4 Pillars for Social Selling written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing
Listen to the full episode: Overview On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch interviews Lorenzo Johnson, Director of Revenue Management and partner at Socially In, a leading US-based social media agency. As a LinkedIn Learning instructor and expert in B2B social selling, Lorenzo unpacks what’s changed on LinkedIn heading into 2026: […]
4 Pillars for Social Selling written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing
![Lorenzo Johnson]()
Overview
On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch interviews Lorenzo Johnson, Director of Revenue Management and partner at Socially In, a leading US-based social media agency. As a LinkedIn Learning instructor and expert in B2B social selling, Lorenzo unpacks what’s changed on LinkedIn heading into 2026: from the rise of video and carousel posts to algorithm shifts, authentic engagement, and practical uses of AI. Discover how to optimize your profile, build real relationships, and avoid the common pitfalls that hold most sellers and brands back on LinkedIn today.
About the Guest
Lorenzo Johnson is the Director of Revenue Management and a partner at Socially In. He’s a B2B social selling strategist, LinkedIn Learning instructor, and content creator for Madcraft. Lorenzo has helped thousands of professionals and organizations drive revenue on LinkedIn through practical, authentic, and modern tactics.
- LinkedIn: Lorenzo Johnson
- Agency: sociallyin.com
Actionable Insights
- Video and carousel posts are the best way to stand out from the flood of average AI-generated content on LinkedIn in 2026.
- Social search is merging with traditional search—hashtags, long-form posts, and engagement matter for discoverability on and off LinkedIn.
- Your Social Selling Index (SSI) score is built on four pillars: building your brand, finding the right people, engaging with insights, and building trusted relationships.
- LinkedIn’s algorithm penalizes mass outreach, low-quality networks, and shallow engagement—focus on quality over quantity.
- Use all profile features (professional mode, microsites, newsletters) to get more algorithmic “love.”
- Social selling is a long game: expect 300+ days from first connection to closed deal if you’re doing it right.
- Automation and AI can help with research, outreach, and follow-up, but don’t shortcut real engagement—be careful with scraping and gray hat tools.
- Measure success by impressions, views, and engagement rate—not just meetings booked or sales closed.
- Quality engagement, DMs, and real conversation trump cold outreach every time.
Great Moments (with Timestamps)
- 01:11 – LinkedIn’s 2026 Landscape
Always Engine Optimization (AEO), search integration, and the new content game. - 02:52 – How to Beat the AI Flood
Why video, carousels, and true insights win over “prompted” content. - 04:40 – The Four Pillars of LinkedIn Success
SSI explained: brand, audience, insights, and trusted relationships. - 08:06 – Tools & Features for a Strong Profile
Why professional mode and new features matter for reach. - 10:16 – Relationship Building, Not Just Outreach
Why real engagement is the only way to win in social selling. - 12:57 – Where AI and Automation Help (and Hurt)
Tools for scale vs. the risk of bans, and finding the “gray hat” balance. - 19:22 – What Metrics Matter Most
How to track what’s really working in your social selling strategy.
Insights
“If you approach LinkedIn for quick wins, you’re playing the wrong game—social selling is about long-term relationship building.”
“Use every feature LinkedIn offers—profiles that leverage newsletters, video, and professional mode get algorithmic priority.”
“The best outreach is rooted in value: personalized video, insightful comments, and real conversation—not mass DMs.”
“Quality impressions and engagement are leading indicators of future sales—don’t just measure meetings or bookings.”
John Jantsch (00:00.11)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Lorenzo Johnson. He’s the Director of Revenue Management and a partner at Socially In, a leading US social media agency. He’s a specialist in social selling, helping B2B professionals and SMEs leverage LinkedIn to drive revenue. As a content creator for Madcraft and an instructor on LinkedIn learning, Lorenzo teaches thousands worldwide.
There’s courses on social selling. So Lorenzo, welcome to the show.
Lorenzo Johnson (00:33.467)
appreciate you and thanks for having me today, John. I’m very, very excited to be here.
John Jantsch (00:37.76)
Awesome. So did I say the name right socially in? I had to kind of stumble over that. There’s a lot of letters together.
Lorenzo Johnson (00:40.857)
You did. No, you said it correctly. You said it better than a lot of people when they call us and they say social lion and other things like that. So you hit it right on the head, John.
John Jantsch (00:50.345)
Awesome. So let’s start. We’re going to talk mostly about LinkedIn today. So let’s set the table going into 2026, which we’re there. What’s changed? What do we need to pay attention to? What’s gotten worse about better about just kind of give us the give us the lay of the land for 2026 on LinkedIn.
Lorenzo Johnson (00:52.507)
Yes, sir.
Lorenzo Johnson (01:11.483)
Well, there’s a few things that’s happening on LinkedIn that I think everyone should be excited about, not necessarily fearful about, but absolutely kind of thinking about what they’re going to be shifting and changing. And so I’ll kind of get right into one of the biggest things that’s happening. And it’s around this term AEO that everyone’s kind of talking about and always engine optimization and always everywhere optimization. know, you’re hearing all of these different types of names and LinkedIn is actually one of those social platforms that’s also starting to
be incorporated a little bit more into that. What we’re starting to actually see is that content is starting to be indexed when you start to get into search inquiries and search queries. Technical things like leveraging hashtags and things like that are actually starting to also come up in search functions and Google and things like that. That’s also with other platforms like Instagram and things like that. But again, I know we’re focusing historically or this conversation specifically on LinkedIn. So.
The first thing that you’re seeing is that with all and like all social, you’re starting to kind of see this integration between social search. These, these avenues that used to be very separated and segregated are really starting to kind of work together now. And so that’s the first thing that we’re seeing right now is that content, long form content, putting out some of that thought leadership type of content that used to be really good and really exciting on LinkedIn. It’s kind of been watered down when chat GBT made everyone an expert all of a sudden and things like that.
but
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