Comparison
Cold email vs LinkedIn outreach: what eight real campaigns show, and why you cannot rank them
Both work, for different audiences. In our campaigns LinkedIn replies ran from 29% to 45% of people messaged, and email replies from 3.0% to 13.6% of contacts. The audiences, the offers and the way each rate is counted differ, so treat the table as a guide to fit, not a league table.
Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 19 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.
The campaigns, side by side
| Campaign | Channel | Audience | Reply rate and base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundry | Engineers and buyers at US makers | 33% (293 of 879 messaged) | |
| Referral network | Wealth and migration advisors | 44.8% (4,392 of 9,808), quick replies included | |
| Ads agency | Local business owners | 29% (196 of 677) | |
| Sellinger own | Founders and revenue leaders | 40% (10,978 of 27,737) | |
| Regulated carrier | Heads of quality and procurement, Bulgaria | 8.2% for named owners (29 of 353); 6.0% overall (33 of 546 contacts) | |
| Hotel group sales | Companies, HR and office managers | 3.0% (163 of 5,499 contacts); related party | |
| Installer survey | Registered installers | 13.6% in the June to August waves (a warm list of portal users) | |
| Foundry email test | 47 leads | 0 replies. One small test, not proof |
LinkedIn rates count people who accepted a connection first, which is a filter, so they are not comparable with email rates counted from the first send. Definitions are in each case study.
When each channel fits
LinkedIn fits when
- your buyers are on LinkedIn and engage with content on the problem,
- a peer style question suits the audience, as with engineers and advisors,
- you can write from a real person's profile,
- you accept account limits: 20 invitations a day and 150 a week by default.
Cold email fits when
- your buyer is a named role at a company, such as a head of procurement,
- the audience is regulated or formal and expects a letter,
- you can name a person per company and send one letter and one reminder,
- you have the list quality to bounce few.
The common combination is both: 48 customer teams use LinkedIn and email together, and a LinkedIn sequence that runs out moves to email by default. See multichannel follow up sequences.
Common questions
Which has a higher reply rate?
Does cold email still work?
Is cold email legal?
Can one agent do both?
Sources and method
All figures from the linked case studies (snapshots 9 to 11 October 2026), each stating its base. Defaults from the fact register.
Related: LinkedIn agent, email agent, outreach rules, Compare hub.
