How to Send LinkedIn Connection Requests and Messages from Salesforce (2026)

There are three ways to send LinkedIn connection requests and messages from Salesforce: a rep sends them by hand from the record, an outreach tool sends them and syncs back, or FirstTouch for Salesforce runs them from a Salesforce Flow once its beta opens January 4, 2027. The first two are what a Salesforce team can use now. The third is on a waitlist, with general availability planned for Q1 2027. Until then, FirstTouch runs LinkedIn outreach without a Salesforce connection, from its own workflow builder, an AI agent or its API.

Last updated: November 2026

Can a rep send LinkedIn connection requests from a Salesforce record?

Yes. With Salesforce's LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration turned on, a sales user can send an InMail or a connection request from the Actions menu on a lead, contact, opportunity or account record. A person sends each one, and the Sales Navigator license is bought from LinkedIn, separately from Salesforce.

Salesforce's help page lists the native integration for Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited Editions and for users with a Sales Navigator Team or Enterprise license. It puts LinkedIn profiles on those record pages and lets a sales manager add InMail and connection request steps to Sales Engagement cadences. The two send actions it documents are InMail and connection request.

LinkedIn's plan page lists Core from $119.99 and Advanced from $159.99 per license per month, with Advanced Plus priced by quote. Its help center states that integration between Sales Navigator and a CRM is only available on Advanced Plus, so confirm the license with LinkedIn before you plan around this route. Once the integration is set up, activity writeback logs the InMails, messages, connection requests, notes and calls a seller creates in Sales Navigator to Salesforce.

Who it fits: a small team doing high-touch outreach where a rep should write every message.

Which LinkedIn outreach tools sync with Salesforce?

lemlist, Skylead, SalesRobot and Linked Helper each describe a Salesforce integration on their own sites, and We-Connect lists Salesforce among its CRM integrations. The first four send LinkedIn steps from their own campaign builders and write leads or activity to Salesforce. Salesforce supplies the list or receives the log.

Most LinkedIn automation for Salesforce is sold this way. What each vendor's page says:

• lemlist: imports leads, contacts and accounts from a Salesforce list view or report and logs outreach activity such as emails, calls and replies as Tasks or Events. LinkedIn automation is on its Multichannel plan, $109 per user per month, or $87 billed yearly.
• Skylead: creates or updates a Salesforce lead when you send a message or receive a reply. Its All-in-one plan is $100 a seat per month with a 7-day free trial.
• SalesRobot: forwards outbound activity such as new leads and replies to Salesforce and moves leads between the two. Plans are priced per LinkedIn account, from $59 a month, or $39 billed annually.
• Linked Helper: desktop software that sends prospects to Salesforce as Leads, Contacts or Accounts and, on its Pro plan, saves LinkedIn messages and replies as Notes or Tasks. It needs a Salesforce edition with API access, and Standard starts at $15 per license per month.

The cost is a second system: the sequence, the senders and the message copy live in the vendor's app, and what reaches the record depends on that tool's sync. On the pages we read on November 10, 2026, none of the four describes a LinkedIn action inside Salesforce Flow Builder. Who it fits: teams that want a LinkedIn and email sequencer now and are comfortable running campaigns outside the CRM.

Can a Salesforce Flow send a LinkedIn connection request or message?

With FirstTouch for Salesforce, yes, once its beta opens January 4, 2027. The beta preview shows Check LinkedIn connection, Send connection request and Send LinkedIn message as actions in Salesforce Flow Builder, with general availability planned for Q1 2027. None of the other routes in this guide describes a LinkedIn send inside a Flow, on the pages we read.

This is the route for a team that wants to trigger LinkedIn outreach from a Salesforce flow, or add LinkedIn steps to Salesforce automation it already runs. The waitlist page shows the preview as a record-triggered flow on Lead. The steps below describe that preview and are not a tested walkthrough, because the beta is not open yet.

1. Lead is created. The flow starts when a new Lead record is created.
2. Check LinkedIn connection. A FirstTouch action checks whether the lead owner is connected to the lead on LinkedIn.
3. Decision. A Decision element asks whether the owner is connected and splits the flow into a Connected path and a Not connected path.
4. Connected: Send LinkedIn message. A FirstTouch action sends the lead a LinkedIn message.
5. Not connected: Send connection request. A FirstTouch action sends a connection request instead.

The check comes first because, in FirstTouch today, a LinkedIn message can only go to a first-degree connection, so someone who is not connected yet gets the request first.

