How to Use HeyReach to Automate LinkedIn Outreach to Engaged Leads

When you combine Instantly for cold email with HeyReach for automated LinkedIn outreach, you create a simple but incredibly effective omnichannel system: email generates attention, LinkedIn builds familiarity, and your ads keep you top of mind. The result is a dramatic lift in engagement, connection acceptance, and downstream conversions.

In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how HeyReach works, why it’s so effective, and how to set it up the right way so that your team can reach hundreds or thousands of engaged prospects every month—without lifting a finger.

Why LinkedIn Outreach Matters More Than Ever

Outbound email alone can produce results, but modern buyers rarely engage on a single channel. If someone clicks your outbound email, they’re not yet ready to reply or book a demo—but they are ready to learn more about you.

LinkedIn is the natural next step.

A connection request from a founder, CEO, or head of sales feels personal. It signals authority. It feels relevant. And, importantly, it keeps you visible in the one feed your prospect is guaranteed to check regularly: their LinkedIn feed.

When used correctly, HeyReach turns this warm moment into an automated system that builds meaningful relationships at scale.

How HeyReach Works

HeyReach connects to your LinkedIn account and sends connection requests on your behalf—up to 100 per week, the maximum allowed by LinkedIn.

The magic is in who it sends those requests to: the people actively clicking your outbound emails.

Once someone accepts your connection request, HeyReach can automatically send a short sequence of follow-up messages. These aren’t long sales pitches—they’re simple, friendly touchpoints that build rapport and reinforce the same value you introduced in your outbound email.

HeyReach does all of this quietly in the background. Meanwhile, your team simply watches the replies roll in.

Why You Should Only Target Engaged Leads

Not everyone in your ABM list should receive LinkedIn outreach. That would take too long, feel random, and ultimately get ignored.

Instead, the highest-impact strategy is to only target two groups:

1. People who clicked on your outbound email
   
   
2. People who are already in a sales cycle with you

These individuals have already shown intent. They’re aware of you. They’re far more receptive to your message. And the acceptance rates speak for themselves.

Typical connection acceptance rates:

• CEOs or founders: 30–50%
• Heads of sales or marketing: 25–40%
• SDRs or AEs: 15–25%

By limiting your outreach to engaged leads, you maximize acceptance and avoid wasting connection capacity.

Setting Up HeyReach the Right Way

The setup is straightforward, but a few specific steps make a big difference in results.

First, connect the LinkedIn account you want to send from. This should ideally be the most senior person with a public-facing role—someone whose title naturally earns trust. A head of sales or founder profile typically performs best.

Second, decide how you want HeyReach to receive your engaged leads. You can set this up in two ways:

• A weekly CSV export from Instantly
• A webhook or Zapier automation that syncs contacts in real time

Teams just getting started often use the weekly CSV, while more advanced teams automate the process entirely.

Once your engaged leads are flowing into HeyReach, you’ll create your connection request and follow-up messages. These don’t need to be complicated. In fact, the most effective messaging is simple, informal, and conversational—one or two sentences that feel human, not scripted.

For example, if someone clicked on your outbound content piece, your LinkedIn follow-up might simply say:

“Thanks for connecting—happy to send you the full report if you want it.”

The goal isn’t to sell. It’s to establish a relationship and open a light conversation.

What Successful Automated Outreach Looks Like

Across many companies using HeyReach, the results are remarkably consistent.

When sending the maximum 100 connection requests per week:

• 20–50 prospects accept
• A portion reply directly in LinkedIn
• Many consume your posts, engage with content, or click your profile
• Your warm audience grows predictably over time

Reaching a few dozen people per week may sound modest, but the compounding effect is enormous. Over a year, you’ll build thousands of relevant industry connections—people who see your posts, learn from your content, and naturally enter your funnel.

These are relationships that compound in value month after month.

How HeyReach Fits Into Your Outbound System

The best outbound engines today are omnichannel. Email alone isn't enough, and ads alone are too expensive when used without supporting signals. LinkedIn automations provide the missing bridge.

Here’s how the full system works:

1. Your cold emails (via Instantly) generate clicks.
   
   
2. Your clickers are automatically sent a connection request via HeyReach.
   
   
3. Once they accept, a short message sequence continues the conversation.
   
   
4. Meanwhile, your retargeting ads on Meta, LinkedIn, Google, and Bing keep your brand visible everywhere they go online.
   
   
5. Your SDR team receives a steady stream of prospects already familiar with your name, message, and value proposition.

This is the flywheel: click → connect → nurture → engage → convert.

The entire motion runs without requiring your team to manually send messages or track who clicked on what. It’s efficient, lightweight, and remarkably effective for companies of all sizes.

Final Thoughts

Cold email identifies who is paying attention. HeyReach transforms that attention into a relationship.

When used together, Instantly and HeyReach create a powerful outbound ecosystem—one where every click is captured, every engaged lead is nurtured, and every prospect sees your brand consistently across multiple channels.

This is the modern, working model of outbound: personalized, multi-channel, automated, and deeply human where it counts.

If you want to generate more meetings, expand your brand reach, and build pipeline without burning time, HeyReach is one of the simplest and highest-leverage additions you can make to your outbound strategy.