LinkedIn for Export: the secret weapon for international success

For a moment, forget business travel and endless cold calls. Companies that want to land in foreign markets have a valid ally that facilitates the expansion process: LinkedIn.

The professional social network to which “you must absolutely enroll, they all have it” and that “it only serves if you need to look for work”, hides extraordinary potential for the business development of companies and could turn out to be the key to the international success of your business.

If you want to find out what makes LinkedIn a source (almost) inexhaustible of business opportunities abroad, keep reading.

LinkedIn is not only The B2B social platform par excellenceIt is a pool of talents and professionals (over a billion, for precision) connected to each other and offers a wide range of opportunities for companies who want to expand their business in Italy and abroad.

What opportunities are we talking about?

Here’s what you read in the article:

It is the perfect strategy for those who have good intentions in mind and want to achieve it effectively, quickly and directly.

With the advent of Social Networks, the world of sales has changed and the B2B is certainly not an exception.

Compared to traditional methods, Social selling offers you the possibility of direct contact with companies targeting worldwide and thanks to LinkedIn, you have the opportunity to write to the French company’s shopping manager you’ve been aiming for months, while sitting at the bar for breakfast.

Is it a tempting prospect, right?

We know that and that's why we want to reveal to you how to make the most of this powerful B2B tool.

The last is a supercazzola, but the first two are not at all, we are ready to swear. Instead, it is strategic activities that you should absolutely devote time and attention to, since they are an authentic launch pad for your company and your reputation as a professional.

Let's start from Brand Awareness (aka corporate reputation, but not only): how do you get it? Thanks to a well-groomed LinkedIn business page, rich in content designed to highlight the company and give it credibility. in English or in the language that is best suited to the target, so that they are the most internalscional possible.

Watch the literal translations: the ways of saying that you use in Italian is likely not universal in language and your prospect may not understand that “I served you on a silver plate“that makes so much sense for you. Basically, then adapt the texts to your audience’s cultural expectations and use the language as native speakers would use it.

And the Personal Branding? It is the perfect strategy to promote your image in this professional case. For create business opportunities on LinkedIn, you will have to stand out as a professional and your Professional Page is the right place to share ideas, images and comments to articles that tell who you are as a professional and highlight your strengths. An active and constantly updated profile makes you really human in the eyes of your ideal customers and consequently more appealing.

LinkedIn users appreciate that behind companies there are people in flesh and bone who tell the way they perform their profession and express their views on it; originality and uniqueness are always appreciated on social media. Someone might even appreciate your recipe to get the perfect mayonnaise, but as Digital Marketing experts we suggest you to publish it on Facebook.

And finally, if you don’t know what Antani is, you get it right away: Antani and other real supercazzole (we don't joke when we say we are POP).

LinkedIn activities help you expand your network and find potential customers, partners and distributors around the world. Thanks to the advanced research functions offered by LinkedIn, you can get in direct contact with professionals who do your best and converse with a real business relationship. What are the key steps to generate international leads on LinkedIn?

• TARGETING: define the country or the destination countries and the type of profile you would like to achieve. Who do you usually relate to trade negotiations?

• PROFILOSAL OTTIMIZATION: Before taking any business from your profile, make sure you set up the window well. What does it mean? Your profile is your business card and must do justice to your professionalism. Some examples for you: use an image of the profile that portrays you in a working environment and avoid selfie with sunglasses last summer.

Bring back the training and working experiences really important for your current profession: the advanced course of ceramic dishes baked at the lathe is really interesting, but if it is not inherent to your work it risks not to really do justice to your skills as well as to confuse the prospects and not to bring you much in there with the negotiations.

• PERSONAL BRANDING: As you anticipate, to affirm yourself and to be credible on LinkedIn, you will need to publish content that will attest your skills and activities. When you contact your prospects, the first thing they will do will just go to visit your profile to see who you are and what you are doing. Don't be surprised and take advantage of this opportunity to the best.

• MIRATE RESEARCH: LinkedIn allows you to find qualified B2B contacts with a targeted selection of search criteria. You will only need to enter the characteristics of your perfect partner or customer and wait for the results.

• COURSE TO LEAD: You will only need to send requests for links to the contacts provided by LinkedIn. Once you accept the request, you will start a conversation, writing in the most indicated languages and you are able to “chew”. You will really be able to unleash with more or less direct proposals and messages, testing different ways and thus refine the perfect business strategy for your target.

Also, do not underestimate any of the features offered by LinkedIn to find contacts in targets: LinkedIn offers you several options that you should not ignore.

• Join LinkedIn groups specific to your industry or market to ensure you catch the right target.
• Look who interacts with your prospects: keep an eye on the reactions to the posts and comments.

Don't panic, you'll have expanded your network of contacts or, possibly, laid the foundations for future collaborations at a virtually no cost.

Why do companies invest in personal branding employees?

Well yes, the people who work for the company are the company itself and the only ones really able to become brand ambassador and bring value to the business.

For a faster success for your business you should absolutely focus on communication people. It is not just one of the strongest trends at the moment: it is above all a way to recognize people and talents who work for the company the support they deserve. They will be definitely more motivated and satisfied if the company they work for promotes their professional development and their individual growth. But not only, the advantage for companies is huge: employees with a positive Personal Branding. contribute to corporate reputation and the association between the company and values as competence, innovation and professionalism. Indeed, the company’s online visibility will be amplified by the activity of employees on LinkedIn, leading to a net improvement of the company image and an increase of trust by customers, partners and possible investors.

If you are aiming for expansion, but you don’t have time to take care of the activities we’ve talked about or you don’t want to learn how to use LinkedIn, we can help you in multiple ways:

• Taking care of every phase of the Social Selling strategy: from the management of the business page, through the construction of the Personal Branding of your business department to the activity of Lead Generation.
• Would you like to take care of Social Selling activities independently? Thanks to our LinkedIn support and training service, we explain all the secrets of the world's most widely used Social B2B.