LinkedIn is the professional network most B2B buyers keep current, which makes it three things at once for a GTM team: a data source for company and people records, an outbound channel where messages land, and a signal source that tells you when something worth reaching out about just happened. Teams use the free network for research, connection requests, and posting, then add Sales Navigator when they need saved lead lists, advanced filters, and InMail at volume. Sales Navigator is the paid prospecting layer built on top; the platform underneath is where the profiles, posts, and job changes actually live. The two are complementary, not alternatives. In a GTM stack LinkedIn sits at both ends. Scrapers and enrichment tools read it for firmographics, titles, and triggers, feed that into Clay for scoring and routing, and sending tools like HeyReach take the approved messages back out through connection requests and DMs. That loop works even before anyone pays for a seat. At Nebor, LinkedIn is where a lot of our signals come from and where a large share of our outbound lands: every morning our system scrapes SDR job posts in the Netherlands, and role changes trigger outreach. Honest caveat, it is a walled garden with rate limits and account-safety risk, so volume has to respect the platform.