Warm path
A route to a prospect through something you already share: a mutual connection, common employer or school, a customer in common, or a thread you both engaged in.
A shared discussion, colleague, or event can provide a truthful reason to introduce yourself. Verify the connection and distinguish shared context from an actual referral. Do not imply that a mutual contact endorsed the outreach unless they did.
In practice
Verify a shared event, colleague, or discussion and ask whether mentioning it would be appropriate in the proposed introduction.
What to check
A mutual connection is not an endorsement. Do not invent familiarity or imply that a third party recommended the outreach.
Use it in LinkedBoost
- search_linkedin
Preview people or companies found through a connected LinkedIn account.
- append_knowledge
Add a dated note that later research and drafting can reuse.
Related terms
- Connection graph
- Your accumulated LinkedIn network as an asset: the connections, their connections, and the warm paths between you and anyone you'd want to reach.
- Personalization
- Making a message specific to its recipient. In 2026 the word covers two opposite things: merge-variable insertion (template personalization) and research-based writing (actual personalization).