What Is Your LinkedIn Social Selling Index Score?
Ever heard of the LinkedIn SSI score? Wait! Does LinkedIn actually score us based on the way we engage with our LinkedIn network, how our profile looks, and whom we're talking with?
Yes, I am.
Back in 2014, LinkedIn came up with the Social Selling Index by identifying a group of high-performing sales professionals, analyzing their LinkedIn activities, and figuring out how they use LinkedIn to drive results.
The formula behind the SSI was based on their social selling activities, and it's still an insightful metric today even if you are not a salesperson by trade.
If you're using LinkedIn to build a personal brand, deepen relationships with your connections, add more of the right people to your network or get more leads -- the SSI score can tell you if you're on the right track.
In this Mondays with Mindi episode, we get into what the LinkedIn SSI score is, where to find yours, how often to check yours, what each of the numbers means and exactly which action steps you can take to improve the components of your score!
What’s the LinkedIn SSI Score?
If you’ve been on LinkedIn for any length of time, you may have heard some chatter about your Social Selling Index score. I’ll refer to it as SSI moving forward.
The problem is that many people do not know it even exists, what it is, how to use it, what it stands for, and how to know if they’re improving on LinkedIn.
What good is a score if you have NO idea how to improve it? You have the choice to ignore it, but then you’re missing out on a valuable snapshot of your LinkedIn activity.
For the naysayers of SSI scores, you may have heard that...
“SSI scores are useless, they’re just a vanity metric.”
“Wait! There’s a score that measures how well I’m doing on LinkedIn?!”
“I barely spend any time on LinkedIn, so why does my SSI score even matter?”
“Is the SSI score the best way to track my LinkedIn activity and effect?”
“The SSI score is not at all accurate! I’ve noticed that when I feel like I’m doing well, my score doesn’t show it.”
Let’s get to the bottom of the SSI score today - if you’ve got this real-time snapshot coming directly from LinkedIn - it’s something to at least be aware of and pay attention to if it makes sense for your objectives.
Your SSI Score is Not a Vanity Metric
If you’re anything like me, you may feel a little bit skeptical when LinkedIn releases a new feature or tells you something about your LinkedIn profile.
I track my own metrics using a tool called ShieldApp.ai. I also have my own spreadsheets for the good ol’ fashioned tracking. I watch very particular (and highly classified!) metrics to tell when my programs are working.
I get it. Not everyone is as nerdy as I am when it comes to tracking their LinkedIn ROI.
How nerdy are you? Do you pore over spreadsheets and analytics dashboards?
Most people are probably NOT that nerdy, unless it’s directly related to their day job.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been giving a number of presentations around LinkedIn profile optimization to highly accomplished corporate professionals, and I had that “aha” moment when I was discussing which metrics mattered most when they were looking to polish up their LinkedIn profile and use LinkedIn appropriately.
Someone asked about the SSI score. Was that a metric to pay attention to?
I paused. Hmmmm.
Are these execs EVER going to dig into one of my nerdy spreadsheets or have a monthly debrief with me about how many one-to-one conversations they’ve had with their ideal prospects based on our outreach and marketing efforts?
Uh, no.
What DO they have time to do? They have time to check their SSI score for 60 seconds every so often just to see how they’re doing.
That’s when it hit for me. The SSI score is quite valuable for the everyday LinkedIn user. It’s not just a vanity metric.
If you want to go deeper, you can. But if all you need is “a general idea” of how you’re doing on LinkedIn, you’ll get a nice hit of dopamine by checking your score.
Where to Find Your SSI Score?
If you’re not going deep with your LinkedIn sales and marketing program -- ahem, I can help you if you want to get nerdy -- the SSI score is something you should definitely check every month or so. If you notice that it’s not going up or maintaining over time, it’s time to go deeper.
Okay, it’s time to bring up your score. If you’re watching the replay or here with me live, I want you to type this into your browser: https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi
I’ll put it in the comments below if you want to reference it when you’re not multitasking (c’mon, who doesn’t?)
Put a reminder in your task manager to recur every month. That’s how I get it done.
What Can the SSI Score Tell You?
Let’s talk about each section of the SSI score and what it means.
