How to Create Targeted Lead Lists

I spent 2 hours building lead lists with boolean filters.   Then I moved to semantic search with CompanyEnrich and now it takes 5 minutes.   With semantic search, instead of searching for: → Demographics → Technologies → Keywords → Signals   It lets you prompt your entire list by writing what you need in your own words.   Instead of using 10 different filters, you can type:   "B2B SaaS serving SMBs in UK"   And the semantic search will give you the relevant examples by using:   1. Intent and usecase associated 2. Relevant business model   CompanyEnrich is making prospecting easier and more accessible to sales teams without using complex searches.   Real example from my workflow:   𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘆: Industry = "Solar" AND Technology = "AI" AND Location = "USA" 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘆: "AI startups in solar energy sector in USA"   𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: From thousands of generic results to highly targeted leads that actually match your ICP   What you're actually getting access to: • 30M+ companies globally • 300+ data points per company • Direct export to Clay, n8n, or your CRM • Fresh data updated monthly   I put together a quick walkthrough so you can see it in action.   What used to take hours of boolean gymnastics now happens in natural language.   This is the future of lead generation - describing what you want, not hair scratching it.   Over to you: How long does your lead research take?

I turned 10,000 dead CRM accounts into meetings using Clay workflows. The results were a 20% reply rate, over $200K in pipeline, and zero cold outreach. Most sales teams are sitting on a goldmine, yet they don't even know it. Here's how you can do the same: 1. TURN PAST CUSTOMERS INTO NEW OPPORTUNITIES Look for companies where your contract has ended or gone inactive. Import these accounts from your CRM into Clay. Find the original champion plus new decision-makers who've joined since. Then send targeted messages like: → "We worked with your sales team last year - wanted to share how we've solved the X challenge they mentioned" → "Since our last project with Acme Corp, we've added features specifically addressing your scaling issues." This approach feels like reconnecting, not cold outreach. 2. USE CHAMPIONS AS REFERENCE POINTS Find accounts where you had a strong champion in the past. Use Clay to verify if they still work there and in what capacity. Then reach out to new contacts in that account: → "Saw you work with Sarah, who implemented our solution for your marketing team last year." → "Your colleague Jason mentioned your team is facing challenges with X." Always verify employment status before sending these messages. 3. TARGET RENEWAL WINDOWS Pull contract end dates from your CRM into Clay. Create auto-updating lists that flag accounts 60-90 days before expiration. Find both original buyers and newly added stakeholders. Time your outreach perfectly by saying something like: → "Your current plan comes up for renewal in September - perfect timing to share what's new." This timing creates a natural sense of urgency without being pushy. 4. CONNECT THROUGH OFFICE LOCATION Import location data for your contacts from your CRM. Use Clay to find new prospects at the same physical office location. Verify if both your champion and new prospect work on-site. Write messages that reference the shared location: → "Noticed you work with Sarah in the Austin office - we helped her team last quarter with X" This creates immediate familiarity and leverages existing presence. 5. BUILD LOOKALIKE ACCOUNTS Take your best-performing customers from your CRM. Run them through Clay + Ocean.io to find similar accounts. Target these accounts with messaging that references success patterns: → "Companies like Apple, Tesla, and Spotify saw 43% faster sales cycles using our approach." → "Based on our work with similar X teams, we've found Y works well for them" This combines the credibility of social proof with personalization. _____ The real edge comes from maintaining good CRM hygiene and regularly updating data. Most teams are sitting on gold, but still use outdated or incomplete information. Start using what you already have instead of starting from scratch.

