Is LinkedIn the Right Channel for Your Business?

Everyone Says LinkedIn Is Great for B2B. But Is It?

If you are a B2B founder, you have probably heard this a hundred times: “LinkedIn is WHERE your buyers are.” And the data backs it up. LinkedIn’s own research, widely cited across B2B lead generation studies, suggests that roughly 80% of B2B social media leads come from the platform. A HubSpot study found the platform was 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook or X.

So most founders hear those numbers and jump straight in. They buy a tool. They hire an agency. They start blasting connection requests.

And then nothing happens. Or worse, they get their account restricted.

Here is the thing most people miss. LinkedIn has over 1 billion registered members. But according to Business of Apps, only about 310 million of those are active monthly. That is less than a third. Having a profile and being ACTIVE on LinkedIn are two very different things.

So before you commit your budget, your time, or your reputation to LinkedIn, you need to answer one question: are YOUR ideal customers actually active there?

I built a simple framework to figure this out. It takes 15 minutes.

The LinkedIn Activity Test

I call it the LinkedIn Activity Test. Here is how it works.

1. List your top 20 ideal customers by name. Not personas. Actual people. Think of the companies you would love to work with, then find the decision-maker at each one.
2. Look up each person on LinkedIn. Go to their profile directly.
3. For each one, check four things. When did they last post? Are they engaging on other people’s posts? Do they have 500+ connections (a signal they use the platform)? Is their profile updated in the last year?
4. Score each prospect using the system below.
5. Count your results and make a decision based on the thresholds.

That is the whole test. No tools required. No subscription needed. Just LinkedIn search and 15 minutes of your time.

How to Score Your Results

The LinkedIn Activity Test asks you to look up 20 ideal customers on LinkedIn and check their recent activity. For each of those 20 prospects, assign a score based on what you find:

Once you have scored all 20, count the green results and use these thresholds:

These thresholds are a guide, not a guarantee. But they give you a data-driven starting point instead of guessing.

What About Lurkers?

One important nuance. Some of your ideal customers might be lurkers. They read everything, scroll their feed daily, but they rarely post or comment. They would score yellow or red on the Activity Test, but they are still spending time on the platform.

This is more common than you think. DemandSage reports that only about 1 million LinkedIn members post content weekly, a tiny fraction of the platform’s billion-plus user base. The vast majority are consumers, not creators.

So what do you do with lurkers? Two things.

First, they CAN still see your content in their feed. If you are consistently posting valuable content and it gets engagement from others, the algorithm will push it to lurkers too. They might never like or comment, but they are reading.

Second, lurkers still check their DMs. A well-crafted, personal message to someone who has been quietly reading your posts can work. They already know your name. They just have not told you yet.

Use the Activity Test as a guide, not an absolute rule. If your ICP shows a mix of active users and lurkers, LinkedIn is still worth investing in. You just need a strategy that accounts for both.

Why This Differs by Country and Industry

LinkedIn behaviour differs wildly depending on where your buyers are and what industry they work in.

A tech founder in San Francisco will behave very differently on LinkedIn compared to a procurement manager in Southeast Asia. According to Cognism, only about 16% of LinkedIn’s user base is active daily, roughly 134 million people out of over a billion profiles. But that average hides enormous variation.

In some industries, like SaaS, consulting, and professional services, LinkedIn is basically a second inbox. Founders and executives are posting, engaging on content, and responding to DMs every day.

In others, like manufacturing, construction, or healthcare in certain regions, LinkedIn profiles exist but nobody is home. Your buyers might be on WhatsApp groups, at trade shows, or in industry-specific forums instead.

I see this all the time working from Singapore. The same role in the same company can have completely different LinkedIn habits depending on whether they are based in the US, Europe, or Asia. Do not assume. Check.

This is exactly why the Activity Test matters. It replaces assumptions with data about YOUR specific market.

Signs LinkedIn IS Right for You

Beyond the Activity Test, here are some strong indicators that LinkedIn should be a primary channel for your business:

• Your ICP is active on the platform. The Activity Test showed 10+ green results. This is the most important signal.
• You sell B2B with a considered purchase cycle. Your buyers do research, compare options, and build relationships before buying. LinkedIn is built for this. LinkedIn’s own data shows that 4 out of 5 members drive business decisions at their organisations.
• Your deal size justifies the investment. If your average contract value is $5,000 or more per year, the unit economics of LinkedIn outreach make sense. For smaller deal sizes, the time spent per lead might not add up.
• You have expertise worth sharing. LinkedIn rewards people who teach. If you can share insights about your industry, your ICP’s challenges, or your approach, you will build trust and visibility over time.
• Your competitors are already there. If similar companies in your space are posting, getting engagement, and generating leads on LinkedIn, that is a signal the audience is active and receptive.

Signs LinkedIn Is NOT Your Primary Channel

Here are the scenarios where LinkedIn probably should not be your first bet:

• Your Activity Test results were mostly red. If fewer than 10 of your ideal customers are active, the platform simply does not have the attention of your market right now.
• Your buyers live in other communities. Some industries have their own ecosystems. Developers hang out on GitHub and Discord. Creatives are on Behance or X. Local service providers rely on referrals and Google. Meet your buyers where they already are.
• Your offer is transactional, not relational. If you sell low-cost products where speed matters more than trust, LinkedIn’s slow-burn relationship approach might not be the best fit. Paid ads or marketplaces could work better.
• Your market is highly regional and offline. In some regions and industries, deals happen at events, through personal introductions, or over WhatsApp. LinkedIn is a complement, not the main channel.

This is not a failure. It just means your channel strategy should match where your buyers spend their attention. The worst thing you can do is force a channel that does not fit.

If LinkedIn Is Right: What to Do Next

If you have confirmed that your ideal customers are active on LinkedIn (using a method like the LinkedIn Activity Test), the next step matters more than most founders realise.

Here is what we have found works after testing this across dozens of B2B founders.

The biggest mistake is jumping straight to outreach. Cold DMs to strangers. Mass connection requests. Automated sequences. It feels productive, but it burns trust and often gets accounts flagged. But the even bigger mistake? Jumping into content without getting clear on your positioning first.

What actually works is building a warm pipeline. That means four things happening in parallel:

• Build your brand. Post consistently. Share what you know. Your content should make your ICP think, “This person gets my problem.” You do not need to go viral. You need to be visible to the right 500 people. And focus on niche, industry-specific content. Our data shows it generates far more qualified leads than viral posts.
• Capture signals. Track who is engaging on your posts, visiting your profile, and showing interest. These are buying signals most people ignore.
• Nurture relationships. Engage on your prospects’ content before you ever pitch them. Comment. Add value. Build familiarity. When you eventually reach out, you are not a stranger.
• Reach out warm. When the timing is right and the relationship is warm, send a personal message. Not a template. Not an automated sequence. A real message from one person to another.

This takes more effort than blasting 100 connection requests a day. But it does not get your account banned, and it actually converts.

At Cclarity, this is exactly what we do for B2B founders. We combine AI-powered research to find and track the right signals with real, manual engagement. No automation that puts your account at risk. If you want to learn more about how this works, book a call and we can walk through it.