> **The idea, in one sentence.** **Social selling** isn't selling on social networks — it's **building presence and relationships** in your niche *before* selling anything. On LinkedIn, the most effective lever for that isn't the cold DM: it's the **comment**. You make yourself visible to your ICP, you become familiar, you start the conversation, then you move to messages. This guide lays out the **discipline** of the social seller through comments — the strategy, not just the funnel — backed by our first-party LinkHub data. Third-party figures are dated and flagged; nothing invented.

## Key takeaways

- **Social selling is the relationship before the transaction.** You don't "sell" in a comment — you make yourself visible, credible and familiar to your ICP, so the sale becomes natural afterward. It's the opposite of cold spam.
- **Comments beat cold outreach on entry cost.** No audience needed: a comment is seen **~179 times on average** in front of the host's audience, in **~29s** measured. *(LinkHub, 657,722 comments · n = 44,523)*
- **Target by ICP, not at random.** Commenting on the right creator (top 10%) earns **~3.4x more** impressions than the median. The right reach = the one that contains your prospects. *(LinkHub, 4,861 creators · see [comment ICP](/en/blog/icp-commentaire-linkedin))*
- **The mechanism is a path, not a shortcut**: borrowed visibility → profile visit → conversation → DM → relationship. The comment **opens** the relationship; it doesn't close the sale.
- **A routine beats a one-off splash.** A few targeted comments a day, held over time, build a network of peers and prospects in your niche.
- **LinkedIn is a social network.** The end goal isn't impressions — it's **building relationships** that move to messages and form a circle that genuinely cares about you.

## 1. What social selling is — and why comments beat cold outreach

**Social selling** is the art of using a social network to **build relationships that lead to sales** — without rolling out a pitch at first contact. The idea fits in one sentence: you become a **familiar, credible presence** in your niche, and the sale comes *afterward*, because people buy from those they know and trust. It's the exact opposite of a cold DM blasted to 200 strangers.

On LinkedIn, two main levers: **posting** (creating content) and **commenting** (engaging with others'). To start a social selling motion, the comment wins on three fronts:

- **Zero entry cost.** Posting requires an audience to distribute; without a network, your post falls flat. The comment **borrows an established creator's audience** — it's seen **~179 times on average** (35 median) whether you have 30 or 30,000 followers ([impressions per comment](/en/blog/impressions-par-commentaire-linkedin)).
- **Speed.** A comment takes **~29s** measured with LinkHub (median, n = 44,523), where a serious post takes 30-60 min. So you can show up **every day**, wherever your ICP reads.
- **Warms, doesn't chill.** The cold DM arrives without context; the comment builds familiarity first. That's exactly what modern social selling points to: engaging through comments *"creates value, breaks the ice, builds familiarity, and turns you from a stranger into someone they've already come across before the first message"* ([mySalesCoach, 2025](https://www.mysalescoach.com/blog/social-selling-strategy)).

So the comment isn't "lightweight" prospecting: it's the **first point of contact** of a relationship-driven motion, at a far lower cost and risk than cold outreach. The concrete "comment to client" funnel is detailed in our [find clients through comments](/en/blog/trouver-clients-linkedin-commentaires) guide; here, we cover the **discipline** that underpins it. *(In complex sales, this reasoning also applies to the [LinkedIn comment in B2B](/en/blog/commentaire-linkedin-b2b), where you address a whole buying committee.)*

## 2. Targeting by ICP: the foundation of every social seller

The social seller's first discipline is to **not talk to everyone**. Without a clear target, you comment at random, make yourself visible to people who'll never buy, and mistake activity for results.

The rule: comment where your **ICP** (ideal customer profile) already reads. But mind the nuance specific to comments — when you comment, **you borrow the host's audience, not yours**. So the "ICP of a comment" isn't "who I sell to," it's **"which creators to comment under to land in front of my prospects"** ([what is a comment's ICP](/en/blog/icp-commentaire-linkedin)).

This targeting isn't a comfort detail: it swings your visibility by a factor of 1 to over 40. Across **4,861 creators**, commenting on a **top 10%** creator earns **~3.4x more** impressions than the median (124 vs 36), and a **top 1% ~10x** (357). But large off-niche reach doesn't convert: you want the **right** reach. So the right host combines:

- **Audience = your ICP**: its followers are your prospects, peers and decision-makers;
- **Real engagement**: an account with 8,000 active followers often beats 80,000 passive ones;
- **Consistency**: a creator who posts often gives you more chances to comment early.

Spotting these hosts by hand is laborious. LinkHub's **[AI profile recommendation](/en/features/ia-recommandation-profils)** infers your ICP from your profile, then searches **100,000+ LinkedIn profiles** for the ones with the **best ROI for your niche** — not just the biggest accounts. You then group those targets in [personalized feeds](/en/features/feeds-personnalises) to see their posts as soon as they go live. The "who" in numbers is detailed in [who to comment on](/en/blog/sur-qui-commenter-linkedin).

## 3. The mechanism: from borrowed visibility to relationship

Social selling through comments follows a **path**, not a shortcut. Each step sets up the next:

1. **Borrowed visibility.** You comment early and well under a creator whose audience = your ICP. Your name and hook appear in front of *their* audience. (Timing is decisive: a comment posted in the **0-30 min** window earns **~3.8x more** impressions than after 24h — see [when to comment](/en/blog/quand-commenter-sur-linkedin), n = 261,137.)
2. **Profile visit.** An intrigued prospect clicks your name. They're no longer cold: they **chose** to come look. Hence the importance of a polished profile — it's your landing page.
3. **Conversation.** The author or another reader replies to your comment (a comment that asks a question earns **+23% more replies** — [question → replies](/en/blog/question-commentaire-linkedin-reponses)). A public thread takes shape: you exist for that community.
4. **DM.** You reach out referencing the exchange ("we chatted under X's post…"). You're no longer a stranger — you're **someone they've already come across**.
5. **Relationship.** The DM, no pitch, continues the discussion. That's where the real social selling happens: a relationship, not a forced transaction.

