I’m about four weeks in, and I’ve noticed a pattern with my follow-up sequences that I can’t quite explain. Some of my prospects respond to a follow-up on day 3, others ignore everything until day 5+, and some just ghost completely regardless of timing.
Right now, I’m running a pretty standard sequence: connection request on day 0, first message on day 1 (after accept), follow-up on day 3, then another on day 5. But I’m wondering if I’m being too mechanical about it. Like, should I be adjusting follow-up timing based on how engaged they look initially?
I’ve heard people say “never follow up before day 3, you’ll look desperate,” but I’ve also heard the opposite—that following up too late means they’ve already forgotten about you. And honestly, with automation, I can barely tell the difference anymore between what feels right and what’s actually working.
What’s tricky is that I’m also managing some accounts on residential proxies, and there’s always a delivery risk. Sometimes a message doesn’t land on first try, and by day 3, I’m not sure if they’re ignoring me or never got the message in the first place. That’s thrown off my whole testing.
So I’m curious: are any of you running A/B tests on follow-up timing specifically? Like, does a 2-day gap actually beat a 3-day gap, or am I just overthinking this? And does the timing advice change if you’re dealing with proxy deliverability uncertainty?
The golden rule is this: there isn’t one. Follow-up timing depends on context, and the context is your conversion goal, not a calendar.
What actually matters: the first follow-up should come when they’ve had time to notice your initial message but before they’ve mentally filed it away. For most professionals, that’s 3-5 days. But here’s the nuance—if someone responds to your initial message with a “let me check my calendar” vibe, a day 2 follow-up might push them away. If they ignore it completely, day 2 might not be enough.
The real test: segment your audience by engagement level. The people who visit your profile or engage with your content after your message? Follow up at day 2. The people who ghost? Try day 4-5. You’ll see your reply rates shift based on that behavior.
As for proxy uncertainty—that’s a real variable, but it shouldn’t change your strategy. It should motivate you to validate delivery first (check open rates or LinkedIn notifications) before you blame timing.
The timing question is actually about account health, not just conversion. Here’s my perspective: too many follow-ups too close together can trigger spam flags, even with good proxies. LinkedIn’s algorithm watches for sequences that look automated.
My recommendation: stick with day 3 and day 7 for your follow-ups. That 4-day gap between them looks natural, not like a bot. And never do more than 2 follow-ups—after that, LinkedIn starts flagging the pattern.
Also, if you’re on a proxy, give yourself extra breathing room. Residential proxies are safer, but they’re not invisible. A day 3 follow-up + a day 6 follow-up is safer than day 2 + day 4.
For the delivery uncertainty you mentioned—that’s worth investigating before you blame timing. Check your proxy health and make sure the initial message is actually landing. If it’s not, no follow-up timing will save you.
I’ve tested this a bunch, and here’s what worked for me: I ditched the fixed schedule and started following up based on engagement signals instead. Like, if someone viewed my profile after I sent the message, I follow up the next day. If they ignored it completely, I wait 5 days.
My reply rate on follow-ups jumped from about 8% to almost 14% when I started doing this. Takes a bit of manual oversight initially, but you can automate it with conditional logic if you set it up right in LiSeller.
Also, I found that a 4-day gap (day 1 message, day 5 follow-up) actually beats day 3. Feels more natural, and people are more likely to remember the context.
But I’d be curious if anyone else is seeing different timing windows based on industry. My test was mostly in tech—not sure if it holds for other verticals.
You can actually set up conditional follow-ups in LiSeller based on engagement signals. If you configure it right, the system can detect whether they opened your message or visited your profile, and then trigger follow-ups accordingly.
For proxy uncertainty, I’d recommend logging in and manually checking message delivery for your first 10-20 sends before you scale. Once you’re confident the proxies are clean, you can loosen up on manual checking.
As for timing tests: the data you’re looking for is reply rate per follow-up, not just total replies. A day 3 follow-up might get a 10% reply rate, while day 5 gets 12%. Track that, and you’ll see the pattern for your specific audience.
Default recommendation: day 3, then day 7. That’s what most users see success with.
Timing matters way less than message quality on the follow-up. I see people obsessing over day 2 vs. day 3 when their follow-up message is just a rehash of the first one.
Your follow-up should feel like a continuation of the conversation, not a reminder. Something like “Thought about our earlier conversation—came across this, thought you’d find it useful.” Way better than “Just following up.”
If your follow-up game is strong, the timing becomes less critical. I’d test different follow-up copy before you test timing. You might find that better messaging at day 3 beats mediocre messaging at day 2.
In recruitment, I’ve found that passive candidates need more time before follow-up—like day 5 or 6. They’re not actively looking, so your message sits in their inbox for a bit. Active candidates? Day 2 is fine.
The way I filter for this: check if they’ve updated their profile recently or engaged with job postings. If yes, follow up faster. If no, wait longer.
For proxies, I’d honestly just test on a small segment first. Run 50 sends on day 3 follow-ups and another 50 batch on day 5. See which gets better open rates (check LinkedIn notifications). Then scale that timing.
You can actually pipe LinkedIn engagement data directly into your follow-up trigger via API. Like, if someone opens the first message, the system waits 2 days. If they ignore it, it waits 5 days.
I’ve got this wired up with a Zapier + Google Sheets + LiSeller integration, and it’s been a game-changer for timing consistency. You’re no longer guessing—the system is responding to actual behavior.
For the proxy question, make sure your proxies aren’t rotating too aggressively. If you’re switching IPs between the first message and the follow-up, that can hurt deliverability. Stick with the same proxy for the whole conversation thread if possible.