If you’re tired of wading through stale CRM data and know there’s better info out there on LinkedIn, this guide is for you. Maybe you’re in sales, recruiting, or just trying to keep your contact list from turning into a graveyard. Either way, you want more accurate, up-to-date information in your CRM—without spending your whole afternoon copying and pasting.
There are a lot of tools that promise to “enrich” your CRM. Most are either expensive, overhyped, or just wrap a basic scraping job in fancy marketing. The reality: Sometimes you just want to grab data from LinkedIn and get it into your CRM yourself. That’s where ScrapeLi comes in. It’s not magic, but it does let you export contacts from LinkedIn with a lot less pain.
Here’s how to do it, what to watch out for, and how to avoid making your CRM messier instead of better.
1. Decide what you actually need from LinkedIn
Before you start scraping, stop and think: What’s missing from your CRM? Are you after email addresses, job titles, company info, or just a fresh dump of contacts you can actually reach?
Don’t just grab everything “because you can.” More data isn’t always better. If you import junk, you’ll spend hours cleaning it up later—or just ignore it and let your CRM become a junk drawer.
Quick checklist: - What fields are you missing? (e.g., current job, location, LinkedIn URL) - How will you match these contacts to your CRM? (Name + Company? Email?) - Do you need just new contacts, or updates for existing ones?
Pro tip: If your CRM can’t handle duplicate contacts well, be extra careful. It’s easier to enrich existing records than to merge duplicates later.
2. Set up ScrapeLi and get ready to export
First things first: ScrapeLi is a browser extension. You’ll need to install it, connect your LinkedIn account, and understand its limits. There’s no point pretending this is all above board—LinkedIn doesn’t love scraping, and your account can be restricted if you go wild. Stay reasonable.
Steps:
1. Install the extension
Download ScrapeLi from their website or the Chrome Web Store. Follow the install prompts. (If you’re on Firefox or Safari, you’re out of luck.)
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Log into LinkedIn
Open LinkedIn in your browser and make sure you’re logged in as the right user. -
Launch ScrapeLi
Click the extension icon. You’ll see options for scraping search results, connections, or individual profiles. -
Set your filters
- Use LinkedIn’s search or filters to narrow down the list: location, job title, industry, etc.
- The more specific you are, the less cleanup you’ll do later.
Watch out:
- Most tools (including ScrapeLi) are limited by LinkedIn’s anti-bot measures. If you try to scrape thousands of profiles at once, expect errors or a warning from LinkedIn.
- Free plans usually cap the number of contacts you can export per month. Don’t be surprised by a paywall.
Honest take:
ScrapeLi is about as straightforward as these tools get, but it’s not perfect. LinkedIn changes things often, so expect the occasional glitch or missing field.
3. Export contacts from LinkedIn using ScrapeLi
Here’s where you actually pull the data. The process is mostly click-and-wait, but there are a few traps:
A. Scraping your own connections vs. search results
- Your connections:
Safest and easiest. LinkedIn is less likely to care, and ScrapeLi can usually grab more info (sometimes even email addresses). - People from search results:
Works, but info can be limited—LinkedIn hides emails for people you’re not connected to.
B. Start the export
- Choose what to scrape
- For connections: Find the “My Network” or “Connections” page.
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For search: Use filters to get your list (e.g., “Marketing Managers in Chicago”).
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Click “Export” in ScrapeLi
- Set your batch size (don’t scrape more than 500 at once, even if the tool says you can).
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Pick the fields you actually need—don’t just export every possible column.
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Download the CSV
- Once ScrapeLi finishes, you’ll get a CSV file with your data.
Things that don’t work well:
- Getting emails for people you’re not connected to—LinkedIn hides these, and any tool claiming otherwise is probably breaking their terms (and yours).
- Scraping massive lists in one go. You’ll get throttled or banned.
Pro tip:
Sanity check your CSV before moving on. Open it up and make sure the data isn’t full of blank fields, weird formatting, or duplicates.
4. Clean your exported data before importing to your CRM
This is the step most people skip. Don’t.
CRMs are picky. If you import a raw CSV from ScrapeLi, you’ll end up with mismatched fields, duplicate records, and a mess you’ll never want to clean up later.
How to do a basic cleanup:
- Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Delete columns you don’t need.
(If your CRM doesn’t care about “skills” or “profile summary,” get rid of them.) - Standardize column names to match your CRM.
(“Current Company” might need to be “Company,” etc.) - Deduplicate.
Sort by name or email and remove any obvious repeats. - Fix weird formatting.
Sometimes you’ll get URLs as text, missing @ signs in emails, or merged fields.
Watch out:
- ScrapeLi (and similar tools) sometimes insert their own branding or extra columns. Delete these.
- If you’re updating existing contacts, make sure you have a unique identifier (like email or LinkedIn URL) for matching.
Pro tip:
If you’re feeling fancy, use a tool like OpenRefine or a simple script to automate cleanup. But don’t overthink it—sometimes a quick manual check is faster.
5. Import (and actually enrich) your CRM data
Now you’re ready to bring everything into your CRM.
Every CRM is different, but the basics are:
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Back up your CRM first.
If you break something, you’ll thank yourself. -
Find the import tool.
Most CRMs support CSV import. Look for “Data Import,” “Bulk Add,” or similar. -
Match fields carefully.
- Make sure “First Name” in your CSV maps to “First Name” in your CRM, and so on.
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Ignore fields you don’t need.
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Choose whether to update existing contacts or add new ones.
Most CRMs have a way to match on email, LinkedIn URL, or name. This is where that earlier cleanup pays off. -
Do a test import with 5–10 records.
Don’t import 5,000 contacts at once. Start small, check that everything lands where it should, then do the rest.
Don’t fall for:
- “One-click enrichment” promises. No tool gets the mapping right 100% of the time.
- Adding contacts you have no relationship with. Just because you scraped them doesn’t mean you should spam them.
Pro tip:
Tag or segment the new contacts you’re importing. That way, if something goes wrong or you want to roll it back, you can find them easily.
6. Stay out of trouble (and avoid the most common mistakes)
Scraping isn’t illegal, but it is against LinkedIn’s terms, and they’re not shy about restricting accounts that go too far. Here’s how to keep things safe:
- Don’t scrape thousands of profiles in one session.
- Don’t try to get email addresses for people you’re not actually connected to.
- Don’t blast scraped contacts with cold emails—they’ll mark it as spam, and you’ll get in trouble with your CRM provider, too.
- ScrapeLi, like all these tools, can break if LinkedIn updates their site. If it stops working, check for updates or be patient.
- If you’re working with sensitive data, make sure you’re not violating your company’s privacy policies.
Quick FAQ
Is ScrapeLi the only tool for this?
Nope. There are a dozen similar options. ScrapeLi is straightforward and cheap, but it’s not the only game in town.
Is this “enrichment” as good as buying data from a big provider?
Not really. You’ll get fresher info, but it’s only as complete as what’s on LinkedIn. Don’t expect emails for everyone or deep verification.
Will LinkedIn ban me?
If you go slow, use your own account, and don’t try to scrape the whole platform, you’re probably fine. No guarantees, though.
Wrap-up: Keep it simple, iterate, and don’t overthink it
You don’t need a $10,000 “data enrichment solution” if all you want is fresher contact info. Export what you need from ScrapeLi, clean it, and import it with care. Start small, check your work, and keep your CRM tidy. If you keep it simple, you’ll spend less time cleaning up messes—and more time actually using your data.