The hidden inbox: tracking everyone who engages with your competitor's posts
Your competitor's LinkedIn comments section is a customer list hiding in plain sight. Here's how to ethically work it.
Every comment on your competitor's post is a person publicly raising their hand. They're saying: I care about this space, this topic, this category.
That's a list. And almost nobody is working it systematically.
Why it works
Three reasons:
- Pre-qualified by problem. They wouldn't engage if the problem wasn't on their mind.
- Pre-qualified by category. They already know your competitor exists, which means the buying education has been done for you.
- Visible publicly. No data scraping, no shady tactics — it's all public.
How to actually do it
Step 1: Pick 3–5 competitor accounts. Their founders, their head of marketing, and any AEs who post publicly. Skip the corporate brand account — engagement there is mostly noise.
Step 2: Track every engager. This is where it falls apart manually. You can do it with a spreadsheet and 2 hours a week for one account. You cannot do it for 5 accounts. Tools like Saava handle this in real time.
Step 3: Score against your ICP. Not every engager is a fit. Filter by title, industry, company size. You're looking for the 5–10% that overlap with your buyer.
Step 4: Comment first, DM second. Show up in the same comments thread with a useful point of view. Then, days later, DM with a soft opener. You're now warm.
The ethics question
This is a public signal. Nobody is being tracked secretly. You're noticing who participates in a public conversation and offering them a parallel one. That's allowed — and welcomed if you do it well.
What kills it
- DMing every engager with the same template (spam)
- Pretending you didn't see the original post (transparently fake)
- Pitching before earning attention (cold in disguise)
Done right, the competitor inbox is the highest-conversion list you'll ever work.