What’s the Best Point of Contact for Recruiters in 2025?

In 2025, finding the best point of contact could not be more important for recruiters. If you're still relying on just one channel to reach candidates, you're probably not getting the reply rates you want – but which one should you prioritize?

LinkedIn, WhatsApp/ SMS and email each play distinct roles in recruitment. Understanding how to use all 3 points of contact effectively is what separates recruiters who get ignored from those who consistently get responses and good placements. Let’s look at this more closely.

Why Is Finding the Right Point of Contact Important for Recruiters?

Getting candidates to reply to outreach messages is one of the biggest challenges recruiters face today.

Industry average reply rates hover around 10-20%. That means for every 100 messages you send, you should only expect around 10 to 20 replies. But sending boring, generic messages or using the wrong platforms doesn’t just waste your time – it also affects your credibility, and candidates will learn not to trust you if they think your outreach is scammy or overly pushy.

Candidate fatigue is also a challenge. Easy Apply features have flooded the recruitment market with applications, but they’ve also trained candidates to tune out low-effort outreach.

When applying for jobs takes one click, candidates can apply to everything without truly engaging with companies or their recruitment teams, which has forced recruiters to get smarter about the points of contact they use and how they approach candidates.

But while the most successful recruitment professionals are mastering cross-platform outreach, many are stuck sending InMails that just get ignored, using fragmented tools and having to manually track their progress. And when you’re not even getting responses, the outreach and the admin that surrounds it can feel like a huge waste of resources.

The solution isn't just better messaging. While personalizing your outreach and thoroughly researching candidates will help you get better reply rates, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Reaching candidates through the right platform at the right time is also important – and it’s the vital piece that many recruiters miss.

What Are the 3 Points of Contact for Recruiters?

LinkedIn

LinkedIn remains the main professional point of contact around the world. Candidates expect to hear from recruiters here, which is both good and bad. On the one hand, it means they’re open to cold outreach from people they don’t know. The downside is, their DMs are probably flooded with similar messages.

The problem with LinkedIn isn't the platform but how recruiters tend to use it. Generic InMails that could have been sent to anyone get ignored instantly, because there’s nothing context-specific or personal about them.

‘I came across your profile and thought you'd be perfect for this role’ could be sent to anyone, and many recruiters will forward this same message to a hundred applicants at once.

The way to make LinkedIn work is through contextual, personalized messages. Mention specific projects from their background, explain why this particular role matches their trajectory or goals, and show you understand what they do and you’re keen to learn more.

This feels less like a mass, automated outreach message and more targeted and personal. People will be flattered if they think you’re interested in them, specifically, and it shows you’ve done your research.

LinkedIn: How Does Kalent Help?

Kalent can help you master LinkedIn as a recruitment resource. Our tool uses job ad context to craft LinkedIn messages that feel personalized because they are. The platform understands the role requirements and the candidate's background, then creates outreach that connects the two naturally.

WhatsApp & SMS

In Europe, WhatsApp is standard professional communication, while elsewhere in the world, using this point of contact may be seen as intrusive. This is where geography matters – use one of the 3 points of contact with the wrong candidate, and you won’t get responses, not because of your messaging, but because they’re not looking there.

Text messaging has become acceptable for professional outreach in some regions, especially for roles in tech, sales and other fast-moving industries where candidates expect quick communication.

In the U.S., however, texting candidates with unsolicited job ads is illegal if you don’t have their express permission. Get this wrong, and you’ll not only harm your reputation but you’ll also risk a legal penalty.

WhatsApp & SMS: How Does Kalent Help?

If you recruit globally, the challenge is using these channels legally and appropriately. Kalent can help you by integrating WhatsApp and SMS in a compliant way, ensuring recruiters use them effectively without risking legal issues or annoying candidates.

Email

Email isn't dead, but it's no longer the primary point of contact for all candidates. For longer, more formal outreach (especially when you need to include detailed job descriptions or attachments), email still has value, and is often used as a second point of contact after initial outreach on LinkedIn or via WhatsApp/SMS. Some candidates just prefer email for initial professional contact.

Industry data shows that cold email response rates are only around 1-5% – much lower than more conversational channels – and it’s easy to see why. Candidate inboxes are cluttered, messages get buried and candidates have been trained to ignore anything that looks like spam or mass outreach.

As one of the 3 points of contact, email works best as part of a multi-touch sequence. You might send a LinkedIn message first, follow up via email a few days later, and then try WhatsApp or SMS if you haven't heard back. This layered approach catches candidates wherever they're most active.

Email: How Does Kalent Help?

Kalent integrates email alongside LinkedIn and WhatsApp to help you engage candidates at every part of the process. Rather than treating email as your only option, it becomes one tool in a coordinated strategy across multiple points of contact.

How Kalent Unifies the 3 Points of Contact Into One Workflow

Kalent helps recruiters succeed by unifying the 3 points of contact into one workflow. Instead of sending generic outreach, Kalent will help you draft context-specific, personalized messages to the right people on the right platforms at the right time.

This approach isn’t about volume but about targeting qualified candidates with messaging that will keep them interested, no matter how many other recruiters are also knocking at their door. Sending 50 personalized messages across the right points of contact will always outperform sending 500 generic messages on a single channel.

You’ll save time on manual tasks, speak to more qualified candidates, create better candidate experiences and ultimately close more placements. That's what multi-channel outreach delivers when done correctly.

Plus, instead of forcing recruiters to manage separate tools for LinkedIn, WhatsApp, SMS, email, and tracking, Kalent integrates everything into one system.

Ready to see what happens when you reach candidates where they actually respond?

Book a demo and discover how the right points of contact can boost your reply rates and land you great placements.

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