Building Custom Prospect Lists in Nooks for Targeted Outreach

If you’re tired of sifting through stale leads, massaging CSVs, or wrestling with platforms that promise the moon but mostly deliver headaches, this guide is for you. Whether you’re a founder, SDR, or someone suddenly asked to “spin up a list” for outreach, I’ll walk you through building custom prospect lists in Nooks without wasting hours—or sanity. No hype, no shortcuts that backfire later—just what works, what doesn’t, and what to skip.

Why Custom Prospect Lists Actually Matter

Blasting generic emails to random contacts is a good way to burn your sender reputation and get ignored. High-quality, targeted lists are how you actually get replies (and not the “unsubscribe” kind).

Nooks promises to help you find and organize prospects. The good news? It can, if you use it thoughtfully. The bad news? Like any tool, it’s easy to get carried away or bogged down if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Here’s how to do it right.

Step 1: Get Clear on Who You Actually Want to Reach

Before you click anything in Nooks, stop and ask: who are you really trying to reach? Most people skip this and end up with a bloated list of people who’ll never care.

Nail down: - Industry: Be specific. “Tech” isn’t enough—are you after SaaS companies, cybersecurity, fintech? - Company size: Startups, mid-market, enterprise? Be honest about who you can actually help. - Role/title: Who’s got the pain (and the budget)? “VP of Sales” is clearer than “anyone in sales.” - Geography: Does it matter? If you only work in the US, don’t waste time with EMEA prospects.

Pro tip: Write this down. If you can’t describe your ICP (ideal customer profile) in 1-2 sentences, keep sharpening it.

Step 2: Build Your Search in Nooks

Once you’re clear on your target, log into Nooks and head to the prospecting or list-building section. Here’s how to use its filters without getting overwhelmed or pulled into a rabbit hole:

  1. Set Company Filters
  2. Industry: Use Nooks’ filters, but don’t trust them blindly—industry tags are often messy. Double-check sample results.
  3. Company size: Nooks lets you filter by employee count. Keep your range tight, even if it means fewer results.

  4. Location: Only add regions you really want. More isn’t better.

  5. Add Role/Title Filters

  6. Title keywords: Use the most common titles for your buyer. If in doubt, prioritize function (“marketing,” “sales,” “engineering”) over seniority.

  7. Seniority level: Some platforms misclassify, so always spot-check.

  8. Layer On Other Useful Filters

  9. Tech stack: Useful if you sell to users of a specific tool (e.g., “uses Salesforce”).
  10. Recent hiring or funding: If relevant, but don’t get obsessed—signal data is often outdated.

What to ignore: “Has a LinkedIn profile,” “public email,” or other fluffy filters. These sound good but usually don’t move the needle.

Honest take: The more filters you add, the more likely you are to get weird, unreliable results. Start simple. You can always refine later.

Step 3: Review and Clean Your Results

Don’t just export a giant list and call it a day. Garbage in, garbage out.

What to look for: - Obvious mismatches: People with the wrong title, companies outside your target, or anything that just feels off. - Duplicates: Nooks is better than most at this, but always check. - Totally blank or sketchy profiles: No email, no LinkedIn, barely any info? Skip them.

Pro tip: Spot-check 10-20 contacts. If half of them look wrong, rethink your filters.

Step 4: Organize and Save Your List

Nooks lets you create custom lists or segments. Use this feature instead of dumping everything into one mega-list.

  • Name your lists clearly: “US SaaS VPs of Sales, 50-200 employees, July 2024” beats “Outreach List 2.”
  • Segment by campaign or persona: If you plan to run different messaging, keep those groups separate from the start.
  • Add notes if needed: Don’t trust your memory. If you tweak filters, jot down what changed.

Step 5: Enrich and Export (If Needed)

Nooks can enrich profiles with emails, social profiles, and company info. Here’s the honest take:

  • Don’t expect 100% deliverable emails. No tool is perfect. Bounce rates are a fact of life. Always use an email verification tool before sending.
  • Only export what you need. If you’re integrating with Outreach, Salesforce, or another CRM, check the field mapping first—broken imports are a waste of time.
  • CSV is boring but reliable. If you’re not sure what you’ll do with the list, stick to CSV. Fancy integrations can break (and usually do, at the worst time).

Step 6: Sanity-Check Before You Send

Don’t skip this last step. Sending to a bad list is worse than not sending at all.

  • Manually review a handful of contacts. Would you actually email this person? Would they care?
  • Check for weird formatting or junk data. Sometimes names or domains get mangled.
  • Spot-check company websites. Make sure they’re real and match your target.

What to ignore: Vanity metrics like “list size.” A list of 200 right-fit prospects is ten times better than 2,000 random ones.

What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Skip

What works: - Tight filters based on your real ICP. - Manual spot-checking (yes, it’s boring, but it’s gold). - Iterating—your first list will never be perfect.

What doesn’t: - Blindly trusting tool filters or enrichment claims. - Over-filtering until you get five unusable contacts. - Thinking list size matters more than quality.

What to skip: - Chasing every “intent signal” or “AI insight” Nooks pitches. Most are noisy or outdated. - Worrying about “completeness.” You’ll never get every possible lead—focus on the best ones.

Pro Tips for Better Results

  • Refresh your lists regularly. People change jobs fast. Even a list from three months ago can be stale.
  • Document your process. If you find a filter combo that works, save it (and teach your team).
  • Don’t be afraid to delete contacts. Fewer, better prospects = higher response rates and less wasted time.
  • Keep your outreach human. Even the cleanest list won’t help if your emails are generic.

Keep It Simple and Iterate

Tools like Nooks are supposed to save you time, not trap you in endless tweaking or busywork. Start with a clear ICP, build a focused list, review it, and get moving. Don’t stress about being perfect—just aim for better each time. And if a feature feels like snake oil, trust your gut and skip it.

The best outreach starts with the right list, not the biggest one. Happy prospecting.