LinkedIn Prospecting: Start From Post Engagement (2026)

Data-driven LinkedIn prospecting starts with public engagement: who reacts to and comments on posts about the problem you solve. Export those reactors and commenters (name, headline, profile URL, connection degree), sort them by title and company to find the accounts that fit, research those profiles and company pages, and write a first message about their business, not a template. The InsightSocial Chrome extension exports post reactors, post commenters, profiles and company posts to Excel. LinkedIn search results and connection lists can't be exported.

Step 1: Define who you are looking for

Write down your ideal customer before you collect anything:

• Industry: where your best customers work
• Company size: employee or revenue range
• Region: the markets you sell in
• Role and seniority: who decides, and who uses the product

This keeps the list short and keeps you from collecting data you have no use for.

Step 2: Find accounts through post engagement

Posts are where LinkedIn shows public interest in a topic. A competitor's launch post, an industry analyst's post or a thread about a problem your product solves all collect reactions and comments from people who work on that problem.

With the LinkedIn Post Likers Scraper, open the post, click InsightSocial, choose Reactions and click Scrape. You get one row per person: name, headline, profile URL, connection degree and reaction type, 50, 100 or 500 per run. Choose Comments instead for the comment thread: name, headline, text, likes and replies.

In the spreadsheet, filter the headlines by title and company. Most rows won't fit your profile. The ones that do are accounts whose people already engage with your topic in public, which is a better starting point than a cold search.

Step 3: Research the best fits

For each account that fits, open the person's profile and run the LinkedIn Profile Scraper. The export has their headline, location, about, and the experience, education, skills and certifications shown on the profile.

The profile export doesn't include the person's posts; choose Posts on the same profile for that, as a separate run. Email and phone are only included for your 1st-degree connections.

Then export the company's recent posts with the LinkedIn Company Scraper: text, date, reactions, comments and links. They show what the company is launching and hiring for. Company size and industry are not part of the export; read them on the company page.

Step 4: Write a first message about their business

Reference something specific and public: a post their company published, a launch, a role they are hiring for. Keep the first message to three or four sentences with one clear ask.

Generic:

"Hi John, I help companies improve their sales process. Want to chat?"

Specific:

"Hi John, I saw Acme's post about moving support onto a new inbox. We helped a team of a similar size cut onboarding time on that kind of switch. Would a 15-minute comparison be useful?"

Follow up a few times at most, then stop. Honor every opt-out, and delete records you no longer need.

Step 5: Keep it in a CRM or a sheet

Export to CSV and import into Salesforce, HubSpot or Pipedrive, or keep a simple sheet:

Ground rules

• Use your own account at a normal pace. The extension reads what your logged-in session shows. LinkedIn's User Agreement restricts automated collection, so keep runs small and focused.
• Collect what the job needs. GDPR and similar laws apply to personal data even when it's public. A title and company is usually enough.
• Contact people in their professional role, about their business. Don't add people to sequences they never asked for.

FAQ

Can I export my LinkedIn connections? No. Connection lists aren't supported, and neither are LinkedIn search results or Sales Navigator. Post reactors and commenters, profiles and company posts can be exported.

Can I get prospects' email addresses? Only for your 1st-degree connections, where LinkedIn shows Contact info. For everyone else, the profile export has no email.

How many people can I export from one post? Choose 50, 100 or 500 reactors per run. Comments export the same way, with replies.

Does the profile export include the person's posts? No. Posts are a separate run on the same profile page.

Related

• How to scrape LinkedIn profiles: the profile export step by step
• LinkedIn API: people search with title, company and location filters, from your own code