Curious about LinkedIn automations but not sure if they’re your vibe?
Here’s what happened when Kim Ellis gave Dripify a go – and why she’s got the ick a little bit, even after getting results.
I love the human side of connection. I’ve always been someone you could grab for a brew and natter away with for half an hour. So when I first heard about LinkedIn automations, I was a tad sceptical.
I mean, the whole point of LinkedIn is to build connections. And if you’re self-employed, to find clients. Automating that process has never been high on my priority list, but curiosity got the better of me.
I formed a cunning plan
I wanted to go into this all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed rather than diving in with a stack of research. I’d heard of Dripify, spotted they did a 7-day free trial, and the interface looked simple enough, so I registered my account.
My vague goal was to build LinkedIn connections and raise awareness of Free Spirits. That was about it. I’d also been chatting to Hayley Maisey about doing some direct outreach, so I figured I’d bundle that into my plan too, but with a different audience: people I’d recently connected with and had hand-picked to go into a special outreach group.
This trial was as much about testing the tool as it was about exploring different outreach tactics. Here’s how it went.
AutoGroup 1: My hand-picked crew
This group was small, just 20 people I’d already connected with, carefully chosen and added to a spreadsheet which I uploaded into Dripify.
They got a personalised message from me thanking them for connecting, telling them about Free Spirits, including a link to book a half-hour call, and inviting them to complete the Annual Freelancers Insight Survey.
If they didn’t reply, Dripify sent a follow-up message a few days later pointing them to one of our webinar replays. Between those messages, the tool also viewed their profiles and liked a couple of their posts, all automated.
The idea is these nudges might make them more likely to reply.
Out of the 20, I set up meetings with a few, and a couple signed up for a 10-day membership taster.
All in all, not bad. I had some decent conversations I might not have had otherwise.
But this is where my ick started creeping in.
Dripify was doing what I’d told it to do, but I didn’t feel fully in control. I couldn’t see what content it was liking on my behalf, and that didn’t sit right with me.
AutoGroup 2: Global Freelance Instructional Designers
Now I was casting a much wider net. I set my parameters and let it run, up to 100 connection requests between 8am and 8pm (UK time).
There were two flows here:
- If someone accepted the connection, they got a message an hour later (with a note saying I was using Dripify to automate outreach), followed by a profile view, a post like, another like, and another message.
- If they didn’t accept, Dripify would view their profile and like a few posts over time, essentially a string of little nudges.
It felt a bit like being stared at through a meeting room window until you gave in and opened the door.
Still, it worked. I got a bunch of new connections and a few good conversations.
AutoGroup 3: UK-based Freelance eLearning Designers
This group used the same settings as Group 2, but with a more specific audience. I targeted people in my second-degree network, so we’d have connections in common, which is always a nice conversation starter.
The acceptance rate was lower, but I had more meaningful conversations. So arguably, the quality was better here.
My ick factor keeps popping up though
Yes, I increased my network with potential Free Spirits, but I didn’t get to choose who I was connecting with.
Yes, I saved oodles of time, but I got a few disconnections. Was I coming across as spammy?
Yes, it spread a lot of ‘social love’, but what if Dripify liked something I fundamentally disagreed with?
So yeah… the whole thing gave me the ick.
That said, I can see how powerful this could be. I’d only need to convert one person a year to cover the subscription cost, so it’s not a terrible return on investment. But then there’s the loss of control.
There’s loads I’m happy to automate. I’ve got a Zap that emails me when someone joins the taster mailing list, which saves me from obsessively checking. But when it comes to something as personal as relationship-building, I’m just not sure automation feels right for me.
If an automation helps and aligns with how I want to show up in the world, brilliant. But if it makes me feel like a stranger’s running around in my name… not so much.
So will I try it again? For initial outreach, actually, I probably would — but I’d be more strict. I wouldn’t let it engage with posts on my behalf, for example. I still want control over that side of things.
For now though, I think I’ll stick to manual outreach and book in some natters over a cuppa.
Then again, Waalaxy does have a free trial…
