A few weeks ago, I commented on someone else’s LinkedIn post resulting in over 13,000 impressions and led to a few good new connections.
The importance of visibility is something I talk about to executives. What you comment on LinkedIn can be almost as important as what you post.
Most LinkedIn strategies put all the attention on creating content.
- What are we posting this week?
- How often should we post?
- What should the executive talk about?
Those are important questions. But if all you do is publish, you are missing a big part of how LinkedIn actually works.
Comments give you access to someone else’s audience
When you publish a post, you are starting with the audience you built.
When you leave a thoughtful comment on someone else’s post, you are joining a conversation that already has an audience.
That can introduce you to people who may have never seen one of your posts.
That is essentially what happened with my 13.,000-impression comment. The impressions were nice, but the better result was the new people I connected with because of it.
For executives, this is especially useful
I help executives build their visibility on social media, and commenting is one of the more practical ways to do it.
Executives do not always have something that warrants an original post. Nor do they need to just post one just to stay visible.
But there are conversations happening every day where they have experience or perspective worth adding.
- A CEO might comment on a post about the future of their industry.
- A CFO might add context to a discussion about affordability.
- A communications leader might respond to an interesting take on reputation or AI.
Those comments tell people something about what the executive knows, what they care about and how they think.
Sometimes that comes across more naturally in a comment than in a polished post.
Comment before you post
There is also a strategy you will hear a lot on LinkedIn: spend some time commenting before publishing your own content.
While this may make sense. I would not treat it as an algorithm trick.
LinkedIn has not said that leaving several comments before you publish automatically boosts your next post. But, I still think it is a good habit.
Before publishing, spend 10 or 15 minutes looking through your feed and join a few conversations where you genuinely have something to contribute.
You are engaging before asking others to engage with you. You are also getting a better sense of what people in your network are talking about.
And sometimes those conversations give you an idea for your next post.
The comment has to add something
Writing “Great post” on ten different posts probably isn’t helping much. Neither is restating what the author just said.
LinkedIn has been clear that it wants real perspectives, not automated or generic engagement. (LinkedIn Pressroom)
A useful comment might:
- Share something you have seen firsthand.
- Add a point the author did not cover.
- Offer a different perspective.
- Give a practical example.
- Ask a question that actually advances the conversation.
It does not need to be long. A few good sentences are enough.
Be intentional about where you comment
You also do not need to comment on everything in your feed.
I would rather see an executive leave one or two thoughtful comments in the right conversations than 20 comments scattered everywhere.
Pay attention to people talking about the subjects you want to be associated with: industry leaders, customers, employees, journalists, peers and other people who are known in your field.
Yes impressions are nice but visibility with the right people is better
Posting is only half of LinkedIn
Original content is still valuable because it lets you develop your own ideas and gives people something to find when they visit your profile.
But LinkedIn is a network, not just a publishing platform.
So instead of spending all your LinkedIn time asking what should I post today?
Spend some of it asking what conversation can I add something to today?
That one change might do more for your visibility than adding another post to your content calendar.
