If you’re still building prospecting lists by job title alone, you’re leaving LinkedIn‘s most valuable lead generation channel untapped: public activity.
Likes, comments, group discussions, and job changes show what prospects care about and when they’re ready to act. For sales professionals, these signals drive higher acceptance and reply rates than static filters. They provide context for personalized outreach and uncover prospects already engaging with your industry.
That’s where PhantomBuster‘s LinkedIn automations come in. Capture activity, enrich profiles, and sync to your CRM. The result is lead lists that feel warm, timely, and ready for conversation.
This post shows you how to extract data from public LinkedIn activity, enrich it with company data, and send it straight to your CRM. It takes three steps.
Why LinkedIn activity is a better lead signal than job titles
Job titles and company size are useful to define your ICP, but they don’t show whether someone is paying attention or actively searching for solutions. Public activity does.
Here’s why sales professionals see stronger results when they focus on activity:
- Engagement signals intent: Someone commenting on competitor content or posting about challenges is closer to buying than someone sitting silently in your search results.
- Timing is real-time: Job changes, promotions, or sudden group activity reveal when prospects may be ready to act.
- Context powers personalization: Combining LinkedIn profile data with activity gives you the perfect angle for personalized messages.
Nathan Guillaumin, PhantomBuster Product Expert:“Find influencers or competitors publishing content on LinkedIn, extract their activities, then extract the likers and commenters of these posts. If a competitor got 2,000 likes and 500 comments on a post close to your offer, you can reach out to these people.”
What LinkedIn activity signals a qualified lead?
Not every like or comment is worth your time. The key is spotting high-signal activity that reveals real buying intent. Sales reps we spoke to focus on these behaviors:
- Likes and comments on competitor posts: Prospects showing interest in tools similar to yours
- Engagement with industry thought leaders: Professionals staying active around trends and solutions
- Job changes or promotions: New decision makers eager to make an impact quickly
- LinkedIn group participation: People joining discussions about your industry or pain points
- Posts about challenges: Public signals of problems your solution solves
How to turn LinkedIn activity into qualified leads with PhantomBuster
Your sales team can go from raw activity signals to qualified lead lists in three steps: capture activity, enrich profiles, and sync to CRM.
Here’s the workflow:
Activity captured → Profiles enriched → Accounts matched → Synced to CRM → Personalized outreach.
1. Monitor public LinkedIn activity
Use PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Activity Extractor automation to collect data from:
- People who liked or commented on a competitor’s post
- Search results for posts mentioning industry pain points
- Members of relevant LinkedIn groups
After one run, you’ll have a CSV of prospects already engaging with your space.
2. Enrich with LinkedIn profile data and company data
Next, add context: job title, company size, location, industry, and website. PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Profile Scraper automation extracts LinkedIn profile data for the leads you’ve just you captured.
This transforms raw engagement into qualified leads you can filter by ICP. Need only decision makers at SaaS companies with 200+ employees? You can filter them quickly by seniority, company size, and industry.
3. Build targeted outreach campaigns
Once enriched, export your lead lists to your CRM or outreach platform. PhantomBuster integrates with HubSpot and other platforms so you can:
- Send personalized connection requests that mention the post or group they engaged with
- Launch targeted sequences that reference each prospect’s recent activity on LinkedIn and email
- Link follow-up content directly to their activity for higher reply rates
By focusing on activity instead of static lists, his agency started generating warm leads with higher reply rates.
Outreach messages that reference activity
Prospects reply more often when your outreach is anchored in something they’ve done on LinkedIn. A comment, a job change, or a group discussion gives you a natural opening for a personalized message that feels relevant.
Here are activity-based message examples that sales teams use successfully. Keep daily volume conservative and personalize each note to avoid unsolicited mass messaging.
Comment follow-up
Hi [Name], I saw your comment on [Topic Post]. You made a great point about [detail]. We’ve been helping teams facing similar challenges—would love to exchange notes.
