In short: the people who react to or comment on a post about your topic have just shown, in public, that the subject interests them. The Sales Farmer Chrome extension adds two buttons under LinkedIn posts, "Export people who reacted as CSV" and "Export people who commented as CSV". You get a file with each person's LinkedIn profile, first name, last name, headline and company. Import it into a campaign and open your first message with the post itself, which gives you a real reason to write.
What is social selling, and why start from a post?
Social selling means using your LinkedIn presence to start sales conversations: publishing, commenting, and reaching out to people based on what they do on the platform rather than on a cold list. Two findings explain why it works better than a generic pitch:
- Buyers avoid irrelevant outreach. In a Gartner survey of B2B buyers published in June 2025, 73% said they actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach, and 61% said they prefer a buying experience without a sales rep (Gartner, 2025).
- Expertise opens doors. In the 2024 Edelman and LinkedIn study on thought leadership, 9 in 10 decision-makers said they are more receptive to outreach from a company that consistently publishes high-quality thought leadership (LinkedIn, 2024).
A post is the shortest path between the two: the topic is already relevant to the person, and the conversation can start from what they wrote rather than from your offer.
A word on LinkedIn's Social Selling Index (SSI). LinkedIn itself now writes that a high SSI score "doesn't always" reflect a seller's effectiveness or correlate with sales outcomes (LinkedIn Sales Solutions). Track replies and meetings, not the score.
Which posts are worth exporting?
Not every popular post. The audience of a post depends on its topic and on its author's network, so choose posts where your buyers are likely to be:
| Type of post | Who reacts | Value as a list |
|---|---|---|
| A post on a problem your product solves ("our month-end close takes 10 days") | People who live that problem | High: the shared topic is your opening line |
| A post by a well-known person in your niche | Their audience, which often overlaps yours | Medium to high: check job titles |
| An event or webinar announcement in your sector | Professionals of the sector | Medium: good for a follow-up after the event |
| Your own post | Your network and their contacts | High: they already know who you are |
| A viral "life lesson" or recruitment post | Everyone | Low: very mixed audience |
Commenters are generally a better list than people who only reacted: writing a comment takes more effort than clicking a reaction, and the comment gives you something specific to answer.
How do you export a post's audience with the extension?
- Install the Sales Farmer Chrome extension and pin it to the toolbar.
- Open LinkedIn and find a post, in your feed or on its own page.
- Click "Export people who reacted as CSV" or "Export people who commented as CSV", under the reaction count of the post.
- Wait for the download. The extension reads each profile one after the other, so a post with several hundred reactions takes a while. The file is saved to your downloads folder.
The file contains one row per person:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
linkedin |
Profile identifier, to open or import the profile |
firstname / lastname |
First and last name |
title |
The person's LinkedIn headline |
company |
Current company, when the profile shows one |
How do you turn the list into a campaign?
- Clean the file first. Remove people outside your target (students, competitors, your own colleagues). On a post with a broad audience, expect to remove a large share of the rows.
- Import the CSV into a Sales Farmer campaign and match each column to its field, or add the profiles manually.
- Write a message that refers to the post. Keep the post's topic in the campaign name so you remember the context.
- Add one or two follow-ups. They stop as soon as the person replies.
- Check the analytics after a week: accepted invitations, replies, and which posts produced the best lists.
Three examples of a first message, after the invitation is accepted:
Hi [First name], you commented on Marc's post about month-end closing. You mentioned the bank reconciliations: is that still the step that takes the longest for you?
Hi [First name], thanks for reacting to my post on onboarding new sales reps. I have a two-page checklist we use for the first week, would it be useful to you?
Hi [First name], I saw you were interested in the webinar on hospital procurement last week. Did you manage to attend, or should I send you the three points I took away?
Each one names the post, asks one question that is easy to answer, and does not pitch. What not to write: "I saw you liked a post, so I thought you might be interested in our solution." For other cases, see how to message people who liked or commented on a post, by reaction and post type.
What are the limits?
- LinkedIn's rules. LinkedIn prohibits browser extensions that scrape or automate activity on the site (LinkedIn Help). Export a few posts at a time rather than dozens in a row.
- Personal data. A CSV of names and profiles is personal data: keep only the people you will actually contact, and stop at the first request to be left alone. In France, the CNIL accepts B2B prospecting on the basis of legitimate interest when the message relates to the person's job, with a simple way to object (CNIL).
- Context fades. A reaction from yesterday is a good opening; one from three months ago is not. Contact the list within a few days.
FAQ
Can I get banned from LinkedIn using the extension?
The risk exists, and no tool can remove it. LinkedIn's rules prohibit third-party software, browser extensions included, that scrapes or automates activity on the site, and accounts that use such tools can be restricted (LinkedIn Help). What Sales Farmer does is reduce that risk: actions run from your own browser and LinkedIn session, at the pace you set, with a daily cap, active time slots and a delay between actions. The biggest factors are in your hands: send few, well-targeted invitations and keep your pending list short. Our guide to LinkedIn automation limits explains how to pace your activity.
Does the export include email addresses?
No. The file contains the LinkedIn profile, name, headline and company. Email enrichment is a separate feature, coming soon: it is not open yet.
Should I contact people who reacted, or only commenters?
Start with commenters: their comment gives you a specific opening and shows more interest than a click. Use people who reacted as a second list, filtered on job title.
Can I export the audience of my own posts?
Yes, the buttons appear under any post. Your own posts are often the best source, because the people who react already know you.
Further reading
- How to define your ICP and build a LinkedIn prospect list
- LinkedIn prospecting message templates
- How to use purchase intent signals on LinkedIn
Try it on your next post
Try Sales Farmer free for 14 days: install the extension, export the commenters of a post in your niche and send them a message that starts from what they wrote.