By Zivko Dodovski, Founder & CEO, DoneMaker · Updated September 2026
Using WhatsApp, LinkedIn and email together does not mean contacting the same person on all three. It means starting cold on one channel, and earning the others. LinkedIn is where a stranger can be approached. Email is where the conversation goes once it is live. WhatsApp is where it goes only if they offer it. The order is the whole strategy.
Multi-channel is a sequence, not a spread
The version of multi-channel outreach that gets sold is parallel: find the prospect everywhere and contact them everywhere, on the theory that one of the channels will land. What actually happens is that the prospect notices. A connection request, an email and a text in the same week is not three touchpoints, it is one message delivered three times by someone who will not take silence for an answer.
The version that works is sequential. Each channel is unlocked by something the prospect did. They accepted your request, so you can message them. They replied and asked for detail, so you can email them. They gave you their number, so you can text them. Nothing is used before it is given.
That is also why it does not need software to coordinate. There is no cross-channel automation to build, because the next channel only opens when a person does something.
What each channel is actually for
| Can you start cold here? | Yes, once they accept your connection request | Yes, if you accept starting as an unknown sender | No |
| How you get the channel | They accept your request | You find or buy the address | They give you the number |
| What it is good at | Starting the conversation with your profile already visible | Anything long: a scope, a proposal, a document | Keeping a conversation that is already live moving |
| What kills it | Automation, and pitching before they have spoken | Burning the domain, or reading like a template | Using it before you were invited |
| Where it sits in the order | First | Second, after they reply | Last, and only if offered |
The order that works
One. The connection request. Sent by hand, no note attached, to someone who matches the list you built on purpose. Nothing is asked for yet.
Two. The conversation on LinkedIn. Short messages, one question at a time, on the profile they already looked at. This is where you find out whether there is anything to talk about. Most outreach ends here, correctly, because most prospects are not in the market this month. What the messages look like is in cold LinkedIn DMs vs cold email.
Three. Email, once they ask for something. The moment a prospect says send me the details, LinkedIn stops being the right place. Scopes, pricing, case studies and anything with an attachment belong in an inbox where they can find it again in a month. Ask for the address rather than looking it up; asking is part of the consent.
Four. WhatsApp or the phone, if they offer. Some prospects will say just text me. That is an invitation and it is worth taking, because a live thread moves faster than anything else here. It is not an invitation you can assume.
The follow-up rhythm inside step two, and what to do when the reply comes, is in converting LinkedIn connections to clients.
A word on WhatsApp specifically
WhatsApp is a personal space for most people, and how personal depends heavily on where your buyer is. In much of Latin America, southern Europe and the Middle East it is ordinary for business, and a message there is unremarkable. For the US and Canadian B2B buyers we work with, it is not, and an uninvited WhatsApp message from a vendor reads as an intrusion in a way the same message on LinkedIn does not.
So the rule is the same rule, applied harder: you use it when they give you the number, and not before. If you are unsure which kind of market you are selling into, that uncertainty is your answer.
How DoneMaker runs it
We run one channel, manually. A strategist writes the four messages with you and builds the list. An outreach specialist sends every connection request and every message by hand, every working day, and logs what happens. An account manager runs a weekly strategy call.
We do not run cold email, we do not run cold calling, and we do not send WhatsApp messages to people who have not given us a number. When a prospect asks you for detail, you email them, from your own address, because by then it is your conversation and not ours. The method itself is in the LinkedIn outreach playbook.
DoneMaker by the numbers
As of September 2026:
- Running manual LinkedIn outreach since 2018
- 58+ active client accounts, US and Canada
- Up to 40 connection requests sent per working day, by hand
- 25–30% average connection rate
- 7–11 deal opportunities per account per month
- 4–5 booked calls per account per month
- Clients: accounting, bookkeeping and CFO firms; digital, marketing and advertising agencies; coaches and consultants; B2B services with relationship-driven sales
A deal opportunity is a prospect who expresses clear interest: asks questions, opens an email exchange, or books a call.
Which channel to commit to first
If you are only going to run one cold channel, and most small teams should, the choice between LinkedIn, cold email and the phone is made in LinkedIn vs cold email vs cold calling. The wider view across every social channel is in the guide to cold outreach on social media.
Frequently asked questions
Should I contact a prospect on LinkedIn and by email at the same time?
No. Parallel contact on two cold channels reads as pressure and usually ends the conversation before it starts. Start on one, and move to the second once the prospect has replied and there is a reason to.
Is it acceptable to message a B2B prospect on WhatsApp?
Only if they gave you the number. Where your buyer is matters too: WhatsApp is ordinary for business in many markets and unusual in US and Canadian B2B. When in doubt, do not.
Which channel should I start with?
LinkedIn, if your buyer is on it, because your profile does the introducing before your first sentence is read. Email first is the better call when your market is very large, your buyer is not really on LinkedIn, or the list is already yours.
Does multi-channel outreach get better results than a single channel?
Sequenced, yes, because each channel is doing the job it is suited to. Run in parallel, it usually performs worse than one channel done properly, because the prospect experiences it as being chased.
When should I move the conversation off LinkedIn?
When the prospect asks for something LinkedIn is bad at holding: a proposal, pricing, a document, anything they will want to find again later. Ask for the email address rather than looking it up.
Want to see what this looks like for your firm? Book a call; 20 minutes, and we’ll tell you honestly whether LinkedIn outreach fits your business before anything else. If you’d rather read first, here is how the service works.