Job change opener
Congrats on your new role at [Company], [Name]! Many leaders in your position focus on [pain point] in the first 90 days. Happy to share a quick playbook if you’re interested.
Group engagement
Hi [Name], noticed we’re both active in [LinkedIn Group]. I really liked your take on [topic]. Would love to connect and continue the conversation.
These short, specific notes work because they tie your outreach to real LinkedIn activity. By combining targeted outreach with pacing best practices, you’ll build trust and boost reply rates.
Pro tip: Wait a day before your first message, then 5–7 days before following up. Adjust based on engagement. This pacing keeps your outreach natural and avoids the “auto-DM” effect.
Tools and workflows for sales teams
PhantomBuster gives sales teams a repeatable system for LinkedIn lead generation that balances scale and safety. With the right automations, you can keep your outreach personalized while automating the heavy lifting.
Here’s how the end-to-end workflow connects:
Activity → Profile + Company enrichment → CRM sync → Outreach.
- Capture activity: PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Activity Extractor automation finds potential prospects engaging with relevant posts.
- Enrich profiles: PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Profile Scraper automation collects job title, company size, and location from engagement data.
- Sync to CRM: PhantomBuster’s HubSpot Integration and Salesforce CRM Enricher push enriched lead lists into Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive.
- Launch outreach: PhantomBuster’s Automated connection requests send personalized invites at a human pace to reduce account risk. Stay within LinkedIn’s current limits and vary daily volume.
- Follow up: PhantomBuster’s Follow-up workflows schedule LinkedIn and email follow-ups tied to the prospect’s last activity.
Pair with Sales Navigator searches for precise targeting. You’ll build qualified lead lists faster while reducing account risk with paced automation.
FAQs
Does analyzing LinkedIn activity really improve lead generation?
Yes. Engagement data helps you identify warm leads who are already active around relevant topics. Sales teams report higher acceptance and reply rates compared to cold outreach when they focus on activity signals.
How many connection requests can I send safely?
Start conservatively (for example, 20–30 per day), then adjust based on your account’s history and current LinkedIn limits. With PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Sales Navigator Search Export, you can scale list building efficiently. PhantomBuster automations pace actions to reduce risk.
Can PhantomBuster integrate with my CRM?
Yes. You can export leads as a CSV or use PhantomBuster’s HubSpot Integration or Salesforce CRM Enricher to sync contact data directly to Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive. This keeps your CRM data fresh and outreach campaigns connected to your sales pipeline.
What’s the best outreach message for activity-based leads?
The best messages reference specific LinkedIn content (a comment, post, or group) and keep it short. For example: “I saw your recent post about [pain point]—really insightful. Would love to connect.”
PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Message Sender automation helps you scale while staying personal.
Is extracting LinkedIn data safe with PhantomBuster?
PhantomBuster paces actions and respects LinkedIn limits to reduce risk. Start conservatively and increase gradually based on performance. No tool can guarantee account safety—always follow LinkedIn’s guidelines.
How does PhantomBuster compare to other LinkedIn automation tools?
Many automation tools push volume at the expense of safety. PhantomBuster focuses on account protection, data quality, and CRM-ready workflows. You can extract profile data, enrich with company insights, and sync everything to your CRM, not just send connection requests.
Focus on real activity, not static lists
Sales teams win more deals when they focus on what prospects are doing on LinkedIn instead of guessing who might care based only on titles. Public activity is one of the most reliable signals of intent, and with PhantomBuster you can turn it into pipeline fast.
With PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn automations, you can:
- Monitor LinkedIn activity signals in real time
- Enrich them with LinkedIn profile data and company insights
- Export qualified leads to your CRM
- Launch personalized messages and targeted outreach at scale
The result? More conversations, more meetings, and more qualified leads.
Try PhantomBuster to turn LinkedIn activity into qualified pipeline. Start with the Activity → Enrich → CRM automation.