How to Measure the Impact of Social Selling on LinkedIn

TL;DR:

• Companies are missing out on significant revenue by not using organic LinkedIn for pipeline generation
• A model is provided to calculate LinkedIn's contribution to pipeline and determine if it's worth investing in
• Tracking metrics like "How Did You Hear About Us?" on forms and using UTM links in bio/posts can help measure LinkedIn's impact
• Engagement activities on LinkedIn can serve as valuable intent signals for warming up leads
• LinkedIn's untapped potential makes it a valuable platform for generating organic pipeline and leading industry conversations

I've been trying to help our buyers understand what they're leaving on the table by not seriously using organic LinkedIn to generate pipeline beyond running ads or having BDRs send untargeted DMs.

And for most companies we talk to, the number is between $400k and $5M a year in Closed/Won revenue.

Whether it’s inbound or outbound, this opportunity assumes one key element: consistent activity on LinkedIn.

How to Quantify ROI on LinkedIn Activity

Most companies underinvest in LinkedIn because they don’t know how to measure the impact of social selling and general activity.

But with LinkedIn’s reach, not investing could mean leaving potential revenue untapped.

Here’s a model to help you calculate LinkedIn’s contribution to your pipeline and determine if it’s a good fit for your team.

• If it's likely to deliver more than what you'd get from incremental ad spend or more untargeted outbound, you know where to invest
• If not — focus on your higher-return options

Here's the caveat, though — LinkedIn also delivers a lot of hard-to-quantify value. Think trust-building, establishing a company brand, and building individual team members’ personal brands.

These benefits are long-term assets that might not immediately show in the pipeline but have immense value over time.

How to Measure LinkedIn's Pipeline Impact

If you want to get a true view of LinkedIn’s influence, you need to be tracking the right metrics. Here’s how to set up your LinkedIn tracking to understand and measure pipeline impact:

1. Add "How Did You Hear About Us?" to Forms

One of the simplest ways to see LinkedIn’s impact is by adding an open-ended question like “How did you hear about us?” to inbound forms.

You can then track this as a source in a tool like HubSpot.

2. Use UTM Links in Your Bio and Posts

Most people set their LinkedIn profile link to something direct like “book a meeting” or “visit my website,” but this may not always work.

As Laura Erdem from Dreamdata points out, most profile visitors aren’t ready to book a meeting or go to your site just yet—they’re in discovery mode.

Instead, make your link text more inviting or playful to increase clicks. Then, add UTM parameters to track this traffic so you know exactly what’s coming from LinkedIn. Here’s an example UTM setup:

/?utmsource=LinkedIn&utmmedium=Organic&utm_campaign=Laura_Profile

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This way, you can see when LinkedIn is driving site visits and better understand its role in your pipeline.

3. Track Engagement Activities

Engagement metrics—follows, likes, comments, profile views — are first-party intent signals and often indicate that a lead is warming up to you and your solutions.

This is often referred to as "dark social" or "shadow pipeline".

It's easy to track this historical engagement, as well as relevant keyword mentions, with Letterdrop — it can even link these actions to pipeline.

Optional: Track Your LinkedIn SSI Score

LinkedIn has a built-in social selling index (SSI) that helps you understand your reach on LinkedIn using a basic scoring system.

How do you check your social selling index? Follow these steps:

1. Log in to LinkedIn and go to LinkedIn.com/sales/ssi.
2. If your score is lower than desired, you can enhance it by engaging more on the platform.
3. Focus on improving the areas where you are not scoring the maximum 25 points in each category.

As for what's considered a good SSI score, LinkedIn recommends aiming for a 75 — although the most accurate measure of success on LinkedIn is pipeline gen and meetings booked from LinkedIn activity.

LinkedIn is Largely Untapped — Start Today

Cold calling and email are oversaturated, but LinkedIn still represents largely untapped potential.

Right now, only 1% of LinkedIn users actively post content, while the other 99% simply lurk. For companies that consistently post and engage, this is a major opportunity to lead the conversation in their industries.

At Letterdrop, we can help you generate and track organic pipeline.