Just built a Clay template that solves a problem I've been hitting for months. The problem: You want to target senior decision-makers at companies. But every company is different. Some have 15 VPs. Others have 3. If you use the "Find up to 3 people" feature in Clay, you might get 3 Directors when there was a CEO and VP too that are actually higher priority. Here's what I built instead: A "Top 3 People Template" that automatically identifies and targets only the 3 most senior people at each company. How it works: 1. Search for people across all levels (C-Suite, VP, Director, Head, Manager) 2. Use Clay's Score Row to assign points (C-Suite: 100, VP: 80, Director: 60, etc.) 3. Lookup Multiple Rows to group everyone by company domain 4. Formula column to rank the top 3 at each company and "checkbox" each row if they belong to the top 3 5. Run email lookup and the rest of your enrichments only on the top 3 people You're always targeting the right people first. The scoring can be as simple or sophisticated as you want. I started with basic keyword matching (totally free). But you can layer in AI to catch all title variations if needed. One more thing: this same logic works for "top 5" or any number you want. Would love to see more using stack-ranked targeting like this – and hope you'll enjoy the template! Free template link: https://lnkd.in/dYmCnRkc

Startups: "I need Apollo/ ZoomInfo/ Clay to build my prospect list." No, you don't. You need discipline. And maybe 3 hours. If you'd prefer not to put in the effort, ignore this post. Meanwhile, bootstrapped founders, SDRs are building better lists manually. Here's what actually works: 𝟭. 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗜𝗖𝗣 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 Before you touch anything, define: → Industry and sub-industry → Company size (20-200 employees maybe) → Target titles (Head of Marketing, Demand Gen Lead) → Geography is must Vague ICP = wasted hours. Tight ICP = focused execution. 𝟮. 𝗨𝗦𝗘 BING 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗔 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥 BING is your most powerful free database. Learn to query it: → site:linkedin.com/in "Marketing Manager" "San Francisco" → "Head of Sales" "CTO" → "Top SaaS companies in [city]" Open tabs, collect decision-makers, move fast. 𝟯. 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗡𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥 You don't need the premium subscription. → Search by title + location → Filter by "People" → Open profiles matching your ICP → Capture name, role, company (You can use our Chrome Extn easily) Pro tip: Many professionals list personal emails in their About section. Don't skip those. 𝟰. 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗦 Company sites reveal more than you'd expect. Check: About Us, Leadership, Team, Careers, Press, Footer. Once you have names, guess patterns: → firstname@company.com → firstname.lastname@company.com You don't need a tool to figure this out. 𝟱. 𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 These are underrated and surprisingly effective: → Crunchbase (free tier), AngelList, Chamber of Commerce, etc. These often include founder names, company details, and sometimes direct contact info. Perfect for SMB and mid-market targeting. 𝟲. Check LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, and company career pages. Capture the company, department, and hiring manager. 𝟳. 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗚𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗦 replaces most paid CRM when you're starting out. 𝟴. 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗬 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 Here's where most people waste everything they just built. You spend hours finding emails, guess patterns, build a beautiful list. Then you run it through a verification tool that gives you: "Catch-all.", "Unknown." "Risky." What do you do with that? Nothing. It's useless. At EmailAddress.ai (Verify Catch-alls + Reverse enrich emails), we give you 100% Deliverable or Undeliverable. No gray area. No wasted effort. Your manually-built list deserves verification that actually tells you the truth. 𝟵. 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 Manually, you can build: → 30-50 high-quality prospects per hour → 200-300 per week with focus These lists convert far better than cheap purchased data. THE TRUTH NOBODY TELLS YOU: Access to data is not the problem. Discipline is. Most people want scale first. What actually works is precision, relevance, and consistency. Stop paying for platforms you don't need yet. Start building lists that actually convert. 😁

Cold email outreach is often misunderstood as a numbers game - send more, get more. But the truth is, quality always beats quantity. Your success largely depends on the quality of your email list. A well-curated list means you’re reaching the right people with the right message, while a poorly managed list can lead to low engagement, high bounce rates, and damage to your sender reputation. Here’s a few key steps to refine your cold email lists for better results: 1️⃣ Segment your audience: start by dividing your list into segments based on criteria such as industry, job title, company size, or previous interactions with your brand. 2️⃣ Regularly clean your list: over time, email lists can become cluttered with inactive or invalid addresses. Regularly clean your list to remove bounced emails, unsubscribes, and unengaged contacts. This not only improves your deliverability rates but also ensures you’re focusing on prospects who are more likely to engage. 3️⃣ Use data enrichment tools: tools like Clearbit, ZoomInfo, or Hunter.io can help you enrich your email list by adding valuable data points such as the prospect’s role, company details, and social profiles. This extra information enables you to personalize your outreach even further. 4️⃣ Monitor engagement metrics: pay close attention to open rates, click-through rates, and responses. If certain segments of your list are underperforming, it may be time to re-evaluate those contacts. Use these insights to continuously refine your list and improve your targeting. 5️⃣ Leverage intent data: incorporate intent data into your list-building process. This data shows which companies are actively researching solutions like yours, allowing you to target prospects when they’re most interested. Tools like Bombora or 6sense can provide these insights. If you do something extra special to your email lists, share below 🤓 #Sales #ColdEmail #EmailMarketing #Outreach #SalesStrategy

