In an increasingly noisy and crowded landscape, LinkedIn has emerged as the platform for business professionals to build connections, boost reputations and unlock new opportunities.
With over 675 million members and counting, tapping into even a fraction of LinkedIn‘s potential users represents access to an incredibly valuable audience.
But organic growth requires consistent, thoughtful relationship building over an extended time horizon. And so automation services like We Connect promising exponential gains in a fraction of the time present quite the alluring temptation.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll peel back the curtain on We Connect specifically diving into what it actually offers, benefits provided, potential account-damaging downsides as well as concrete steps you can take to manually amplify your LinkedIn presence the right way.
What Exactly is We Connect and How Does it Work?
We Connect markets itself as "the world‘s safest LinkedIn automation tool designed to close 10x more deals through 55+ time-saving features."
In essence, it aims to completely eliminate the repetitive grunt work associated with organic LinkedIn growth like sending customized connection requests or penning thoughtful replies to inbound messages.
Here‘s an overview of We Connect‘s core offerings:
- Campaign Manager – Create customized automation campaigns targeting your ideal audiences and trigger actions like automated connection invites, profile views, content shares and more
- Smart Reply – Auto-send predetermined responses to incoming messages based on keywords and past replies
- Endorsement Automation – One click endorse skills listed on member profiles en masse
- Performance Analytics – Reporting dashboard to monitor account growth metrics, top content and engagement
The service works by connecting your LinkedIn account directly granting We Connect full access to act on your behalf based on defined parameters.
For example, you may choose to target all sales managers within 50 miles that work at companies in healthcare or technology. We Connect will then continually search based on this criteria and automatically send customized connection requests pulling details from their profiles like employer, job title and more.
Taken at face value, the ability to systemize and automate traditionally tedious, manual processes certainly provides upside. But as we‘ll explore, those rewards come bundled with substantial risk.
The Allure and Hidden Dangers of LinkedIn Automation
Automation aims to multiply output and accelerate growth by essentially fake engagement at scale. But this clashes directly with LinkedIn‘s interests focused on cultivating authentic communities derived from real human connection.
And so rather than take a lax approach to automation abuse like Twitter or YouTube, LinkedIn has adopted an aggressive posture geared toward systematically eliminating artificial activity.
The stats don‘t lie:
- LinkedIn issues over 150,000+ account restriction warnings per week related to automation or coordinated fake engagement [Source]
- Nearly one million LinkedIn profiles were outright banned over 12 months through 2020 for terms of service violations including automation [Source]
And anecdotally, in various online communities, stories continue pouring in of suddenly disabled accounts accompanied by LinkedIn messages explicitly citing automation as cause.
The bottom line: Playing fast and loose by automating connections or activity opens you up to severe downsides like profile deletions which sever hard-earned professional relationships and torpedo credibility built over years cultivating a presence.
The supposed benefits promised by We Connect simply are not worth the distributing costs and lasting damage automated short cuts trigger.
LinkedIn‘s Unequivocal Stance Against Automation
Unlike other social platforms, LinkedIn explicitly bans automation or bots of any kind under their user agreement terms stating:
"You agree that you will not engage in activity that significantly detracts from or interferes with the performance or functionality of the Services or introduces significant security vulnerabilities to us or others [which includes…] using bots, scripts or other automated technology to access the Services."
The policy stems from LinkedIn‘s mission upholding professional credibility by fostering transparent, trusted relationships between real verified members.
Automation erodes integrity of the ecosystem they aim to nurture by undermining confidence connections represent mutually affirmed bonds.
And so LinkedIn employs advanced detection paired with ruthless enforcement establishing clear consequences for those suspected of violations:
First Infraction – Restriction warning requiring acknowledging automation violated terms
Second Infraction – Temporary account suspension and request to re-acknowledge understanding
Third Strike – Permanent termination of account and access revoked
Yet despite the clearly communicated threats, services like We Connect continue peddling tools directly enabling activities that so clearly clash with LinkedIn‘sallowances.
We Connect Features That Defy LinkedIn
Here‘s a breakdown of core We Connect capabilities running afoul of LinkedIn‘s anti-automation policies:
| We Connect Feature | Violates LinkedIn Terms? |
|---|---|
| Automated Link Requests | Yes |
| Auto Profile Views | Yes |
| Bulk Endorsements | Yes |
| Auto-Messages | Yes |
The act of signing up and connecting one‘s LinkedIn account with We Connect immediately breaches terms by enabling them as a "third-party application" to programmatically interact on a user‘s behalf.
And running personalized outreach campaigns or systematically endorsing skills at scale trigger activity patterns highly suggestive of automation abuse.
Quite simply – all roads lead to policy violation when it comes to allowing We Connect access or leveraging its tooling.
This remains true despite smoke and mirror messaging aiming to position We Connect as a safe, recommended path. When in reality nothing could be further from the truth.
We Connect Pricing Breakdown
As referenced earlier, We Connect offers various levels of access:
Starter – $49/month
Team – $149/month
Business -$249/month
Enterprise – Custom Quote
Pricing decreases substantially when committing to an annual contract. However, instead of viewing lower costs as value, recognize it signals correctly that long term use inherently puts accounts at heightened risk.
Again, any perceived time savings fail to outweigh lasting reputational damage and severed connections from banned accounts.
Healthy LinkedIn Growth Starts With Manual Relationship Building
While automation presents tempting short-cuts, consider both short and long-term horizon when cultivating LinkedIn presence.
The platform intrinsically rewards gradual, genuine relationship development even if initial progress lags other unsustainable approaches.
Here are 3 tips to responsibly increase quality connections over time:
1. Personalize Invites – Take the time to draft custom messages addressing specifics about an individual when requesting to connect.
2. Schedule Regular Engagement – Block off consistent weekly time to send introductions or thoughtful comments on new posts rather than huge hourly batches indicating automation.
3. Limit Daily Interactions – Carefully pace outreach volume to avoid triggers. LinkedIn visibility deprioritizes those demonstrating signals of automation abuse anyway.
Embrace authentic, nurtured growth earning the trust and respect of those you interact with. Not only will this organically expand your network, but positions you as a reputable member less likely facing restrictions.
Final Verdict: Avoid the Empty Promises and Pitfalls of We Connect
Hopefully this thorough evaluation clearly establishes why engaging services like We Connect in search of shortcuts carries far more downside than potential reward.
Without question, any form of LinkedIn automation directly conflicts with well-defined platform policies strictly enforced through aggressive monitoring and account limitations.
Rather than flirt with disaster chasing loosely grounded claims of 10x connections or deals, remain above board adopting conscientious, personalized engagement practices that nurture credibility and bearing fruit over a longer time arc.
While the siren song of automation persists in the background with each batch of mundane outreach, tune your focus toward long term gains unlocked through genuine human bonds. Doing so pays dividends across months and years – not temporary vanity metrics juiced through synthetic means.