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Lemlist's built-in B2B database lets you search 450M+ contacts and push them straight into a campaign — no Apollo export needed. Here's how to use it for tight ICP campaigns, and when Apollo or ZoomInfo is still the better choice.
Who this is forOutbound operators who currently export leads from Apollo or ZoomInfo and re-import to Lemlist. The Lemlist Leads database can collapse that workflow. Also useful for teams just starting outbound who want one tool to do prospecting + sending.
What you'll need
Step 1
Lemlist → Leads in the left navigation. The database opens with filters on the left, results on the right.
Lemlist → Leads. The interface mirrors Apollo's search but is integrated directly into campaign creation.
Two main views: 'Search People' (find individual contacts) and 'Search Companies' (find target accounts first, then drill to people).
For ABM-style outreach, start with Search Companies. For role-based outreach (e.g., 'all CMOs at series-B SaaS'), start with Search People.
Toggle 'Verified emails only' on by default. Lemlist's database includes a mix of verified and inferred — verified is safer for deliverability.
Step 2
Combine filters: industry, company size, location, role/seniority, technology used, recent activity signals.
Industry: pick 1-3 industries max. Spraying across 10 industries means generic copy. Tight = strong copy = better reply rates.
Company size: filter by employee count (5-50, 51-200, 201-1000, 1000+). Match this to your ACV — small companies for low-ACV products, enterprise for high-ACV.
Location: country, region, or specific cities. For US-only campaigns, filter US + relevant time zones.
Job title / seniority: combine title keywords ('Director Marketing', 'VP Sales') with seniority filters ('Director+', 'C-level').
Technology used: Lemlist pulls some BuiltWith data. Filter for companies using competitors' tools (high intent) or complementary tools (need your category).
Recent signals: hiring for X role, recent funding, new product launch. These are high-signal triggers.
Save the filter combination as a 'Saved Search' so you can re-run it monthly for new matches.
Step 3
Scan the results. Manually deselect bad-fit leads. Quality over quantity.
Lemlist shows: name, title, company, location, email status (Verified / Risky / Catch-all).
Sort by: Verified email first, then by company size (largest first for enterprise focus).
Manually scan the first 50 results. Deselect leads where: title is misleading (e.g., 'VP Marketing' at a 3-person agency = founder), company is in wrong industry despite filter, contact looks junior or admin-only.
For tight ICP campaigns (under 100 leads), spend 30-45 minutes on this review. The lead quality you ship into Lemlist is the ceiling on your reply rate.
Avoid selecting leads with Risky or Catch-all email status — verify them separately or skip.
Step 4
Once selected, click 'Push to campaign.' Choose an existing campaign or create new. Lemlist auto-maps fields.
Click the 'Push to campaign' button at the top of the results.
Choose 'Existing campaign' (add to a running campaign) or 'New campaign' (create fresh with these leads).
Lemlist auto-maps: firstName, lastName, email, companyName, jobTitle, linkedinUrl, industry, companySize. Custom variables map if you've defined them in the campaign.
Confirm. Leads are added to the campaign. Sequence will begin per the campaign's schedule (immediate or scheduled).
Verify lead count matches expected. Sometimes Lemlist filters out duplicate emails or invalid records during push — the import summary will show any drops.
Step 5
If you have a CSV of company names or partial contacts, use Lemlist's enrichment to fill in missing fields.
Upload a CSV with at least: companyName or company domain. Lemlist will attempt to enrich with contacts, emails, titles.
For each company, you can choose 'Enrich top 1 person matching role' (e.g., 'Head of Marketing') or 'Enrich all people matching role.'
Cost: enrichment credits are consumed per enriched contact. Standard plan includes 500/mo, Pro 1500/mo, Outreach 5000/mo.
Useful for: ABM campaigns where you know the target accounts but not the specific people. Lemlist fills in who to email at each company.
Step 6
Run the same ICP filter in Lemlist and Apollo. Compare result count, email verification rate, and data freshness.
Run filter in Lemlist Leads. Note: result count, % verified emails.
Run the equivalent filter in Apollo (or ZoomInfo). Same fields, same values.
