The primary goal of marketing is often the advertisement of products or services over various channels, including traditional and social media. Sales professionals know LinkedIn's usefulness for business-to-business (B2B) marketing. You know that executing a successful social selling strategy on LinkedIn may significantly affect your company's success. But how can you determine if you're carrying out each step properly?

The Social Selling Index (SSI) score is a new method developed by LinkedIn to evaluate the effectiveness of social selling. They have given it that name. However, a sizeable portion of the audience has a limited understanding of what the LinkedIn Social Selling Index is all about.

The number of connections, the number of times a profile has been seen, and the engagement rate are the three primary components that make up the SSI score. Increasing your LinkedIn sales Social selling Index score is an essential new statistic, and in this essay, we will cover the relevance of this new number and how to increase it.

What Exactly Is Meant By The Term "Social Selling"?

The process of making sales through social media platforms is referred to as "social selling," and it is referred to by that word. Any social media site will do; however, the platform used in particular will be determined by the sales target. When they hear the term "social selling," most people immediately think of LinkedIn because of the platform's ubiquity in the business-to-business sales industry. This makes perfect sense, given the high priority placed on personal connections and innovative intellect in this setting.

Social selling is useful in business-to-business transactions and business-to-consumer transactions, particularly in industries that place a significant emphasis on personal relationships. For example, real estate brokers deal with people's life savings and some of their most prized possessions. Agents in the insurance industry do the same by relying on their personal connections to bring in and maintain clients.

What Is The LinkedIn Social Selling Index?

The Linkedin Social Selling Index (often abbreviated as SSI) is LinkedIn's statistic for measuring social selling performance. Linkedin Social Selling Index is the value of your personal or company brand on LinkedIn. According to the site, it's the first of its type to evaluate how well a person or business utilises LinkedIn's four core sales competencies. The social selling index is a score between 0 and 100 that considers how well all four elements are performing individually. As a whole, the SSI's top score is 100. If you perform at the highest possible level in each area, you will receive a score of 25. The Social Selling Index (SSI) assesses how well a sales representative implements social selling strategies. There is a positive correlation between a higher social selling index score and more revenue.

As a sales professional putting LinkedIn to use, there are a few things you should keep in mind. The Social Selling Index is an excellent measurement of your present standing on their service. Increasing your chances of finding your perfect prospect by using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Long-term success is more likely when sales objectives, target prospects, and message recipients are all well-defined. Increase your Social selling Index and open up more sales chances by maintaining a strong professional network of like-minded professionals, prospects, and strategic partners. The final grade depends on four aspects:

#1. Build Your Brand For Yourself In The Business World:

It's important to keep in mind that branding has broader applications than only in business. Professionals may use it, too. The LinkedIn Brand Building subscore of the Social Selling Index evaluates how effectively you have promoted your professional identity on LinkedIn. Included in this category are the means through which you present yourself and your qualifications for a given position. Using content to establish your authority in your field is a great way to build credibility and a strong reputation for yourself.

#2. The Key Is To Find Your Target Audience:

Connecting with others effectively is another term for this skill. In this section, as part of the LinkedIn Social Selling Index, you will be scored on how well you can network and build contacts with other professionals in your industry. That might be the people making the decisions themselves, or it could be a team member that they have. Tools that help you look for and read up on topics are essential.

#3. Focus On Insights:

The LinkedIn Social Selling Index evaluates how actively you look for and share industry-related news and insights. To illustrate a point I've been making in my blog posts, I may share an article written by a fellow marketer. It might also be a report that reveals a breakthrough in advertising. In any case, salespeople who use insights to spark conversation can show that they're up-to-date on industry developments.

#4. Make Connections With People:

And last, the secret to sales success in any field is to cultivate connections. Actually, many consumers would rather do business with familiar salespeople. Even if you don't personally know the decision maker, having a connection to someone who does is really helpful. There is no more important commodity than trust in the corporate world.

Where Can I View My SSI On LinkedIn?

The LinkedIn Social Selling Index is accessible once you've logged into your account. Then, either type in the Social selling Index URL into your browser's address bar or navigate to it (albeit it is a bit hidden):

• Select "Work" from the list of options on the right side of the toolbar.
• Navigate to "Sales Tools" and pick one.
• Select "Resources" from the menu that appears when you mouse over "Sales Solutions" on the main page.
• Follow the link that says "Social Selling Index."
• Simply clicking the advertisement will get you your free score.

How High Of A Social Selling Index Score Ideal?

Industry leaders should strive for a Social selling Index of 80 or higher since this indicates they are making efficient use of LinkedIn.

However, the Social Selling Index page will reveal the average Social selling Index score for your industry if you have already specified your job title and industry. That's how you'll know for sure if your grade is satisfactory.

LinkedIn also provides information on how you rank amongst your connections and the average Social selling Index score for their network. As an added bonus, it might reveal whether or not your general rankings within your industry and network are higher this week compared to the previous.

You'll have to keep track of your progress manually from one date to the next if you want to know which areas you've strengthened. You may use a spreadsheet or a snapshot comparison tool to spot changes quickly.

Among other things, this page utilises the Social Selling Index. This person's LinkedIn usage is above-average when compared to other Marketing and Advertising Sales Professionals, but it's still below the average of their connections. There are several ways in which individuals could raise their grades.

If you purchase Sales Navigator, you may check your internal Social selling Index ranking as well. That's one way to have everybody in the office competing with one another!

