Succeeding on LinkedIn: What Metrics and KPIs Matter Most?

I reached 35,000 followers on LinkedIn recently. Here's how I got there, what I learned along the way, and more importantly, which numbers you should actually be paying attention to.

In 2018, after 23 years working in corporate London, I started posting properly on LinkedIn. Like most people starting out, I struggled. So I focused on what I had - my debut book, Everybody Works in Sales. The book did well. Unfortunately, the generous royalties ran out after three months and a major panic set in.

I no longer worked for big London corporations, which meant nobody cared who I was. Starting over at 45 is harder than anyone tells you.

How I went from 1,000 to 35,000 followers

The real turning point came in 2020. I started writing about the unbearable pain of divorce, the loneliness of rebuilding your life from scratch, and the particular misery of going through all of that during lockdown, this time aged 47.

Something unexpected happened. I connected with people who were going through their own version of the same thing and didn't know how to put it into words. Strangers reached out. After years of feeling unheard, people started paying attention.

I went from 1,000 followers to 17,000 in a year. That did something for my confidence that I hadn't expected. It made me feel like I mattered.

But here's the thing - follower count doesn't pay your bills. Consistency doesn't automatically mean profit. So I want to talk honestly about which numbers mean something and which ones are just noise.

LinkedIn KPIs worth tracking

Top Voice status. LinkedIn HQ awarded me Top Voice in Sales in 2021 - given to only ten people in the world per year, based on voice, authenticity, and contribution to the community. I've held onto it every year since. I mention this not to brag, but because authority markers like this genuinely affect how people perceive you before they've even spoken to you.

Three people helped every day with no expectation of return. This sounds soft. It isn't. Helping people who are struggling to find work, supporting people starting out, offering advice to charities that need it - this is where recommendations come from. Kindness compounds.

Ten incoming business enquiries per month. This is the number I track most carefully. Referrals are always the best source of new business. Incoming enquiries from people who follow your content are the next best. Video, in my experience, is still the biggest driver of those enquiries on LinkedIn.

Of those ten enquiries, here's roughly how they break down. Two people you never hear from again. Four can't afford your services - that's fine, not everyone is your customer. Two hire you for one-off coaching. One hires you for two to three months of ongoing work. One becomes something more significant.

Knowing this breakdown matters because it stops you panicking when enquiries don't immediately convert. It's a pipeline, not a vending machine.

LinkedIn metrics that are wasting your time

Going viral is exciting the first time. After that, it's exhausting. Of the seven times I've gone viral, I won business on three occasions. The other four times were great for notifications and terrible for my schedule. Gary Vaynerchuk, Microsoft and Oprah still haven't called.

Be very cautious about people claiming to make six figures on LinkedIn in under a year, or posting about getting ten leads from a single post by lunchtime, or speaking at major events where you never quite see the audience. Social proof matters. Ask for it. The people who only talk about their own success and never show the evidence are usually the ones with the least of it. Substance matters more than style.

Follower count on its own means nothing. I have 35,000 followers. What matters is how many of them trust me enough to hire me, refer me, or recommend me.

Why LinkedIn lurkers are worth more than you think

This year I've won more business from lurkers than from any other source. Lurkers are the people who never like your posts, never comment, but watch everything you do. They follow you for three months, sometimes a year, before they ever get in touch.

Often they've had a bad experience with someone else and they're being careful. Sometimes they're new to the idea of investing in training or coaching and they need time to get comfortable. Whatever the reason, they are watching. And when they're ready, they contact you already convinced.

This is why showing up consistently matters more than any individual post going viral. Showing up daily, giving genuine value, building real relationships in the DMs, and knowing how to follow up effectively - that's what moves the needle over time, not chasing moments.

If you want to understand more about my journey and how I've built a business through LinkedIn, the full story is in Business Growth: lessons learned from divorce, dating and falling in love again.

If you want help getting better results from LinkedIn for yourself or your team, find out more about the LinkedIn group training programme or get in touch.