How to create message templates

In this article, we will take a look at "Message Template Editor PRO": the tool dedicated to creating appealing, deeply personalized messages. If you`re aiming at getting your target audience interested in a certain project or event, for example, it`s essential to start the conversation in an engaging manner - this is exactly what this feature is designed for.

1. Actions that support "Message Template Editor PRO"
2. Variables
3. IF | THEN | ELSE operator
4. Character limits
5. Message preview
6. Examples of the more complex, composite templates
7. Video tutorial

1. Actions that support "Message Template Editor PRO"

Message templates can be built for "Invite 2nd and 3rd level contacts", "Message to 1st connections | Group members" and "Inmail to 2nd & 3rd contacts":

Once one of them is added to the workflow of your campaign, navigate to the "Message" tab of the action and click on the area highlighted on the screenshot below to open "Message Template Editor PRO":

 

2. Variables

By default, you can add the following variables to your message template:

{id} - LinkedIn profile identifier in the internal Linked Helper CRM

{firstName} - Andrew, Chloe, Alan, Elizabeth, etc.

{lastName} - Moore, Smith, Foster, Walker, etc.

{company} - Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc.

{position} - Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), etc.

{mutualFirstFullName} - full name of 1st mutual connection showed on a profile page

{mutualSecondFullName} - full name of 2nd mutual connection showed on a profile page

{mutualTotal} - total number of mutual connections

Additionally, you can add any custom variable of your choice: Linked Helper 2: Custom Fields

 

3. IF | THEN | ELSE operator

Information for {company}, {position}, {mutualFirstFullName}, {mutualSecondFullName},{mutualTotal} isn`t always available on a profile page, that is why you should use logical operator IF | THEN | ELSE to build a truly flexible message template. This option is accessible only from the "Advanced" GUI: Where can I change Linked Helper Interface?

Note: IF | THEN | ELSE can be used both with standard variables and the custom ones. 

IF string should contain one variable the presence of which Linked Helper should check after information from a profile page is scraped during the execution of a messaging action.

If the information for this variable is found, text from THEN string will be used. If not - LH will proceed with the backup plan (i.e. ELSE string). 

Here is an example:

Result:

1) A company is available on a profile page:

2) A company isn`t available on a profile page:

Keep in mind:

1. One operator - one variable in the IF string. No text, symbols or mathematical operations (for example, {mutualTotal} = 10, {company} != Microsoft, or {cs_age} > 30 — expressions are not supported). Linked Helper checks only the presence of information, not its content.
2. The vertical order of strings in "Message Template Editor" doesn`t start new lines, as well as their separation between different text boxes, doesn`t add spaces - they need to be inserted manually.

 

4. Character limits

When you create a message template don`t forget about the following LinkedIn limitations:

• "Invite 2nd and 3rd level contacts" - 300 characters;
• "Message to 1st connections | Group members" - 10 000 characters;
• "Inmail to 2nd & 3rd contacts" - 200 characters in the required subject line and up to 1900 characters in the body.

Note: some of our clients reported that their character limit for invitation notes has been shrunk to 140. So, take the numbers above into account but test the limits yourself.

Characters include spaces, letters, numbers, symbols, and even emojis. The counter for the message body can be found at the top-right corner:

Do not forget to allow for variables as they will differ in length once replaced by value: for example, {firstName} can be changed to Mary (4 characters), Gabriel (7 characters), Josephine (9 characters), or Bartholomew (11 characters) while the estimated length = 9. Therefore, we`d recommend keeping your message template 5-10 characters under the "Max allowed length". Otherwise, some of the contacts might be processed with the "Generated message is too long" error:

 

5. Message preview

Once you've built the message template, press "Preview & Save":

In the newly opened window you can edit test variables or remove them completely to check how the message would differ:

If you feel like further editing is required click on "Back to Editor". When the template will fully suit your needs just press "Save":

After that, in the workflow of your campaign you can navigate to the "Queue" of the respective action by clicking on the area highlighted on the screenshot below:

Here you can preview the messages that are going to be sent:

 

6. Examples of the more complex, composite templates

There can be several IF | THEN | ELSE operators within one message template. In addition, variables can be either dependant on each other or completely autonomous. Let's take {company} and {position} as an example.

Condition: you want to mention both the company a person works for and their position.

Solution: split the sentence into two separate parts, each part inside its own "IF | THEN | ELSE" operator:

Result: as you can see from the screenshots below, the sentence always looks good, no matter what variable is absent.

Condition: you want to mention both the company a person works for and their position, but unlike the example above, there should be a different text depending on what variable is absent.

Solution: make the two variables dependant on each other. Use extra IF | THEN | ELSE conditions for both THEN and ELSE strings of the initial operator - you will make the sentence look natural regardless of the absence of any variable:

Result:

Condition: if you have two or more mutual connections with a person, you want to mention the number, and if there is only one shared connection, then you want to bring up the name of that contact.

Solution: add two consecutive IF | THEN | ELSE operators to check:

1. The presence of mutual connections;
2. Whether the number of mutual connections is greater than 1.

Result:

1. You have two or more shared connections:

2. There is only one common connection:

3. There are no mutual connections:

 

7. Video tutorial