If you sell B2B, you need good leads—not a random pile of LinkedIn profiles. This guide is for anyone sick of “lead list hacks” that waste time and fill your pipeline with people who’ll never buy. Instead, I’ll walk you through building a real targeted lead list using Icereach, a tool built for LinkedIn prospecting. We’ll skip the hype and get straight to what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid common mistakes.
Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Define Who You Actually Want to Reach
A targeted lead list is only as good as your targeting. Before touching Icereach, get clear on:
- Industry: Be specific. “Tech” is too broad; “SaaS companies with 10-50 employees” is better.
- Role/Title: Who makes decisions? (If you’re selling HR software, CTOs are probably not your people.)
- Company size: Solo founders and Fortune 500 execs don’t buy the same way.
- Location: Local, national, global? It matters.
- Other filters: Funding stage, tech stack, recent hiring, etc.
Pro tip: Write this down. Seriously. If you can’t describe your ideal lead in one sentence, you’re not ready to build a list.
Step 2: Sign Up and Set Up Icereach
If you haven’t already, sign up at Icereach. It’s built for LinkedIn outreach, so you’ll need a LinkedIn account (the free version works, but Sales Navigator unlocks more filters).
Quick setup checklist:
- Connect your LinkedIn account. Icereach uses your profile for prospecting.
- Set up your email (optional). If you want to do email outreach later.
- Check your daily limits. Don’t get greedy—LinkedIn doesn’t love mass outreach.
What works: Icereach keeps things simple. The UI is clean, and you won’t spend an hour lost in menus.
What to ignore: Don’t get sucked into tweaking your profile photo or headline right now. Focus on building your list.
Step 3: Build Your Search in LinkedIn
Icereach pulls leads from LinkedIn, so your search there matters. If you have LinkedIn Sales Navigator, use it—it’s worth it for advanced filters. If not, the regular search works, but you’ll have to be more creative.
How to build a solid search:
- Start simple: Use keywords, filter by location, industry, and company size.
- Get granular: With Sales Navigator, you can filter by years in current role, company headcount, revenue, etc.
- Boolean search: Use AND, OR, and NOT to combine keywords (e.g., “marketing manager” AND SaaS NOT “intern”).
Pro tip: Save your search in LinkedIn so you can revisit or tweak it later.
What works: The more specific your filters, the better your list. Don’t be afraid to exclude people.
What doesn’t: Overly broad searches. “CEO” + “United States” = millions of randoms who’ll just ignore you.
Step 4: Import Leads to Icereach
Now, pull those leads into Icereach. There are two main methods:
1. Chrome Extension (fastest)
- Install the Icereach Chrome extension.
- Run your filtered LinkedIn search.
- Click the extension to import profiles directly into your Icereach campaign.
2. CSV Import
- If you already have a CSV of LinkedIn URLs, you can upload that into Icereach.
- Make sure your CSV has “LinkedIn URL” as a column header.
What works: The Chrome extension is quick and easy. For large, pre-built lists, CSV is fine but requires more prep.
What to ignore: Don’t waste time hand-copying profiles. Automation is the point here.
Step 5: Clean and Segment Your List
Don’t skip this. Even with good filters, you’ll get some junk—irrelevant titles, fake profiles, or people who just don’t fit.
How to clean up:
- Bulk select and remove: Icereach lets you delete obviously wrong leads in one click.
- Segment by tags or lists: Group by role, company size, or region for smarter outreach later.
- Spot-check profiles: Open a few to check for accuracy. If you see lots of off-target leads, tighten your filters and re-import.
Pro tip: Save time by looking for patterns. If you see a bunch of recruiters, you probably need to add “NOT recruiter” to your LinkedIn search.
What works: Small, high-quality lists > massive, messy lists. It’s less work to reach out to 100 solid leads than to clean up 1,000 bad ones.
Step 6: Enrich Your Data (Optional, but Helpful)
Icereach pulls basic info: name, title, company, location, and LinkedIn URL. If you want emails or more data, you’ll need to enrich your list.
Options:
- Icereach enrichment: Paid plans include email finding for some leads.
- Third-party tools: Tools like Hunter or Snov.io can help fill gaps if you have company domains.
- Manual research: For really high-value targets, look them up yourself.
What works: Email enrichment is useful, but accuracy varies. Don’t expect 100% delivery rates—some emails will bounce.
What to ignore: Don’t pay for enrichment on leads you wouldn’t actually reach out to. Clean your list first.
Step 7: Export or Start Outreach
Once your list is ready, you can:
- Export as CSV: If you want to use other outreach tools or CRMs.
- Launch a campaign in Icereach: Icereach lets you send LinkedIn connection requests and follow-ups directly.
A few tips:
- Personalize at scale: Use merge tags like {{first_name}}—but don’t spam the same message to everyone.
- Start small: Test on a batch of 20-50 leads. See what response you get, then adjust.
- Track replies: Icereach tracks responses so you don’t have to juggle spreadsheets.
What works: Tight, relevant messaging to a small, hand-picked audience. Real personalization still beats automation.
What doesn’t: Mass-blasting generic messages. You’ll get ignored or worse—flagged as spam.
Step 8: Iterate and Improve
No lead list is perfect the first time. The best results come from tweaking your filters, cleaning up your data, and refining your outreach based on what actually works.
- Review your results: Which segments reply? Who ignores you?
- Adjust your search: If you’re getting bad fits, go back to LinkedIn and tighten your filters.
- Refine your messages: Make your outreach more relevant with each batch.
Pro tip: Keep your list-building and outreach simple. More complexity rarely means more replies.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need 5,000 leads. You need a focused list of the right people, built with care and a little skepticism. Icereach is a solid tool for this—if you use it thoughtfully and don’t fall for shortcuts. Start small, keep it targeted, and always clean your data. Iterate as you go. That’s how you build a B2B lead list that actually gets results.