How Entera, a document recognition and data entry service, tested demand in the Indian and UAE markets in just three months — securing 26 leads, engaging 170 potential clients, and building a database of over 1,900 target audience members.

Entera has been in the market since 2018, offering a cloud-based service that recognizes, verifies, and automatically processes all types of primary documentation. In Eastern Europe, the company has over 5,000 users and prior experience entering the US market, along with case studies from European companies.

The leadership team decided to expand internationally, selecting the MENA region and India as the most promising markets for Entera’s service.

Our Social Selling project was conducted through the LinkedIn profiles of two Entera representatives: Dmitry Makhlín, Commercial Director, and Nikita Krutikov, Business Development Director.

To accelerate testing, we divided the target regions between the two profiles: Nikita focused on the UAE, while Dmitry worked on India. Entera’s audience included accountants from local firms, as well as accountants and business professionals from outsourcing companies.

Before launching the lead generation campaign, we fully optimized both LinkedIn profiles to build trust with the target audience. A well-structured profile directly impacts the Connection Rate — the percentage of accepted connection requests.

We used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to filter prospects based on location, job title, company size, and industry. Finding relevant contacts was straightforward, as there were plenty of qualified professionals matching our criteria.

For instance, in India, a search for accountants from local companies in industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and construction returned over 19,000 results. To refine the audience further, we added an extra filter: “Posted on LinkedIn in the last 30 days.” This increased the likelihood of accepted connection requests and responses to messages.

Over three months, 1,245 target audience members from the UAE accepted connection requests. The Connection Rate was 62.4%, exceeding ModumUp’s UAE benchmark of 40%. We surpassed 60% in the first month and maintained this rate throughout the project, indicating strong trust in the profile.

After a connection request was accepted, we engaged with the audience by liking posts and endorsing skills before initiating conversations via direct messages. We tested 11 different message variations to determine the most effective approach.

In total, we sent 913 messages, with an overall Response Rate of 19.5%, aligning with our benchmarks. The campaign resulted in 70 engaged prospects and 16 qualified leads from the UAE.

The most effective approach was a two-step message sequence. The first message sparked curiosity and encouraged a response. The second message introduced Entera’s solution, explained its benefits, and suggested a call.

Our work on Dmitry’s profile began a month later than Nikita’s, and the project lasted two months. During this time, we added 670 representatives from India, achieving a 44.7% Connection Rate — a high result.

We observed a difference in acceptance rates: accountants from international companies were more likely to accept connection requests than those from local firms, who tend to be less active on LinkedIn.

Over two months, we generated 60 interested prospects and secured 10 leads from India through LinkedIn.

We identified large, active LinkedIn groups of accountants and finance professionals and conducted a poll.

This helped us gather market insights, gauge audience interest, and establish an entry point for further conversations.

One group stood out: IT & Accounting, Finance, Bank (Largest Professional Information Technology Group). It had the highest number of views and votes — 756 votes and 28,508 views.

From all responses, we filtered 160 relevant professionals from India who matched our target audience.

We then sent connection requests with a personalized message referencing their participation in the poll.

Participants were more likely to accept, as they already had an initial interaction with us. The Connection Rate in this segment reached 62%, compared to 44.7% among those who hadn’t engaged in the poll.

Once the connection was accepted, we sent an initial message introducing Entera, explaining how the service could support their work, and offering a call.

Results from This Approach: 27.7% Response Rate, 47.8% Initial Interest Rate (nearly double that of those who hadn’t engaged with the poll), 11 prospects showed interest, and 9 agreed to a call.

Regular employees at Indian companies were generally reluctant to schedule meetings. When they did, they often suggested weekend calls but didn’t follow through.

Through testing, we identified a more reliable audience segment — those more likely to follow through on meetings.

These individuals had more availability during business hours and, more importantly, greater motivation to improve efficiency and automate processes.

Over three months in the UAE, we scheduled calls with 16 leads, received interest from 110 potential clients, and built a database of 1,245 target audience representatives.

In just two months in India, we generated 10 leads, attracted interest from 60 potential clients, and compiled a database of 669 target audience representatives

The project not only confirmed interest in automation solutions but also provided valuable market insights, helping the company refine its strategy for future expansion.