Compare:
**Count**: which returns more leads matching your ICP? Larger isn't always better — quality matters more.
**Verified email %**: which has higher verified rates? Lower verified = more bounces = worse deliverability.
**Title accuracy**: scan 10 leads from each. Do titles match what you see on LinkedIn? Data freshness matters.
**Direct dial coverage**: if you do multichannel with calls, Apollo and ZoomInfo typically beat Lemlist on phone numbers.
For most SaaS/marketing/sales ICPs, Lemlist Leads is competitive with Apollo and cheaper to operate (no separate Apollo subscription). For niche ICPs or anything outside North America/Western Europe, Apollo or ZoomInfo usually still wins.
Common mistakes
Skipping the manual review step
What goes wrong: You push 500 leads from filter results straight into a campaign. 30% are bad fits (wrong title meaning, wrong industry subtype). Your reply rate is diluted by 30% from day one.
How to avoid: Always spend 30-45 minutes manually reviewing selected leads before push. Quality over quantity.
Sending to "Risky" or "Catch-all" emails
What goes wrong: Bounce rate spikes. Each campaign with >3% bounces damages reputation across all mailboxes on the domain.
How to avoid: Filter to 'Verified emails only' as default. For Risky/Catch-all, verify separately via NeverBounce or ZeroBounce before including.
Filtering too narrowly and emptying the result set
What goes wrong: 6 stacked filters reduce 50,000 candidates to 8 leads. You spend an hour reaching dead-end results instead of refining.
How to avoid: Start with 3-4 high-leverage filters. If results are under 100, remove the least-critical filter. Expand geography or seniority before expanding industry.
Treating Lemlist Leads as a complete replacement for Apollo
What goes wrong: For niche ICPs or international targets, Lemlist data is thinner. You miss 40-60% of qualified leads that Apollo or ZoomInfo would surface.
How to avoid: Test both for your specific ICP. For SaaS/marketing/sales US targets, Lemlist alone is often enough. For everything else, keep Apollo as the primary source and use Lemlist for fast supplements.
Not re-running saved searches monthly
What goes wrong: Your ICP is dynamic — new companies launch, people change roles, new fits emerge. A static list goes stale in 60-90 days.
How to avoid: Save your filter combinations. Re-run monthly. Lemlist will flag new matches that weren't in your previous result set — fresh leads to add to ongoing campaigns.
Recap
Done — what's next
How to use Lemlist personalization at scale — images, video, dynamic blocks
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List-building is half of outbound performance and most operators underinvest in it. A demand-gen specialist on EverestX runs ICP refinement, multi-source list building (Lemlist + Apollo + manual LinkedIn), and weekly list refreshes. $14-16/hr. Typically $200-500/mo for list-building only, or bundled into a full outbound engagement at $600-1,500/mo.
See specialist rates
Comparable for SaaS, marketing, sales, and IT roles in North America and Western Europe. Apollo has the edge on data freshness (more frequent updates), niche industries (manufacturing, healthcare, legal), and international coverage (LATAM, Asia). For most B2B SaaS outbound, Lemlist alone is sufficient.
Lemlist verifies via SMTP ping + domain pattern matching. Bounce rate on Lemlist 'Verified' leads typically runs 1-3% in our testing. Apollo's verified runs 1-2%. Both are acceptable; both should still pass through a second-pass verifier (NeverBounce, ZeroBounce) before high-stakes campaigns.
Enrichment credits are bundled per plan: Standard 500/mo, Pro 1,500/mo, Outreach 5,000/mo. Each enriched contact = 1 credit. If you need more, you can buy additional credits at ~$0.10/credit.
Yes. Lemlist Leads → Export to CSV. Useful if you want to feed leads into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Close, or another CRM. Note that exporting consumes enrichment credits for any enriched fields.
Only if your ICP is well-served by Lemlist (test the same filters in both first). For broad SaaS/marketing ICPs in NA/EU, Lemlist alone often suffices and saves $99-149/mo. For multi-segment outbound or international ICPs, keep both — the cost is worth the coverage.
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