LinkedIn Voice Notes: Your Underrated Tool to Get Better Response Rates

Introduction: Your Hidden Channel to Connect With More Leads

All SDRs tend to spend more time creating emails, making cold calls, and sending video messages. However, one channel that could help you reach better results is often overlooked. What is it? It's using LinkedIn voice notes.

The fact that social selling has become widely spread doesn't mean that you'll have high response rates by sending direct messages on LinkedIn. Prospects receive tons of notifications about connecting requests and follow-up texts that all look similar. Because of this, even nicely written messages may get no attention.

That's why voice messages are crucial in your social media outreach strategy. One voice note can make a difference because you will provide your message with tone and emotions in addition to the words.

Thus, LinkedIn voice messages for lead generation could become an ultimate secret weapon for those salespeople who aim at succeeding in 2026.

Understanding LinkedIn Voice Notes and the Process Behind It

LinkedIn voice notes refer to short audio messages that can be easily sent via LinkedIn messages to prospects. The messages must be within 60 seconds of the conversation and enable you to connect in a personal tone.

This process involves creating an audio message instead of writing an email. You will send the note right away, and the other person will get to listen whenever they want.

However, even with such a simple method, many SDRs still do not make use of the tool because they have not been made aware of the tool yet, or fear using it. Some believe that sending a voice note on LinkedIn isn't very professional, while others find the thought of hearing their voice intimidating.

On the contrary, we live in times where everyone has become immune to templated messages.

Why Voice Notes Ensure High Response Rates

Voice notes are highly effective because they play on the basic human nature of building connections. By listening to a person's voice, prospects build trust and feel familiar with the sender.

The other factor behind their effectiveness is that voice notes break the monotony. People are used to scanning through texts when they receive text messages.

Also, voice notes are highly personalized. They can be structured in such a way as to resemble any other message. However, the way the sender delivers the message gives a unique feel.

Finally, listening to voice notes does not require the great effort that reading messages requires. Thus, the process becomes more comfortable for the prospect and more engaging.

That is why using voice notes on LinkedIn for sales prospecting can help enhance outreach performance significantly.

The Best Times to Send LinkedIn Voice Notes

Timing is important in ensuring the effectiveness of voice notes. For example, one of the best times to send voice notes is immediately after connecting with prospects. When this happens, it becomes easier to engage prospects in communication through such notes.

Additionally, voice notes can be used in following up. In cases where the initial message sent was ignored, it can be good to switch to voice notes in an attempt to capture the prospect's interest.

When people ignore text messages, it could be a good time to send a voice note. Voice notes will not only make prospects read the message but also listen to what you have to say.

In conclusion, LinkedIn voice notes are very helpful when it comes to sales prospecting on LinkedIn.

Structure of a Well-Converted Voice Note

An ideal voice note comprises an organized structure. In particular, during the first five seconds, you need to be welcoming and greet the prospect using their name. As a result, you will make the message sound personal right from the beginning.

Additionally, there needs to be some form of personalization in the note. Mentioning the prospects' designation, employer, or activities that they have been doing shows that you are not sending out generic messages.

The body should have one main point. Avoid giving many points as this will make the voice note too complicated. It is necessary to highlight one problem and explain how you can help.

Lastly, close the voice note by encouraging the listener to take action. You could ask whether they would be willing to talk about something or get further information from you.

Examples of Voice Notes: Best vs Worst Practices

An ineffective voice note is either very lengthy, unclear, or over-scripted. As an example, an SDR may ramble for almost a minute, give information about their company, but fail to convey a meaningful message. This will not keep prospects engaged and will lower the chances of their taking action.

In contrast, an effective voice note is concise and goes straight to the point. In other words, it begins with a personalized salutation, mentions a specific problem, and ends with a call to action.

Here is an example of how an effective voice note sounds: "Hi John, thank you for connecting. I saw that you're increasing sales operations this quarter, and many people in this position usually face difficulty keeping up with consistent follow-ups. Just wanted to quickly share a thought on how I might be able to help you. Do you have any ideas?"

It is clear what makes an efficient use of LinkedIn voice notes in B2B sales prospecting.

Voice Note Best Practices

A few best practices should be considered when creating voice notes. Ensure that voice notes do not exceed 30 to 60 seconds. Voice notes that last longer than that are difficult to engage with since there is no chance of gaining the listener's focus.

Voice notes must be recorded in a natural way. Reading voice notes from a script is discouraged because a more natural conversational style can make a great impact on people.

The voice used should always carry confidence and energy. A positive voice makes an even greater impression on people since it sounds enthusiastic.

The more one practices using voice notes, the better they will become at recording them.

Integration of Voice Notes with Other Outreach Tools

It is advisable to integrate voice notes in conjunction with other outreach tools, as this increases the chances of success for your campaign.

The first way is by using a combination of a direct message, an email message, and a voice note. In such cases, the connection request is sent first. If the prospect fails to connect with the email, the voice note makes your communication different from others.

Voice notes can also be used together with emails. If a prospect fails to reply to an email, sending a voice note via LinkedIn is another channel through which you can connect with the lead.

Remember that you should always ensure consistency with regards to the content of your messages, especially in terms of the value proposition that they convey.

Voice Notes Scaling Without Compromising Authenticity

The other issue that may arise when using voice notes is scalability. It is still possible to be efficient without compromising the personality of the message.

Utilize a reusable template for creating voice notes. This will help in consistency while saving on time spent making voice notes.

Make the necessary adjustments where required in elements like introductions and context. Minor details can have a huge impact on how the message is interpreted.

Incorporate voice notes in your day-to-day activities. Over time, the process becomes easier with the habit.

By taking these steps, SDRs will be able to scale the use of voice notes on LinkedIn for sales prospecting purposes.

Conclusion: Low Effort, High Impact

Being unique is important when reaching out to leads through text in the modern day. Voice notes will help you add personality, make you more trustworthy, and get the attention of people on the other side of the message.

Leveraging LinkedIn voice notes in prospecting campaigns allows you to communicate with leads more humanely. This makes it easier for the recipient to engage in conversation.

At Apex Hunters, we always strive to utilize innovative ways to interact with our leads. We do not just follow tried-and-tested methods; we also try something new and see what works best.

In conclusion, do not underestimate the potential of using your voice when reaching out to leads via LinkedIn. With little effort, you will achieve high results.