Social Selling Index: The Means Not The End
There are many articles about Social Selling Index (SSI) and ways to improve it. Let me share my personal experience after few years of this game in two easy chapters
1. What's behind SSI
LinkedIn’s SSI or Social Selling Index is a numerical score that measures how well each user fulfills proper social selling practices that revolve around using LinkedIn as a sales tool. LinkedIn created it as a simple way for sales reps to measure their progress at a glance. At the same time, it allows sales leaders to highlight the link between social selling engagement and performance. The idea is that sellers with a higher SSI are more valuable and contribute more to the bottom line of the company.
But what does it consist of anyway? Here are the four levers to the SSI score according to a recent LinkedIn article:
1. Completeness of profile and using all the various aspects of LinkedIn as it pertains to your online presence.
2. Joining groups, engaging with relevant industry insights (posting comments/likes/shares)
3. Sharing of your own content
4. Connecting with others. Note: SSI looks at your acceptance rate of new connections, so think before you reach out cold to people you don’t know.
2. OK, those are the rules, but this is the game
Knowing this it should be quite easy to improve your own social selling score over time. You should be able to leave all those low-scoring competitors in your rear-view mirror if you just pull on all these levers and pull hard, right?
Actually, it is not that easy and more importantly, I dare to say, it doesn’t matter. You can be getting sales traction even if your score is low(ish). If you have right facts and are able to participate in the discussions/comments on the post you will get noticed. Your voice will carry outside of you network and will help you to grow it. But more importantly – those conversations you are part of will sooner or later turn into sales opportunities. Once you get good at this start to scale. But one thing you cannot lose sight of is doing it right. There are no short cuts in social media.
This is no different then sports or other skills - anyone who has tried to master a skill knows this. Getting the technique right on a single gym move before trying to master a large set of the same move in a short duration is critical to not injuring yourself in the process.
I have ways to go to have the perfect score, but on the way to it I will help people and get business going. What is your strategy?
Find out more about social selling in the B2B Enterprise context at https://www.thought-horizon.com
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2yThe SSI is not for comparison or competition, Milan. It's a tool to improve yourself on LinkedIn. 😉 But nice LinkedIn article. I will share it! 👍
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4yFully agree Milan, the SSI is a mere barometer of your (team's) level of social media activity. It can help for internal comms and competition purposes too. The real proof of the LinkedIn pudding is in the conversion into MQLs, SQLs and deals as a result of better social reach and engagement. In short: your SSI does not pay the bills, your customer does.
Working at the intersection of B2B digital marketing & sales | Enterprise social selling programs & enablement | B2B social selling podcast host | Sustainability student
4yHere's how to find your own SSI score - just use this link: https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi. My experience with the score is somewhat similar to yours, Milan Ruzicka. A couple of months ago, I had an SSI score in the mid 60s, now it's at 83. In terms of relevant engagements and opportunities I generate with my activities on LinkedIn, I don't see much of a difference between those two scores. I was basically as happy at mid 60 as I am at mid 80. I agree with your bottom line, it's a great tool especially if you're learning how to improve on LinkedIn. Or if the results you're getting do not meet your expectations. Then it can help you understand where to make some adjustments in your activity. I also suspect that - in general - a higher SSI score makes you more "relevant" and gives you and your content more exposure. But don't obsess with it. Another interesting fact: from my observation, at least one of the 4 elements of the SSI score is 'capped' when you are not using a premium LI product like Sales Navigator. Anyone has the same observation? If you want to learn more about how to improve your SSI score, or your activities on LinkedIn, don't hesitate to reach out. #socialselling #linkedin
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4yTim van Waard