Lead generation for SaaS and B2B teams: find buyers in the open
Last updated: 26 October 2026
B2B buyers talk about their problems in public long before they book a demo. Find the people commenting on category posts on LinkedIn, replying on X, and asking "alternative to…" on Reddit, then rank them by fit before anyone writes a message.
Fit matters more here than anywhere: role, company size and whether the problem is theirs decide whether a conversation is worth having.
Where B2B intent shows up
- LinkedIn: commenters on posts about your category, your competitors and the problem you solve.
- X: people replying to or reposting posts in your space.
- Reddit: "alternative to…", "what do you use for…" threads, and complaints about a tool.
- Companies: when you want one organisation, the employees listed on its LinkedIn page.
Prioritise by fit
Describe your buyer: role, industry, company size and region. Score people against it, then read the best ones. A junior commenter and a head of department on the same post are not the same lead. Where several people from one company engage, that is a stronger signal than one person alone.
Reach out in the right order
- Reply to the comment or thread with something useful.
- Connect on LinkedIn with a note about what they said, or follow on X.
- Message after they accept, offering something specific such as a comparison or a short walkthrough.
Mind the limits
LinkedIn messages reach first-degree connections only, and LinkedIn does not list who reacted to a post. Keep activity modest, and let your outreach sit on top of real replies instead of replacing them.
Searches to try today
- LinkedIn: your category as a phrase, such as "sales automation", "customer onboarding", "expense management", and the comments on the top recent posts.
- Reddit: "alternative to" and "switched from" plus your competitors' names, and "what do you use for" plus your category.
- X: your category plus words like "frustrated", "anyone recommend", "looking for".
- Competitor launch posts. The comments under a competitor's announcement are people already evaluating tools.
A first message that is not a pitch
After they accept: "Thanks for connecting. Your comment on the post about onboarding stuck with me: the part about handovers between sales and support. We built a short checklist for that exact handover; happy to send it if useful." It refers to what they said, offers something specific, and asks for nothing.
Keep your demo link out of the first message. Offer it only after they show interest in the checklist, the comparison or the walkthrough.
Where Avocado Leads fits
Avocado Leads does the collecting, ranking and pacing part of this work. You paste a post, a profile or a search, and it saves the people who commented, reacted, followed or match, then scores each person from 0 to 100 on buying language, how recently they were active, how well they fit your business and how reachable they are.
It then runs a paced follow or connect campaign from your own signed-in browser, with a message after where the platform allows one. It never asks for your social passwords, and it keeps to hourly, daily, weekly and monthly caps for each network. The limits that come with each platform are on the platforms page, and the safety page explains what it will not do.
See how Avocado Leads works, what works on each platform and how it keeps accounts safe.
Questions people ask
Can I find buyers by company?
Yes. You can collect the employees listed on a company's LinkedIn page and rank them by role and fit.
Which network is best for B2B?
LinkedIn for roles and companies, Reddit for candid comparison threads, and X for fast-moving conversation in technical communities.