Is it bragging? NO. I believe our LinkedIn data tells a story. And I've been tracking my numbers since I leaned into the platform almost 20 years ago. With the rise of AI, I think it's important to work with a LinkedIn marketing consultant with a SOLID background and understanding of the platform.

And by the way, this blog was written by me, NOT AI. 🤖

When I send out a proposal for LinkedIn Consulting, I always include a slide like this:

Before I send it, I do a quick look-up at my numbers and update the slide. 

Here's a quick breakdown of the numbers I'm sharing below and WHY I'm sharing them.

Over the past 10 years....

Sure, I could get super specific and say 17 years, but then I'd have to do the math each time I do a proposal and recall which month the year increases. 

10 is GOOD ENOUGH. It tells my client that I didn't just start doing LinkedIn this week, and I have evolved my insights and strategies while LinkedIn as a platform has been growing. Plus, and more importantly, I didn't just start doing this 18 months ago. 

Total Number of LinkedIn Profile Followers

Is it over a million? No. Is it impressive? Heck yeah! And I encourage my clients not to focus on the total number of followers, but on the following instead:

• Are you steadily growing followers over time? If so, that means your content is seen as valuable.
• Are you looking at percentage increases over time, if comparing yourself to your competition? This technique helps to level the playing field, if you are comparing yourself to others. 

Total Number of LinkedIn Connections

You can only* have 30,000 connections on LinkedIn. Ever since I crossed 15,000 connections, I started becoming much more selective about whose invitations to connect I accept. At some point, I'm going to have to start to remove connections to make space for more people. And I'm getting close to requiring email address to invite me to connect. In fact, by the time I publish this blog, I may have already done so. (Don't worry: my profile contains my email address sprinkled throughout. If you want to invite me to connect, it's easy to do if you're a real person who is genuinely interested in connecting with me!)

^{* Only? 30,000 is a LOT!} 

Number of Recommendations Received

I encourage my clients to make sure they have at least one recommendation received and one given in the current year, and to strive for more received than given. However, I'm sitting right now at 316 received and only 187 recommendations given, so I've got some catching up to do!

Aside: There's some guy out there who brags that he has the highest number of LinkedIn recommendations. I suppose I could work on increasing my total number of recommendations, but instead I want to focus on GIVING more. Hopefully this sends you a subtle message about the kind of person I am, and my values. 😊

Analytics - Profile Views

I remember the "good 'ole days" when I was getting upward of 8,000+ profile views in the past 90 days. Now I'm usually around the 2,500+ mark. Still pretty good. I guide my clients to look at these numbers (if they have LinkedIn premium) to understand where there are spikes, and to determine if it's increasing or staying stable over time. Plus, the average person I'm guiding through a proposal is well under 1,000 profile views in the same time period, which illustrates that my techniques work! 

Analytics - Post Impressions

This number can vary based on the day, and it's a "Past 7 days" number, not 90 days. When working with a client, I usually guide them to look at total post impressions for the past 365 days, and view "daily" stats so you can see the spikes. 

By the way, this is my content impressions for the past 365 days. Two huge spikes, but my averages are still impressive, too! A good post is usually generating around 2,000 to 3,000 impressions for me. 

Social Selling Index

The final number I include in my proposals is my Social Selling Index. I'm currently at 73 out of 100. Most of my clients are ranging from 30 to 50, with some in their 60-70 SSI range. Usually, the person is seeing this and hearing about the SSI for the first time, which is a way of illustrating my depth of knowledge about the platform features. Instructions for looking up your score can be found here.

Hopefully you find this helpful in understanding both how to use your LinkedIn data to tell a story, and maybe even in making that decision to hire me to be your LinkedIn Marketing coach. 

Let's get started here.

Questions? Email me at [email protected] 

Thanks for reading!