Skip to content
All articles
Sales Navigator6 min read

Sales Navigator Smart Links: Create and Share Links

A Smart Link packages files, images or URLs behind one trackable Sales Navigator link. It needs an Advanced or Advanced Plus account, holds up to 15 files of 200 MB each, and viewers self-identify before viewing, so analytics name who opened it.

Clapa
On this page

A Smart Link is a single trackable link that packages several files, images or URLs so a prospect can open them in a Sales Navigator viewer instead of downloading attachments. LinkedIn describes it as a way to "package and share content like slide decks, videos, and website URLs with your prospects using a single trackable link," and to track viewing behavior from it (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). It is an Advanced and Advanced Plus feature; you must have a Sales Navigator Advanced or Advanced Plus account to access it (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

Think of it as a hosted presentation with one URL. You add files or website links once, Sales Navigator gives you a link, and you paste that link wherever you like. The recipient sees the content in a viewer rather than as an email attachment, and you get a record of who opened it.

Two limits define what you can put inside. A Smart Link holds up to 15 files, and each file can be up to 200 MB. PDFs have a page limit of 300, and videos must not exceed 30 minutes (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

The fastest route starts in the Smart Links area of Sales Navigator:

  1. Sign in to Sales Navigator and click Smart Links in the top menu.
  2. Click New Smart Link.
  3. Enter a title, click Add, and choose Files or Website.
  4. Add more items by clicking Add again. To include a video, choose Website and enter the video's title and address.
  5. To let recipients download the files, tick Enable recipient to download viewable files.
  6. Click Create.

You can also build one while you write the message. Compose an InMail from your Sales Navigator inbox or from a prospect's profile, click Add Smart Link at the bottom of the message, enter a title, add the files, and click Insert. LinkedIn states the Smart Link is then added to your message and saved to the Smart Links tab, so you can reuse it later (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

Formats that work (and the ones that only download)

LinkedIn splits content into two groups: viewable and trackable, and download-only. PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, images (PNG, JPEG and GIF) and video (MP4, QuickTime, WMV and AVI) appear in the viewer. TIFF, Excel, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, zip files, CSV and TXT are downloadable from the viewer but not viewable (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

Two caveats come from LinkedIn's own page. GIFs are capped at 250 frames, and you cannot password-protect a Smart Link.

To share from the desktop app, open Smart Links, hover the link you want, and click Copy Link, then paste it into a Sales Navigator message, InMail, chat or email (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). On the mobile app you open Links, tap More, and choose to preview, copy, send in a private message, or share.

LinkedIn states that anyone can receive a Smart Link, because it can be sent through Sales Navigator, InMail or ordinary email. That reach matters for what happens next.

You can keep editing after you share. Open Smart Links, hover the link, click More > Modify, and change the title, content or viewer permissions; anyone opening the modified link sees the current content, not the earlier version (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

What the viewer sees

Before seeing the content, the recipient has to identify themselves. If they are signed in to LinkedIn they confirm a welcome screen; if they are not, they are asked to sign in or to provide a first name, last name and email address (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). LinkedIn concludes from this that all viewers self-identify and that "you will always know who your viewers are" when you look at analytics later.

One disclosure on the same page is worth reading twice: a shared Smart Link displays the author's profile image and name "even if LinkedIn privacy settings only allow certain users access to this." The link can travel further than you intended, and the viewer's details reach you only because they consented on the entry screen.

Reading engagement

Open the analytics from the Smart Links list: hover a link and click Analytics (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). LinkedIn describes the underlying data as confirmation that a viewer clicked the link and how many times, how long they spent, when they opened it, and — if they were signed in — basic profile information such as name, title, company and public profile picture. If they were not signed in, you get the name they typed and, optionally, their email (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

LinkedIn also reports two figures to admins in Usage Reports: how many Smart Links a user created, and how many total views those links received (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). It states plainly that admins do not see when a user created a presentation, what was inside it, who received it, or when it was modified or deleted (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

A worked reading (illustrative)

Say a link goes to three contacts. Analytics shows one viewer spent under a minute and another spent several minutes and returned twice. The useful reading is narrow: someone engaged more deeply, so a follow-up is earned. The example is illustrative. Time on page is not buying intent, and a single view is a weak signal, not a qualified lead.

A plain email attachment gives you no view data of its own. A Smart Link gives you a trackable URL and lets you update the content after sending. The trade-off is friction: the recipient must confirm a consent screen before they see anything, and you must have an Advanced or Advanced Plus plan to create one at all. For content a buyer will actually open — a short deck, a one-page PDF, a product video — that trade is usually worth it. For a file that must stay private, it is not, because LinkedIn states that Smart Links cannot be password-protected.

Viewer data is also governed by consent, not by you. LinkedIn describes a consent screen before viewing, notes that viewers can revoke consent in their privacy settings, and says viewers who were not signed in must contact LinkedIn support to access or delete their view history (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

For a wider look at outreach tooling, visit Clapa.

What happens when a sender leaves

LinkedIn states that admin-only users do not have access to Smart Links, that you cannot restrict the feature to certain users on a contract, and that if a seat is disabled, external viewers can no longer open the presentations that belonged to it (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). If a sender leaves and their seat is removed, the links they sent stop working.

FAQ

What plan do I need for Smart Links?

A Sales Navigator Advanced or Advanced Plus account. LinkedIn states Smart Links is a Sales Navigator feature that "requires the appropriate Sales Navigator license for access" and that it is not available without Sales Navigator (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

How many files can one Smart Link hold?

Up to 15 files, each up to 200 MB. PDFs are capped at 300 pages and videos at 30 minutes (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

Can I tell who viewed a Smart Link?

LinkedIn states that viewers self-identify before viewing, so analytics name the viewer, though a viewer who was not signed in is identified only by the name and optional email they typed (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).

Sources

Put the workflow in perspective.

Explore Clapa, then use the guide to ask the right questions.

Explore Clapa
Sales Navigator6 min read

How to Use Sales Navigator to Build a Lead List

Build a list by filtering on job function, title and seniority, saving the search, then adding leads to custom lists. A Core path works without the Advanced-tier Buyer Intent signal, saved leads cap at 10,000 per user, and the list still has to be worked manually.

Sales Navigator5 min read

What LinkedIn Sales Navigator Is

Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's paid B2B prospecting tool, sold separately from Premium. It adds advanced search filters, saved leads and accounts, custom lists and alerts, and includes 50 InMail credits per month per user on every tier.