Benchmarks report · October 2026
LinkedIn outreach benchmarks
from 185,000 connection requests
Acceptance rates, reply rates and meetings per campaign month, from four years of LinkedIn and email outreach we ran for B2B companies, coaches, consultants and Vistage chairs.
185,000+
LinkedIn connection requests analyzed, Oct 2022 to Oct 2026
30%
of connection requests accepted, across all 61 accounts
3 to 5
meetings per campaign month for B2B campaigns (300 new prospects), from month two
1 in 7
replies becomes a meeting, on average
LinkedIn outreach statistics 2026
The numbers in one list
From 184,969 connection requests, 174,212 emails and 17,804 InMails sent for 61 client accounts between October 2022 and October 2026. Details and method below.
- Connection acceptance rate: 30% across all accounts; 22% to 30% for B2B sales outreach; 38% to 46% for invitations and recruiting; 53% for business leaders in the UAE.
- Replies per campaign month (300 new prospects): 24 to 30 for B2B campaigns combining LinkedIn and email; 45 to 48 for CEOs invited to a Vistage peer group.
- Meetings per campaign month (300 new prospects): 3 to 5 for B2B lead generation from month two, where 3 a month is the floor we see and some clients get more; 5 to 8 for Vistage chair recruitment. About 1 in 7 replies becomes a meeting.
- Where meetings get booked: only 20% to 55% of confirmed meetings were visible in LinkedIn messages; the rest were booked by email, phone or a calendar link.
- Time to first meetings: month one builds the list and the messages; most campaigns book their first meetings in month two.
- Per campaign month (300 new prospects): for B2B companies, 24 to 30 replies, 5 to 8 interested prospects and 3 to 5 meetings; for Vistage chair recruitment, 45 to 48 replies, 8 to 12 interested prospects and 5 to 8 meetings.
Per campaign month
What a campaign month turns into
A campaign month reaches 300 new prospects on LinkedIn and email. The same funnel for two kinds of campaigns: inviting CEOs into a peer group, and offering a service to decision makers. Figures are from month two onward.
Peer group invitations
CEOs invited to a Vistage group
Acceptance rate27%
Replies per campaign month (300 new prospects)45 to 48
Interested prospects8 to 12
Meetings5 to 8
B2B sales outreach
Decision makers offered a service
Acceptance rate22% to 30%
Replies per campaign month (300 new prospects)24 to 30
Interested prospects5 to 8
Meetings3 to 5
Key findings
Four things the data shows
What held true across 61 accounts and four years of campaigns.
Finding 1
Invitations get more replies than sales pitches
A Vistage chair campaign brings 45 to 48 replies per campaign month (300 new prospects) from CEOs invited to a peer group. A B2B campaign offering a service brings 24 to 30 replies per campaign month (300 new prospects). If you can lead with something the prospect gains, such as a group, an event or an introduction, lead with it.
Finding 2
Business leaders in the UAE accepted 53% of requests, against 28% in the US
Across 14,131 requests for chairs in the United Arab Emirates, 53% were accepted. Across 66,009 requests for US chairs, 28% were accepted. Prospects in the UAE also replied more than twice as often as US prospects.
Finding 3
About 1 in 7 replies turns into a meeting
For Vistage chairs, 45 to 48 replies per campaign month (300 new prospects) produce 5 to 8 meetings. A Denver IT firm saw 129 replies and 60 interested prospects, and held 32 qualified calls in 10 months, counting calls booked by phone. Getting the reply is half the job. Following up quickly and making booking easy is the other half.
Finding 4
Most meetings never show up in the LinkedIn inbox
Only 20% to 55% of the meetings confirmed in client reports were visible in LinkedIn messages. The rest were booked by email, by phone or straight through a calendar link. Counting LinkedIn conversations alone undercounts results by half or more.
Breakdowns
Acceptance by audience and region
Acceptance ranged from 22% for owners approached about managed IT to 46% for real estate agents approached about a career move. Before rewriting your connection note, check who you are sending it to.
By audience
Acceptance rate
Real estate agents, recruiting to a brokerage (Miami)46%
CEOs, invited to a paid peer group (New York)38%
Business owners, AI and managed IT (Denver, Dallas)30%
Owners and operators, managed IT (Denver)22%
By region
Vistage chair campaigns
United Arab Emirates: accepted53%
United Arab Emirates: replies against the USmore than 2x
United States: accepted28%
Method
How we measured
Every figure comes from campaigns we ran for clients. Client names are not included.
Data
61 client accounts run by Opteamus from October 2022 to October 2026: 184,969 LinkedIn connection requests, 55,139 accepted, 29,738 replies, plus 174,212 emails and 17,804 InMails sent alongside them.
Source
Campaign statistics from our outreach platform, the reply conversations it stores, meeting confirmations our team sent, and the monthly results reports we send clients.
Definitions
A reply is any response from a prospect. An interested prospect asked for a call or more information. A meeting is a call that was confirmed, whether our team booked it or the prospect booked it directly with the client.
Ranges
Where accounts differ, we show a range. The low end of the Vistage meeting rate is set 25% below the current rate, because older campaigns ran before our current process.
FAQ
Common questions
What is a good LinkedIn connection acceptance rate?
Across 185,000 requests we sent for clients, 30% were accepted. For B2B sales outreach, 22% to 30% is normal. Invitations and recruiting campaigns run higher, 38% to 46% in our data, and campaigns to business leaders in the UAE averaged 53%.
What reply rate should I expect from LinkedIn outreach?
Current B2B campaigns, using LinkedIn and email together, bring 24 to 30 replies per campaign month (300 new prospects). An invitation, such as a CEO peer group, gets more: Vistage chair campaigns bring 45 to 48 replies per campaign month (300 new prospects).
How many meetings does LinkedIn outreach produce?
B2B lead generation brings 3 to 5 meetings per campaign month (300 new prospects) from month two. 3 a month is the floor we see, and some clients get more: a Denver IT firm held 32 qualified calls in 10 months. Vistage chair recruitment brings 5 to 8 meetings per campaign month.
How many LinkedIn connection requests can I send a month?
LinkedIn limits how many invitations an account can send each week, and the limit varies by account.
How long before LinkedIn outreach produces meetings?
The first month goes into building the prospect list, writing the messages and warming up the profile. Most campaigns book their first meetings in month two.
More
See the client results
Case studies by industry and area, typical monthly results and what clients wrote to us. See our results.
Want these numbers for your market?
We reply the same business day.