Note: I use Alignable’s Premium membership. Some of the features I discuss in this article may be unavailable to freemium users.
I’ll let you in on a secret: One of my best sales tools in the last year has been a little-known social media platform called Alignable.
As a LinkedIn competitor, Alignable caters to business owners ready to grow through networking and referrals. And in the last few months, we’ve stumbled upon a strategy that works.
In fact, we’ve recently seen a flurry of high-quality leads, and our average contract size was for more than $2,700. Not bad!
Plus, some of the biggest opportunities we’ve ever had at Poetica have stemmed from conversations we’ve started on Alignable—and those sales conversations are still in progress. If they close, it’ll make Alignable one of our strongest sales channels ever.
Today, we’re outlining the strategies that have worked so far for us, but I’d love to hear what’s working for you! If you’re an avid Alignable user, share your journey in the comments!
Table of Contents
What Is Alignable?
What’s the Difference Between Alignable And LinkedIn?
Our Alignable Strategy For Growing Our Business
What Is Alignable?
Alignable is a B2B social media platform for business professionals across a variety of professions, geographies, and interests. With its emphasis on passing referrals and recommendations, Alignable is focused on helping businesses grow.
Here’s what’s especially cool about Alignable: It doesn’t like the phrase “sales channel” or “social network.” Instead, Alignable positions itself as a relationship engine. And that’s the source of its effectiveness.
The platform isn’t focused on sales. It’s focused on meaningful connections. And those meaningful connections inevitably lead to sales.
What’s the Difference Between Alignable And LinkedIn?
Though they seem similar, LinkedIn and Alignable are focused on different demographics and business strategies.
While LinkedIn is a hotspot for jobseekers, recruiters, salespeople, and folks who simply want to network, Alignable focuses on business owners interested in enhancing sales through new connections and referrals.
Like I said earlier, Alignable isn’t trying to be a LinkedIn or Facebook clone (and one look at the UX/UI shows you Alignable doesn’t follow the design format we expect from platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or X).
Our Alignable Strategy For Growing Our Business
We’re still fine-tuning our Alignable strategy for the best results possible, but here’s how we’ve generated success on the platform throughout 2025:
1. Join the Right Groups
The Alignable platform hosts countless groups built around geography, profession, and topic. To illustrate how diverse they can be, some of my favorites include:
- Pittsburgh, PA - A group built for business owners in the Pittsburgh region.
- Ask SMB Owners Anything - A group where participants can ask all sorts of questions and spark different conversations.
- Business & Parenting Collaborative - A group for busy business-owning parents to swap tips on balancing your professional life with your family life.
2. Look for the Right Connections
Alignable is all about connecting with others. As you join groups, pay close attention to who’s posting regularly, but also pay attention to two types of members:
- New Members - We like connecting with new members who have completed their profiles because they haven’t had much time to connect with many other people. By getting to them early on in their Alignable journey, we can make a stronger first impression on the platform. Pro Tip: When sorting through New Members, look for accounts with a completed profile picture and profile description.
- Highly Recommended Members - Being “Highly Recommended” simply means you’ve received a number of recommendations from other Alignable members. This is a strong indicator that the individual is a strong, active networker on the platform—and they’ll likely be receptive to connecting with you.
While looking through these segments, you should identify two types of connections:
- Potential Referral Partner - Alignable is, after all, a platform designed for referrals. Look for businesses that complement your services without directly competing. At Poetica, for example, we frequently look for digital ad specialists, photographers, videographers, business consultants, and print shops.
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) - Your ICP is a description of your ideal target audience. If you own a local mechanic shop, your ICPs may include salespeople who drive hundreds of miles every week and trades companies with large fleets of vehicles.
3. Reach Out With Intention
Remember: Everyone on Alignable works in sales—even if it’s only in a small capacity. Because of this, everyone on the platform can spot a cold pitch coming (and nobody likes a cold pitch).
Alignable offers a few boilerplate conversation starters, but I like to customize them based on the audience. Here’s how:
- Reaching Out to Potential Referral Partners - I’m very clear with potential referral partners on why I’d like to connect. For example, if I’m reaching out to a digital ads specialist, I might write: Hi [First Name]! We’re an inbound marketing agency, but we stay away from running digital ads internally… I’d love to connect and see if we could be a good fit for future projects. Maybe we could become referral partners! Free for a call next week to talk shop?
- Reaching Out to Ideal Customer Profiles - ICPs require a little more nuance. Come on too strong, and you risk making it obvious that you want to sell to them. Come on too weak, and you’ll never build a relationship. You could start simple: Hi! Who’s a good referral for you these days? Of course, if you’d like to be more direct: Hi! We’ve met and worked with a ton of [people in your position]. We’re always looking to connect with more… Who’s a good referral for you these days?
Notice the common thread in these examples: They’re both asking how to make a strong referral to support their company.
In sales and in business, we need to give before we can receive. Giving something of value without expecting anything in return is one of the strongest and fastest ways to build trust with a potential partner or client.
4. Set Up Meetings
Alignable is a terrific starting point for relationships, especially with its handy chat feature. While that chat is terrific for building connections, much of the magic of any relationship happens when we spend time face-to-face.
Our next step: Set up a meeting. Zoom if they’re in another town, coffee if they’re local.
This isn’t a dig at the platform in any way; it’s simply a desire to nurture one-on-one face time with your new contact.
5. Post & Comment Regularly
Alignable is built on relationships, and those relationships are fostered through platform dialogues. Pay attention to posts and group discussions—especially when those conversations are started by potential referral partners and ICPs.
Engage frequently, and aim to provide as much value as possible. The more you engage, the more you’ll become a recognized face on the platform—and the more you’ll benefit.
6. Participate In Group Networking Opportunities
Alignable offers a variety of networking opportunities, including:
- Speed Networking Session - These speed sessions are one of the easiest and quickest ways to establish connections with professionals from around the country.
- Industry Networking - Look for industry networking opportunities to expand your professional network and identify potential referral partners.
- In-Person Networking Sessions - Some local Groups will host in-person networking options so you can continue to develop personal, face-to-face relationships with professionals in your community.
7. Pay Attention to Who’s Paying Attention to You
Before I get into this section, I’ll make something clear: I am not sponsored by Alignable, nor am I being compensated by the organization for this blog.
With that out of the way, let’s get into it. Alignable Premium gives you tons of cool stats on how many views and interactions your profile has, and it’ll show you who clicked your comments/posts and who viewed your profile.
That’s huge.
What’s worked for us:
- Connect with people who comment on your posts.
- Connect with people who engage with your posts.
- Connect with people who view your profile.
It’s also helpful to include a note giving them context on why you’re reaching out. If someone checks out my profile, I like to be direct: Hey [FIRSTNAME], thanks for checking out my profile. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with!
Bonus Tip: Work As A Team
If you have other team members in your company, work with them to elevate your content on the platform. Share your latest posts, and encourage each other to like and comment on the posts so your collective connections receive notifications about the content.
Tip: If you don’t have employees, work with your closest connections inside Alignable. Come to an agreement to engage with each other’s content as much as possible, and send each other your latest posts as soon as it’s published. Then you can like and comment to help others see the new content.