Month 1 of building our outbound system from scratch. Here's the game plan. I built a bunch of outbound systems (one took ARR from $1M→$14M in 2 years) But back then, the tech was clunky. No Clay, no AI, no smooth workflows. Now, the outbound game is the same. But we are playing with better gear. My goal - use it wisely. It’s easy to chase tools and never ship. Tool FOMO is a great procrastination hack. So instead, let's start with foundations: Rule #1: Lead list quality > everything Every lead must pass the 3Qs filter: Why now (evidence they’re buying), Why them (ICP + ACV match) and Why you (unique fit). I'm using multiple intent tools and Clay to score and prioritise accounts with real buying energy, not just a job title. Rule #2: Match ACV to effort High ACV → LinkedIn + calls + email + manual Mid/Low ACV → email-first at scale Outbound isn’t blasting; it’s matching effort to potential return. Now, volume vs quality? If you have huge TAM + lots of competitors + many low-ACV leads: Don’t ignore them while you romance your top 50; time passes, intent cools, a competitor wins. Tiny TAM: Do the deep work on every account - you don’t have the luxury to burn them. Rule #3: Structure lists for campaigns (not the other way around) Group by buying signal/source for relevance at scale, by ICP lane (Sales Teams vs Agencies) for tailored value props, by (warm vs cold) for easy personalization hooks, and by role (champion vs DM) for outcome-specific copy. Good list segmentation, easy campaign creation. Rule #4: Build the ladder: low-hanging → warm → cold Re-engage trials/churned with intent, then warm engagers (events, followers, visitors), then cold ICP with triggers. Sequence the work so you earn quick wins and learn fast. Rule #5: Triggers beat calendars Replace “Day 3 follow-up” with “Signal happened → Play A.” Rule #6: AI assists, humans approve Let AI do the research and draft the openers (1–2 factual lines). You tighten the hypothesis and CTA. Personalization/relevance is proof, not poetry - don't spend hours crafting it. Rule #7: Deliverability and automation Great copy is useless if it never lands. Use Smartlead or Instantly.ai for emails, and take deliverability seriously. Automate the followups on all channels - no, you will not remember to followup with that LinkedIn convo. Don't lie to yourself. (this should also be a rule) Use HeyReach.io to get that LinkedIn game under control and track it. Rule #8: Experiment like an adult One variable at a time. Weekly loops. Measure reply% → positive% → meetings → cost/meeting by segment/source. Scale winners, retire losers fast. Rule #9: Ops-first instrumentation Every LI + email touch writes to CRM. Dashboards by segment × source × channel × ACV. Keep tools in sync (no stale lists). Rule #10: Document EVERYTHING. And that’s a wrap. Next post: our first low-hanging fruit campaign setup. I’ll share the build in public, follow along. Now, execution mode. 😵💫