1. People in Your Team Rank
This is only visible to those of you with a Sales Navigator account. Basically, it’s useful for those who have a Sales Navigator Team subscription (e.g. multiple sales people connected through a Sales Navigator Team account) and it gamifies how you’re doing compared to your teammates.
It’s not relevant to most of us, especially if we have a solo Sales Navigator account, and you won’t even see it if you have a free account.
2. Industry SSI Rank
This is exactly what it appears to be. How do you rank against people in your industry? LinkedIn looks at the industry you’ve marked on your LinkedIn profile and uses its fancy algorithm to determine where you stand in the industry.
If you’re in the top 1-5% for your industry, you’re doing pretty well.
To improve this score, you’ll need to focus on the weakest components of your score.
3. Network SSI Rank
This is the ranking you have against all of the people in your LinkedIn network, those 1st degree connections, people you’ve either accepted a connection request from or invited to join your network. If you have a network filled with LinkedIn power users, your score may not be as high as your industry average.
If you’re in the top 1-3% for your network, you’re doing pretty well.
To improve this score, you can either up your game on LinkedIn OR start disconnecting with the LinkedIn power users and start connecting with new LinkedIn users (sarcasm intended :)
4. Current Social Selling Index
What are the four components of your score here? Here’s what each of them means and how you can improve them.
Establish your personal brand - LinkedIn is encouraging you to create an engaging LinkedIn profile, which is the cornerstone of your LinkedIn presence. You’ll also need to regularly share posts to LinkedIn - I typically recommend starting with one post per week if you’ve never shared anything before.
Find the right people - LinkedIn is a social networking platform, and they want you to regularly connect with people for business purposes. When you regularly search for people, invite them to connect, and also accept other good connections into your network -- this makes LinkedIn’s algorithm happy. Even if you’re not using LinkedIn specifically for sales, it’s a good best practice to continue growing your network.
Engage with insights - You’re doing that right now by watching this live stream. When you watch Live videos, engage with other people’s posts, leave comments, and @ mention people in the LinkedIn news feed, LinkedIn notices. The more you engage, the more highly you’ll score on this component. I’d recommend looking to comment on one or two posts per weekday to feed the algorithm.
Build relationships - This one seems to be a blend of the prior two components at first glance, but it’s really an amalgamation of how you’re building relationships on LinkedIn. If you’re messaging people who are credible in the industry, getting into two-way dialogue with other experts, and using the platform to nurture your business relationship, LinkedIn will score you highly for this.
Put all of these components together, and you get your score on a scale of 1-100.
I haven’t seen many people stay above 90 on this score indefinitely, but I do tend to see my best performers hover in the 80s.
Now for the last two metrics here.
5. People in Your Team
Again, this is only relevant if you are on a Sales Navigator Team subscription and want to see what your teammates’ SSI scores are.
6. People in Your Industry
For those who like to play comparisons, you can see the average score of people in your industry. LinkedIn pulls the industry and average scores of people in that industry.
If you use LinkedIn at all, you’re likely going to be significantly higher than people in your industry.
7. People in Your Network
If you’re curious what the average scores of people in your network are, this number is helpful to know how you measure against connections in your network. It’s a helpful measure to see how well you’re doing and if you need to step up your LinkedIn game or can relax that you’re doing enough already.
So there you have it, all of the elements to your Social Selling Index, what each of them means to you, and how you can make snap judgements when you’re looking for a quick gauge that doesn’t require in-depth analysis.
SSI scores can be a valuable tool for those who want to use LinkedIn well, but are not looking to embark on a serious sales and marketing initiative where the numbers must directly tie to ROI.
Going Beyond the SSI Score
If you want to go deeper with your marketing analytics, I do recommend an affordable tool called SHIELD (shieldapp.ai) that will help you get the LinkedIn metrics for your LinkedIn profile beyond the Social Selling Index. I’m not getting a kickback for shouting them out, but it’s a tool I use for my clients who want to keep their finger on the marketing pulse of what’s working (and not) on LinkedIn from their LinkedIn posts.
If you’re looking for that extra edge to get your started on the right path with your profile, check out my FREE LinkedIn profile guide that will help you dial in the most important sections of your LinkedIn profile to kickstart your personal brand today.
Up for sharing your LinkedIn SSI score below? Feel free to share your number or add a screenshot! 👇🏽
