Playbook · Social engagement

Follow the conversations your buyers join

Your buyers show what they care about in public: the posts they comment on, the voices they follow, the topics they write about. This playbook turns that into warm, relevant first messages.

In one paragraph

Track the posts your ideal buyers engage with: posts from the opinion leaders they trust, from your competitors, and on the problem you solve. Pull out the people who react, comment or post, keep only those who fit your customer profile, and reach out about the topic that caught their attention. The engagement tells you what they care about. It is never mentioned in the message.

Tools: Trigify, Clay, Lemlist, LinkedIn
Set-up: About one day
You get: First messages built on what buyers care about

The idea

A cold message fails when it guesses what the reader cares about. A comment on a post removes the guess: the person told the world, in their own words, which problem is on their mind this week. Reach them about that problem while it is fresh, and the message stops being cold.

Three places to listen

1 · Opinion leaders

The voices your buyers follow

Analysts, practitioners and founders your ideal buyers trust. The people commenting on their posts share the problems you solve.

2 · Competitors

Posts from your competitors

People asking questions or raising gaps under a competitor’s launch are actively thinking about your category.

3 · Keywords

Posts about your problem

People writing about “forecast accuracy” or “pipeline review” are telling you what they are working on right now.

Blueprint: the listening flow

One list feeds everything. New posts are collected on a schedule, and the people engaging split into two groups: those who reacted and those who commented.

Workbook · Social listening

Opinion leader listNames, profiles, topics40 rows · refreshed monthly
Their new postsText, date, engagement~600 posts · weekly

People reactingWeak alone: qualify hardReactions
People commentingTheir own words: strongestComments

Title checkSomeone you sell to?
Company fitSize, industry, not a customer
ScoreComment > reaction, repeat > once
Enrich shortlistWork email only for fits
Reach outAbout the topic, not the like

Example structure with illustrative numbers. Keyword and competitor tracking feed the same qualification flow.

Blueprint: who engaged, and what to do

People engaging · this week

Person	Role and company	Engaged on	How	Fit	Next step
Sam Okafor	VP Revenue Operations, Keel Energy	Opinion leader post: “Why forecasts miss”	Comment	Fit	Message on forecast accuracy
Tom Ellis	Head of Sales, Harbor Foods	Competitor post: new feature launch	Comment	Fit	Message on the gap he raised
Julia Brandt	CEO, Lumen Analytics	Keyword: “pipeline review”	Own post	Fit	Comment first, message after
Alex Moreau	Sales Development Rep, Arden Retail	Opinion leader post: “Why forecasts miss”	Reaction	Watch	Map to account, reach the leader instead
Priya Nair	Marketing Intern, Northwind	Competitor post: new feature launch	Reaction	Not a fit	Skip

Made-up people and companies.

Which engagement counts

StrongestThey wrote their own post about your problem

StrongThey commented on a relevant post, in their own words

UsefulThey engaged with several relevant posts this month

Weak aloneA single reaction. Qualify hard, or reach the leader at that account instead

Step by step

List the voices your buyers follow.Twenty to seventy key opinion leaders your ideal buyers listen to, plus your main competitors’ company pages and leaders. Refresh the list every month.
Clay table or Trigify
Pick your keywords.Five to ten phrases that describe the problem you solve, such as “forecast accuracy” or “pipeline review”. Problem phrases, not your brand or broad words like “AI”.
Trigify
Collect new posts and the people engaging.Every week, pull the new posts from your list and everyone who reacted or commented, plus people who posted about your keywords.
Trigify, sent into Clay
Qualify the people.Check the job title is someone you sell to, the company fits, and they are not a customer, in an open deal, a competitor’s employee or already in a sequence.
Clay
Score the engagement.Own posts and comments count more than reactions. Engaging across several posts counts more than a one-off.
Clay
Enrich only the people who qualify.Find work emails for the shortlist only, so you do not pay for contacts you will never use.
Clay
Reach out about the topic.Name the post and the person behind it when you genuinely follow them, then add one real observation and one question. For people who commented, join the conversation on LinkedIn first, then follow with email.
LinkedIn, Lemlist
Log the source.Record the opinion leader, competitor or keyword and the post on the contact in your CRM, so you can see which sources bring meetings.
CRM

Example messages

Naming the post is fine, and often the strongest opener, as long as it is honest: you follow the same person, you read the post, and you have something to add. When you cannot say that truthfully, lead with the topic instead.

Reacted to an opinion leader’s post · name the post · LinkedIn or email 1

Hi Sam, I follow Nina Castell’s thoughts on revenue operations here on LinkedIn, and I found your reaction to her recent post interesting. It was about why forecasts miss, something I think about a lot. Her point that deal signals live in five different places matches what I hear from revenue teams. One pattern that helps: scoring every open deal each week from the same few signals, so the forecast call starts from evidence instead of gut feel. Curious what you are seeing on your side. Is forecast accuracy on your list this quarter?

Engaged with a keyword post · lead with the topic · email 1

Hi Sam, Forecast accuracy keeps coming up with revenue teams in energy right now, mostly because deal signals live in five different places. One pattern that helps: scoring every open deal each week from the same few signals, so the forecast call starts from evidence instead of gut feel. Is forecast accuracy something you are working on this quarter?

What goes wrong

Quoting the engagement back. "Saw you liked..." feels like being watched. Use the topic, not the action.
Trusting reactions. Many come from peers, recruiters and fans. Qualify on title and company before anything else.
Competitor lists without exclusions. Remove the competitor’s employees and known customers, and never criticise the competitor.
Keywords that are too broad. “AI” or “sales” floods you with noise. Use problem phrases.
Acting too late. Interest in a post fades within days. Run the flow weekly and reach out quickly.
Scraping at volume. Aggressive automation can break LinkedIn’s terms. Use tools that respect limits and keep volumes human.

Questions people ask

What is a key opinion leader in B2B?

A key opinion leader is a person your buyers follow and trust on a topic: an analyst, practitioner, founder or creator. The people who engage with their posts often share the same problems you solve.

Is it okay to contact someone who commented on a post?

Yes, if you are relevant and respectful. Mentioning the post works well when it is honest, for example that you follow the same opinion leader and found their reaction interesting. Then add something useful about the topic. Keep volumes low and skip anyone who is not a real fit.

Are comments or reactions a better signal?

Comments and own posts are much stronger: the person put their view into words. Reactions are weak on their own, because many come from peers, recruiters or fans rather than buyers.

Should I target people engaging with competitor posts?

It can work, carefully. Exclude the competitor’s employees and known customers, never criticise the competitor, and talk about the problem, not the other vendor.

Setting this up for your market? Share your challenge in Lab Hours and compare notes.