LinkedIn SSI Score: How to Increase Social Selling Index

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Marketing is typically focused on advertising goods or services on traditional and social media platforms. Sales professionals know how effective LinkedIn is for B2B marketing. You know that an effective social selling strategy on LinkedIn can make a world of difference to your company. But how do you know if you’re doing it right?

The good news is that LinkedIn has introduced a new way to measure social selling success with the SSI score. That said, many people still do not know much about the LinkedIn Social Selling Index. 

The SSI score is a metric that combines three key factors: number of connections, profile interesting views, and engagement rate. In this post, we’ll explore the importance of this new metric and how you can boost your LinkedIn sales SSI score. 

What Is Social Selling in Marketing?

Social selling refers to the practice of using social media as a sales tool. This sales strategy may involve using any social network, depending on your target audience and sales objectives.

Most people use the term social selling primarily for LinkedIn within the B2B sales space as it is the only platform where both leadership and personal relationships are valued. Social selling is also considered valuable within the relationship-heavy areas of B2C sales, such as real estate, insurance, and more.

What Is the LinkedIn SSI (Social Selling Index)?

LinkedIn developed the SSI to promote its Sales Navigator premium accounts. The SSI is essentially a score between 1 and 100 that tells you how effective you can be at LinkedIn-based sales efforts. 

The metric doesn’t include traditional conversation rates or effectiveness at making quotas. Instead, the LinkedIn SSI index focuses on network building, engagement, and associated metrics for LinkedIn. 

We’ve discussed the four key elements of the SSI score below: 

Establish Your Personal and Professional Brand

Branding is not just for companies; it is equally important for professionals. This part of the LinkedIn SSI grades you on how well you have built your brand on the platform. It assesses the extent to which you communicate your job expertise, skills, and more. It also deals with enhancing your personal brand by demonstrating thought leadership with the content you publish.

Find the Right People to Network With

This metric evaluates your success at finding the people you need to work with to boost your sales. This involves decision-makers as well as their staff members. Your ultimate key to success is your search and research tools. 

Engage With Insights

This aspect of LinkedIn SSI measures your extent of involvement in trends, news, and insights. Engaging with industry news and insights demonstrates your awareness of the latest trends and day-to-day developments. This also helps establish you as an authority in your niche.

Build Relationships

This metric indicates your level of trust with your leads and prospects. Building good relationships with your peers is the secret to success in any line of work. In fact, many people prefer buying from professionals they know instead of unknown people. Knowing someone who can serve as the middleman between you and the decision-maker boosts your chances of closing deals. 

Why Is LinkedIn SSI Important?

LinkedIn SSI is more than just a sales tool. According to LinkedIn, a higher SSI equates to 45% more sales opportunities for social sellers on the platform compared to lower LinkedIn SSI ranking peers. 

Plus, social sellers with a higher SSI are 51% more likely to make their quotas. Their estimates also conclude that 78% of leading social sellers perform better than their peers who don’t use social media.

What Is a Good LinkedIn SSI Score?

Your LinkedIn SSI score is comparable to those in the same industry as you. People in sales naturally have higher scores than those coming from a non-sales background. That said, there is no set cut-off score for LinkedIn SSI. The goal is to qualify amongst the top 10% in your field of work. 

How Often is LinkedIn SSI Updated?

The SSI Index on LinkedIn is updated daily. It is a free and accessible feature for all LinkedIn users. 

Finding Your SSI Score

While it may sound complicated, finding your LinkedIn SSI score is super easy.

Here’s how to access your SSI:

• Head over to LinkedIn and log into your account
• Next, click on this link: https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi?src=li-leap&veh=direct%2Fnone%7Cli-leap
• You will see your SSI score on LinkedIn

The best part is that you can even compare your scores to those of other professionals and determine whether you’re on the right track. For example, you can analyze your score against the score of other professionals within or outside your industry. You can play around with different strategies to raise your SSI score based on the findings.

How Do I Improve My SSI on LinkedIn

The best way to improve your LinkedIn SSI is by working on the four factors mentioned above that contribute to your LinkedIn SSI score. If you are concerned about your score not being high enough, do not worry because your score can change quickly, depending on the enhancements you make to your profile. 

1. Establish Your Personal and Professional Brand

As per LinkedIn, your first goal must be developing your profile with your target customers or leads in mind. The simplest way to go about this is by filling out your profile. Sometimes, however, you can be somewhat selective about the information you choose to share. You can choose to share relevant information and skip less critical info.

It is always good to upload a professional photo to your LinkedIn profile. Remember that LinkedIn is your live resume that anyone can access, so try to make it look as professional as possible.

Furthermore, use your LinkedIn profile as a blogging platform to become a better thought leader. For example, you could publish articles on LinkedIn Pulse to become a knowledgeable authority in your field. This way, your leads may visit your profile to know more about you and even contact you.

2. Expand Your Network

Another great way to up your LinkedIn SSI is by expanding your network. And to build your network, you must connect with the right people. We recommend using the Advanced People Searches feature to identify better prospects in little time. Some of these search options are only available to premium LinkedIn account holders, but they are time efficient. It allows you to narrow down your results using multiple filters.

If you have LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can use the saved search filter. This way, you will not have to put the same variables into the search bar every time you sit down to look at prospects. Moreover, you can use the Sales Navigator Lead Builder for even better results. You can use it to find opportunities and leads based on an account, search key decision-makers, filter companies that fit specific criteria, and more.

3. Engage With Insights

Sharing insights is an excellent strategy to nurture trusting relationships, grow your network, and boost your SSI score. As a sales professional, you know that interacting with relevant insights is equally critical for professional networking and lead generation. As such, make sure to participate in LinkedIn group conversations.

Related article: How to Use LinkedIn for B2B Lead Generation

It is also a good idea to post interesting and insightful content you come across from time to time. For example, you can post anything from articles to publications. Even a status update is a great way to interact with others. The more active you’re on LinkedIn, the greater are your chances of forging new connections and thus increasing your LinkedIn SSI score. 

Lastly, be sure to use relevant hashtags. Hashtags allow you to view content from outside your immediate LinkedIn network. Tagging topics relevant to your profession helps draw targeted views to your content, which can boost your SSI score.  

4. Build Strategic Relationships

Your LinkedIn profile represents your professional self and can determine whether or not you’re considered for an opportunity. Building relationships with people on LinkedIn will help them remember who you are and give them another reason to want to connect with you. 

Not only that, but it could also lead to higher endorsement scores, which will be reflected in your SSI score. Your mutual connections are a great help to expand your network and nurture trusting relationships. Also, look into 2nd and 3rd-degree connections who engage with your content because they might be your prospects.  

Another way to forge good relationships is by following the decision-makers in your line of work. Following their profiles is an excellent first step, but you can go beyond that by engaging with their content. You never know who they may connect you to, or perhaps they may require your services, so be optimistic. In a nutshell, building relationships is a great way to generate leads. 

Conclusion

Your LinkedIn SSI score does not measure your sales performance on LinkedIn; instead, it assesses your ability to connect with others and sell your brand. Unless you have been in the sales area for a while, it is understandable if you are still relatively new to the concept of LinkedIn SSI. Using the SSI tool on LinkedIn can help you excel in all things marketing and sales. So, work on building your brand and use LinkedIn SSI to hone your social selling strategy.