LinkedIn Social Selling

Signal-based LinkedIn outreach that turns content engagement into pipeline. 12 tactical plays leveraging intent signals to maximize response rates. Apollo + Exa for prospect research; per-prospect Apollo enrichment gated per .claude/rules/apollo-credits.md.

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Doctrine inherited (Step 7 — 0626 rollout)

Output complies with:

• output-tenets.md — the seven tenets
• output-simplicity.md — length caps, three-layer source placement, robot-tells ban
• outbound-research-hygiene.md — dated signals, current-company-only hooks, no invented stats
• ai-speak-anti-patterns.md — the 12 patterns DMs and comments can't carry
• linkedin-cold-dm-doctrine.md — the cold-start motion: 9 tactics, connection/InMail envelope, "easy no" cadence (powers the cold-start plays)
• Step 6 calibration: see [[feedback_execution_doctrine_refinements_step6]]

Refinements applied to this skill:

Code	Refinement	How it lands in linkedin-social-selling
R1	Source placement (three layers)	DMs and comments are end-customer-facing. No source tags inline. Internal play-tracking + research evidence lives in working notes only; never surfaces in the DM body.
R3	Product-update tone	When a play references our product, frame as "I shipped X" or "we ship X" — never "we are thrilled to announce." Reads as ad copy, not as a human reaching out.
R6	CTA hierarchy	DM closes name the next step appropriate to the signal — discovery-call for cold signal (profile view), trial sign-up for content engagement, demo for high-intent (pricing-page visit). Blog as fallback when the prospect isn't yet sign-up-ready.
R9	Action-oriented section names	"Spot the signal / Open the DM / Land the value / Close on next step" — verb-led across every play.

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Claude Code Triggers

Invoke this skill when user says:

• "social selling playbook"
• "LinkedIn outreach strategy"
• "signal-based outreach"
• "turn engagement into pipeline"
• "outreach plays"
• "LinkedIn DM strategy"
• "convert profile viewers"
• "reach out to post engagers"
• "website visitor outreach"
• "InMail strategy"
• "cold DM" / "cold LinkedIn outreach"
• "cold-start plays"
• "connection request strategy"

Do NOT invoke when:

• User wants to create LinkedIn content → Use appropriate linkedin-* skill
• User wants to write comments → Use linkedin-comment skill
• User wants to build a full founder LinkedIn program → Use linkedin-content-guide-founders skill
• User wants email outreach → Use outreach-emails skill

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Core Framework: Content → Engagement → Outreach Flywheel

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. POST CONTENT 2. TRACK SIGNALS 3. OUTREACH │
│ Content attracts ───► Who engages? ───► Reach out │
│ ICP attention Profile views with context │
│ Post likes/comments │
│ Website visits │
│ │
│ 4. CONVERT TO PIPELINE │
│ DM → Call → Deal │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why this works:

• LinkedIn outreach gets 5-7× better response rates than cold email
• Warm signals (engagement) = 3-4× higher response than cold lists
• Context from their engagement makes messages hyper-relevant
• Content builds trust before the conversation starts

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Account Safety & Limits (2026) — voice-locked

Verify account health before any plays. These constants drive every send-or-skip decision.

Metric	Target	Risk if below
Social Selling Index (SSI)	Above 70	Flagged faster
Pending connection requests	Under 700	#1 spam signal
Connection acceptance rate	Above 30%	Auto-restriction

Connection limits:

• Weekly: 100-150 (standard), 200-250 (high-SSI Sales Nav)
• Daily safe limit: 25 connections, 5 days/week
• Monthly capacity: 800-1000 outreach messages per account

2026 InMail changes (CRITICAL):

• Open InMail cap reduced ~87% (from ~800/month to under 100)
• Sales Navigator Advanced/Corporate now essential
• Recruiter plans have highest limits
• Credits returned on responses — quality > quantity
• Prioritize warm signals before cold lists

Automation safety:

• Avoid cheap browser-based automation tools (<$50/mo)
• Run automation during prospect's local business hours
• Don't run multiple automation tools on one account
• Disable Grammarly and ad-blockers while automating

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Signal Priority Order — voice-locked

Reach out in this order for best results. Higher-priority signals deserve faster turnaround and the warmest channel first.

