How B2B companies sell to foreign markets through LinkedIn – advice from the founder of the Social Selling agency Dmytro Suslov

In the context of economic instability, more and more Ukrainian companies are considering exporting their goods and services. However, marketing channels that work in the domestic market may not be as effective abroad. 

In fact, the solution has long existed — it is the LinkedIn platform, where you can find representatives of foreign companies from over 200 countries around the world. It was previously thought that this channel was suitable for IT outsourcing companies, but experience shows that it can also be useful for other segments of B2B business. For example, manufacturers and service brands.

We spoke with Dmytro Suslov, founder and CEO of Addlium, to find out how to enter new markets using LinkedIn. His team implements a social selling approach in business. In this article, you will learn what you need to know about B2B marketing on LinkedIn, what mistakes to avoid, and how to build the process. 

What You Need to Know About LinkedIn and Lead Generation in This Social Network 

The first thing to know: LinkedIn is a social network focused on business relationships. There are many profiles of people with C-level positions in their companies. Representatives of different businesses can connect with each other and communicate. There is also a feed where you can see posts from people, as well as various types of pages (personal and corporate). 

The most important thing you need to know about LinkedIn: 

• Personal accounts carry more weight in the eyes of other users than corporate ones. This is important if you plan to build a sales process in this social network. While corporate profiles are more suitable for building an HR brand, conveying values, and raising awareness, personal profiles are about your unique thoughts and approaches. People prefer to communicate with other people, not companies. 
• Although LinkedIn is a global network, coverage varies. The more developed the economy of a country, the more users will be represented here. For example, in Ukraine, there are about 4 million users. This number has nearly doubled since the start of the war. Additionally, the larger the business, the higher the chance of finding its representatives on LinkedIn. 
• 4 out of 5 people with profiles on LinkedIn participate in business decision-making. It is also important to understand that this chain in B2B is significantly longer than in B2C. While an end consumer can make an emotional purchase, businesses take much longer to choose their partners. For example, in large enterprises, up to 18 different people may “get to know” your company. Your potential clients may track your profile before you move to commercial relationships. After all, LinkedIn cares about who B2B companies work with. 

All of the above is the reason why some companies believe that LinkedIn does not work. This is because many use outdated approaches that have long lost their relevance. The task of marketing today is to build relationships with clients, not to sell. This is the essence of the social selling approach. 

Social Selling on LinkedIn — A New Approach to Building Sales

Previously, LinkedIn operated on the principle that you needed to send as many messages as possible to potential clients to generate leads. Quantity outweighed quality. However, as mentioned earlier, people care about who they work with. Remember the scandal involving the CEO of the largest tech conference, Web Summit? When the war broke out in Israel, he publicly supported Hamas, which sparked outrage among people. As a result, most companies that planned to attend the conference did not go to Web Summit, and its CEO resigned.

From this, we draw the conclusion: people’s views and values matter. When you communicate with potential clients, openness, teamwork, expertise, and your thoughts on the industry come to the forefront. Before starting the lead generation process on LinkedIn, ask yourself what kind of company you are. Professional and conservative, or young and flexible?

LinkedIn marketing is about trust. If trust exists, the likelihood of a deal increases. Practice shows that the highest conversion in sales comes from referrals. There, the percentage is 50-60%. But what should we do if we are entering cold sales? How do we build that trust? You need to start with basic relationships: it’s not enough to just say “hello” for the company to be noticed. It takes time to build a foundation of trust. Below are a few steps to achieve this.

4 steps to building relationships with potential clients on LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for establishing relationships with potential clients abroad. The key is to use this platform correctly. More details on how to do this are below.

Step #1: Creating an Ideal Customer Profile

Before you start working with LinkedIn, you need to understand who your ideal client is. Ask yourself: what are the companies, what roles are you interested in, what are their motivations and values? For example, a business can be large, growing, or a startup. Each position (CEO, Head of Sales, Head of Marketing) has different motivations. For instance, while profit and scaling are important for the CEO, a marketer focuses on achieving quality metrics. 