The same page shows what else the beta is planned to include:

• LinkedIn activity on the Salesforce record: connection request sent, connection accepted and reply.
• Dashboards for replies, meetings and revenue by rep.
• Engagement signals, where people who engage with posts become Leads.
• Enrichment on the record: profile, company, email and phone.
• Approvals in Slack, logged in Salesforce.
• Running it from Claude or ChatGPT.

FirstTouch has not published pricing for the Salesforce product, edition requirements or an AppExchange listing yet.

How do the three routes compare?

The routes differ on who sends the LinkedIn step and where it is built. A rep sends by hand with Sales Navigator, an outreach tool sends from its own campaign builder and syncs to Salesforce, and the FirstTouch for Salesforce beta preview shows the step inside a Salesforce Flow. Only the first two are open before January 4, 2027.

Vendor pricing and features checked on each vendor's own pages on November 10, 2026. The FirstTouch for Salesforce column describes the beta preview, not a released product.

What can a Salesforce team run with FirstTouch before the beta opens?

A Salesforce team can run LinkedIn outreach in FirstTouch without waiting for the beta: build a Flow Plan in FirstTouch's own workflow builder with no CRM connected, run it from an AI agent over MCP, or have a developer connect Salesforce through the REST API and outbound webhooks.

• FirstTouch's own builder (Flows). A Flow Plan can start from a CSV file, a Sales Navigator import or an existing audience, so a Salesforce report exported as a CSV works as the source. A CSV audience holds up to 1,000 records, and each row needs a name plus a company domain, an email or a LinkedIn profile URL.
• An AI agent over MCP. Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants connect to FirstTouch at mcp.firsttouch.ai as a custom connector with 60+ tools, then build audiences, draft Flow Plans and queue outreach for one contact at a time. The setup is in how to connect Claude to LinkedIn.
• The REST API and outbound webhooks. The REST API exposes the same operations as the MCP server, so your own code can enroll a contact in a Flow Plan when a Salesforce record changes. Outbound webhooks post events such as connection request sent, connection accepted and message received to an HTTPS endpoint you run, which can write them to Salesforce. FirstTouch does not write to Salesforce itself in this setup, and the LinkedIn outreach API guide covers the developer side.

Approvals are on by default and configurable by action type. Dynamic Actions, the one-contact actions an agent or an API call creates, default to approval required unless you explicitly ask otherwise. Flow steps have their own approval settings, and inbox replies are authorized by exact text. Approval tasks appear in FirstTouch and reach mapped members as Slack direct messages once Slack is connected. For account safety, see is LinkedIn automation safe.

"FirstTouch allows us to operationalize social selling across our team and has helped us turn LinkedIn into a primary GTM channel." Roberto Salinas, Head of Biz Dev, Gail

Which route should a Salesforce team choose?

Choose by where the trigger lives. If the LinkedIn touch should start from a Salesforce record change, join the FirstTouch for Salesforce waitlist and run FirstTouch's own builder until the beta opens. If a few reps send high-touch InMails and you already pay for Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, the built-in record actions are enough.

FirstTouch is the best fit when LinkedIn has to run as a governed channel. Approvals are on by default, it is SOC 2 Type II, and 300+ revenue teams use it, with 1M+ actions processed under approval, pacing and audit. If you need LinkedIn and email in one sequencer this quarter and are comfortable building campaigns outside Salesforce, lemlist or Skylead is the better fit.

Frequently asked questions

Is FirstTouch for Salesforce available yet?

No. FirstTouch for Salesforce is not open yet. The waitlist is open at firsttouch.com/salesforce, the beta opens January 4, 2027, and general availability is planned for Q1 2027.

Do I need Sales Navigator to send LinkedIn outreach from Salesforce?

For Salesforce's built-in route, yes. In FirstTouch today, a connection request without a note and a message to a first-degree connection run on a standard LinkedIn profile, while a connection note and InMail need the sender's LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator. Requirements for the Salesforce beta have not been published yet.

Which Salesforce editions will FirstTouch for Salesforce support?

Edition requirements have not been published yet. The waitlist form asks which edition you run and lists Starter Suite or Pro Suite, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1.

How much will FirstTouch for Salesforce cost?

Pricing for the Salesforce product has not been published yet. FirstTouch today is $99 per sender per month, with 500 credits per sender per month pooled across the workspace and a 14-day free trial that needs no credit card. Sending connection requests and messages uses no credits. See current pricing.

Do I need HubSpot to use FirstTouch?

No. HubSpot is an optional integration, and FirstTouch runs from its own builder, from AI agents and over its API with no CRM connected. HubSpot is the CRM where FirstTouch's workflow actions run today, as how to send LinkedIn touches from HubSpot workflows explains.