Why Personal Outreach Is Winning
It used to be that people were afraid of sending messages on LinkedIn and Instagram. It used to be that it was seen as a “cold approach” that would just be ignored.
Some people still fail to send messages in case they “annoy people”. But done right, personal outreach doesn’t have to be cold or sleazy. It’s all about how you warm people up
In 2026, the marketing shift has moved dramatically towards personal branding. People really want to know who sits behind the brand before making a buying decision. Which is why getting to know people through email and DMs is working right now.
I’ll give you one of my strategies.
Linkedin and Instagram. There’s only one difference in my approach, but first, let’s talk about what’s the same.
I have a tracker where all my leads come in, whether I have their email address or not, just by sending them a message or by them sending one to me. Here’s what I use:
https://morethanacrm.com/
I start off with a thank you message. “Hey, thanks for accepting my connection request” (LinkedIn), “Hey, thanks for the follow. Really appreciate it”. (Instagram).
I wait a week and I then follow up. Here’s where my approach differs:
When I make connection requests on LinkedIn I do so with local people, or people within a radius that I’m familiar with. That way, I can create a more personal approach, mentioning I live in the same town or nearby, and when following up, talking about events that have happened locally, are coming up, or local news.
So, after the initial connection acceptance, I follow up with a thank you and then a week later, by asking them more about their business and where they are based.
The third message will likely follow up from the second naturally, but, if it hasn’t, I’ll talk about something locally.
The fourth message should flow from the third but if it doesn’t, I’ll invite them to something, either an event I’ve seen, a useful group on LinkedIn or send them a link to something they might be interested in.
Finally, I’ll let them know a bit more about me and ask them if they think it would be worth a coffee, either in-person or virtually. Even if I get no business this way, the connection itself is super valuable.
Instagram works in much the same way except here, I won’t necessarily be following people local to me, instead, I’ll be following my ideal client.
The first message is a thanks and the second usually asks them about their business.
The third message should flow on from the second but if it doesn’t, I’ll look at their posts and comment about one I found interesting.
The fourth message should flow on from the third but if it doesn’t, I’ll tell them a bit more about me and my business and ask if they think there’s any way we might work together either now or in the future.
It’s not all about winning business. It’s also about building connections. You never know where those connections might lead.
So tell me, how do you feel about personal outreach?
