wiki/knowledge/lead-generation/zoominfo-clay-enrichment-workflow.md · 644 words · 2026-04-05

ZoomInfo & Clay Enrichment Workflow

Overview

When contact lists are built in Clay, they often have gaps — missing emails, unformatted phone numbers, or incomplete company data. ZoomInfo's bulk enrichment feature can fill those gaps, but the integration isn't direct. The workflow below bridges Clay and ZoomInfo via CSV export/import, then feeds clean data back into HubSpot for outreach.

This process was established during initial B2B sales setup, using a 159-contact Great Lakes Food & Beverage list as the first test run. See ^[1] for full context.

When to Use This Workflow

A Clay table has contacts with missing or incomplete emails
Phone numbers are present but unformatted (imported as text strings)
A new segment list has been built and needs enrichment before outreach begins
It is the start of a new month and ZoomInfo credits need to be consumed

The Workflow

1. Build the Contact List in Clay

Populate a Clay table with whatever data is available — typically name, company, LinkedIn URL, and any other fields sourced from ZoomInfo, Apollo, or manual research. At this stage, email and phone gaps are expected and acceptable.

2. Export a CSV from Clay

Download the current Clay table as a CSV. Include all columns that ZoomInfo can use for matching:

First name / Last name
Company name
Job title
LinkedIn URL (if available)
Any known email or phone (even partial)

3. Upload to ZoomInfo for Bulk Enrichment

Use ZoomInfo's Enrich feature to upload the CSV and let ZoomInfo match records and append:

Verified business email addresses
Direct-dial and mobile phone numbers
Company firmographics (size, industry, revenue)
Job title corrections or updates

ZoomInfo matches on name + company as the primary key. The more identifying fields included in the export, the higher the match rate.

4. Download the Enriched CSV

Once ZoomInfo processes the file, download the enriched output. Review match confidence and flag any records that returned no data for manual follow-up.

5. Import Enriched Data Back into HubSpot

Upload the enriched CSV to HubSpot, mapping columns to the correct contact and company properties. Key fields to confirm on import:

Email → Contact email (primary)
Phone → Contact phone (ensure HubSpot registers as phone type, not text)
Company → Associated company record

Note: Phone numbers imported from CSV often come in as text strings. HubSpot may prompt you to reformat them on first edit — click save on the field to trigger the format conversion.

Maximizing Monthly ZoomInfo Credits

ZoomInfo credits are use-it-or-lose-it on a monthly cycle. To avoid waste:

Schedule a recurring monthly extraction at the start of each month
Prioritize enriching the largest or highest-priority Clay tables first
Run enrichment on any new segment lists built during the month before the cycle resets

"We have ZoomInfo in there, use it or lose it, right? So every month we need to be sure we suck every bit of content out of there that we can." — Mark Hope

Limitations & Workarounds

Problem	Workaround
Small/local companies not in ZoomInfo	Use Clay's geographic search (radius-based local pull) to find contacts ZoomInfo doesn't index
Low match rate on sparse records	Add LinkedIn URL to the export; it significantly improves ZoomInfo matching
Emails still missing after enrichment	Filter HubSpot segment to contacts with confirmed emails; prioritize those for email sequences; route no-email contacts to phone-first cadence

^[2] — Automating talking points and website summaries in Clay before enrichment
^[3] — HubSpot property cleanup and segment naming conventions
^[4] — Using Clay's radius search to find local companies outside ZoomInfo's coverage