Using LinkedIn to discover, connect, and build relationships with future leads and prospects is known as social selling.

To clarify, consider social selling as contemporary networking. Certainly, engaging with prospects on social media may help you stand out as the first company they think of when they’re ready to purchase.

Social selling is based on four key values:

  • Personal branding
  • Target Audience
  • Data-driven Insights
  • Networking

What LinkedIn Social Selling is NOT About

  • Stalking: most importantly, don’t like, repost or leave a comment on each and every post that someone makes. It’s just weird. Maintain your attention without going too far and coming across as a creepy stalker.
  • Posting as much content as you can: in order to become a successful content curator and thought leader in social selling, learn to listen to customers in order to ascertain their interests. In other words, nobody likes annoying posters with nonsense content.
  • Hard selling: you’re doing it wrong if using aggressive sales techniques on LinkedIn. Messages should be more than a cold way to reach out to potential customers. In social selling, relationships are fostered over time. Make social connections with and around your prospects.

What is a LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) and why is it important to track?

LinkedIn Social Selling Index
LinkedIn Social Selling Index

Social Selling Index is essentially your ranking on a score of 0 to 100 of how well you meet the 4 key values mentioned above.

To help you get the complete score, make sure your profile is covering these segments:

  • Professional brand: does your profile accurately describe who you are and what you do?
  • Find the right people: are you searching for and connecting with your target audience?
  • Insight engagement: are you posting content relevant to your target audience? Do you provide value?
  • Build relationships: have you spent enough time engaging with your connections?

 

Reasons to Pay attention to LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index

Reasons to pay attention to SSI
Reasons to pay attention to SSI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation of Your Personal Brand:

a great way to evaluate the power of your personal brand and take necessary steps to enhance it is to check your Social Selling Index (SSI), but you can manage what you can measure. Moreover, you might not be aware of how far your brand is behind your competitors. Certainly, SSI will bring it to your attention.

Determine Potential Improvements:

you could be wrong thinking that you are doing great on LinkedIn. Firstly, how do you know if you are sharing enough valuable content? Secondly, are you building brand credibility properly? SSI can easily identify areas that need improvement.

Use SSI as a Gauge:

with the help of SSI, you can instantly see where you stand by comparing your profile to that of others in your network and industry.

 

3 Steps to Social Selling On LinkedIn

1. Build your reputation:

ask your connections for recommendations or references if you get along well with them. These are shown on your profile and can assist establish your reputation with prospects.

Make sure, as a brand, that your profile emphasizes knowledge pertinent to your prospects by highlighting how you’ve helped clients in the past in accomplishing their goals.

2. Grow your LinkedIn network:

you can grow your network by using LinkedIn’s search features and looking for connections amongst the current connections you already have.

Joining LinkedIn Groups relevant to your industry also provides a great opportunity to network with colleagues and prospects.

3. Make use of LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

you may target the ideal prospects with customized messaging and gain a deeper understanding of your success with data using LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

 

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn is the perfect setting to begin Social Selling since it’s a professional networking platform. Your Social Selling Index can rocket if you put a little more effort into setting up your profile, expanding your network, and interacting with other members of the site. Now is your time to use LinkedIn Social Selling to generate leads and boost your business revenue. 

 

About the author:

Tali is a results-driven digital marketer with a track record of growing her clients’ businesses and driving revenue.

As the business owner at WSI Digital Path, Vaughan, she takes great pride in delivering powerful but cost-effective solutions for her clients.

Innovative and revolutionary digital marketing trends set the pace for the digital marketing industry. Don’t make the mistake of falling behind! Contact WSI Digital Path today and trust your digital marketing to the industry’s leading professionals.