To comment on LinkedIn posts to get leads, pick a short list of people who fit your buyer, read their newest post, and leave a comment that adds something real, a few times over a week or two, before you send a connection request. The comment makes your name familiar, so the invitation that follows is from someone they have seen, not a stranger. It works only on people who post, it is slow, and a generic comment does more harm than none.
01 Why a comment before a connection request works
A cold connection request asks a stranger to trust you with nothing to go on. A comment on their post changes that. They see your name and your photo under something they cared enough to write about. When your invitation arrives a few days later, it comes from a person they have already met, in a small way.
There is a second reason, and it is about your account. LinkedIn's help page on invitation restrictions lists, among the reasons an account can be limited, that "Many of your invitations have been ignored, left pending, or marked as spam by the recipients" 1. An invitation to someone who has seen you is less likely to sit there unanswered. So warming people up is not only politer. It also protects the roughly 100 invitations a week one account can send.
LinkedIn points in the same direction. The same page suggests that you "Use InMail and Groups to network with LinkedIn members you don't know" 1, rather than sending invitations to strangers. A public comment is another way of being known first.
02 Who to pick, and which posts to comment on
Commenting takes time, so it belongs on a short list, not on everyone you could message. Start with the people you would most like a meeting with this month, then keep only the ones who post. Someone who has not posted in months will never see your comment.
Comment on recent posts. A comment on this week's post joins a live conversation, and a comment on something from last month looks like you went digging. A week is a sensible limit.
- People who fit your buyer and post at least now and then
- Their own posts, not posts they reshared with no words of their own
- Posts about their work, their market or a problem you understand
- Company pages too, when the buyer speaks through the company page
- Not posts about personal news, loss or illness, unless you know them
03 What to write in a comment that gets noticed
A good comment would be worth reading even if you sold nothing. It answers the post, not your pipeline. The person who wrote the post should finish your comment thinking you read it carefully and know the subject.
Leave your product out. A comment that pitches, links to your site or asks for a call turns a public conversation into an advert, and everyone reading can see it.
- Pick one point from the post and add to it: an example, a question, a related thing you have seen
- Two to four sentences. Long enough to say something, short enough to read on a phone
- Ask a real question when you have one. It gives them a reason to reply
- No links, no hashtags and no mention of what you sell
- Never "Great post" or "Thanks for sharing". These tell them you did not read it
04 How often to comment, and when to send the invitation
One comment is easy to forget. Two or three on different posts over a week or two are enough for most people to recognise your name. More than that, on every post, starts to look like you are watching them, which you are.
Then send the connection request, and mention the conversation in the note so they make the link. After they accept, the first message can pick up the same thread. Commenting does not replace the follow-up. It makes the follow-up land.
- At most one comment a day on any one person
- Never two comments on the same post from the same account
- Two or three touches over a week or two, then the invitation
- If they reply to your comment, answer it before you do anything else
05 What goes wrong with commenting for leads
The method has real limits, and it is better to know them before you build a week around it.
- It only reaches people who post. Many buyers read LinkedIn and never write on it. For them you need another way in.
- It is slow. A few comments a day is what one person can do well. It warms a short list, not a market.
- Bad comments are worse than none. Vague praise is seen by everyone who reads the post, under your name.
- It is easy to stop. It works only when it is done every day, and it is the first job dropped in a busy week.
- Pitching in public backfires. The moment a comment sells, the warmth it was meant to build is gone.
06 Other ways to warm up a prospect, and when to use them
Commenting is one way of being known before you ask. These are the others, with what is good and bad about each. Most teams that reach a lot of people use more than one.
- InMail or an Open Profile message. Reaches people who do not post, with no invitation used. Credits are limited each month, see InMail credits per month.
- Groups and events. You meet people in a shared place. It suits a narrow market and takes time to pay off.
- Watching who engages with posts in your market. People who comment on a subject are telling you what they care about. See social listening.
- Email first. A work email reaches people who never post. You need the address, and cold email has to earn its reply too.
- Doing it yourself every day. Free and personal. It holds as long as you have the time.
- Having it run for you. An assistant, an agency or a done-for-you service keeps it going when you cannot, and you have to trust someone else with your voice.
08 Who this fits, and who it does not
Having it run for you fits a team that needs a steady number of new conversations every month and does not have someone free to spend an hour a day reading posts. How it works sets out the rest of the service, the outreach strategy page shows where comments sit in a sequence, and what it costs is on the pricing page.
It does not fit everyone. If your buyers rarely post, comments will not reach them, and InMail or email will do more. If you have a handful of key accounts and enjoy the conversation, write the comments yourself: nobody knows your market's voice better. And if you want to run your own tools in house, a service is the wrong shape. The longer setup walkthrough is on the blog: LinkedIn comment campaigns.
- Comment on a prospect's recent posts two or three times over a week or two, then send the connection request.
- A useful comment adds to the post and leaves your product, links and hashtags out.
- LinkedIn lists ignored or pending invitations among the reasons an account can be restricted, so being known first helps your account too 1.
- Commenting only reaches people who post, so pair it with InMail, email or groups for the rest.
- When the daily habit is the problem, a done-for-you service can run the comments, with a person approving AI-written ones before they post.
FAQ Frequently asked questions
Does commenting on LinkedIn posts actually get leads?
It makes leads easier to get rather than producing them by itself. A comment makes your name familiar, so the connection request and the first message that follow come from someone the prospect has seen. It works on people who post and when the comment adds something real. On people who never post it does nothing.
How many times should I comment before sending a connection request?
Two or three comments on different recent posts, spread over a week or two, is enough for most people to recognise your name. One is easy to forget. Commenting on every post they write starts to feel like being watched, so keep to at most one comment a day on any one person.
What should I write in a LinkedIn comment to a prospect?
Answer the post, not your sales target. Pick one point and add an example, a related experience or a real question, in two to four sentences. Leave out links, hashtags and anything about what you sell. Avoid one-line praise, which tells the writer and everyone reading that you did not read the post.
Can AI write LinkedIn comments that do not sound generic?
It can write a first draft that responds to what the post says, which is better than a fixed line pasted everywhere. It still misses tone and context at times. That is why it helps to have a person read each AI comment and approve it before it is posted, especially on posts from people you most want to meet.
Is commenting on posts a way around the weekly invitation limit?
No. A comment is not an invitation, and it does not add to how many you can send. What it does is make each invitation more likely to be accepted, so the ones you send are not wasted. To reach more people than one account allows, you need more senders, InMail, email or outreach run for you.
Sources
- LinkedIn Help: Types of restrictions for sending invitations Read on October 13, 2026.
Many of your invitations have been ignored, left pending, or marked as spam by the recipients.
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