Short answer. Yes. But it’s not as useful as people think.
It Works, But It’s Transactional
When you engage with other people’s content, many of them engage back. Your reach grows. Your engagement numbers go up. Looks good on paper.
But look closer. It’s often the same people. Creators engaging with creators. Everyone doing it to get it back.
I tried this. I was engaging with 100 people per day. My numbers lifted. But it was the same crowd returning the favour. Transactional engagement from people who wanted reciprocation, not from potential clients.
It was exhausting. And it wasn’t bringing me business.
The Creator Bubble
Here’s the problem. 97.5% of LinkedIn users don’t post anything. They scroll. They read. They lurk.
So when you’re doing outbound engagement, you’re engaging almost exclusively with the 2.5% who do post. Creators. Coaches. Consultants. People building their own audiences.
Your ideal clients are probably in the 97.5% who never post. They’re not going to see your comments. They’re not going to engage back. They’re not playing that game.
You end up growing visibility with the wrong people.
Resonance Beats Reciprocation
Posts that work don’t need engagement tactics to prop them up. They trigger a felt experience in your audience. They make people think “that’s exactly what I’m dealing with.”
If you do that well, the outbound engagement grind doesn’t matter.
A post with 10 likes that brings you 2 leads is worth more than a post with 200 likes from people just trying to grow their own reach. I’d take 10 likes and 2 conversations over 200 likes and nothing every single time.
Focus on creating content that resonates with your audience. Not on gaming engagement from other creators.
What I’d Do Instead
Stop chasing engagement for engagement’s sake. Stop the 100 comments a day grind.
Put that energy into creating content that speaks directly to your audience’s problems. Content that makes the right people feel seen. That’s what opens doors.
Engagement tactics are a treadmill. Resonance compounds.