If you’re drowning in spreadsheets and tired of googling every lead by hand, this guide’s for you. Automated lead enrichment can save you hours—if you set it up right. We’ll walk through using Clay to automate the grunt work, from importing your raw leads to pushing out enriched, actionable data. No fluff, just real steps (and a little tough love for what’s worth your time).
Why Bother With Automated Lead Enrichment?
- Save real time: No more tab-hopping.
- Better targeting: You’ll reach out to people who might actually care.
- Consistency: Machines don’t have bad days or skip rows.
But here’s the thing: automation isn’t magic. Bad data in equals bad data out. And Clay isn’t a silver bullet—it’s a solid tool, but it’s only as good as your setup. Let’s get that part right.
Step 1: Prep Your Lead List
Don’t just dump in any old CSV. Garbage data now means headaches later.
What you need: - A spreadsheet (CSV or Google Sheet) with at least these columns: - Name - Company - Email (if you have it) - LinkedIn URLs (if possible)
Pro tip: If you don’t have company domains or LinkedIn URLs, Clay can sometimes find them, but don’t expect miracles. The more you start with, the better your results.
Clean up duplicates and make sure your columns are labeled clearly. Seriously, this saves you from debugging weird errors later.
Step 2: Import Leads Into Clay
- Sign up or log in to Clay.
- From the dashboard, hit “New Table.”
- Choose your source:
- CSV: Upload your file.
- Google Sheets: Connect your account and pick the sheet.
Clay will pull in your data and let you map columns. Take an extra minute here—bad mapping means junk results. Double-check the preview.
Honest take: If your import fails, 9 times out of 10 it’s a weird character or empty row in your file. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets and clean it up.
Step 3: Decide What You Actually Want to Enrich
Clay can pull in all sorts of data: company size, funding, tech stack, LinkedIn profiles, emails, and more.
But just because you can enrich something doesn’t mean you should. More data means more API calls (and bigger bills). Stick to the stuff you’ll actually use.
Ask yourself: - Will I use this info to qualify or segment leads? - Does this data affect my outreach messages? - Am I just collecting it because it looks cool on a dashboard?
Common enrich fields that are actually useful: - Verified email addresses - Company website & domain - LinkedIn profiles - Company size/industry - Tech stack (if you’re selling software)
Skip things like random social links or obscure firmographics unless you have a real reason.
Step 4: Set Up Enrichment Workflows in Clay
Here’s where Clay shines: you can build workflows right in your table, step by step.
4.1. Add Enrichment Steps
- Open your table and pick the column you want to enrich (e.g., company name).
- Click the "+" next to the column header to add an “Enrichment” step.
- Choose from Clay’s built-in integrations (like Clearbit, Apollo, Hunter, LinkedIn, etc.).
Example:
To find company domains based on company name:
- Add the “Find company domain” enrichment.
- Map it to your “Company Name” column.
- Clay will return the domain as a new column.
For people data (like emails or LinkedIn profiles): - Use enrichments like “Find work email,” “Find LinkedIn URL,” etc. - Some enrichments require both name and company domain—make sure those are filled.
4.2. Stack Steps
You can chain steps together. For example: 1. Find company domain from company name. 2. Find LinkedIn profile using name + company. 3. Find work email using name + domain.
Clay will run these in order, so each result feeds into the next step.
Watch out:
- Each enrichment eats into your credits or API limits. Don’t go nuts—test with a small batch first.
- Some sources (like LinkedIn scraping) can be unreliable or against terms of service. Use responsibly.
Step 5: Troubleshoot and Clean Up Your Data
Even with automation, some leads will slip through the cracks.
What usually goes wrong: - No results found (names too generic, companies spelled wrong, small/private companies) - Mismatched data (wrong LinkedIn profiles, emails for the wrong person)
How to fix it: - Spot check your results. Do a quick scan for obviously wrong matches. - Use Clay filters to flag rows where enrichments failed (e.g., “Email is empty”). - Manually review high-value leads.
Pro tip: Don’t bother chasing down every missing piece. For most outbound, 70-80% coverage is more than enough.
Step 6: Automate the Updates
Clay can run enrichments automatically on new rows. Here’s how:
- In your table, click “Automations.”
- Set up a trigger (like “New row added”).
- Choose the enrichment steps you want to run.
You can also connect Clay to Zapier or webhooks for even more automation (like pushing enriched data to your CRM). But unless you have a high volume of new leads daily, start simple.
Honest take:
- Full automation is powerful, but also easier to break. Keep an eye on errors and don’t assume everything is working perfectly just because it’s “automated.”
- The more moving parts (Zapier, webhooks, multiple CRMs), the more can go wrong. Add complexity only as you need it.
Step 7: Export or Sync the Enriched Leads
Once you’re happy with your data, get it where it needs to go:
- Export as CSV: Clay lets you download your table.
- Sync to CRM: Use built-in integrations (like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive) or Zapier to push the data over.
- Manual copy-paste: If you’re small-scale, sometimes old-school is fastest.
Gotcha: Always check your CRM mapping—don’t flood your system with duplicate or badly formatted records.
What Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works well: - Enriching standard fields (emails, domains, LinkedIn profiles). - Automating bulk tasks you used to do by hand. - Spotting patterns (like company size or tech stack) for segmentation.
Doesn’t work so hot: - Ultra-niche data (like finding a CTO’s personal Twitter if they’re at a stealth startup). - 100% accuracy. No tool gets it right every time. Accept some misses. - “Set it and forget it.” Automation needs babysitting now and then.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time on vanity data points you’ll never use. Stick to info that moves the needle for your actual workflow.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Automated lead enrichment in Clay can save you hours and sharpen your targeting—if you keep things practical. Don’t try to build a Rube Goldberg machine from day one. Start with the basics, make sure you’re getting real value, and only add bells and whistles as you need them.
The best setup is the one you actually use. Keep it lean, check your results, and tweak as you go. Good luck—and remember, more data isn’t always better. Smarter data is.