Enriching lead data using Clay

Use Clay to enhance your prospect data and create detailed profiles for effective personalization.

intermediate pro

Tool: ClayTool: Apollo.ioTool: HubspotTool: Claude Topic: Sales

2024-12-20

Welcome to the third tutorial in our Building an AI-powered sales funnel course!

The previous tutorial saw us extracting targeted leads using Apollo. Now, the next crucial step in building an AI-powered sales funnel is enriching that data. This will make your outreach more personalized and more likely to capture your leads’ attention.

Clay is a powerful AI-based enrichment tool that can help you discover detailed information about both companies and the people who work there. In this tutorial, we'll walk through how to import your prospect data into Clay, enrich it with valuable additional information, and prepare it for personalized outreach campaigns.

You'll need:

Clay account
Apollo CSV export from the previous tutorial (or any CSV with company data)
HubSpot account (or another CRM)

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to:

Import and prepare company data in Clay
Find and enrich contact information
Add valuable context through multiple data enrichment layers
Export enriched data to your CRM for outreach

Let's dive in!

Step 1: Import company data into Clay

First, we'll set up our workbook in Clay and import our initial company data. Navigate to Clay and log in to your account.

On the dashboard, click the "Create" button and select "Create a new workbook."

Choose the "Blank Canvas" option to start fresh.

Look for the "Import" button and select "Import from CSV file." Choose your Apollo export file (or whatever CSV file contains your company data).

💡 Tip: Only import the columns you'll actually use for enrichment and outreach. This keeps your workspace clean and makes it easier to manage the data enrichment process.

When importing, we'll focus on these essential columns:

Company Name
Website
Company LinkedIn URL
Industry
Company Size (# Employees)
Company Location
Technologies
Founded Year

Step 2: Find prospects at target companies

Now that we have our company data imported, we'll use Clay to identify the right people to contact at these companies.

Look for the "Actions" button in the top right corner and select "Find people at these companies."

A configuration window will appear where you can set up your search parameters.

First, let's use Claude to help us identify the right decision-makers and then use Clay's powerful filtering system to find them.

Open Claude (or ChatGPT or Gemini) and use this prompt:

I'm selling [product/service] to companies in the [industry] space. Help me identify:

1. Key job titles and departments I should target (maximum 3-4 titles)
2. Any job levels I should include (e.g., Manager, Director, VP)
3. Key words or terms that might appear in their bio or experience

Keep the criteria focused and avoid over-filtering. Format your response as specific recommendations I can use in search filters.

💡 Tip: Start with broader search criteria and then narrow down if needed. Using too many filters at once can significantly limit your results. Clay's filters are powerful, so it's better to cast a wider net initially.

Based on Claude's recommendations, start with the most important 2-3 filters, typically focusing on job title and job level. You can always refine your search later if needed.

In Clay, choose "Search With Query" as your search method, and ensure you're searching using the company LinkedIn URL for the most accurate results.

Important search filters to consider:

Job Level (e.g., Director, Executive, Manager)
Job Function (e.g., Sales, Marketing, IT)
Location
Department

💡 Tip: Start with a small batch (25-50 people) to test your enrichment flow before scaling up to your full list. This helps you verify everything is working correctly without using too many credits.

Step 3: Enrich contact information

After identifying your target contacts, we'll enrich their information with additional data points.

Click "Import" and select "Import to a new table." At this stage, you'll see the option to enable work email enrichment - turn this on to start gathering email addresses immediately.

Click "Save and Run" to create your new table of contacts. Clay will begin the email enrichment process using its waterfall system, checking multiple sources to find valid work email addresses.

💡 Tip: Clay's waterfall system automatically tries different data sources in order of cost-effectiveness. Keep the default waterfall sequence unless you have specific requirements, as it's optimized for both accuracy and credit usage.

💡 Tip: Clay automatically validates all discovered work emails. To see validation results, unhide these validation columns from the columns menu in the top bar.

Step 4: Add additional enrichments

Now we'll add more valuable context to our contact data. Click "Add Enrichments" and select "Enrich person info" from the left menu.

First, let's clean up our data:

Filter for rows where the work email is empty.

Select these rows. Right-click and select "Delete rows"

💡 Tip: Always clean your data before enrichments to save credits and keep your dataset focused on usable contacts.

Let's start with bio-enrichment. Click on the bio enrichment option in the “Enrich person info” menu.

You'll see the waterfall sequence showing different data sources Clay will check. Map your Work Email and LinkedIn URL columns as input fields—having both significantly improves the quality of results. Click "Save and Run" but start with just 10 rows to test the enrichment quality.

For this tutorial, we are just enriching the prospects for their bio for the sake of simplicity, however, you can add more enrichments depending on your outreach efforts and strategies.

💡 Tip: Create a simple checklist of your most valuable enrichments. For most B2B campaigns, bio, job title, start date, and location provide the essential context needed for effective personalization.

Step 5: Create personalized outreach emails

Now that we have enriched contact data, let's use Clay's AI capabilities to create personalized cold outreach emails that actually convert. We'll focus on brevity, specificity, and clear value proposition—elements proven to drive higher response rates.

In the top right corner, click "Actions" and select "Draft Email."

When the email drafting window appears, type "/ai" in the email body field to open the AI snippet option. Select GPT-4 as your model (or GPT-4o Mini to conserve credits).

In the prompt field, use this high-converting prompt template:

Write a personalized cold outreach email using these details:
1. Prospect's first name: {firstName}
2. Company name: {companyName}
3. Current role: {currentTitle}
4. Company background: {companyDescription}
5. Similar company case study: {caseStudyCompany}
6. Case study result: {caseStudyResult}
7. Your name: {senderName}
8. Your role: {senderRole}
9. Your company: {senderCompany}

Required Format:
1. First paragraph (2-3 sentences): Show you've done research by mentioning something specific about their role or company
2. Second paragraph (2 sentences): Present ONE clear problem you solve that's relevant to their context
3. Final paragraph (2 sentences): Share the case study result and request a brief call
4. Close with a simple question about availability

Critical Rules:
1. Keep the entire email under 100 words
2. Generate ONLY the email body - no subject line
3. No company backstory or feature lists
4. Focus 80% on their challenges, 20% on your solution
5. Use "you" and "your" more than "I" and "we"
6. Must be mobile-friendly (short paragraphs)
7. Include specific numbers/results
8. No industry jargon or buzzwords
9. Match the case study to the prospect's industry

Signature Format:
Best regards,
{senderName}
AI Solutions Architect | EmberLoop Services

💡 Tip: Add examples below the prompt field to show AI how you want your emails to be written. Adding 2-3 high-quality examples can significantly improve the output quality and consistency.

Click "Try on 5 rows" to preview the results. Review the generated emails for:

Length (under 100 words)
Specificity (mentions their company/role)
Value focus (clear benefit/result)

Once satisfied with the email body, click "Save Changes."

For the subject line, click the subject field and type a template structure. Use dynamic placeholders by typing "/" and selecting relevant data points. Click "Save and Run" to generate emails for all prospects.

💡 Tip: Keep subject lines under 60 characters and avoid spam trigger words for better deliverability.

Next steps

You've now created a foundation for high-converting outreach that combines the power of AI personalization with proven B2B email principles. In our next tutorial, we will cover how to:

Export these personalized emails to your email outreach platform
Set up automated follow-up sequences
Track open and response rates

Remember, successful cold outreach is an iterative process. Monitor your response rates and continuously refine your approach based on what resonates with your prospects.

Once you have completed drafting your personalized messages, proceed to the next tutorial.

‍

This tutorial was created by Tanmay.