Lead Sourcing

Two ways to build a list. Filter a static database, or research the live web. They fail in different ways and the choice should be deliberate.

Databases are fast and cheap per record, and their data decays at roughly 25 to 30% a year through job changes alone. They're good when your ICP is defined by firmographics that change slowly.

Live research is slower and more expensive per record, and it's the only option when your ICP is defined by a situation — companies doing a particular thing, showing a particular signal, present on a particular marketplace. No database has a field for "runs a Shopify store selling to dentists and posted a job for a marketer last month".

Most good lists use both: a database for the firmographic base, live research for the qualifying situation.

Pick the source from the ICP

The mistake is having one sourcing method and bending every ICP to fit it. Match the source to what defines the segment.