LinkedIn Connect Rate Benchmarks

• For a campaign-level reference, HeyReach reports 20.75% for its typical campaign and 23.85% as the average across campaigns✓. 2
• For an invitation-level operating comparison, Reachium reports 22.77%, 32.01% and 26.65% across three average daily-volume bands, with very uneven band sizes✓. 1
• For a client-project reference, Belkins reports 18.7% acceptance among the invited prospects in its own 14,077-record, 34-project cohort✓. 3

3 source populations at a glance

Reachium: invitation-level results need a maturity window

Reachium's analysis covers 180,155 LinkedIn connection requests sent between January 8, 2025 and August 6, 2026✓. Its methodology counts requests sent at least 30 days before the data pull, so newly pending invitations are not immediately labeled failures✓. It defines acceptance within a band as accepted requests divided by requests sent✓. This is a useful model for an internal dashboard: define when an invitation becomes eligible for evaluation, then compare accepted to eligible sent requests over the same cohort. 1

The report groups requests by the sender account's average number of invitations per active day. Under 10 a day, it reports 465 acceptances out of 2,042 requests, or 22.77%✓. At 10 to 19 a day, the count is 5,374 acceptances out of 16,789, or 32.01%✓. At 20 to 29 a day, it is 42,997 out of 161,324, or 26.65%✓. The 20-to-29 band dominates the sample; the under-10 band is small. Treat those differences as descriptions of observed accounts, not as proof that changing your daily invite count will cause your acceptance rate to change. 1

Reachium explicitly warns that cause and effect could run the other way: a team with weak acceptance might send more invitations to compensate✓. Targeting, sender profile, offer and industry can also differ across accounts. A team should therefore avoid turning the 10-to-19 band into a universal sending prescription. The practical lesson is methodological: compare like with like, use mature requests, and segment your own data before diagnosing a change in copy or targeting. 1

HeyReach: the typical campaign is not the average invitation

HeyReach says its analysis covers 96,051 outreach campaigns on its platform over the previous 12 months✓. It states that its benchmarks describe individual campaign performance rather than workspace-level averages✓. This distinction matters because a campaign-level typical value gives equal conceptual attention to campaigns, whereas an invitation-weighted pooled result would give more influence to large campaigns. The published typical campaign reached 20.75% acceptance, while the average across all campaigns was 23.85%✓. Do not quote either number as the acceptance rate of every request in the HeyReach database. 2

The same report marks a stronger-performance range above 31.78% acceptance✓. That is useful as a within-study comparison, but it is not a guaranteed target for a new account, a particular country or a narrow industry. If your campaign sits below HeyReach's typical value, inspect the campaign's audience and sender context before deciding the invitation note is the problem. A campaign can have a very different mix of warm contacts, cold prospects and prior interactions. 2

Belkins: separate its client cohort from a larger aggregate

Belkins describes 14,077 contact-level outreach records across 34 client projects between January and December 2025✓. In those own campaigns, 18.7% of invited prospects accepted the connection request✓. That is a client-project observation. It should not be merged with HeyReach's campaign-level median or Reachium's volume-band rates into an invented cross-platform average. The sources have different recruitment, time windows and units. 321

Belkins separately discusses 11.5 million connection requests sent in 2025 in an aggregate used for the invitation-note comparison✓. In that aggregate, requests with a personalized note had a 25.3% connection rate, while requests without a note had 27.6%✓. This is not the same 14,077-record client cohort. It is an observational comparison, not a randomized test showing that removing a note causes more acceptance. The source also reports different reply-rate figures, but this page's benchmark is connection acceptance, so do not conflate the two outcomes. 3

How to calculate your own connect rate

Use accepted invitations divided by sent invitations in a defined, mature cohort; Reachium states that denominator explicitly and waits at least 30 days before evaluation✓. Record the send date, acceptance date, campaign, sender, target segment and whether a note was used. Report both the fraction and its numerator and denominator. A change from 20% to 25% means something different over 20 requests than over 2,000. 1

Keep the unit of analysis visible. If each campaign gets one vote, you are estimating typical campaign performance, closer to the way HeyReach presents its result✓. If each invitation gets one vote, large campaigns carry more weight, closer to Reachium's invitation-level table✓. Neither unit is automatically wrong; they answer different management questions. 21

For diagnosing movement, compare similar target segments and equal maturity windows. Review title, company type, geography and sender context before assuming the connection note alone drove the result. Belkins' note/no-note aggregate and Reachium's volume bands are observational, so neither isolates a single causal lever✓. 31

FAQ

How we researched this

We read the original Reachium, HeyReach and Belkins research pages on October 1, 2026 and saved separate snapshots with exact excerpts. Each reported percentage is attributed to its source, period, denominator and unit where provided. All three are vendor or service-provider datasets, not a LinkedIn-published population statistic or an independent randomized trial. 123

How Modern Inbound can help

A useful benchmark should inform a better list and follow-up process, not become a vanity target. Modern Inbound can help define your target accounts, structure outreach and measure the resulting conversations. Discuss your outbound system.