LinkedIn connection note critique
Paste your LinkedIn connection-request note. We score it on length, specificity, CTA placement, merge-field hygiene, opener strength, and 8 other dimensions, then predict acceptance percentage. Runs in your browser - your note never leaves your device.
Your connection note
Score
How it would look
The 12 checks (what we score on)
- Length 180-280 chars - the empirical sweet spot. Under 30 chars or over 300 chars hurts.
- Specific signal - mentions their post, role change, content, podcast, hire, fundraise, etc.
- No CTA - first message should NOT ask for a meeting, send a calendar link, or paste a Loom URL.
- Curious question - ends with a real, specific, open question about their work.
- Soft opt-out - includes "no worries if not", "totally fine if not relevant", or similar.
- Merge fields complete - no literal "{first_name}", "{company}" left in. Or no merge fields at all.
- Merge-field discipline - 0-2 merge fields fine, 4+ reads templated.
- No emoji-heavy - 0-1 emoji okay, 2+ drops acceptance.
- No sales jargon - "synergy", "circle back", "leverage", "value-add", "low-hanging fruit" hurt.
- No "open to a quick call" - specific phrasing that signals BDR bot.
- First-person plural usage - "we" 0-1 times. Over-using "we" reads pitch-y.
- Their-name density - using their first name 2x in a 50-word note reads forced.
FAQ
How accurate is this? It's a heuristic, not a guarantee. The scoring rules are calibrated against ~4,200 sent invites with measured acceptance. Direction-of-prediction is correct ~78% of the time. Don't trust the exact percentage; trust the rank.
Why 180-280 chars and not 300? LinkedIn allows 300 but truncates at ~280 on mobile, which is where most invites are reviewed. The last 20 chars of a long note often hide the CTA.
Where does the data come from? SocialScalr customer accounts. See our full breakdown.
Is my note stored? No. Everything runs in your browser - the textarea content never leaves your device. There's no backend call.
Want this baked into your campaign flow? SocialScalr scores every note before send and flags risky ones in the New Campaign modal.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this connection note critique?
It's a heuristic, not a guarantee. The scoring rules are derived from analysis of 4,200 sent invites with measured acceptance rates. It correctly predicts the direction (high vs low accept) about 78% of the time. It can't read your specific recipient's mind, so use it as a sanity check rather than gospel.
What is the ideal LinkedIn connection note length?
180-280 characters - roughly 30-50 words. Long enough to give one specific signal and one short relevance line. Short enough that the recipient reads it in 4 seconds on mobile without expanding. Notes under 30 chars read as templated. Notes over 300 chars get truncated by LinkedIn's UI and acceptance drops.