Priority	Signal	Response rate	Temperature
1	Website pricing page	Highest	Hot
2	Website visitor (any)	Very high	Hot
3	Profile viewer	High	Warm
4	Post commenter	High	Warm
5	Post liker	Medium-high	Warm
6	Company page follower	Medium	Lukewarm
7	New job starter (<90 days)	Medium-high	Lukewarm
8	Competitor post engager	Medium	Cool
9	Keyword post author	Medium	Cool
10	Influencer follower	Low-medium	Cold
11	Event attendee	Low-medium	Cold
12	Open profile (cold list)	Lowest	Cold

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TWE Pre-Qualification — voice-locked

Before loading prospects into automation, score the upstream content strategy. Content with TWE < 4 only generates vanity engagement; loading those signals into automation wastes capacity.

Dimension	Weight	Question
Thought (T)	1 point	Does content share a genuine POV or insight?
Work proof (W)	2 points	Does content reference real work, clients, or results?
Engagement hook (E)	4 points	Does content trigger a reply, DM, or comment from ICP?

Minimum TWE total: 4 (out of 7) before automating.

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Inputs

Input	Description	Source
Intent signal	Profile view, post engagement, website visit, etc.	RB2B / Sales Nav / Valley / manual
Prospect details	Name, company, role, LinkedIn URL	Sales Nav / Apollo / user-provided
ICP context	Whether prospect fits target segment	icp-research upstream

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Process

Five-phase flow: Account health check → Signal identification & prioritization → Play selection & message crafting → Self-evaluation → Review gate. Full step-by-step + tool stack details + MCP integration in the premium reference.

12 warm plays + 4 cold-start plays (with Phase 0 connection protocol) + voice notes + no-brainer offer + technographic + multi-channel amplification in the premium reference. Cold-start plays consume linkedin-cold-dm-doctrine.md.

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Anti-Hallucination Guardrails

1. Never invent signal data. Only reference real engagement (verified by Valley / Sales Nav / RB2B / manual).
2. Don't fabricate metrics. Use [X%] placeholder if unknown.
3. No fake social proof. Only cite real client names with permission.
4. Verify ICP fit. Signal alone doesn't mean qualified.
5. Check contact history. Don't re-contact recent outreach (>90 days since last touch).

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Quality

Pre-outreach checks cover message quality (under 75 words, signal reference, no pitch), account safety (limits, single automation tool), targeting (ICP fit verified separately), and TWE pre-qualification. Worked example (picking play for pricing-page signal) + anti-examples (generic cold-DM, pitch in first message, multi-tool stacking, ignoring 2026 InMail caps) + post-launch failure-mode triage in the premium reference.

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Integration with Other Skills

Skill	Relationship	Usage
linkedin-personal-posts / sales-posts / expert-posts	Upstream	Content generates signals for outreach
linkedin-comment	Upstream	Comments warm up prospects before DM
linkedin-content-guide-founders	Parent program	Social selling is Phase 4 of the founder program
outreach-emails	Downstream	Add engaged prospects to email sequences
company-context	Research	Prospect's company before outreach

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Final ship gate

Run /premortem --output before ship. See /premortem skill for the 5 execution domains (will-it-resonate / will-it-convert / will-it-stay-on-brand / will-stakeholder-push-back / will-it-degrade-over-time) and output template.

Trivial-case escape: ## Premortem\nNo failure modes — trivial change satisfies the contract for genuinely trivial outputs.

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Persuasion & stickiness pass

Output complies with persuasion-and-stickiness.md — Cialdini's 7 persuasion levers + Heath's SUCCESs. Deploy the 1-2 Cialdini levers that fit the reader's barrier (never all seven; every lever must be TRUE), run the SUCCESs diagnostic (Simple / Unexpected / Concrete / Credible / Emotional / Stories) over the near-final draft, then the rule's pre-ship gate.

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