Warning: Don’t Do This Unless You Want to Damage Your Brand

My friend Ted Prodromou reached out to an old friend on LinkedIn the other day.

He just wanted to say, “Hello” and catch up.

The friend replied instantly…

…with an automated message…

…that said, “Subscribe to my YouTube channel.”

That’s it. Nothing else.

No “Glad to hear from you, Ted.”

No personal comments.

Just an impersonal, automated pitch.

Ugh!

Here’s Ted’s take, posted on his LinkedIn feed: “This is why LinkedIn automation is damaging your brand and your reputation.”

Amen, Ted.

My LinkedIn mailbox is littered with automated messages that miss the mark.

Automation vendors breathlessly promise you’ll reach thousands of leads with one click.

“…take your personal LinkedIn profile and turn it into a lead converting sales machine,” claims one vendor.

The problem: Human beings want to connect with human beings, not machines.

And so many of the automated LinkedIn messages scream, “I’m a machine!”

Those humans who implement LinkedIn automation mean well. They want to “scale” their business. They want to be efficient. They think they don’t have the time to conduct real, human interaction with their connections.

So they choose quantity over quality. They choose efficiency over real engagement. They set it and forget it and hope for the best.

In so doing, they deliver low-quality, dis-engaging, robotic garbage that puts off prospects who might have connected with a more human approach.

Speaking of “set it and forget it,” I got some robotic garbage yesterday from “Zachary” who dropped this gem in his robotic gem: “I’d like to get to know you better.” Then he pitched his accounting services.

The message included “I’m interested” and “Not Interested” buttons at the bottom. I knew if I clicked the “I’m interested” button I’d probably receive another automated message — probably to schedule a call.

Instead, I replied with a message. I typed it myself. No help from a bot. No automation.

I told him a bit about myself (he wants to get to know me, right?) and asked that he tell me about himself. A real human interaction.

When I’m prospecting, I crave human interactions. Humans who wish to interact often turn into warm prospects, customers, and/or referral partners. Or they simply turn into interesting connections who share with me helpful and informative content.

How did Zachary respond? He didn’t. Crickets.

No surprise here because I was probably one cold lead among thousands. Just a name on a list. An impersonal target for the lead converting sales machine.

Zachary set it and forgot it.

My response: Forget you, Zachary.