April 9, 2024

Understanding LinkedIn Social Selling Index

John Kim

Co-founder @ Paraform

In this blog

What is the Social Selling Index?Why does my LinkedIn SSI score matter?Where can I find my Social Selling Index score?Boosting your Social Selling Index score

Recruitment is a global game played by millions of people. But with so many profiles vying for attention on LinkedIn, how do you make yours stand out?

One way to do so is by increasing your LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) score - a valuable score for measuring your effectiveness in selling on LinkedIn.

What is the Social Selling Index?

The SSI is a score (ranging from 0 to 100) that reflects your ability to leverage LinkedIn for social selling activities. It's essentially a report card on how well you're building your brand, engaging your network, and fostering valuable relationships.

The SSI breaks down your social selling efforts into four key areas:

1. Establishing your professional brand: This assesses your profile's completeness, including a professional headshot, relevant keywords, and a compelling summary.
2. Finding the right people: This measures your ability to identify and connect with potential clients and collaborators who align with your business goals, not just adding anyone for the sake of a higher connection list.
3. Engagement: This evaluates how actively you share valuable content and insights. It considers your posts, articles, and comments that demonstrate your industry knowledge and establish you as a thought leader.
4. Build strong relationships: This assesses your efforts in nurturing and growing your network. It considers how you connect, message, and interact with others on the platform.

Why does my LinkedIn SSI score matter?

The LinkedIn SSI serves as a barometer of your effectiveness in harnessing the platform's capabilities for driving sales and fostering professional relationships. It holds significant importance in 3 ways:

• Performance benchmarking: The SSI provides a quantitative measure of your social selling efforts, allowing you to benchmark your performance against industry standards and peers.
• Connection requests: LinkedIn allows regular users to send 100 connection requests every week. However, those who have a high SSI can send over 120.
• Enhanced visibility: A strong SSI score bolsters your visibility and credibility on the platform, and positions your content higher and more relevant in other’s feeds.

Where can I find my Social Selling Index score?

Here's how you can find your Social Selling Index (SSI) score on LinkedIn:

1. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Navigate to https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi.
3. You’ll see a button that says “See my score”, click on that.

Alternatively, you can search for "Social Selling Index" within the LinkedIn search bar, and on the first result, you’ll see a “Get started” button.

On the webpage, you'll see your overall SSI score displayed prominently. The page will also break down your score into the four key metrics discussed previously.

Boosting your Social Selling Index score

There are a few actionable things you can do to improve your SSI score:

• Optimize your profile: First and foremost, ensure your profile is complete, up-to-date, and keyword-rich.
• Post/share valuable content: Regularly (daily to be safe) post articles, insights, and industry news that resonate with your target audience–the aim is to get as many comments and reposts as likes.
• Engage with your network: Take the time to like, comment on, and share posts from others, and participate in relevant discussions. Don’t just be a content machine.
• Connect with the right people: As a recruiter, target your outreach efforts toward the right clients and candidates as opposed to adding just anyone for the sake of it. Your acceptance rate on your connection requests will boost your SSI.

The LinkedIn Social Selling Index is a valuable tool to boost your brand as a recruiter on LinkedIn. By focusing on and implementing the tips above, you can improve your SSI score and can benefit from greater visibility and additional connection requests.

So, start optimizing your LinkedIn profile today!