If you use Zoominfo to find leads, you know it’s powerful—but it’s easy to drown in data or end up with a feed full of garbage. Setting up Saved Searches right means more good leads, less busywork, and fewer "who the heck is this?" moments in your CRM. This guide is for anyone—sales, marketing, or ops—who wants to set up Zoominfo once and get a steady stream of useful prospects, without babysitting it every week.
1. Get Real About What You Actually Need
Before you even log in, take five minutes and write down what a “good lead” looks like for your business. Not what you wish you could sell to, but what actually closes.
- What industries do you win in? Don’t be vague—pick the top 2–3.
- Company size: Headcount and/or revenue. Be honest about where your product fits.
- Geography: Where can you actually do business?
- Roles or titles: Who actually buys or influences the deal?
- Other red flags: Anything that always tanks a deal? Put it on your “exclude” list.
You’ll use these as your non-negotiables when building your Saved Searches.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure, pull your last 20 closed-won deals and look for what they have in common. Start there, not with someone else’s “ideal customer profile” slide.
2. Build Your Search in Zoominfo—Start Tight, Then Loosen
Head into Zoominfo and fire up Advanced Search. Here’s the trick: Start with the narrowest, most obvious filters based on your must-haves. Don’t get greedy.
Key filters that actually matter:
- Industry: Use NAICS/SIC or the built-in industry tags. Avoid “All industries” unless you like sorting junk.
- Company size: Pick a tight employee count or revenue range.
- Location: Filter by country, region, or city as needed.
- Job titles: Use “contains” for flexibility, e.g., “marketing” or “operations.” Don’t go title-crazy; too broad, and you’ll get assistants and interns.
- Seniority level: VP/Director/C-level if you’re after decision-makers.
What to skip (most of the time):
- “Has email” or “has phone”: It’s tempting, but if you filter only by this, you’ll miss good accounts. Some clean-up later is better than missing a whale.
- Tech installs: Unless you truly only sell to users of a specific platform, don’t get overly granular here.
- Keywords in bios: Rarely works well; people write weird bios.
Once you’ve built a focused search, check the results. If you’re seeing more than 1,000 people or companies, tighten it up. If you’re getting just a handful, loosen one filter at a time and see what changes.
Pro tip: You can always add more Saved Searches later for different segments. Don’t try to catch every possible lead with one mega-search.
3. Save and Name Your Search Clearly
Zoominfo makes it easy to save searches, but it’s also easy to end up with “Search 1” and “Search 2” and have no idea what’s what a month from now.
- Include the key filters in the name: For example, “US SaaS 100-500 Employees – Marketing Directors.”
- Add the date: If you’re running seasonal or campaign-specific searches, this helps keep things fresh.
- Use folders or tags: If you’re managing a bunch of searches, folders help keep things organized.
You want anyone on your team to know exactly what a Saved Search is pulling—no detective work required.
4. Set Up Alerts—But Don’t Let Them Spam You
Saved Searches in Zoominfo can ping you when new matches show up. This is great… until it isn’t.
- Weekly summaries: For most teams, weekly alerts are plenty. Daily alerts turn into noise fast.
- Email, not Slack: Unless you’re okay with a firehose in your chat, keep alerts to your inbox.
- Review, don’t auto-import: Don’t auto-dump new leads into your CRM without a quick review. Even Zoominfo isn’t perfect, and you’ll save yourself cleanup later.
Pro tip: If you find you’re ignoring alerts, you’ve probably made your search too broad. Tighten it up and try again.
5. Export or Sync—But Keep It Clean
You can export leads from Zoominfo or set up automatic syncs to your CRM or sales tools. Here’s how to do it without making a mess:
- Export only what you’ll actually use: No one needs 2,000 leads dumped in their lap at once.
- Map fields carefully: Make sure job titles, company names, and contact info land in the right places.
- Deduplicate: Zoominfo’s data is good, but not perfect. Always run a quick dedupe after an import.
What to avoid: Don’t set up a “fire-and-forget” integration that just pipes every new match into your database. That’s how you end up with thousands of contacts you’ll never touch.
6. Check and Tweak Regularly (But Not Obsessively)
Saved Searches aren’t “set it and forget it.” Industries change, people switch jobs, and your business focus shifts.
- Once a month: Look at your Saved Searches. Still getting good leads? Any junk slipping in?
- Kill or split searches if needed: If a search is too broad, break it into two. If it’s dead, delete it.
- Get feedback from the team: If reps say “these leads suck,” dig into why and adjust.
Warning signs: - You see a bunch of bounced emails. - You’re getting job titles that don’t make sense. - No one’s touching the leads.
If you spot these, tweak your filters—don’t start over from scratch.
7. Don’t Fall for the “More Data Is Better” Trap
It’s tempting to go wild and try to grab as many contacts as possible. In reality, a list of 200 solid leads is worth more than 2,000 random ones. Quality beats quantity every time.
- Be ruthless about your filters. If you wouldn’t want a sales rep to call them, don’t pull them.
- Don’t be afraid to exclude. Use negative filters to keep out junk (e.g., exclude “student” or “retired” from titles).
- Iterate, don’t overthink. Set it up, try it, adjust. You’ll never get it perfect on day one.
Quick Checklist: What to Double-Check Before You Hit “Save”
- Are you clear on your must-have filters?
- Did you start tight, then loosen as needed?
- Is your search name actually descriptive?
- Are alerts set to a frequency you’ll actually check?
- Do you have a plan for cleaning and importing results?
- Is someone (you or a teammate) reviewing the output regularly?
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
What works: - Tight, focused searches based on real closed-won data. - Regular review and tweaks. - Involving the team who’ll actually use the leads.
What doesn’t: - Super-broad searches (“Anyone in North America with a job!”). - Relying on “has email” as your only filter. - Never revisiting your searches.
Ignore: - Fancy “AI” suggestions unless they clearly match your ICP. - Overly complex tech stack filters (unless you really, truly need them). - Trying to get too clever with bio keywords.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Saved Searches in Zoominfo are a great way to keep your pipeline fresh—if you set them up with a clear head and resist the urge to overcomplicate things. Start with what’s working, keep your searches tight, check in now and then, and don’t be afraid to tweak. You don’t need a perfect system; you need one that gives you good leads with the least amount of hassle. That’s it.