How to Find and Engage the Right Audience on LinkedIn

Turn your profile into a lead magnet for the right people.

If you're spending time on LinkedIn posting content, making connections, looking for new clients, but you're not seeing the results you hoped for, there's a good chance you're missing one key piece of the puzzle:

You're not speaking to the right audience.

It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics: likes, impressions, and connection counts. But none of that means much if your content isn’t reaching the people who actually matter to your goal, whether that’s clients, hiring managers, collaborators, or industry peers.

So how do you find your best audience on LinkedIn? The kind of audience that actually engages, responds, and helps you grow?

Let’s break it down.

Step 1: Know Your “Why” First

Before you start looking for your ideal audience, get clear on why you’re using LinkedIn in the first place. Your “why” determines who you need to reach.

Ask yourself:

Are you trying to attract clients or customers?
Are you looking to build up a reputation in your industry?
Are you recruiting or looking for new talent?

Your goals act like a compass. Without them, your outreach is just guesswork.

Friendly tip: If you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.

Step 2: Define Your Ideal Audience Profile

Once you’ve got your “why,” it’s time to define who you actually want to reach. This is your target audience: the people you want to speak to directly in your content, comments, and messages.

Think about:

Industry or niche (e.g., SaaS founders, HR professionals, e-commerce brands)
Job titles or roles (e.g., marketing managers, startup founders, product designers)
Seniority level (e.g., decision-makers vs. peers)
Pain points (What keeps them up at night?)
Goals (What are they trying to achieve?)

Create a mini persona if it helps:

Example: “My ideal audience is early-stage startup founders in tech who are overwhelmed by marketing and looking for simple growth strategies.”

Now everything you post or say should speak to that person.

Step 3: Optimize Your Profile for Your Audience

Think of your LinkedIn profile as a landing page. If your audience clicks on it, they should instantly know:

Who you are
Who you help
How you do it

If you want to know more, you should read our detailed guide on how you can use your LinkedIn profile as a lead magnet, getting 100s of inbound leads every week.

Tweak your:

Headline: Go beyond your job title. Mention who you help and how.
Example: “Helping B2B Founders Get Their First 100 Customers | Startup Marketer | Fractional CMO”

About section: Make it conversational and value-driven. Talk directly to your audience.

Featured section: Highlight posts, offers, or case studies your audience will care about.

If you want to attract your audience, your profile needs to feel relevant to them.

Step 4: Use LinkedIn Search Like a Pro

LinkedIn’s search bar is more powerful than most people realize. You can use filters to zero in on your audience, no expensive tools required.

Try searching with:

Job titles (e.g., “HR Director,” “SaaS Founder”)
Industry types
Locations (if relevant)
Keywords related to your industry

Then apply filters like:

Connections (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
Industry
Company size

From there, you can:

Connect with them (add a personalised message!)
Follow their content and engage thoughtfully
Study what they post and care about

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Step 5: Create Content That Speaks Their Language

Now that you know who your audience is, it’s time to show up on their feed with content that solves problems, shares value, and builds trust.

You don’t need to be a copywriter. You just need to:

Be helpful
Be consistent
Be yourself

Great content ideas:

Common challenges your audience faces and how to solve them
Mistakes you see in your industry (and how to avoid them)
Personal stories that show your values or experience
Quick wins, frameworks, or tips

Use the words they would use. Avoid using jargon unless your audience is familiar with it.

Speak to your audience like a helpful peer, not a pushy salesperson.

Step 6: Engage With Their Content (Not Just Yours)

Want people to notice you on LinkedIn without being spammy? One of the best strategies is this: leaving thoughtful comments on your audience’s posts.

Don’t just drop a like or comment, “Great post!”

Add value. Ask a question. Share a quick insight or anecdote.

This does two things:

It builds relationships with the people you want to reach.
It boosts your visibility within their network.

If you comment consistently, people will start clicking on your name, reading your content, and seeing you as someone worth connecting with.

Step 7: Use Tools Like LinkedIn Groups & Events

LinkedIn Groups and Events are underrated when it comes to niche audience discovery.

Join groups your audience hangs out in.
Attend (or host!) events related to your topic or industry.
Pay attention to who’s showing up and engaging, and connect with them.

It’s a great way to meet people outside your immediate network, especially if you're just starting to grow.

Bonus Tip: Quality > Quantity

You don’t need thousands of connections. You need the right 50, 100, or 500 people who are genuinely interested in what you do.

Focus on building relationships, not just reach.

Need help turning the right audience into tangible results?

Salesflow makes it easy to turn outreach into conversations that convert, without the guesswork.

If Salesflow is on your mind, sign up for our 7 day free trial and experience just how powerful sales automation software is.

Wrapping It Up

Finding your best target audience on LinkedIn isn’t about tricks or hacks. It’s about clarity, consistency, and connection.

Be clear on:

Who you want to reach
What they care about
How you can help them

Then, show up consistently, speak their language, and engage like a real human. Do that, and your LinkedIn presence will start working for you, not just sitting there collecting virtual dust.

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If you’re ready to start building a LinkedIn presence that converts, Salesflow can help you turn opportunities to customers.

Try for free

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