What makes this path superior to cold outreach is that it **warms** at every step instead of forcing. The comment doesn't "close" a sale — it **opens** the relationship. The fine conversion from conversation to client is covered in [from comment to client](/en/blog/commentaire-au-client-linkedin).

⚠️ **Methodological honesty:** we measure impressions, timing and writing time — **not** the "number of clients." The mechanism above is reasoning grounded in signals we do measure (qualified audience + visibility) and in third-party social selling studies, not a first-party conversion rate.

## 4. Building a social seller's routine

Social selling isn't a campaign, it's a **habit**. What sets apart those who land clients isn't an isolated viral comment — it's **consistency** with the **same** niche creators. A simple routine:

- **A stable list of 10-20 hosts** in your niche (then 20-40), grouped in [personalized feeds](/en/features/feeds-personnalises) so you never miss a post.
- **A few targeted comments a day**, early (0-30 min window), adding an angle — not "Great post!". Aim for **15-40 words**, often ending with a question (need inspiration? see our [comment examples](/en/blog/exemples-commentaires-linkedin)). 2025 guides confirm a thoughtful comment of **15+ words** weighs far more than a reaction ([Cognism, 2025](https://www.cognism.com/blog/social-selling-on-linkedin)).
- **Come back to the same people.** Commenting daily on the same creators makes you familiar to them **and** their community — that compounding effect is what builds the relationship.
- **Measure and tighten.** Keep the hosts that bring profile visits and conversations from your ICP; replace the rest.

Consistency is made sustainable by the cost: **~29s** per comment with LinkHub, so 5 to 10 comments fit in **a few minutes a day**. To keep the pace without spending all day on it, [AI personalized comments](/en/features/ia-commentaires-personnalises) draft a first version in your style — always validated by you. The full structure is in our [commenting routine](/en/blog/routine-commentaires-linkedin) guide, and the right daily volume in [how many comments per day](/en/blog/combien-de-commentaires-par-jour-linkedin).

A word on **SSI** (Social Selling Index, LinkedIn's score): commenting raises it, but LinkedIn itself now notes it *"no longer accurately reflects the modern sales environment"* ([LinkedIn Sales Navigator, 2025](https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi)). The right goal isn't a score: it's **relationships** that convert.

## 5. Does social selling through comments work without posting?

Yes — and that's the whole point. Modern social selling often pairs content (posting) and engagement (commenting), but the comment works **on its own**, without a single post. The reason is structural: the comment **doesn't borrow your creator credibility**, it borrows **the host's audience**. So you don't need to have proven anything by publishing to be seen by your ICP today.

Concretely, without ever posting, you can: make yourself visible (borrowed audience), make yourself credible (value-adding comments), make yourself familiar (consistent presence), and build relationships (conversations → DM). That's exactly the promise detailed in [grow on LinkedIn without posting](/en/blog/grossir-linkedin-sans-poster): visibility, network and first clients accessible through comments alone.

Does that mean you should **never** post? No — posting builds your **deep authority** over time. But the optimal order is clear: **comment first** (to make yourself visible and build a first network without depending on an audience), **post later** (for authority, once people follow you). Bonus: a commenting routine **amplifies** the reach of your future posts. So social selling through comments isn't a content-free plan B — it's the **most rational starting point** for anyone who wants relationships and clients without waiting months for audience growth.

## FAQ

**What is social selling on LinkedIn?**
It's using LinkedIn to build relationships that lead to sales, *without* pitching at first contact. You become a familiar, credible presence in your niche; the sale follows naturally. The comment is its most accessible entry lever.

**Why comment instead of cold prospecting?**
Zero entry cost (no audience needed), speed (~29s per comment measured), and above all: the comment **warms** the prospect instead of approaching them cold. You become familiar before any DM, which radically changes receptivity.

**Do you need an audience to do social selling through comments?**
No. A comment borrows the audience of the creator you comment on — it's seen ~179 times on average, whether you have 30 or 30,000 followers. That's what makes it accessible from scratch. See [grow without posting](/en/blog/grossir-linkedin-sans-poster).

**Does social selling through comments work without posting?**
Yes. Visibility, credibility, familiarity and relationships are all accessible through comments alone, because you borrow the host's audience instead of depending on yours. Posting stays useful afterward for authority — but start by commenting.

**How do you avoid spamming in social selling?**
By targeting via ICP and adding value, not volume. A few thoughtful comments (15-40 words, often a question) under the right creators beat dozens of cold DMs. The goal is the relationship, not the immediate pitch.

## Sources & methodology

- **First-party LinkHub data** — impressions per comment (657,722 comments), creators commented on (`creator_stats_cache`, 4,861 creators: p50 = 36, p90 = 124, p99 = 357), timing (261,137 comments), measured writing time (n = 44,523). The "number of clients" is **not** measured: the relationship mechanism is reasoning grounded in these signals + third-party studies. See [impressions per comment](/en/blog/impressions-par-commentaire-linkedin), [who to comment on](/en/blog/sur-qui-commenter-linkedin), [when to comment](/en/blog/quand-commenter-sur-linkedin).
- [mySalesCoach — LinkedIn Social Selling Strategy 2025](https://www.mysalescoach.com/blog/social-selling-strategy) · [Cognism — 9 Proven Strategies for Social Selling on LinkedIn (2025)](https://www.cognism.com/blog/social-selling-on-linkedin) · [LinkedIn Sales Navigator — SSI (2025)](https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi)
- Browse all our studies on the [LinkHub blog](/en/blog).