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What 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Connections on LinkedIn Mean and Why They’re Important

Understanding the importance of your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree connections is crucial to making the most of your LinkedIn experience.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through what they mean, why each one is important, and how to network better and build stronger connections.

Check out the video below for a quick overview.

Let’s start by outlining what these degrees mean.

What’s the Difference Between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Connections?

To give it a broad definition, LinkedIn has a system of classifying your connections in relation to how you are connected to them on the LinkedIn platform. Granted, that doesn’t say very much, so instead, we’ll break down each category and give examples.

As we do, we promise it’ll make more sense.

Your 1st-Degree LinkedIn Connections

If you’ve ever sent a connection request to somebody, the moment they accept your invitation, they become a 1st-degree connection.

Likewise, if you’ve ever received an invitation to connect from a LinkedIn user, as soon as you accept their invitation, you become a 1st-degree connection.

In other words, sending or receiving the invitation is not enough – the other party must accept it, making it a mutual connection.

The Benefits of 1st-Degree Connections

The two biggest advantages of being first-degree connections are direct messaging via LinkedIn Messenger and being able to view their contact information if they’ve included it on their profile.

This may include their email address, phone number, and social media handles which can be helpful for sales prospecting or keeping in touch with users who might not rely primarily on LinkedIn to communicate.

Your 2nd-Degree LinkedIn Connections

Users with a “2nd” next to their name share at least one 1st-degree connection with you but aren’t connected to you directly as a 1st-degree connection. Although you can’t message them directly, there is one major benefit to being a 2nd-degree connection.

The Benefits of 2nd-Degree Connections

2nd-degree connections are more likely to connect with you if you send an invite, as they’ll be able to see which mutual 1st-degree connections you share. Again, we suggest sticking to the simple invitation approach to get the best results. In these invites, you can include the name of a mutual invitation or two to add to your credibility.

Again, you can’t directly message them as you could a 1st-degree connection, you do have the option to send them InMails (like the ones you get with a LinkedIn Premium account), which are paid LinkedIn messages you can send to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.

Your 3rd-Degree Connections

3rd-degree connections are users connected to your 2nd-degree connections. While further removed from your 1st-degree connections, this doesn’t mean you won’t be able to try and connect with them.

You won’t be able to message 3rd-degree connections unless you’re using InMail. The one exception to this rule is that you can send direct messages to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections who are members of the same LinkedIn groups as you. So, try and join relevant groups if you aren’t already doing so. Not only can you reach out to people in those groups, but you can also participate in discussions, which is another way to build relationships and establish your own credibility in your industry.

For more information on LinkedIn connections and degrees, check out LinkedIn’s official answer to the same question.

How to Make Better, More Successful 1st-Degree Connections on LinkedIn

Here are a few solid ways to build your network faster and with better connections:

1. Personalize

Personalize your connection request by writing a message that explains why you want to connect with them. Simply giving a reason of any kind (within reason) is actually a powerful technique.

2. Optimize your profile

Make sure you have a complete and professional profile before reaching out to others. The more information you have in there, the more credible and professional you look, which means you’ll be able to make more connections.

3. Be picky

Only connect with people you have a genuine interest in connecting with, such as colleagues, industry professionals, or potential clients. You could just blast out connection requests but this won’t lead to meaningful connections.

4. Search and filter

Use LinkedIn’s search function to find people who share your interests or work in your field. Plus, you can use the filters in the search to sort out your leads by their degree of connection to you.

5. Be actively engaged

Be active on the platform by regularly posting content, commenting on other people’s posts, and engaging with others’ content. You don’t need to post massive, intense articles to be active on LinkedIn. Engagement, comments, and even short posts to your feed go a long way, especially if done consistently.

6. Group up

Network in groups, join groups relevant to your interests and industry and participate in group discussions. Not only does it enrich your professional life, but you’ll be able to direct message 2nd and 3rd-degree connections who share groups with you.

7. Follow

Follow companies, influencers, and thought leaders in your field to stay up-to-date on industry news and trends.

8. Respect

Be respectful, professional, and friendly when connecting and engaging with others on LinkedIn. Plus, it’s a good rule for life, in general.

A Quick Tip for Personalizing Your Connection Requests

Here’s a tip for you whether you’re new to LinkedIn or you’ve been using it for years. If you want to build your network with quality 1st-degree connections, the best approach is to send a short, personalized message rather than the standard invitation.

Maybe you share an industry or credentials, or you went to the same school. Just keep it short and sweet with this approach, and you’ll make far more connections than just relying on the invitation copy everyone else uses. And don’t try to hard-sell in your initial invitation – this is generally ignored or not received well.

Want to Take Your LinkedIn Prospecting to the Next Level?

We covered how to build your network with meaningful connections and how to understand how connections work. But if you’re here to prospect on LinkedIn so you can grow your business fast, we have some good news.

We mentioned earlier that you’ll come across some connections who don’t rely on LinkedIn for their communication. Some might prefer contact via email or phone, for example.

But you don’t always have the ability to reach them whether it’s because they aren’t a first-degree connection, or you don’t have the InMails, or their contact info isn’t listed. Don’t worry – Wiza can help.

What is Wiza?

Wiza is an app in which you can create a free account and then export LinkedIn searches with just a few clicks. With WIza, you can pull contact information right from within someone’s LinkedIn profile.

Find email and phone button on LinkedIn with Wiza's Chrome extension

If you’re already doing your research on someone’s profile, it only takes a click or two before you’re extracting their contact information. With their email address, you can now prospect on your own terms, possibly leading to better results.

Or you can use your LinkedIn Sales Navigator account to run a filtered search. Once you have your results, Wiza can export your contacts (up to 2500 at once), which is a process that runs in the background so you can continue to work without interruption. You’ll get a notification once the export is done and ready for you.

No matter which route you take, Wiza will verify all contact info in real time. Thanks to live SMTP verification, Wiza also checks to make sure that each email address is live and active. In other words, you can be sure you have good contact info, and you aren’t wasting your time sending emails to dead addresses that could cause your email to bounce, negatively affecting your domain reputation.