Choosing How to Build the List
What it does: picks the right lead source for the ICP, before anyone burns two hours scraping the wrong thing.
Run it when: at the start of every campaign, right after the ICP is written.
Time: 10 minutes of decision, then whatever the chosen method takes.
Depends on: SOP 02, Defining the ICP and the Offer. Without the ICP this decision cannot be made.
Before you start
The ICP one-liner and its trigger from SOP 02
A target list size in mind
A look at existing lists, so you do not rebuild one you already have
The steps
1. Check what already exists.
Open the lead lists first. Duplicate list names are rejected outright, and more usefully, half the time the list you were about to build is already sitting there from a campaign two months ago. Reuse beats rebuild.
2. If the ICP is investors, search the database.
VCs, family offices, PE firms: Reachium's own database is strongest here and it returns instantly without touching a LinkedIn seat. Go to SOP 06, Searching the Reachium Database.
3. If the trigger is a behaviour, scrape the behaviour.
This is the most underused path in the product. You can build a list from everyone who commented on a specific post, everyone who reacted to it, everyone engaging with a company page's recent posts, or the authors of posts matching a keyword search. Someone who commented on a post about your problem last week is a warmer lead than a title match. Commenters and reactors come back in the same call rather than running in the background. All four of these run on any LinkedIn seat, and all four need a lead list to already exist, so create it first.
4. If the ICP is a role and company shape, run a search scrape.
A Sales Navigator search gives the richest filters but needs a connected account holding a Sales Navigator seat. A standard LinkedIn search works from any account. Either way you build the search in the browser and paste the URL back. Go to SOP 05, Running a Sales Navigator Search.
5. If the leads already live somewhere else, import them.
Apollo, ZoomInfo, Clay, Crunchbase, a CRM export, a conference attendee list. If you are already paying for one of those, or you need verified emails at volume, export a CSV and import it. Go to SOP 07, Importing and Cleaning an External CSV.
6. Sanity-check the size before you commit.
Under 500 is too narrow, so drop a filter. 500 to 2,000 is the sweet spot for a targeted campaign. 2,000 to 5,000 suits a broader one. 5,000 to 10,000 wants narrowing. 50,000 plus means the ICP is not defined yet, so go back to SOP 02 rather than pressing on.
7. Know the pace before you start a scrape.
Sales Navigator scrapes run at roughly 2,500 profiles an hour and up to 10,000 a day; standard search and the behaviour-based types run at about 1,000 an hour and 4,000 a day. A 5,000-lead Sales Navigator scrape is a two-hour job, not a two-minute one. A scrape cannot be cancelled once it starts, so check the filters before you press go.
8. Refine after the fact rather than starting over.
Several scrapes can be merged into one deduped list. A list can be split by open-profile status so the open half feeds a free InMail campaign and the rest feeds a connect campaign. Both are additive and neither touches the source list. Never delete a list to "undo" a scrape: deleting is immediate and irreversible, and it can wipe hours of work.
9. Name it after the ICP.
The campaign name inherits from the list name, and future you will be reading it on a dashboard with twenty other rows.
Do this / Not this
Do this | Not this |
|---|---|
Check existing lists first | Rebuild a list that already exists |
Scrape commenters on a relevant post | Scrape a title match and hope for relevance |
Investors from the database | Investors from a LinkedIn scrape |
Verify filters before starting a scrape | Start it and try to cancel, which is not possible |
Merge and split lists to refine | Delete a list to start over |
"SaaS founders 11-50 US" | "Scrape July v2 final" |
Plan around 2,500 profiles an hour | Expect 5,000 leads in five minutes |
Two things the app owns
Importing your own connections or followers, and enriching an existing list with missing profile detail, both live on the scraper page in the app. They are not available over the assistant, so do them there.
Done when
The source is chosen and the reason for it can be said in one sentence
The expected result size lands in the 500 to 5,000 band
The list exists, or the scrape is running with a known finish time
The list name describes the ICP
Any merging or open-profile splitting is done before the campaign is built
Next: SOP 05, 06 or 07, depending on what you chose · Back to the index
