During yesterday’s event, we explored a feature that can completely transform post-call follow-ups.
Sending standard email attachments leaves you entirely in the dark. You never know if a prospect opened your deck or shared it with their procurement team. Smart Links fix this problem by providing real-time analytics on buyer behaviour.
A Sales Navigator smart link allows you to bundle up to 15 files and track exactly who views your content and for how long. You can use them to map buying committees, spot dormant leads re-engaging, and deliver personalized follow-ups without losing visibility.
Let's explore some valuable best practices shared by top sellers on how to turn these links into your most strategic sales asset.
Need help setting up a Smart Link from scratch? Check this Help Center article for a step-by-step guide.
How do Smart Links help you track buyer intent?
A Smart Link gives you granular visibility into your prospect's behaviour. You can see precisely which pages they linger on. If you send a proposal with three pricing options, the analytics will show you if the buyer spent seven minutes staring at option three. This insight helps you accurately forecast deals and tailor your next conversation.
💡 When your initial contact forwards the link to colleagues, the platform maps those new stakeholders for you. This reveals hidden decision-makers like a chief financial officer or a technical director. You can then save these new profiles to your lead lists and begin multi-threading your account strategy.
What are the top strategic use cases for smart links?
- Consolidate technical documents and integration guides for post-discovery follow-ups
- Monitor dormant accounts at the end of the fiscal year to catch early budget planning
- Map the buying committee when prospects forward your proposal internally
- Generate inbound interest by attaching a link to the “view my portfolio” button on your profile
- Create unique landing pages for trade shows by turning your link into a physical asset
Best practices for sharing Smart Links
- Hyperlink your Smart Link within an email rather than sending the raw, cryptic URL in a cold LinkedIn message. Buyers are naturally cautious about clicking unknown links due to phishing risks. Disguising the link behind clear email text builds trust and increases your click-through rate.
- Avoid placing your company website URL inside the Smart Link - if you link out to a website, you lose all tracking visibility the moment the prospect clicks away. Instead, save your case studies or web pages as PDF documents and upload those directly to the link.
- Choose to turn off the download permission when sharing pre-sales documents. This forces the buyer and their colleagues to keep returning to your hosted link, ensuring you capture every single interaction.
💡 Pro Tip: Build an evergreen team library
Only the individual creator receives analytics when a Smart Link is viewed. If an administrator or marketing manager wants to build master templates for the entire sales team, follow these simple steps to scale the process:
- Create a master Smart Link containing all the approved files and presentations for a scope
- Toggle the permission settings to allow file downloads
- Share this temporary link with your sales team
- Instruct the team to download the files and recreate the link under their own Sales Navigator accounts
- Turn off the download permission on the master link before sharing it with prospects.
Ready to test these smart link strategies?
Implementing these practices will help you save time and close deals much faster. Review your recent discovery calls and build a Smart Link tailored to those specific prospect questions. Track what works and refine your approach continuously.
👉 What is the most surprising insight you have uncovered using Smart Link analytics? Tell us about it in the comments, so we can learn from each other!
I work at LinkedIn as a Senior Account Executive for Sales Solutions. If you’d like to connect on LinkedIn.com, you can find me here.
