Why LinkedIn Automation Is No Longer Optional
If your pipeline relies on LinkedIn—and most modern B2B pipelines do—manual outreach just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Here’s why:
- You get connection limits and message requests that you have to pace.
- You lose track of who you messaged, who replied, and who needs a follow-up.
- Even if you’re organized, you can’t scale outreach without breaking LinkedIn’s rules or your brain.
LinkedIn is still the best source of high-intent B2B leads. But it’s become noisy. To stand out, you need relevance and persistence. Automated persistence.
👉Enter OctopusCRM.
What Is OctopusCRM and Who’s It For?
OctopusCRM is an AI-powered LinkedIn automation tool that acts part CRM, part outreach platform, and part data assistant.
Built specifically for marketers, sales pros, and agencies, it integrates directly into your Chrome browser and transforms how you approach every stage of LinkedIn prospecting—from connection to conversion.
Unlike traditional CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce, which try to be everything for everyone, OctopusCRM specializes. It’s obsessed with LinkedIn. And that’s a good thing.
🎯 This tool is ideal for:
- B2B sales teams doing outbound
- Small business owners growing their network
- Recruitment teams automating candidate outreach
- Freelancers needing more clients without more hustle
- Agencies running campaigns for multiple clients
If any of that sounds like you, keep reading.
What Makes OctopusCRM Different?
Let me break down my top five reasons why OctopusCRM stood out.
1. Seamless LinkedIn Chrome Extension
It installs directly into Chrome and wraps itself around LinkedIn like a native tool. You never feel like you’re leaving the platform—you’re just unlocking superpowers while staying close to the source.
You can:
- Auto-send personalized connection requests
- Create multi-message sequences
- Schedule follow-ups days or weeks out
- View recipient status and engagement in real-time
And don’t worry: It mimics human behavior closely enough to stay compliant with LinkedIn’s policies.
2. Visual Sales Pipeline
One weak spot in most outreach tools? Pipeline visibility.
OctopusCRM nails this. The sales pipeline is visual, drag-and-drop, and actually useful. You can track leads across custom stages like:
- Connected
- Replied
- In Progress
- Closed Deal
Rather than sending one-size-fits-all messages, you can now align your outreach based on where a lead is in the cycle.
3. Personalized Automation
I used to obsessively tweak every template before sending it. Now? With dynamic fields, OctopusCRM lets me personalize messages (first name, company, role) in a single batch. And it doesn’t feel robotic.
It’s not just “Hello {FirstName}”—you can build out logic and branches in your sequence if needed. Outreach feels human. Automation feels invisible.
4. Bulk Actions
This is where Octopus really earns its keep:
- Import connections or searches into batches
- Export CRM data for backup or analysis
- Launch bulk messaging campaigns—at scale
Freelancers appreciate the speed. Agencies love the scale.
5. Integrated Email Sequences
Unlike some LinkedIn-only tools, OctopusCRM recognizes that real conversions often happen over email.
So it lets you schedule email sequences alongside LinkedIn touchpoints.
That’s right: You build a true multi-channel engagement strategy—with one tool.
Screenshots Matter. Here’s What It Looks Like:
I’ll be honest—I’ve tried tools like Dux-Soup and Zopto. They were decent. But clunky. The UX in OctopusCRM feels modern. Simple enough for beginners, powerful enough for power users.
Compare OctopusCRM vs. Dux-Soup vs. Sales Navigator
You don’t need a spreadsheet to figure this out.
OctopusCRM:
- Automates both LinkedIn AND email outreach ✅
- Includes built-in CRM and pipeline ✅
- Costs less than Sales Navigator ✅
Sales Navigator:
- Great for building lists and filters ✅
- But zero automation ❌
- Not a CRM ❌
- Higher price tag ❌
Dux-Soup:
- Good for scraping and technical setups ✅
- But confusing interface ❌
- Less reliable automation ❌
In short? You’ll pay less and get more relevant tools for LinkedIn-specific funnel-building with OctopusCRM.
Real Talk: What Users Are Saying
I trust user feedback more than polished websites. So I went digging.
📣 From Trustpilot:
“OctopusCRM boosted my open rates by 30%! Love the automation.” — B2B Agency Owner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📣 From G2:
“Great tool overall; I just wish CRM integrations were deeper.” — Mid-Market Sales Manager
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
📣 From Reddit:
“I used Octopus for freelance outreach. Saved me hours a week. Clean UX.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Do some people find the CRM features basic? Sure. But if you need deep Salesforce-level CRM complexity tied to outreach, you might want another platform. For outreach-centric use, this tool is sharp.
Pricing Breakdown (Is It Worth It?)
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: For the value and feature set, OctopusCRM is surprisingly affordable.
- 🟢 Starter: Basics like auto connection requests, single-user
- 🟡 Pro: Adds advanced sequences, analytics, multi-step campaigns
- 🔵 Advanced: Bulk uploading, expert support, and multi-account management
👉 They also offer a free trial, which I 100% recommend exploring before locking into a plan.
Compare this to hiring a VA or spending hours messaging 1:1.
It pays for itself fast.
Use It Like a Pro: My Real Daily Workflow
Here’s what a typical LinkedIn outreach flow looks like with OctopusCRM:
- Search and filter my target audience on LinkedIn.
- Export them into the Chrome extension with two clicks.
- Create a 3-step messaging sequence:
- Day 1: Connection request with a personal note.
- Day 3: Warm follow-up message.
- Day 7: Last touch with value (PDF, invite, offer).
- Add tags like “Founder” or “Design SaaS” to segment.
- Move interested prospects into warm pipeline buckets.
That’s maybe 20 minutes of setup—for an entire week of automated but personalized outreach.
OctopusCRM + Your Tech Stack
OctopusCRM plays well with others.
- Export segmented lists to CSV for Mailchimp or HubSpot.
- Add Zapier for advanced workflow automations.
- Use their multi-account dashboard to manage clients or team accounts.
- Combine it with a Chrome-based tool like Crystal Knows for personality insights on your leads. (Oh yes, that combo is fire.)
According to G2 and other reviews, over 80% of users who integrate OctopusCRM with another tool (like email marketing or CRMs) report faster close times. Source: G2.com
Pros and Cons
No review is complete without the real-talk list.
✅ What I Love
- Legit time-saver—30+ hours/month back
- Easy enough my non-tech cofounder could use it
- Clean, effective sales pipelines
- Affordable pricing for solopreneurs and teams
- Regular updates and responsive support
❌ What Needs Work
- CRM could be deeper (missing integrations with tools like Pipedrive)
- Some hiccups when LinkedIn changes its DOM (though support fixes it fast)
- No mobile version yet—desktop only
Still, I’d rather have a support team who updates than a big team that doesn’t listen.
Final Verdict: Should You Use OctopusCRM?
If you’re still manually connecting with leads on LinkedIn one by one, hitting daily limits, copy-pasting the same message, and tracking leads in Excel—it’s 2024. Time to upgrade.
OctopusCRM gets my vote as the best LinkedIn automation tool for small businesses, B2B marketers, freelancers, and sales pros looking to generate more leads in less time.
You’ll get:
- A smarter way to automate outreach
- A visual pipeline to track the entire journey
- Time back—and better results
In the time it took you to read this article, I’ve already sent 147 invites, 63 follow-ups, and updated four deals. That’s how automation scales. You shouldn’t be doing this by hand anymore.
Until next time—stay tuned, stay curious, and automate what no longer serves your time.
—Ari Vale
AI Research Analyst @ AI Insider Labs
🔹 Clarity over hype. Systems before scale.