If you're in a B2B go-to-market (GTM) team, you already know that sorting real buyers from tire-kickers is half the battle. Manual lead scoring? Slow, inconsistent, and nobody trusts the results anyway. Good news: you can automate this in Copy and stop wasting time on leads that’ll never close. This guide is for anyone who actually wants their sales, marketing, and RevOps teams working together—without endless spreadsheets or duct-taped “integrations.”
Let's get practical. Here’s how to set up automated lead scoring in Copy, avoid the hype, and focus on results that make sense for your business.
1. Get Clear About What Makes a Good Lead (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even open Copy, nail down what a “good lead” really means for your team. Automation can only help if you’re feeding it the right logic. Most teams rush this step, then wonder why their scores are useless.
What to do:
- Sit with sales and marketing. Ask: Who actually becomes a customer? What signals did they show? What’s a red flag?
- Look at your last 20 closed-won deals. What did they have in common? Industry, company size, job title, engagement with your content?
- Be specific. “Decision maker” is vague. “Director-level in IT at a SaaS company, 200+ employees, downloaded a whitepaper” is better.
Pro tip: Ignore the urge to track everything. Pick 3-5 traits or behaviors that actually matter. The more rules you stack, the harder it is to maintain (and the more false positives you’ll get).
2. Map Your Data Sources (Where Is the Info Coming From?)
Automated lead scoring is only as good as your data. Garbage in, garbage out. If Copy can’t see the right data, it can’t score anything.
What to check:
- CRM: Is your Salesforce or HubSpot up to date? Are form fills, job titles, and company info accurate?
- Marketing automation: Are tools like Marketo or Pardot tracking real engagement (opens, clicks, event attendance)?
- Enrichment tools: Using Clearbit, ZoomInfo, or something else? Make sure fields like industry and employee count are actually being filled in.
- Custom data: Demo requests, product signups, or trial activity—these often matter more than generic firmographics.
Pitfall to avoid: Don’t assume all your data is clean or even making it into Copy. Audit a few records manually to see what’s really there.
3. Set Up Your Lead Scoring Model in Copy
Now you’re ready to get into Copy and actually set up automated scoring. Copy isn’t magic—it just lets you create rules or point-based models and automates the grunt work.
How to do it:
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Go to the lead scoring section in Copy. (The UI changes sometimes, so if you can’t find it, use the help docs or ask support. Don’t waste time hunting around.)
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Choose your scoring method:
- Point-based: Assign values to actions (e.g., +10 for demo request, +5 for attending a webinar, -5 for generic emails).
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Rule-based: Set simple “if/then” rules (e.g., IF job title contains “VP” AND company size > 200, THEN score = hot).
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Add your criteria:
- Use the 3-5 traits or actions you defined earlier.
- Assign points or set rules. Don’t overthink the math—start simple.
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Example:
- +10: Downloaded your pricing guide
- +7: Attended a product webinar
- +5: Company is in your target industry
- -10: Competitor domain email
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Set up score thresholds:
- Decide what’s “hot,” “warm,” or “cold.”
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Example: 20+ points = hot, 10-19 = warm, under 10 = cold.
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Test with real leads:
- Run a few known leads through the model.
- If your best leads are scoring “cold,” tweak your rules.
What not to do:
Don’t copy someone else’s lead scoring spreadsheet from LinkedIn. Your business is different. And don’t try to automate “gut feeling”—stick to stuff you can actually measure.
4. Automate Data Flows (So Scores Stay Accurate)
For automation to work, Copy needs a steady stream of up-to-date info. If your CRM or marketing tool isn’t syncing, your scores will get stale—fast.
How to handle it:
- Integrate Copy with your CRM and marketing stack. Use built-in integrations or, if you must, Zapier/Make for custom stuff.
- Test the sync. Change a field in Salesforce and see if it updates in Copy.
- Schedule regular updates. Real-time is ideal, but at least daily.
- Set up notifications. If a sync fails, someone should know. Otherwise, you’ll waste weeks before discovering scores are wrong.
Pro tip: If you’re working with dirty data, don’t automate bad habits. Fix your source systems first, then automate.
5. Build Workflows That Actually Use the Scores
Lead scoring is useless unless it triggers real actions. Here’s what you can automate once scores are flowing:
- Routing:
- Hot leads go to sales immediately.
- Warm leads get nurtured by marketing.
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Cold leads can be ignored (or dropped into a long-term drip).
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Notifications:
- Email or Slack alerts for hot leads.
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Task creation in CRM for assigned reps.
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Personalization:
- Change outreach templates or cadence based on score.
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Send different content to cold vs. hot leads.
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Reporting:
- Track how many hot leads convert. If your “hot” scores aren’t closing, revisit your model.
Don’t bother:
Automating “cute” stuff like confetti animations or over-designed dashboards. Focus on actions that actually move leads to revenue.
6. Review and Tweak (This Never Ends)
Lead scoring is not “set it and forget it.” Markets shift, your ICP changes, and what worked last quarter might not work now.
What to do every month or quarter:
- Spot-check deals: Did hot leads actually close? Are you missing good fits?
- Get sales feedback: Are reps ignoring leads you say are “hot”? Why?
- Adjust rules: Drop what’s not working, add new signals if needed. But don’t add too many—complexity is a killer.
Pro tip: Document changes and why you made them. Otherwise, six months from now, nobody will remember why you assigned 7 points to “Visited pricing page 3+ times.”
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
What works:
- Focusing on a few strong signals (not 20 weak ones).
- Tight integration with CRM and marketing tools.
- Regular feedback loops with sales.
What doesn’t:
- Overcomplicated scoring models (nobody maintains them).
- Relying on “AI” to magically find your ICP (at least, not yet).
- Setting it up and never revisiting the model.
Ignore:
- Vendor promises of “set it and forget it.”
- Lead scoring “benchmarks” from companies nothing like yours.
- Anything that adds friction to reps actually following up.
Keep It Simple. Iterate.
Automating lead scoring in Copy isn’t rocket science, but it does take some upfront work. Start simple—pick a handful of signals, automate the basics, and get sales using the scores. Once it’s working, tweak it based on real feedback. You’re not looking for perfect, just better than what you had before. And if you ever feel lost, skip the fancy features and go back to the basics: Who’s buying, and how can you make it easier for your team to spot them? That’s what matters.