and the reply is in her Inbox.

## What the step does

* **Sends from the right product by itself.** Yena reads which LinkedIn product your connected seat has, Premium, Recruiter or Sales Navigator, and sends the InMail the way that product expects. You never pick a mode.
* **Spends credits carefully.** People with an open profile receive the InMail for free, even when your balance is zero. For everyone else Yena checks your seat's balance just before sending.
* **Falls back to a connection request.** When there is no credit left, or the person cannot receive InMails, they get your connection request instead. If a request is already waiting for them, Yena does not send a second one.
* **Talks to connections like connections.** Someone already in your network gets the same text as an ordinary LinkedIn message. If you already have a conversation with them, the text goes into that conversation. No credit is spent in either case.
* **Never sends twice.** If LinkedIn does not confirm that an InMail went out, Yena stops for that person and tells you, rather than trying again and spending a second credit.
* **Catches the reply.** An answer to an InMail shows up in your Inbox and stops the campaign for that person, like any reply.

## Add the step

**1. Open the sequence and add an InMail step**

In the campaign's **Sequence** tab, click **InMail** under **Add step**. In an empty sequence the same button sits under **Start from scratch**. The step appears as **LinkedIn InMail**. Move it wherever it makes sense: as the first touch, after a connection request that went unanswered, or between two emails.

![Sequence editor with a LinkedIn InMail step, its subject and its message](https://mintcdn.com/yena/PQ-sqw3B1pWnzzMd/images/screenshots/campaigns/inmail-step.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=PQ-sqw3B1pWnzzMd\&q=85\&s=fd61ad0c87c98f27c0a37316b4291bef)

An InMail step with its subject and message. Send as shows your LinkedIn seat once one is connected.

**2. Write the subject and the message**

The subject is required, up to 200 characters. The message is plain text, up to 1,900 characters, with the same personalisation fields as every other step. Premium seats do not send the subject, so make the first line of the message count.

**3. Check the seat line**

Under **Send as**, the step shows what your seat can do: the product it sends from, the InMail credits left, and when they were last checked. If the seat cannot send InMails, the campaign shows "This seat cannot send InMails. Remove the step or choose another seat." and will not start until you do one of the two.

**4. Start the campaign and follow each person**

Each person's row says what happened to them.

## What each person's row tells you

| The row says | What happened |
| - | - |
| InMail sent, waiting for a reply | The InMail went out. |
| No InMail credit, invitation sent instead | Your balance was zero, so the person got your connection request. |
| This person cannot receive InMail, invitation sent instead | LinkedIn does not let this person receive InMails, so they got your connection request. |
| No InMail credit, invitation already pending | No credit, and your request was already waiting, so nothing new was sent. |
| Sent as a regular message, already connected | The person is in your network, so the text went as a normal message. |
| Sent as a regular message in the existing conversation | You already talk to this person, so the text went into that conversation. |

## Good to know

* **Credits belong to LinkedIn.** Yena shows the balance it reads from your seat and never buys credits. If the balance cannot be read, Yena pauses the step rather than guessing.
* **A day of space.** Yena waits at least 24 hours after your last unanswered message to the same person before sending them an InMail.
* **Daily limits still apply.** An InMail counts toward your seat's daily LinkedIn message limit. A connection request sent instead counts toward your daily invitation limit. See [Sending limits and safety](https://support.yena.ai/en/campaigns/sending-limits-and-safety.md).
* **Recruiter InMails are signed.** Yena signs them with the name on your connected seat.

> [!TIP]
>
> A strong shape for cold outreach: InMail first, wait three days, connection request, then a LinkedIn message one day after they accept. People who answer the InMail never see the rest.


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