The Question Is, "How Do You Improve Your Social Selling Index Rating?"

There are four dimensions via which LinkedIn calculates your Social Selling Index. These classes are intrinsically linked to making use of specific capabilities and instruments. Posting often on the feed and in LinkedIn groups, writing articles and commenting on others' postings, and making solid connections can all raise your SSI score.

The LinkedIn Sales Navigator premium service is also available. LinkedIn claims that using Sales Navigator's capabilities regularly to generate leads and communicate with sales prospects may increase your SSI by up to 20 per cent in only six months.

How Significant Is One's Social Selling Index Ranking On LinkedIn?

The LinkedIn Social Selling Index has an immediate impact on LinkedIn's algorithm. That means it has an impact on how many people see your posts and how easy it is to find your profile.

The increased reach, involvement, and visibility that result from a high Social selling Index make it imperative that you work toward such a score. Your ability to identify yourself as an industry leader will improve with a high Social Selling Index score.

Increasing your exposure requires you to position yourself as a social vendor on a more comprehensive platform. With this method, you may win over new fans and viewers with no effort.

Do You Think Social Selling Index May Benefit Your Company Or Product?

What's the deal with LinkedIn's Social selling Index feature? Depending on how heavily you rely on LinkedIn as your primary social networking channel, the answer is yes. If you want to monitor whether or not you're improving your LinkedIn game, you may do so by keeping an eye on your SSI score, which reflects how proficient you currently are in using LinkedIn. If you use SSI, LinkedIn will let you know if you're making the most of the service.

In the business world, there is no such thing as a Social selling Index score. However, the abilities you use to improve your own SSI rating may be directly applied to the ratings your company receives from the content you provide there.

It may be significant in fostering healthy levels of rivalry as well. If your company values employee advocacy, keeping tabs on SSI ratings can spark healthy rivalry that will have workers are logging in to LinkedIn more frequently and improving their skills. In addition, salespeople tend to be competitive, so public rankings may be a fun way to add some light-hearted fun to an otherwise serious business topic.

Is The Social Selling Index A Reliable Measurement?

You definitely don't get all of your leads from a single source, so you may be wondering what benefits a high Social selling Index score provides beyond LinkedIn. Of course, the Social Selling Index is unique to LinkedIn and acts as a measurement of your influence both within and outside your network as well as a tool for monitoring and increasing your exposure. Although it won't directly increase your sales, it will help you better understand how to use LinkedIn for social selling.

You may use the same factors and criteria that LinkedIn employs to determine your Social Selling Index score to direct your social selling efforts across other platforms and networks.

• Put forward an image of oneself that people will find inviting and helpful, as well as material that will be of interest to them.
• Rather than focusing on your own goals, you should see yourself as an advocate for the company or brand you work for, using the authority and standing you've earned as a B2B thought leader.
• Instead of kicking down the door in an attempt to promote your products or services, try gently knocking to gain interest in what you have to say.
• Establish yourself as a go-to resource who can solve problems and has a firm grasp of your audience's demands.
• The same rules of polite behaviour that you would use when physically meeting someone also apply when connecting with people online.
• Your openness and credibility will increase if you are completely yourself with other people.
• Long-term success is a direct result of regular, intense effort.
• Prove your point by providing useful information or suggestions to others.
• Don't wait for something in return before you offer assistance to others. The rule of "give, give, give, ask" should be followed religiously.

The Next Level Of Lead Monitoring And Creation

Social selling is a must-have for any business. In today's competitive job market, having a high LinkedIn Social Selling Index score is essential. However, by itself, does a high Social selling Index guarantee success? How do you track new leads and make sure things are moving forward?

So, in a nutshell, you need a digital solution that can help you produce and track leads online, establishing reliable connections that can eventually result in closed deals.

You can accomplish all of this and more with Salesrobot. The platform's lead tracking feature lets you keep tabs on incoming inquiries, identify the kind of content that has yielded the highest conversion rates, trace a lead's journey through your organisation's resources, and analyse the performance of your sales team. All of this information is quantifiable and trackable using SalesRobot. By keeping an eye on the connections of active dealmakers who have clicked on information provided by workers on social networks, it is possible to gauge the degree to which the Social Selling programme has affected the percentage of active transactions that have been influenced by the initiative.

What Do You Think? Is Social Selling Index A Worthwhile Investment?

The Social Selling Index scores on LinkedIn recently disappeared behind the paid portion of Sales Navigator, only to resurface shortly thereafter.

If the Social selling Index is once again hidden behind a paywall, and you wonder if you should shell up the cash to access it, think about how often you use LinkedIn and how often you want to use it.

It might be worthwhile to invest in a paid LinkedIn account if you and your business use the platform frequently, particularly to research and connect with potential customers.

This article's goal was to help you better understand LinkedIn's Social selling Index function, and we think we've accomplished that. If this is a technology you're contemplating employing for your company, bookmark this page, so you have access to the guidelines whenever you need them.

Key Takeaways

Your LinkedIn Social Selling Index score evaluates your social and selling skills, not your actual sales performance on LinkedIn. It's okay if the idea of the LinkedIn Social Selling Index is foreign to you, especially if you're fresh to the sales industry. The Social Selling Index tool is a game-changer for any sales or marketing professional. Establish your reputation in the market and develop your social selling techniques with the help of LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

‍