Proven Social Selling Strategies on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is evolving, and so are the strategies needed to succeed on the platform.

We’ve invited LinkedIn expert, Richard van der Blom back for another live session on Attributed to share all of his proven social selling strategies on LinkedIn.

His insights can be broken down into several tenets:

• Adapt to LinkedIn’s algorithm changes 

• Follow the five-step social selling process to build trust 

• Your content strategy needs to be more than just posting 

• Stop focusing on vanity metrics

Keep reading for all the takeaways or listen to the entire conversation here. 

Adapt to LinkedIn’s algorithm changes

LinkedIn has recently made changes to its algorithm that significantly impact organic reach. 

According to Richard, organic reach started to decline noticeably since November 2023, as the platform introduced new algorithmically favored features like AI-generated content and a vertical video feed reminiscent of TikTok.

These newly formatted, short, snackable vertical videos are then boosted at the expense of other content forms like carousels and static posts. 

Richard’s advice? Adapt to these changes by paying attention to how LinkedIn is promoting new formats. 

The Rise of Video Content 

Vertical video content, which LinkedIn is pushing through its new TikTok-style mobile feed, is one of the formats gaining traction. Richard claims some of his clients saw a sudden spike in engagement but, there’s seemingly no guaranteed formula for getting your video featured.

The Impact of AI on Reach

Another challenge is the rise of AI-generated content and comments. 

While AI can help streamline content creation, overuse can harm engagement and lead to lower visibility, as automated, templated responses come across as inauthentic. 

People are really really underestimating the intelligence of their network.

So as much as LinkedIn is promoting AI and automation, Richard believes that over-reliance on these tools, especially for commenting and engagement, is doing more harm than good.

Follow the five-step social selling process to build trust 

Trust is number one for building relationships on LinkedIn. Richard outlines a five-step social selling process for achieving this. 

He highlights that most users are unsuccessful because they skip steps 2 and 4. 

1. Identify your target audience 

The first step is understanding who your potential clients or prospects are. 

Richard recommends tools like LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to help you precisely identify key decision-makers based on industry, job title, or geographic location. 

2. Engage with your audience

Engagement is where most people skip steps. But according to Richard, engagement strategies are as important as the content you produce and such interaction with your target audience will build trust. 

Five years ago, if you would publish on a daily basis, that might have done the job. Now, there are many more people publishing and much more content available. You need to engage, reach out, comment on clients, potential clients, peers, and position yourself in their networks.

Instead of immediately sending a cold message, Richard emphasizes the importance of building a relationship through interaction –  by thoughtfully commenting on their posts, liking their content, or engaging in shared industry conversations.

Comments and Questions as Engagement Tools

It’s not enough to leave generic comments. Asking relevant, thoughtful questions in the comments section can spark meaningful exchanges that eventually lead to deeper relationships. 

If you ask a question in the comments and the prospect responds, that’s already an engagement point where you can start a direct conversation.

Some potential clients may not post content themselves, but they could be commenting on others’ posts. In these cases, Richard suggests engaging with those comments, as this allows you to interact with them based on the type of content they value.

By interacting with your prospects' content, you make them aware of your presence, making it easier to approach them later.

3. Outreach

After warming up your prospects through engagement, the next step is personalized outreach. Avoid generic templates, and instead tailor outreach based on the prospect's interests or challenges. 

Automated outreach tools may save time, but they often harm your chances of building genuine relationships.

It is staggering how many corporate clients are enabling their sales force with automation tools. 

Customized connection requests

To stop over-relying on bots or templates, try a more thoughtful approach. For example, referencing a comment or post from the prospect can be a great conversation starter. A message like, “I saw your insightful comment on X topic, let’s connect,” can boost your connection rate to as high as 80%, according to Richard’s own experience in his own outreach efforts.

4. Provide valuable insights

Rather than pushing for a sale right away, focus on delivering value to build trust. Richard suggests offering valuable insights, like a useful document or white paper, without asking for anything in return. 

This step is about demonstrating your expertise and giving your prospects a reason to trust your knowledge, making them more receptive to the final step of the social selling process.

5. Convert

Only after you’ve established the previous four steps should you move to the finish line —conversion. This is where you can initiate conversations about how your product or service can solve their specific problem. 

By this point, prospects are much more open to a sales pitch because you’ve invested in a relationship and provided value upfront.

Your content strategy needs to be more than just frequency

While we all know consistent posting is good for enhancing reach, Richard advises going a step further and focusing equally on content quality and variety. For example focusing on a blend of educational, case study, strategic, and conversion-focused content.

You need a synergy between different types of posts, for instance, educational content can draw in the audience while case studies and strategic content build your credibility.

This also brings to light the difference between the value of reach vs. targeting: educational posts might get more likes and shares, whereas posts that directly invite a conversation or promote a product are often what lead to tangible business results.

By mixing content types, you’re able to tap into both types of engagement - maintaining wider engagement and also providing clear calls to action for potential clients to reach out.

Don’t forget about events and polls 

Richard points to LinkedIn events, particularly LinkedIn Live and LinkedIn Audio Rooms, as formats that have proven highly effective in building engagement, explaining that these events make it easy for users to join and follow the conversation with just a click.

In addition to events, polls remain powerful conversation starters and can be used strategically to gather insights and spark deeper engagement. He recommends using polls not only for reach but as a way to identify buying signals.

It’s also important to note that LinkedIn’s algorithm punishes users who are inconsistent, so maintaining a steady stream of content keeps your audience engaged and improves your reach over time.

By combining event-driven content, interactive formats like polls, and meaningful follow-ups, Richard underscores the importance of balancing content for both engagement and lead generation on LinkedIn.

Stop focusing on vanity metrics 

When looking to measure the success of your LinkedIn efforts, Richard had some blunt advice: forget about vanity metrics like follower count and likes.

Likes and reach won’t pay the bills… we always go to KPIs like incoming invites from your target audience, incoming direct messages requesting your service and meetings, or incoming emails and phone calls that refer to LinkedIn. 

Many businesses are still focused on the wrong metrics when measuring LinkedIn success. 

You need to set up UTM links to track visits from LinkedIn to your website and have clear conversion goals like sign-ups or downloads.  This allows you to track how many visitors are coming to your website through LinkedIn, giving you a clearer picture of your LinkedIn marketing’s effectiveness.

As LinkedIn marketing partner, Dreamdata has ranked #1 in customer value for 2024, check out how you can get the most out of your LinkedIn efforts with us here. 

Some other metrics Richard suggests are: 

• Incoming connection requests from target audiences.

• Direct messages asking for more information or a meeting.

• Conversion rates from LinkedIn posts to actual business actions (e.g., webinar sign-ups, white paper downloads, or demo requests).

Final Thoughts

For those serious about leveraging LinkedIn for business, Richard’s advice is clear: adapt to the LinkedIn algorithm, follow the right framework for social selling, curate your content strategically, and focus on the right metrics. 

While LinkedIn continues to evolve, and organic reach may not be what it once was, the potential for success is still immense for those willing to put in the effort.

In a world of shortcuts, Richard’s strategies stand out as a reminder that real success on LinkedIn takes time, effort, and, most importantly, authenticity.

About the Speaker

Richard van der Blom is a leading LinkedIn and social selling expert, as well as the founder of Just Connecting, a global consultancy specializing in LinkedIn strategies for sales and marketing. With over 15 years of experience, Richard helps businesses generate leads, build thought leadership, and master LinkedIn’s tools. Known for his practical insights and data-driven approach, he’s trained thousands of professionals and has a LinkedIn community of over 200,000 followers.