So this title might be a little sensationalist, possibly controversial and definitely click-baity… I’m not sorry. I’m frustrated! LinkedIn automation sucks. It really, really sucks. Time is precious, and if we can do a few things here and there to make ourselves more efficient, I am 100% behind that, but when your online presence is automated end to end… it just does not work for me!

Why do people use automation tools on LinkedIn to grow their networks?

If you care enough about LinkedIn to invest money and time in the use of automation tools, you’re probably actively looking to get results from this platform in terms of generating leads. Any good salesperson will talk to you about the importance of building rapport and relationships and only going in with your pitch when the time is right. With LinkedIn being one of the best places online to find prospects with the right job titles at the right companies, it’s no wonder automation is seen as a way to scale activity. But all you’re really doing is removing the bit from the process that actually gets results! You!!!

Story time!… I attended an event a few weeks ago, and one of the speakers had clearly managed to get the attendee data and had popped this through their automation tool.

First of all, I receive a connection request

8.21am – ‘I’d like to add you to my professional network’

Let me translate that horrible, totally impersonal, line from LinkedIn for you. ‘Your name was on this list I got, but you’re just a number to me – I’m too busy to care about who you are or what you do. But come bask in my glory anyway’.

Here we go, exactly 7 hours later, the first automated message lands

3.21pm – ‘Christina I had noticed you stopped by to check out my profile and just wanted to say “thank you” Honestly we don’t take time out to appreciate these things enough. It would be great to connect and find out what pushed you to look me up.  I assume it was my recent post but maybe not…’

Hmm… yeah, I didn’t stop by, and I’ll be honest, having now looked at your content, it isn’t all that inspiring, dude! That’s what I want to reply! These messages came in yesterday, and I am waiting for the next message to drop in. I’m thinking either lunchtime or early evening (I didn’t respond in the morning, or mid-afternoon so I’m sure a different time of day will now be tested to try and gain a response from me!

I am a prospect for this individual – even if I didn’t have the knowledge I have around LinkedIn, would I really be feeling all warm and fuzzy? Likely to buy? I don’t think so!

Automation tools are supposed to make you more efficient – but the way they’re implemented quite often makes things harder rather than easier when it comes to generating actual business opportunities from LinkedIn. Add to that the fact that the use of these tools is contrary to LinkedIn’s rules of play, and I’m sure you can see why I’m simply not a fan!

Can you automate your presence on LinkedIn?

There is software out there that allows you to automate your Linkedin presence, and in fairness, some of this is actually quite good when used correctly (I’ll come on to that in a moment). But let’s talk about your presence on the platform. For me, this means you are posting regularly with meaningful contributions, not just mini-pitches, and that you are engaging and interacting with the contributions your connections and others in your network are making.

Investing in software that will feed you content that can then be auto-posted for you is ok when you then personalise those posts and add some opinion or reasoning for sharing the content. You are using your voice and evidencing your status as a thought leader in your field. That’s automating content curation, not your actual LinkedIn presence, and I am ALL FOR THAT!

But if you’re using that software and shooting that content out onto the feeds of your connections without anything to add… that’s automating LinkedIn and doing nothing for you other than telling the world you found an article. So what. I don’t think many people really care, do they? You found something, you shared it, but you don’t have an opinion on it? The problem with using the tools this way is that you fall into the trap of thinking you’ve now ‘done’ LinkedIn, and this becomes all you do. The software is taking care of things so you don’t then go into the platform and do the engagement piece that really gets the attention of those prospects you’re looking to turn into clients.

What can you automate on LinkedIn?

I have to admit, at this point, there is a little bit of a ‘pot calling the kettle black’ going on here. Because there is one bit of automation I actually quite like. If you’ve seen me talk about tools I use, you’ll know I’m a Dux-Soup fan. I literally use this one bit of automation to help me gain more traction on LinkedIn. Dux-Soup will help you leave a trail of breadcrumbs that bring people to you. In a nutshell, I’ll run a search then get Dux-Soup to go and look at those profiles for me. Those profiles then see messages from LinkedIn saying I’ve looked at them – they look at me, and some of them will send me a message or connection request. I then pick things up from there!

I’ll send a connection request that’s personalised for that individual. I might give them a follow first and work up to connecting when the time is right. If we’re connected already, I’ll drop them a message at that point perhaps – usually a video or voice note… hyper-personalised. Yes, it takes longer, but I’d wager that the response rates and conversion rates are much much higher than my mate gets with his automated crapola above!

We’ve just been at an event for two days, and we have a number of leads we need to make our way through now; I need to connect with all of them, and it’s going to be time-consuming. None of it will be automated, though, because each and every one of those prospects is worthy of my time. This isn’t something I need to or should be cutting corners on.