Ever get the feeling your marketing automation platform knows a lot… but not quite enough? You’re not alone. Enriching leads with extra context—like company size, industry, and job role—can make automations actually useful instead of just “busy.” That’s where Clearbit comes in. It promises to turn plain email addresses into profiles your sales or marketing team can actually use.
But plugging Clearbit into your marketing stack isn’t always as simple as flipping a switch. Done wrong, you end up with a mess of half-completed data, angry sales reps, or, worse, automations that annoy good leads. This guide is for anyone who wants solid, practical advice on connecting Clearbit data to marketing platforms—whether you use HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, or something else.
Let’s cut the fluff and get into how to actually make Clearbit work for you.
1. Decide if You Actually Need Clearbit Data
Before you start wiring things up, ask yourself: what problem are you solving? Clearbit is great for filling in blanks about your leads, but it’s not a magic wand. Here’s when it genuinely helps:
- Lead scoring: Want to prioritize leads from bigger companies or a specific industry? Clearbit can help.
- Segmentation: Running campaigns for SaaS companies only? Clearbit can flag those.
- Personalization: If your emails mention a lead’s company size or role, you need reliable data.
But don’t get sucked in by the idea that “more data = better marketing.” If you’re not ready to act on the extra fields, or if your team’s drowning in info already, hold off.
Pro tip: If your lead volume is low, or you already have a decent enrichment process, the extra spend and setup of Clearbit may not be worth it.
2. Map Out the Data You Actually Need
Clearbit can pump dozens of fields into your CRM or automation tool. Resist the urge to turn them all on.
Start by mapping:
- The minimum data points you’ll actually use (e.g., company size, industry, job title).
- Where those fields should live in your platform (custom fields? Standard ones?).
- How each field will trigger automations or scoring.
What to ignore:
Fields you’ll never use, like “Alexa Rank” or obscure social URLs. More fields = more clutter = more things to break.
How to do it:
- List the Clearbit fields you’re interested in.
- Match each to a field in your marketing automation platform.
- Decide what happens if the data isn’t available (leave blank? fallback value?).
Example:
Let’s say you want to route leads by company size and industry. Only map those fields—you can always add more later.
3. Set Up the Connection Carefully
How you connect Clearbit to your marketing platform depends on your stack. Here are the main approaches:
a. Native Integrations
Some platforms (like HubSpot and Marketo) have direct Clearbit integrations. These are usually the easiest and cleanest.
- Pros: Fewer moving parts, less manual setup.
- Cons: Sometimes limited in what fields sync, or when enrichment happens.
What works:
Use native integrations if you want a quick, reliable setup and your use-case is straightforward.
b. API + Middleware
If your platform doesn’t have a built-in Clearbit integration, or you want more control, you’ll need to use Clearbit’s API. This often means using a tool like Zapier, Workato, or custom scripts.
- Pros: More flexibility. You can enrich at any step, and map any field you want.
- Cons: More things to maintain. API limits can get in your way if you scale up.
What works:
Use middleware or custom scripts if you need to enrich at odd times (like after a specific event), or if your platform isn’t officially supported.
What to ignore:
Don’t over-engineer. If a native integration covers 90% of your needs, don’t waste a week building a custom API pipeline for the other 10%.
4. Time Your Enrichment Right
Timing matters. If you enrich too early, you might waste API calls on bots or fake emails. Too late, and your automations miss the data.
Best practices:
- Enrich after the lead is qualified, but before heavy automation kicks in. Usually, right after a form is submitted and passes basic validation.
- Don’t enrich every single lead. Use simple filters to weed out obvious spam or junk domains first.
- Batch processing: If you get bursts of leads (like after a webinar), batch enrichment can be more efficient (and cheaper).
What doesn’t work:
Don’t enrich your entire database in one go “just because.” You’ll eat up your Clearbit credits and likely clutter your CRM with useless data.
5. Handle Incomplete or Bad Data Gracefully
Clearbit is good—but not perfect. Sometimes it won’t find data, or it’ll return something that doesn’t make sense.
- Have a fallback plan: If a field comes back empty, what happens? Don’t let automations break or send embarrassing emails.
- Don’t overwrite good data: If you already have a verified company name or job title, don’t let Clearbit stomp on it.
- Log enrichment failures: Track when enrichment doesn’t work. You’ll spot patterns (like certain domains always failing) and can adjust.
Pro tip:
Set up notifications for repeated failures. It might mean your forms are getting hammered by fake sign-ups.
6. Use the Data Wisely in Your Automations
This is where most folks trip up. Just because you have more data doesn’t mean you should use it everywhere.
- Lead scoring: Use Clearbit data to bump up (or down) scores based on company size, industry, or tech used.
- Segmentation: Only send that “enterprise” campaign to actual enterprise leads.
- Personalization: But don’t get creepy. Mentioning someone’s recent funding round in a welcome email is overkill.
What works:
Start simple. Use one or two fields in your scoring or segmentation. See what moves the needle. Add more later if it’s actually useful.
What to ignore:
Don’t build crazy-complex automations that hinge on having perfect data for every field. You’ll spend more time fixing things than running campaigns.
7. Stay On Top of Privacy & Compliance
Any time you’re pulling in third-party data, you need to think about privacy and compliance.
- Tell people you enrich data: It’s not just best practice—it’s often required.
- Honor opt-outs: If someone asks to be removed or not tracked, make sure Clearbit enrichment stops for them.
- Don’t sync sensitive data you don’t need. More data = more risk if something goes wrong.
Pro tip:
Check your Clearbit contract and your local laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) before turning on full-scale enrichment.
8. Test, Monitor, and Iterate
No integration is “set and forget.” Monitor things regularly.
- Spot-check records: Make sure enrichment is working and the data makes sense.
- Check automations: Run through your flows as a test lead to see what actually happens.
- Review value: If you’re not using a field, or it’s always empty, turn it off.
What doesn’t work:
Ignoring the integration and hoping for the best. Bad data only gets worse over time.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Connecting Clearbit to your marketing automation isn’t rocket science, but it does take some care. Focus on the data you’ll actually use. Don’t let extra fields or over-complicated automations bog you down.
Start simple. Map a handful of useful fields, build a few smart automations, and see what actually helps your team. You can always add more later—but it’s almost impossible to claw things back once your CRM is a mess.
Data’s only valuable if it’s helping you do something better. Keep it practical, and you’ll get more out of Clearbit—and your entire marketing stack.