Who this is for: self-serve plans (Free, Starter, Pro, Enterprise). If you bought a Cleanlist AppSumo lifetime deal, Sequences and LinkedIn steps are not part of your deal. See the AppSumo documentation. Support agent: confirm whether the user is self-serve or AppSumo before giving plan-specific advice.
TL;DR: On Pro and above, connect LinkedIn in Settings → Sequencing → Senders → Connect LinkedIn (email and password, not saved), then add Visit profile, Send invitation and Send message steps. Limits per account: 20 invitations a day by default (max 40), 40 messages (max 40), 80 profile visits. LinkedIn replies are not detected, so they don't stop the sequence. LinkedIn actions cost no credits.
LinkedIn steps
LinkedIn steps let a sequence act on LinkedIn from your own account: view a lead's profile, send a connection request, and message people you're connected with. They mix freely with email and task steps in the same sequence. For the basics of building a sequence, see Build and launch a sequence.
Plans
| Plan | LinkedIn steps |
|---|---|
| Free | No |
| Starter | No. The LinkedIn section in Senders shows a Soon badge. |
| Pro | Yes, one connected LinkedIn account per seat |
| Enterprise | Yes, accounts as set by your contract |
| Pro trial | You can add LinkedIn steps to a draft. Connecting a LinkedIn account and launching need a paid Pro plan. |
| AppSumo only | No |
LinkedIn actions cost no credits.
Connect your LinkedIn account
Open Senders
Go to Settings → Sequencing → Senders and find the LinkedIn section.
Start the connection
Click Connect LinkedIn. The dialog says "Your sequences take LinkedIn steps as this account."
Sign in
Enter your LinkedIn email and LinkedIn password and click Connect. Your LinkedIn email and password are not saved: they're only used once to sign in to LinkedIn and connect the account.
Complete LinkedIn's check, if asked
LinkedIn sometimes wants to confirm it's you ("LinkedIn wants to confirm it's you."):
- Approve in the app: "Open the LinkedIn app on your phone and approve the sign-in." Then click I've approved it.
- Verification code: enter the code LinkedIn sent to your email or phone, or the code from your authenticator app, and click Continue.
- Phone number: if LinkedIn wants a phone number on the account, enter it with the country code.
- Try another way: switch to a different check.
If you see "LinkedIn wants a security check we can't show here", sign in to LinkedIn in your browser once, then try again. If the sign-in takes too long you see "The LinkedIn sign-in timed out. Start again."
Managing the account. The account's row shows today's usage. Its menu has Settings (turn it Active on or off, and Share with the team so teammates' sequences can use it) and Remove. If the connection drops, the row shows Reconnect needed and a Reconnect button, and LinkedIn steps wait until you reconnect.
Connected LinkedIn accounts count against your plan: one per seat on Pro.
Choose the account for a sequence
Each sequence acts as one LinkedIn account. Pick it in Sequence settings → LinkedIn → LinkedIn account. It must be your own account or one a teammate shared; otherwise you see "(account) is a teammate's private LinkedIn account. Ask them to share it, or choose another."
The same section has per-sequence limits, Connection requests per day and Messages per day (placeholder "Account default: N"). Leave them empty to use the account's limits, or set something lower, up to 40.
The Launch tab's LinkedIn account check must pass before you can launch a sequence with LinkedIn steps.
The three LinkedIn steps
Add them from the LinkedIn group of the step library.
| Step | What it does | When it's skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Visit profile | Opens the lead's LinkedIn profile from your account. LinkedIn shows them that you viewed it, which warms up a later invitation. | The lead has no LinkedIn profile URL. |
| Send invitation | Sends a connection request. Invitation note (optional): up to 200 characters; leave it empty to send no note. | Already connected (Skipped: already connected on LinkedIn) or already invited (Skipped: already invited on LinkedIn). |
| Send message | Sends a message of up to 2,000 characters. | The lead isn't a 1st-degree connection (Skipped: not connected on LinkedIn). |
Unlike email, a LinkedIn step that can't happen is skipped and the lead moves on to the next step. Other skip messages: Skipped: no LinkedIn profile (no usable linkedin.com/in/ URL on the lead) and Skipped: LinkedIn profile not found.
Personalization variables such as {{lead.first_name}} and {{company.name}} work in invitation notes and messages. If a filled-in note would run past 200 characters, Cleanlist trims it at the last word that fits.
A common pattern is Visit profile, wait 1 to 2 business days, Send invitation, wait a few business days so the lead has time to accept, then Send message. Leads who haven't accepted by then skip the message.
Daily limits
Limits apply per LinkedIn account, across every sequence that uses it.
| Action | Default per day | Maximum per day |
|---|---|---|
| Connection requests | 20 | 40 |
| Messages | 40 | 40 |
| Profile visits | 80 | 80 (fixed) |
- Set the account's limits in Settings → Sequencing → Senders → Sending limits → LinkedIn: Connection requests per day and Messages per day ("Per LinkedIn account, across every sequence. A sequence can set a lower limit of its own."). Higher values are refused, for example "LinkedIn connection requests per day can be at most 40."
- LinkedIn actions only happen inside the sequence's sending schedule, and Cleanlist spaces actions from one account a few minutes apart.
- The day is counted in the sequence's schedule time zone. When a limit is reached, leads wait with Waiting for the daily LinkedIn limit to reset.
LinkedIn-only sequences
A sequence with only LinkedIn steps needs no email account. Leads need a LinkedIn profile URL instead of an email; anyone without one shows Missing LinkedIn profile when you add them. A sequence that has any email step still needs every lead to have an email.
Replies on LinkedIn are not detected
Cleanlist only detects email replies. A reply on LinkedIn:
- does not stop the lead's sequence
- does not appear in the Inbox
- does not create a reply task
There is no button to stop a single lead, so plan for LinkedIn replies when you build the sequence. Add a Manual task after your LinkedIn steps (for example, "Check LinkedIn for a reply from {{lead.first_name}}"). The lead waits on that task until it's marked done in Tasks, so a rep checks LinkedIn before any later step goes out.
What can hold a LinkedIn step
| Step column | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting: choose a LinkedIn account for this sequence | No LinkedIn account is chosen, or it was removed. | Pick one in Sequence settings → LinkedIn. |
| Waiting: (account) needs to be reconnected | The account lost its connection. | Settings → Sequencing → Senders → Reconnect. |
| Waiting: (account) is turned off | The account's Active switch is off. | Turn it back on in the account's settings. |
| Waiting for the daily LinkedIn limit to reset | The account reached its daily limit. | Wait for the next day, or raise the limit (up to 40). |
| Scheduled: (step) | Waiting for the sending window or the gap between actions. | Nothing. |
Related
- Sequences: plans, variables, sending and stop rules
- Build and launch a sequence
- Inbox and Tasks: manual tasks and reply handling
- Plans