There are two ways to send cold emails: 1. The "spray and pray" approach – blast 10,000 generic emails hoping someone bites 2. The targeted sniper approach – send fewer, highly customized emails that hit the bullseye I've been using the second method to initiate conversations with premium clients. Here's my exact 5-step process: 👉 Step 1: Choose Your Perfect Target Niche I focus exclusively on info marketers and course creators. Why? Because I understand their business model, speak their language, and can deliver specific results they value. 👉 Step 2: Find Approachable Prospects on YouTube My sweet spot? Channels with 10K-200K subscribers. These creators are: ✅ Established enough to afford your services ✅ Not so big that they're inaccessible ✅ Still handling much of their marketing themselves Channels under 500K subscribers are generally responsive if your approach is right. 👉 Step 3: Join Their Ecosystem Before sending a single email, I: ✅ Subscribe to their email list ✅ Watch their recent videos ✅ Study their sales process ✅ Purchase their entry-level products (if affordable) ✅ I become their customer first. This gives me insider knowledge no generic cold emailer could ever have. 👉 Step 4: Identify Specific Gaps in Their Marketing After studying their ecosystem for a few days, I look for clear holes in their funnel: ♐ Are they sending infrequent emails? (Once a week is a missed opportunity) ♐ Is their copy generic and uninspiring? ♐ Are they missing a front-end offer before their main product? ♐ Are they neglecting paid traffic? ♐ Is their lead magnet underwhelming? The key is finding specific problems I know how to fix—not vague "I can help you grow" promises. 👉 Step 5: Craft a Compelling, Problem-Aware Email Your email must stand out in a crowded inbox. Boring subject lines like "Looking to partner" or "Marketing services" get ignored. Instead, I use pattern-interrupting subject lines that spark curiosity without being deceptive: "I noticed something about your funnel..." "Quick question about [their product name]" "This confused me about your offer" Asks for a simple next step (not trying to close the deal immediately) I then follow up intelligently—at least 7 touches over 2-3 weeks, each adding new value.

Unpopular opinion… If your clients aren’t on LinkedIn, you don’t need to be here. Seriously… If you’re in B2C selling hair products... Or your audience lives entirely on Instagram or TikTok… Don’t waste time. But if your audience is on LinkedIn? This platform is a goldmine… And you’re probably overcomplicating it. I learned this the hard way…. I was posting random tips, hoping “awareness” would somehow turn into leads. It didn’t. When I stopped guessing and built a focused system around…. Who I actually wanted to reach, everything changed. Here’s exactly how I’d do it again today: Step 1: Go deeper than just “who is my audience?” Most people stop at... “I target CEOs” or “I target marketing managers.” That’s surface level. You need to map the person, not the title. Ask: Who exactly are they? → Not just job title = industry, role, seniority, mindset. What’s their day actually like? → What meetings fill their calendar? → Who pressures them? → What decisions stress them? What’s the #1 problem that keeps them stuck? → Not a vague “they want more revenue.” → What’s the specific pain? What have they already tried that failed? → Knowing their failed attempts helps you position yourself as different. What do they secretly want? → Not just business wins. → Do they want to look good to their boss? → Do they want to save time? → Finally hit that promotion? Where do they spend attention? → Are they scrolling industry news? → Following niche creators? → Lurking in comment sections? Step 2: Build a precise list like a sniper… Once you know them deeply, translate it into exact filters on Sales Navigator. Here’s how… Industry: → Narrow to the specific verticals where your solution really hits hardest Company size: → Don’t target “everyone.” → Choose the size where you know you can deliver the most value. Seniority: → Are you talking to the decision maker? → Or the influencer who introduces you to the decision maker? Geography: → Remove markets you can’t or don’t want to serve. Step 3: Create content like a mirror… Most people post about themselves. You post about your audience’s reality. Write about: → The exact problems you uncovered in step 1 (make them feel seen) → The dream outcomes they secretly want → The mistakes you see people like them making → The lessons you’ve learned helping people in their shoes → The shifts in thinking they need to go from stuck → solved And show proof… Screenshots, mini case studies, behind-the-scenes of how you solve problems. Your content shouldn’t sound like marketing. It should feel like someone just opened your journal. Most overcomplicate LinkedIn... But when you strip it down, it’s simple… → Know them better than anyone else. → Talk about their world, not yours. → Show up daily in small, deliberate ways. → Build trust before you ever ask for anything. That’s it. P.S. Step 4-6 in pinned comments :)

