How to Warm Up Cold Leads on LinkedIn Before Pitching

In the world of B2B sales, pitching a cold lead on LinkedIn is like walking into a networking event and shouting your sales pitch to the first person you see. It’s abrupt, impersonal, and almost always ineffective. The reality is, cold outreach has a notoriously low success rate because it lacks the one thing that drives business decisions: trust.

So, how do you turn a cold shoulder into a warm welcome? The answer is to "warm up" your leads before you ever mention your product or service. This guide will walk you through actionable strategies to build familiarity and trust with your prospects on LinkedIn, and how to automate the process to do it at scale.

Why You Shouldn't Pitch Cold Leads Immediately

A cold lead is someone who fits your ideal customer profile but has no idea who you are. They haven't engaged with your content, visited your website, or shown any prior interest in your company.

Pitching them immediately fails for a few key reasons:

• No Trust: They have no reason to trust you or believe your claims.
• No Context: Your message arrives unsolicited and without any frame of reference.
• It's All About You: A cold pitch is inherently self-serving and ignores the prospect's needs.

Warming up a lead is the process of turning a stranger into a familiar face. It’s about building a micro-relationship through subtle, value-driven interactions before you ask for anything.

5 Actionable Strategies to Warm Up Cold Leads

Before you send that connection request, take the time to engage with your prospects in a genuine, non-salesy way. Here are five effective strategies:

1. View Their Profile (The Digital Handshake)

This is the simplest yet most effective first step. When you view someone's profile, they get a notification. It’s a subtle way of saying, "I'm interested in what you do." It puts your name and face on their radar without any commitment. Doing this a day or two before you engage further is a great way to plant the first seed of familiarity.

2. Follow Them

Following a prospect is another low-stakes way to show interest. It allows you to see their content in your feed, giving you more opportunities to engage meaningfully later. It also sends a notification to the prospect, reinforcing your interest in their professional activity.

3. Engage with Their Content (Likes & Comments)

This is the most powerful warm-up technique. When a prospect posts an article, an update, or a question, they are inviting engagement.

• Likes: A simple "like" is a quick nod of approval.
• Comments: An insightful comment is far more valuable. Don't just say "Great post!" Add to the conversation. Ask a thoughtful question, share a related insight, or agree with a specific point they made. A good comment can start a conversation right then and there.

4. Engage with Their Company's Content

Show that you're interested not just in the individual, but in their company's success. Follow their company page and engage with their posts. This demonstrates a deeper level of research and interest, which can be a powerful differentiator when you finally reach out.

5. Reference Mutual Connections or Groups

If you have mutual connections or are part of the same LinkedIn Group, you have an instant "in." Mentioning this common ground in your connection request or first message immediately breaks the ice and makes your outreach feel less random.

Automating the Warm-Up Process with Bindago

Doing all of this manually for hundreds of prospects is simply not scalable. It would take hours each day to track who you've engaged with and what the next step should be. This is where automation becomes a game-changer.

With Bindago, you can automate this entire warm-up sequence, allowing you to build relationships with hundreds of prospects simultaneously. Bindago's Campaigns feature lets you create a multi-step workflow that mimics natural, human engagement.

Here’s how you can set up a powerful warm-up campaign in Bindago:

1. Step 1: View Profile (Day 0)

   • Action: Set the first step of your campaign to "View Profile." This automatically visits the prospect's profile, triggering that first notification.

2. Step 2: Like a Recent Post (Day 2)

   • Action: Add a "Like Recent Post" step. Bindago will find the prospect's latest post and like it for you, creating another positive touchpoint.

3. Step 3: Send a Personalized Connection Request (Day 4)

   • Action: Now that the prospect has seen your name a couple of times, send a connection request. Because they are "warm," your request is much more likely to be accepted.

By using a tool like Bindago, you can systematically warm up every lead before you reach out, dramatically increasing your connection and response rates. And because Bindago is a desktop application, your LinkedIn credentials stay securely on your computer.

Crafting the "Warm" Pitch

Once a lead has been warmed up and has accepted your connection request, your first message should be tailored to this new context. You're no longer a complete stranger.

Here’s a template for a warm follow-up message:

"Thanks for connecting, {{firstName}}! I was just reading your recent post on [Topic], and it got me thinking about the challenges of [Problem your product solves] in the [Industry] space.

We've been helping companies like {{companyName}} achieve [Specific benefit] with a unique approach.

Would you be open to a brief 15-minute chat next week to explore if this could be valuable for you?"

This message works because it:

• References your previous engagement.
• Connects their interests to a problem you solve.
• Offers clear value and a low-commitment next step.

Conclusion

The era of the cold, generic LinkedIn pitch is over. Success in modern B2B sales on LinkedIn is about building relationships, and that starts with warming up your leads. By engaging with your prospects in a genuine, value-driven way before you ask for anything, you build the trust and familiarity needed to start a real conversation.

While this may seem like a lot of work, tools like Bindago make it possible to implement a sophisticated warm-up strategy at scale. By automating the initial touchpoints, you can focus your time on what matters most: having meaningful conversations with qualified prospects who are already receptive to what you have to say.

Ready to stop sending cold pitches and start having warm conversations? Download Bindago today and start your 10-day free trial.