LinkedIn is a powerful networking platform that offers a way to connect with like-minded business professionals all over the world. As LinkedIn’s capabilities continue to grow, so does the opportunity to grow your personal and business brand.
There are a plethora of measurement metrics on LinkedIn that allow you to assess the effectiveness of your efforts – including LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index (SSI) score. But what does this mean? Read on to find out.
What is a LinkedIn SSI score?
Social selling is the process of forming and developing relationships as part of the sales process. This can be done either offline in person, or online via social media. Platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest are all great places to practise social selling.
The Social Selling Index is a metric that measures how effectively you use LinkedIn as a social media platform. Your SSI score is based on four categories:
- Establishing your professional brand
- Making the right connections and growing your network
- Engaging with others’ content
- Building relationships
Why is my SSI score important?
Your LinkedIn SSI score is a strong indicator of how you’ve developed your brand, connected with B2B buyers, and established relationships. And while your SSI score won’t always determine how successful you will be, it can increase your networking opportunities and possible prospects.
According to LinkedIn, profiles with a high SSI score create 45% more opportunities and are 51% more likely to reach sales quota than those with lower scores.
Whatever your purpose for using LinkedIn, your SSI score is a great metric to let you know if your marketing strategy is on track.
How do I find my SSI score?
Finding your SSI score is simple.
- Firstly, log into your LinkedIn account.
- Navigate to https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi
- You will be redirected to a full dashboard view of all the key metrics, including your SSI score.
What’s a good SSI score?
LinkedIn has claimed that the higher your SSI score is, the more successful you are at reaching your sales goals.
Although 100 is the highest score you can achieve, a more realistic goal is 70-80. With that score, you will be outperforming many of your peers.
How to improve your SSI score
Establish your professional brand
Post regular and original content in the form of posts, articles, and LinkedIn Stories. And complete your profile to the All-Star ranking by following the prompts LinkedIn provides on your profile page.
Connect with the right people
Use LinkedIn’s native search function, Sales Navigator and InMail to connect with new leads and prospects.
Engage with other users’ content
Leave insightful and valuable comments on other people’s posts. The SSI tool looks at the length and quality of comments, which affects your final score.
Build relationships
Network with other businesses and leaders in your industry, as well as those on your peer level. This improves both your LinkedIn feed and SSI score.
If you’re still not getting the score you hoped for, consider paying for the LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Use this tool to build up lead lists and send sales messages to sales prospects. According to LinkedIn, 17% of profiles close higher win rates when saving leads using the Sales Navigator tool.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Focus SME works with businesses to amplify their social media presence and increase leads through social media advertising. We specialise in B2B and service-based companies, assisting them to get the most out of their social media through clever B2B strategies and creative campaign executions.