#salesfam The lists you get from your sales manager probably suck. When I was an SDR, all the unsuccessful SDRs relied on the “leads” they got from management. Smiled and dialed down those lists. Pumped out 70 calls a day, every day, wondering why they weren’t getting results. The reality is, a lot of sales leaders aren’t all that sophisticated when it comes to putting together quality outreach lists for their sellers. Sorry but not sorry 🤷 Fast forward to 2024: if you’re still relying only on dusty old CRM records and lists you get from your manager for prospecting, you’re probably doing yourself a huge disservice. You know who’s probably the best person to create a super high quality contact list for prospecting? It’s you 🙂. Below are 25 potential prospecting indicators you can go off of (in no particular order) so you can avoid using garbage lists and so you can make your own set of great lists. (Table stakes: Assumes you have a defined ICP and target buyer personas, and assumes that at worst you understand who’s in your TAM) Potential indicators: 1. Recently changed jobs 2. Recently got promoted 3. Company visited your company’s website 4. Specific contact(s) visited your company’s website 5. Attended one of your company’s webinars 6. Clicked on a marketing email 7. Opened a marketing email multiple times 8. Follows your company on LinkedIn 9. Follows you on LinkedIn 10. Follows your competitors on LinkedIn 11. Viewed your profile on LinkedIn 12. Liked or commented on one of your LinkedIn posts 13. Liked or commented on one of your company’s LinkedIn posts 14. Leadership, management, or ICs are actively posting their own content on LinkedIn 15. Actively hiring in the same department you sell into (e.g. if you sell marketing software, the company is hiring marketing people) 16. Department headcount is growing YTD or year over year 17. Company recent funding round 18. Recent merger or acquisition 19. Recent tradeshow / conference / offline event attendance 20. Recent podcast appearance 21. Recently hosted a (legit) live webinar 22. Recently rebranded 23. Recently redesigned their website 24. Evaluated your product/service last quarter/last year 25. Used to be a customer of your company 2+ years ago 👆🏽 that should be enough to create a bunch of different high quality prospecting lists for yourself hopefully 🙂 What did I miss, #salesfam ? . .

LinkedIn will literally find your ICP for you but almost no one does it right. We’ve used these lead lists to book hundreds of qualified sales calls - here’s how it works: – LinkedIn is one of the biggest repositories of (mostly accurate) company information on the internet: • ARR • Company Headcount • Company Growth • Industry • Funding Events (great for finding Series A/B/C companies) • Location As a B2B founder, I can define my ICP based on those demographics. LinkedIn will give me a list of every company whose profile fits. From there, I can target the right people from said companies, send connection requests to them, start commenting on their posts - even run highly targeted ads to them. Those are all new touch points with our ICP, and we don’t have to pray to the LinkedIn algorithm to get them. Here’s how: 1. Go into Sales Navigator or Advanced Search 2. Build an account list first (very important) 3. Play with the filters & save a version I’m happy with After I’ve done that, it’s time to extract the ICP from said companies: 1. Go To Lead  2. Apply the filters of the persona I’m after 3. Make sure to select the account list I just created (it’s under Workflow) 4. Once I’m happy with the outcome, copy the URL and upload it to a tool like HeyReach.io Now I have ICP connection requests flying out every day. Next, I engage with their posts, start commenting, and eventually run Thought Leadership ads to them. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 This is a powerful addition to an existing organic content engine. It fixes some of the limitations that come from a purely organic approach. For example: A while ago, I did a post about what I’d do as CMO at a B2B company doing $10M ARR. If an intern sees that post, it’s not super helpful to me. What I’m really hoping is to reach CMOs or CEOs of $10M+ ARR companies. With the organic post, I’m just hoping the algorithm gets it right. With a targeted list, I increase the likelihood that my ICP sees what I wrote. BONUS: I can then target the same list (needs workarounds) with LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads. This way I guarantee the distribution of my best organic content directly to the ICP List I’ve created before. TLDR: 1. Define ICP 2. Create LinkedIn Lead List 3. Engage with Lead List 4. Run TL Ads to Lead List 5. Convert signals into meetings The power of a good list :)