If you had an actual job offer on the other hand then that would be a different story. Then you could reasonably say "I have had an offer for this much salary so please can you match that otherwise you are asking me to work below my market rate for you and although I like working here I don't think it's fair to ask that of me".
Most engineers are getting messaged by recruiters regularly. This is not a surprise to your boss if he has good engineers on the team. But I don't think that leveraging this in itself is an effective technique for negotiating a raise. In my opinion, being recruited doesn't affect the value you create in your current role unless you believe that your comp is below market, or you have grown significantly beyond the role you're officially in now. Just my 2¢.
You can also take those interviews, ace them and use a higher offer as leverage, but that can be risky, as you company might say no and you need to go to this other job.
What I recommend is that people even though that they enjoy their jobs, they do interviews for perceived good companies, that they would like to work on, and in case they get an offer, they negotiate with their own company. So if the company doesn't want to give you that raise, you go to the other company which gives you a potential good outcome for both possibilities.
We all know the job market lives crazy times right now; but if you mention you are getting recruiter calls, It might backfire.
Better use that calls to know how to advance your careeer, which skills are un high demand, and use that info wisely.
Since you do not have an actual offer and you are not going to leave the company, you should not try any tactics in negotiating a raise. Your best play is to make a case based on the value of your work and ask politely and hope for the best. This will not get you a big raise, but it may get you a modest one.
This is not the optimal position for you in terms of career development, but it is the position you are putting yourself in by wanting to stay in your current job regardless of potential opportunities externally.
If you hang a banner above your desk ("I'm being recruited all the time!"), yes they will have a sour taste.
If you go through your review, and you aren't making headway on negotiations without bringing it up - it might be time to approach it.
If your employer is aware that you enjoy your job and are not interested switching companies, that might lead them to not give you much of a raise -- since you're already happy and not going to leave. (Not everyone would think this way, but it's a fairly obvious line of reasoning).
Suppose your yearly review does not produce a result you are happy with. What are you going to do?
Are you cultivating alternative options for employment that you could tolerate and would give you the raise you desire? I.e. are you turning the inbound interest into actual offers for jobs and packages you'd be willing to accept?
It’s just largely top of the funnel spam.
Doesn’t give you any leverage, unfortunately.
If they value you and you are providing value use that as leverage. Sometimes no matter how good a developer you are or how valuable you are they won't give you the raise you think you deserve.
Sadly sometimes the best way to get a large raise is to change companies so keep that in mind.
Good luck.
