If you’re tired of chasing down lead info by hand or poking around LinkedIn for company details, you’re not alone. This guide is for sales, marketing, or ops folks who want to stop wasting time on manual research and actually use data that’s reliable and up-to-date. We’re going to walk through how to set up automated lead enrichment in Clearbit. No fluff, just what works, what to avoid, and how to get it running with the least amount of pain.
Why Automate Lead Enrichment at All?
Let’s be real: nobody enjoys copy-pasting job titles or company sizes into a CRM. The more manual your process, the more likely you are to end up with typos, gaps, and stale data. Automated enrichment means:
- Your sales team spends less time researching and more time selling.
- Marketing can segment and personalize without second guessing data.
- You cut out a chunk of human error and update data automatically.
Of course, automation isn’t magic. If your inputs are garbage, your outputs will be too. But if you’ve got a steady flow of new leads and want to make the most of them, this is worth your time.
Step 1: Get Clearbit Set Up (Don’t Skip This)
Before you start dreaming up fancy workflows, you need a working Clearbit account and the right permissions.
What you need: - A Clearbit account (the paid plans are where the real enrichment features live) - API access (ask your admin if you’re not sure) - Admin access to your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) if you plan to integrate
Pro tip: Don’t bother trying to hack this with a free trial or a personal Gmail address. Clearbit is built for teams and business domains.
Step 2: Map Out What Data You Actually Need
Here’s where most people mess up: they try to grab every possible field because “why not?” The result? Bloated records and confused teams.
Ask yourself: - What info do sales actually use to qualify leads? (Industry, company size, job title, etc.) - What fields do we want to auto-populate in our CRM? - Are there must-have fields for routing or scoring?
Keep it simple. Start with the basics you’ll actually use, and you can always add more fields later.
Common fields to enrich: - Company name, domain, industry, size - Lead’s job title, seniority, location - Tech stack (for SaaS sales) - Funding info (if you care about that)
Step 3: Connect Clearbit to Your CRM or Marketing Tools
You’ve got two main ways to do this:
A. Native Integrations (Recommended)
Clearbit has direct integrations with popular CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. If you’re using one of these, just follow their setup guides—it’s usually a matter of connecting your account and mapping fields.
How to do it: 1. Log into your Clearbit dashboard. 2. Go to “Integrations.” 3. Select your CRM (e.g., Salesforce). 4. Authorize the connection and select which objects (Leads, Contacts, Accounts) you want to enrich. 5. Map Clearbit fields to your CRM fields. Only map what you actually need. 6. Set up enrichment triggers—do you want to enrich on new record creation, update, or both?
What works:
These integrations are usually stable and well-documented. You’ll get the latest data without having to babysit the process.
What doesn’t:
If your CRM is off the beaten path, or you’ve got custom objects everywhere, expect some fiddling.
B. API or Middleware (If You Like Pain)
If you’re using a tool without a direct integration, you can use Clearbit’s API or a connector like Zapier, Tray.io, or Workato.
How to do it: 1. Get your Clearbit API key. 2. Use your middleware tool to trigger enrichment when a new lead enters your flow. 3. Map Clearbit’s API response fields to your system’s fields. 4. Test thoroughly—API responses can be unpredictable.
What works:
This is flexible. You can enrich leads in almost any tool if you’re willing to set up the logic.
What doesn’t:
APIs break. Middleware gets expensive and weirdly complex fast. Don’t build an Rube Goldberg machine unless you have to.
Step 4: Set Up Automatic Enrichment Triggers
Automated enrichment only works if it runs when you need it. Here’s where you decide how and when enrichment happens.
Typical Triggers:
- On new lead creation: Enrich the moment a lead is added, whether from a web form, manual entry, or import.
- On lead update: Refresh enrichment when key fields (like email or company domain) change.
- Scheduled batch enrichment: Run enrichment on all leads every X days to keep data fresh.
How to set it up: - In Salesforce: Use Process Builder or Flow to trigger enrichment on record creation. - In HubSpot: Use workflows to call the Clearbit enrichment action. - With API/middleware: Set up the trigger in your automation tool.
Watch out for:
- Duplicate enrichments (wasting API calls and money)
- Hitting API rate limits (Clearbit isn’t free)
- Enriching junk leads (test with real domains, not test@example.com)
Step 5: Map and Sync the Right Fields
Now, tie Clearbit’s data fields to your CRM so the info goes where it should. This is where mistakes can haunt you.
Best practices: - Map only the fields you need. More data = more clutter. - Use custom fields if you’re worried about overwriting existing data. - Set rules for when to update fields (e.g., only fill if blank, or always overwrite).
Example: - Map Clearbit’s “company.industry” to your CRM’s “Industry” field. - Map “person.title” to “Job Title.” - If you care about tech stack, map “company.tech” to a custom field.
Pro tip:
Always test with a few real leads before turning it on for your whole database. You’ll catch weird field mismatches this way.
Step 6: Test Your Workflow (Don’t Skip!)
It’s tempting to set it and forget it. Don’t do that. Run several test records through your flow:
- Does the enrichment happen when you expect?
- Are the right fields being filled, and with the right data?
- Is anything being overwritten that shouldn’t be?
Check for: - Unexpected nulls or blanks - Wrong data in the wrong place (e.g., company size in the phone number field) - API errors or skipped records
If something’s off:
Go back and double-check your field mappings and triggers. Most issues come from a simple mapping error or a trigger firing at the wrong time.
Step 7: Roll It Out and Monitor
Once you’re confident it’s working, push it live. But don’t ignore it after launch.
- Monitor enrichment logs (most integrations will show you successful and failed enrichments)
- Spot-check records each week for quality
- Watch your API usage—Clearbit can get pricey if you’re enriching thousands of junk leads
What to ignore:
Don’t try to enrich every single lead, especially if you’re collecting lots of low-quality or spam signups. Set criteria (like only enriching leads with a business email) to save money and keep your data clean.
Step 8: Iterate (But Don’t Overcomplicate)
Start simple. Once you’ve got the basics down, you can get fancy:
- Add more fields for enrichment if you find your team actually uses them
- Set up enrichment on more objects (accounts, contacts, etc.)
- Build routing or scoring rules based on enriched data
But:
Every new field or rule is something else that can break. Only add complexity when it solves a real problem you’re seeing.
Honest Takes and Gotchas
- Clearbit’s data is good, but not perfect. You’ll get the best results on business domains. Personal emails (like Gmail) almost never enrich.
- It’s not cheap. If you’re enriching thousands of leads, watch your usage and clean your inputs.
- Garbage in, garbage out. If your forms are full of junk, Clearbit won’t save you.
- Privacy matters. Make sure your enrichment setup complies with relevant data policies, especially in regulated industries or regions.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Sweat Perfection
Automated lead enrichment is a massive time-saver, but only if you set it up thoughtfully and keep it as simple as possible. Start with the basics, see how your team uses the data, and tweak as you go. Overcomplicating things early on is the fastest way to make a mess.
Set it up, watch it for a week, and adjust. Your future self (and your sales team) will thank you.