The types of message template

There are two, and the difference is the character limit LinkedIn imposes.

Message

For standard messages to your 1st-degree connections. No character limit — write at whatever length the situation deserves, use variables, and add alternative versions.

Works with:

• Manual messages from the inbox or a chat
• Automated messages in a campaign sequence
• Bulk messages from a pipeline column

Connection request

For the note attached to a LinkedIn invitation, and bound by LinkedIn's own limits:

• 200 characters on free accounts
• 300 characters on Premium accounts
• Some older free accounts still get 300

Choosing

The connection note is the harder brief: 200 characters, and it decides whether the rest of the sequence ever happens. Write it last, once you know what the follow-up message says, so the two read as one thought rather than two.