42 Ways to Start a Conversation on LinkedIn

Gerry Moran January 11, 2021

LinkedIn is the ultimate networking watering hole. It’s also the perfect fishing hole to start a conversation.

You have to know when your audience is tugging on the ‘fishing line’, so you can begin the right kind of conversation. We’ve identified 42 ways you can begin to have a conversation with your network.

Don’t Think Anyone Wants to Hear from You on LinkedIn? Your customers or contacts are willing to engage with you on LinkedIn! They may not reach out and say “call me”; but, they will give you a signal. For instance, they’ll like an intelligent insight you make on a LinkedIn post. Or, they’ll share a LinkedIn Article you wrote. Too many job seekers, professionals, or sales experts miss these triggers.

Missed triggers leave valuable connection opportunities on the table. These big misses result in missing sales quotas, job opportunities, and a more valuable reputation.

3 Reasons Why It’s Important to Know the LinkedIn Triggers

1. 69% of B2B buyers say solution and business-landscape knowledge is an essential vendor quality. One that will get you hired, reports Demand Gen Report in their 2020 B2B Buyer Behavior Study. Understanding these passive triggers will help you start a conversation. You can use them to begin to clarify a question or expand your visibility.
2. McKinsey says demand for talent with social and emotional skills will increase by 26% by 2030. This report suggests soft skills, like a LinkedIn conversation, may give you a competitive advantage.
3. 45% of the LinkedIn Article readers are upper-level management. So posting and listening to the engagement triggers are an excellent reputation-building opportunity.

The big take away from this data: Your network uses social media and expects to engage with you there!

42 LinkedIn Trigger Events to Help You Start a Conversation

LinkedIn Profile Engagement

1. Someone views your profile.
2. Contact updates their profile.
3. Your contact changes a job.
4. Your contact gets promoted.
5. Your contact has a birthday.
6. Your contact has a work anniversary.
7. Your contact’s education changes.

Connecting and Following

8. Someone follows you (instead of connecting).
9. You receive an invite to connect.
10. Someone accepts your invitation to connect.
11. The anniversary of your connection and you.

LinkedIn is the ultimate networking watering hole. It’s also the perfect fishing hole to start a conversation.

Gerry Moran

LinkedIn Update Post Interactions

12. You receive a comment on your LinkedIn post.
13. Someone Likes your LinkedIn post.
14. Someone shares your LinkedIn post.
15. A LinkedIn post mentions you.
16. Someone comments on your connection’s LinkedIn update post.
17. A contact’s contact likes a LinkedIn update post.
18. A contact’s contact comments on a LinkedIn update post.
19. A contact’s contact shares a LinkedIn post.
20. Someone votes on your LinkedIn Poll.
21. Someone views your LinkedIn Story.

LinkedIn Article Engagement

22. Your Article (Pulse) receives a Like.
23. Your Article is shared.
24. Your Article (Pulse) receives a comment.
25. Your connection writes an Article.
26. Someone comments on your connection’s Article.

LinkedIn Group Connections

27. You Receive a LinkedIn Group invitation.
28. Your LinkedIn Group post gets a Like.
29. Your LinkedIn Group post is shared.
30. Someone comments on your LinkedIn Group post.
31. LinkedIn Group member reaches out to you.
32. LinkedIn Group member comments in a LinkedIn Group.

LinkedIn Recommendations and Skills & Endorsements

33. Someone provides a skill endorsement to you.
34. You receive a recommendation from a connection.
35. You request a recommendation from a connection.
36. Your contact requests a recommendation from you.

LinkedIn InMails

37. You receive an InMail message.
38. Your contact responds to your InMail message.

LinkedIn Events

39. You receive a LinkedIn Event invite.
40. Your contact accepts an invite to the same LinkedIn Event you are attending.

Other Opportunities to Connect

41. LinkedIn’s People You May Know feature suggests others connected with your network.
42. Your contact is Mentioned in the News (MITN).

Hopefully you have a better understanding how to use your expertise and reputation to find these LinkedIn trigger events and hook into your connections! LinkedIn members provide 42 ‘tugs on the fishing line’ to help you weave into the conversation. Pay attention to them so you know when you can begin to ‘reel in the fish!’

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