Once this is clear, create a separate document with detailed descriptions of different segments. It will help you focus on the core values and create content that will be truly interesting and useful for your clients. 

The main thing is to rely on statistical data. To create an ICP, you can: 

• Conduct market research. 
• Conduct interviews or gather responses from clients using surveys. 
• Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 

Step #2: Profile Packaging 

People on LinkedIn often neglect their profile presentation. This is a mistake, as it is the first thing a potential client sees when searching for information about your company. On LinkedIn, profiles have nine blocks. Let’s break down the first and most important screen. What should be here: 

• Professional photo. Your face should be clearly visible, with a neutral background. A slight smile attracts attention. 
• Cover image. This is the only graphic element on the page, so the cover “catches” the eye. It’s better to add text about how your company can be useful here. Avoid generic phrases and unclear slogans. 
• Tagline. This is the description under your photo. Here, provide more details about what you do in your position at the company. 
• Hashtags. LinkedIn is the only social network indexed by search engines. When you add relevant hashtags to your page, it can potentially increase traffic to your page. 
• Link to your website. Many potential clients do not complete their search through LinkedIn. They may visit your company’s website to learn more about it. 
• CTA. A short and precise call to action. Focus on what benefit the client will gain from working with you. 

As the Addlium team’s experience shows, when you have a well-designed LinkedIn profile, the number of views can increase by up to 10 times. 

Step #3: Expanding Your Business Network

It seems simple here — you just need to add relevant people to your LinkedIn profile. But in reality, it’s much more complicated. Today, people respond poorly to typical messages like “Hello, I work at Company X, we provide services…”. The thing is, CEOs receive the same messages from other companies 20 times a day. Why would they take a call with you if they don’t even know anything about your company? 

The sales era is over: today, the question is not how to sell, but how to make someone want to buy from you. You need to showcase specific cases, provide references, and share expertise. 

You can also offer your clients something for free. For example, IT companies often offer trial versions, while service businesses can provide themed consultations. 

This platform even has its own internal metric for profiles — the LinkedIn Social Selling Index. The metrics are calculated for each account based on various data. But it’s important to remember that the quality of your current followers greatly influences the Social Selling Index on LinkedIn. 

Step #4: Creating Valuable and Relevant Content

When you create articles, posts, surveys, and creatives on LinkedIn, write about your clients, not about yourself. Share what they gain from working with you, why other companies have chosen you. Share business cases, insights, and references. Remember: clients like to read about themselves. Therefore, content is not a whim, but a necessity. 

Do this regularly. Experience shows that it’s better to publish 2-3 posts a week. This way, your company will regularly appear in front of clients. It works even better than direct advertising on LinkedIn.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lead Generation on LinkedIn

What should the average deal size be for the lead acquisition through LinkedIn to be profitable?

When considering LinkedIn as a potential channel for marketing promotion, it’s better to operate not with the average deal size, but with the customer lifetime value (LTV). This is the money that comes from your client throughout their entire existence with your company. In marketing, there are concepts of average deal size, margin, and customer retention. You may have a one-time contract with an average deal size of $100,000, and the margin will be 15-20%. This means that six months of work can be covered by one contract. It makes sense to use LinkedIn if your average deal size is $2,000 or more. If your service costs $500, then you need to consider LTV or the total amount of money that a client brings you over the entire duration of your cooperation. If this period is one year or more – you can test this channel.

Is it worth working with LinkedIn if you don’t speak English?

If you want to sell in the domestic market – then it’s worth a try. In other markets – no. You need to write content and communicate with clients in their language. Most LinkedIn users speak English.

What is the mechanism for setting up advertising on LinkedIn?

The advertising cabinet in LinkedIn is similar to the Meta Business Suite. But it doesn’t work the same way here. Firstly, the cost of advertising will be 2-4 times higher. The effectiveness of advertising on LinkedIn for lead generation is very low, as it has a B2B audience where purchases are not made impulsively. You will simply waste your budget. Advertising on LinkedIn can be used as part of PR and HR strategies. For example, you can talk about how everything works in your company. It’s better to invest this money in content and expanding your business network.