How to Use the LinkedIn New Connection Welcome Message

*For a Workflow targeting 10–20 new connections, the full process typically takes around 5–10 minutes total, including exporting connection data and sending welcome messages, plus a few extra seconds for the workflow to process.

Before you start

• Awareness of safe messaging limits:
  • We recommend staying at or under 80 messages/day overall.
  • The Workflow itself is capped at 100 messages/day.

Step 1: Connect your LinkedIn account

To let the automation act on your behalf:

1. Install the PhantomBuster browser extension and connect your LinkedIn session in one click.
2. If you’re not using Chrome or Firefox, you can retrieve your session cookie manually (see our cookie guide).

Check your browser user agent
Make sure your browser is up to date before connecting your account. 
→ If your Chrome or Firefox version is outdated, your session cookie may expire much more quickly, and you’ll need to reconnect often.

Step 2: Write and customize your welcome message

1. Choose your condition for sending messages (optional):

   Select how the automation should behave if there’s an existing message thread:

   • Send to all - Send the message to all provided profiles.
   • Send only if the last message was from the recipient (Reply) - Send only if they messaged you last.
   • Send only if the last message was from me (Follow up) - Send only if you were the last to message them.
   • Send only if the last message was from the recipient or if there’s no message at all - Reply or start new threads.
   • Send only if the last message was from me or if there’s no message at all - Follow up or start new threads.
   • Send only if there’s no message at all - send only to contacts you’ve never messaged before.

2. Enter your message:

   • Write your message in the “Your message” field (up to 8,000 characters).

   Watch the character counter in the bottom-right corner of the message box to track your usage. This helps you stay within limits and avoid your message being cut off. Keep in mind that placeholder tags also count toward the limit, so leave room for both the tag itself and the replaced text.

3. Attach files (optional)

   Add documents or images to your message:

   • Maximum combined file size = 20 MB.

Message customization rules and limits:

When writing your messages, keep in mind:

• Placeholder tags:
  • All available tags appear at the bottom of the message box.
  • Click on a tag to insert it, or use the + icon to see the full list.
• Formatting restrictions:
  • Emojis are not supported.
  • Hyperlinks are not supported: any pasted link will appear as plain text.

Step 3: Filter by date & set a daily cap

1. Only message profiles added after a specific date (optional): 
   Set this field to define what counts as a “new” connection.
   • Sends welcomes only to connections added on or after the date you choose.
     → Always set a dateAfter value when you enable the Workflow, so only truly new accepted connections receive a welcome.
   • If you leave it blank, the Workflow has no cutoff date. When the Connections Export worker first runs, it may export all your existing connections.
     → This can result in the Welcome Message automation sending messages to long-standing connections, not just new ones.
2. Only message profiles added after a specific date (optional):
   • Default: 20/day.
   • The Workflow enforces a hard cap of 100/day. If you hit the daily cap, remaining new connections will be handled in the next scheduled launches.
   • Recommended for safety: 20–40/day (or up to 80/day if your account is well warmed up and overall LinkedIn activity is low).

This Workflow doesn’t have custom launch settings. You can’t choose how many times per day it launches. It runs automatically during office hours and respects your daily message cap.

It relies on worker Phantoms that handle the sequence:

• LinkedIn Connections Export → launches twice per day to detect new accepted connections.
• LinkedIn Message Sender → launches once per working hour (excluding weekends), sending messages to up to 5 profiles per run until your daily cap is reached.

→ This means you shouldn’t expect welcome messages to go out instantly. They’ll be processed gradually across the day as new connections are picked up.

Step 4 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Workflow runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

• Toggle the ON/OFF switch to start your Workflow.

Once active:

• It will continuously watch for newly accepted connections and send your welcome messages according to your settings.

Once it finishes:

• You can track performance directly in the Workflow's console:
  • Performance tab → overall stats on messages sent.
  • Connections tab → status per profile.
  • Results tab → view, download, or reuse your data in other automations.
• The next worker agent (or Phantom) to launch is always visible in the Workflow Dashboard. 
  → Look for the line starting with “Next:” to know what’s coming up in the sequence.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Workflow, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

What you get (Output)

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Hitting overall LinkedIn limits by combining this with other high-volume automations.
• Attaching files over 20 MB or relying on clickable links (links are plain text).
• Expecting immediate messaging → Welcomes are sent gradually: Connections Export (2×/day) + Message Sender (hourly, up to 5 profiles/run).
• Forgetting to set the dateAfter value → Without it, the Connections Export worker may pull all old connections, and the automation could send welcome messages to them.
• Expecting to control launch frequency → this Workflow has no launch settings. It runs automatically via its worker Phantoms.
• If the Workflow stops working:
  • Errors may not always appear in the Dashboard.
  • To check hidden errors and execution details, open the Logs section from the console page of your Phantom. For step-by-step instructions, see How to Troubleshoot Errors in Workflows.

If you run into issues

• Browse the Fix Issues & Troubleshoot Errors section for solutions to common problems.
• Review our Automation Rate Limits by Platform guide.
• Check our Best Practices for Social Media Automation guide.

Suggested automations

After welcoming new connections, you can:

• LinkedIn Outreach → manage follow-ups and ongoing conversations directly from the Outreach dashboard, with metrics and automated sequences.
• LinkedIn Auto Liker or Auto Commenter → engage with your new connections’ content to build visibility and warm up relationships.
• LinkedIn Activity Extractor → stay on top of their LinkedIn activity to identify the best moments for personalized engagement.