How to build a targeted lead list in Leadleaper step by step

If you’ve ever wasted hours sorting through garbage leads or gotten burned by sketchy email lists, you know how painful bad prospecting can be. This guide is for anyone who wants to use Leadleaper to build a targeted lead list—without the fluff, without the hype, and without getting buried in a mess of irrelevant contacts.

Maybe you’re in sales, maybe you’re doing outreach for your own business, or maybe you’re just tired of paying for lists that don’t convert. Either way, you want a process that works and doesn’t waste your time. Here’s how to get a targeted list using Leadleaper, step by step, plus some honest advice on what’s worth your effort (and what’s not).

Step 1: Know What “Targeted” Actually Means for You

Before you even open Leadleaper, get clear on who you want to reach. “Targeted” isn’t a buzzword—it’s your filter for not wasting time. Here’s what you need to nail down:

  • Industry: Be specific. “Tech” is too broad. “SaaS startups with 10-50 employees” is better.
  • Role/titles: Who actually makes decisions? “Marketing Manager” or “VP of Sales” is more useful than just “employee.”
  • Geography: If location matters (for legal, timezone, or business reasons), write it down.
  • Company size: Are you after Fortune 500 whales, or scrappy startups?

Pro tip: Write this down somewhere before you start. If you don’t, it’s easy to wander off-target and end up with a Frankenstein list.

Step 2: Set Up Leadleaper Correctly

You’d be surprised how many people skip the basics and pay for it later. Here’s how to avoid rookie mistakes:

  1. Create your account. If you haven’t already, sign up on the Leadleaper site. The free plan gives you some basic functionality, but if you’re serious, the paid plans are pretty reasonable.
  2. Install the Leadleaper Chrome extension. Leadleaper works as a Chrome extension that syncs with LinkedIn. No extension, no leads—simple as that.
  3. Connect your LinkedIn account. Leadleaper piggybacks on LinkedIn searches, so you’ll need to be logged in.

Heads up: Leadleaper doesn’t work without LinkedIn. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, or you’re locked out, you’re out of luck.

Step 3: Use LinkedIn Search Like a Pro

Here’s where people usually go wrong—they just type “marketing” into LinkedIn, hit Leadleaper, and end up with a useless, bloated list.

To get a targeted list, you need to use LinkedIn’s filters:

  • People search: Don’t just search for companies; search for people in your target roles.
  • Filters to use: Location, current company, industry, title, and company size (via “Company Headcount” filter).
  • Boolean search: Use AND, OR, NOT, and quotes for precise results. For example:
    ("VP Marketing" OR "Head of Marketing") AND SaaS AND (San Francisco OR Remote)

Pro tip: LinkedIn’s free account limits how many results you can see. If you’re serious about outreach, consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator (pricey, but powerful). Otherwise, get creative with your searches and break them into smaller chunks.

Step 4: Capture Leads with Leadleaper

Now the fun part: actually getting the data.

  1. Go to your filtered LinkedIn search results.
  2. Open the Leadleaper Chrome extension. It’ll overlay on your LinkedIn results.
  3. Click “Capture” or “Save” on the profiles that actually fit your criteria.
  4. Don’t just select everyone. Quality > quantity.
  5. You can bulk-save everyone on a page, but you’ll have to clean up the list later.
  6. Repeat as needed. Scroll through more pages, keep capturing.

What Leadleaper actually gives you: - Name - Job title - Company - Company website - Email address (if available—more on this in a second) - LinkedIn profile URL

What it doesn’t give you:
- Phone numbers (most of the time) - 100% verified emails (see next step) - Deep company insights

Caution: If you get greedy and scrape too fast, LinkedIn might give you a warning or lock your account. Pace yourself—don’t try to capture 1,000 leads in one sitting.

Step 5: Don’t Trust Every Email You Get

Leadleaper does a decent job finding emails, but it’s not perfect. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Leadleaper uses patterns and sources to guess emails. Sometimes it’s spot-on, sometimes it’s dead wrong.
  • Look for the “verified” badge. These are more reliable, but not foolproof.
  • Expect a mix: Some emails will be personal, some will be “info@” or “sales@,” and some will bounce.

What to do: - Use an email verifier (like NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or Hunter) to clean your list before you start emailing. Otherwise, you’ll get bounces, kill your sender reputation, and end up in spam folders. - Don’t buy into the “all-in-one” pitch. No tool gets 100% valid emails, and anyone who claims otherwise is selling snake oil.

Step 6: Organize and Export Your Lead List

Once you’ve captured a batch of leads, you need to get them out of Leadleaper and into something useful—like your CRM or a spreadsheet.

  1. Go to your Leadleaper dashboard.
  2. Select the leads you want to export.
  3. Export as CSV.
  4. Open in Excel, Google Sheets, or upload to your CRM.
  5. Clean up any duplicates, obviously-wrong emails, or missing info.
  6. Add custom fields if you want to track notes, source, or campaign tags.

Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate your columns. You need name, email, company, title, and LinkedIn URL for outreach. Everything else is optional.

Step 7: Segment and Prioritize (Don’t Skip This)

This is where most lists go to die—a big blob of names, no order, no plan.

  • Segment by priority: Who are your “dream” leads? Who are the “maybe” pile? Who’s a total long shot?
  • Tag or color-code in your spreadsheet or CRM.
  • Remove junk leads: If someone doesn’t fit your criteria, delete them now. Don’t kid yourself—they won’t magically become good fits.

Why bother? Because blasting everyone with the same message is a waste. Focus your efforts on the best-fit leads first.

Step 8: Start Outreach—But Don’t Be a Spammer

Building a list is only half the battle. If you want responses, you need to be thoughtful about your outreach:

  • Personalize your email. Reference something specific (their role, company, or recent news).
  • Don’t send giant blocks of text. Keep it short and to the point.
  • Follow up, but don’t harass. 2-3 follow-ups is fine. More than that, and you’re just annoying people.
  • Track replies, opens, and bounces. Use a basic CRM or even a Google Sheet at first.

What to ignore:
- Mass-blast tools that promise “10,000 emails a day.” You’ll end up flagged as spam, and your domain might get blacklisted.

Step 9: Keep It Clean and Iterate

Your first list won’t be perfect. That’s normal. Here’s how to keep things workable:

  • Regularly clean your list. Remove bounces, unsubscribes, and dead leads.
  • Update your targeting. If you find certain industries or roles aren’t responding, adjust your filters next time.
  • Document what works. Take notes on subject lines, messaging, and segments that perform best.

Pro tip: Don’t get obsessed with list size. A small, well-targeted list will always outperform a giant, random one.

Real Talk: What Works and What Doesn’t

What works: - Tight targeting, even if it means fewer leads - Manual review (yes, it takes time, but saves headaches later) - Validating emails before you send

What doesn’t: - Blindly trusting “verified” emails - Mass-exporting everyone in your search results - Skipping segmentation and prioritization

What to ignore: - Tools that promise “unlimited verified leads” - Overly complex data enrichment add-ons (unless you really need them) - Hype around “AI-powered” lead generation—most of it is just fancy filtering

The Bottom Line

Building a targeted lead list in Leadleaper isn’t rocket science, but it does take some planning and common sense. Start with clear criteria, use LinkedIn search the right way, and don’t skip the steps that keep your list clean and focused. Forget perfection—just get moving, keep it simple, and tweak your approach as you learn what works. The more you iterate, the better your lists (and your results) will get.