I’m about to start my first real campaign with LiSeller, and I’m genuinely terrified of screwing this up. I’ve done LinkedIn outreach before (manually, painfully), and I remember burning through dozens of connection requests on people who weren’t even in the right company size or industry. Total waste of time and probably got me some weird engagement metrics.
With LiSeller, I know there’s smart lead filtering built in, but I’m honestly not sure how to use it effectively during the initial setup phase. Like, should I be filtering by company size first? Job title? Industry? Or is there some order that actually makes sense?
I’ve read that you can pre-qualify targets before you even send connection requests, but I want to understand the actual mechanics. Does filtering happen automatically, or am I manually setting criteria in the dashboard?
Also, what does “relevant” actually mean in this context? I’m guessing it’s not just about matching my ICP on paper—it’s about whether these people are actually likely to engage with my message, right?
Any of you done this successfully on day one? What filters did you apply first, and did it actually save you from wasting connections?
This is honestly the smartest question you could ask right now. Too many people jump straight to volume and ignore the quality part entirely.
Here’s my take: filtering before you send anything isn’t just about finding the “right” people—it’s about protecting your account. LinkedIn’s algorithm notices if you’re connecting to random people with no pattern. But if your connections show clear behavioral intent (all VP of Sales, all in SaaS, all in companies 10-500 employees), the algorithm sees consistency. That’s safer.
I’d suggest building your filters in this order: (1) Company industry, (2) Company size, (3) Job title/seniority, (4) Geographic location. Start broad, then narrow. And use LiSeller’s lead filtering to preview results before you activate anything. If you’re seeing weird matches, your criteria are too loose.
One more thing: don’t over-filter on day one. You want enough targets to actually test messaging. I’d aim for 200-500 pre-qualified prospects before you send your first batch. Gives you room to iterate without burning through your account health.
You’re thinking about this exactly right, and it shows. Pre-qualification is where most people skip steps and pay for it later.
Let me be direct: filtering during setup is about creating a cohort, not just a list. You need people who share similar pain points, industry context, and buying stage. If you’re selling to mid-market SaaS CTOs, your filter should reflect that—not just “CTOs” broadly.
Here’s the practical playbook:
- Define your ICP tight on paper first (before you touch the dashboard). Write down: company size, industry, role, seniority level, and the specific problem you solve.
- In LiSeller, apply those filters conservatively. Preview the results.
- Pull a sample of 20-30 profiles and actually look at them. Do they match what you wrote down? If not, adjust.
- Once you’re confident, expand to your full pre-qualified set.
The number that matters: I typically aim for a 70-80% confidence rate on qualification. Meaning when I look at 10 random filtered results, 7-8 of them are exactly who I want to talk to.
Does LiSeller let you preview filtered results before running the campaign, or are you going in blind?
Okay, so I’ve burned through this exact scenario twice, and the third time I got it right. Here’s what actually works at scale:
Your first 50 connections are a test batch. Period. Don’t overthink it. Filter down to maybe 500-1000 targets with basic criteria (industry + company size + role), send cold connection requests to maybe 50 of them, and watch what happens. Your engagement will tell you if your filters are working.
I was filtering to death before sending anything, and it just wasted time. Now I filter to a reasonable subset, send small batches, measure reply rate, then adjust.
One hack that worked for us: after your first 50 connections, check who actually accepted. Go back and look at their company size, title, industry. You’ll see patterns in who engages with you. Then rebuild your filters around that, not around your theory of who should engage.
What industry are you going after? That changes the filtering strategy a lot. SaaS versus healthcare? Totally different target profiles.
Smart filtering is 50% of the battle, but here’s what people also miss: filtering for relevance and filterability.
What I mean is—don’t just find people in the right role. Find people in the right role at companies where your message will actually land. If you’re selling a $50k software solution, filtering for companies under 50 employees is pointless (they won’t have budget). That’s wasted qualification.
During setup, I look for three things:
- Job title match (obvious)
- Company size + industry (money signal)
- Recency of job change (I look for people who’ve been in role for 1-2 years; they’re more likely to evaluate solutions)
LiSeller’s filters should let you configure these. If they don’t give you recency data, that’s a limitation you’ll work around later.
One more thing: write out your top 5 “red flags” that should disqualify someone. Like, “I don’t want to message people at consulting firms” or “I skip anyone without LinkedIn Premium” (yes, that’s a signal). Filtering is as much about exclusion as inclusion.
Have you mapped out your ICP yet, or are you still fuzzy on the details?
The filtering is flexible in LiSeller, but here’s the workflow that makes sense on day one:
- In the dashboard, set up your primary filters (industry, company size, job title). Most of this is dropdown or text-match based.
- Run a preview or small test batch to see results.
- Export or note your filtered segment into a spreadsheet (if you’re going to do further analysis or integration with your CRM).
- Once you’re confident, activate the campaign for that segment.
If you’re using LiSeller integrated with a CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive, etc.), you can automate the next step: filtered leads automatically flow into a specific list in your CRM, which triggers your follow-up sequences. That integration means pre-qualified leads are already organized before you send your first message.
What CRM are you using, if any? That’ll change how we’d structure the filtering workflow for maximum efficiency.
From a recruitment side, pre-qualification during setup is absolutely critical. You’re not just finding people—you’re finding candidates who will actually respond.
I filter for:
- Recent job changes or promotions (signals active job seekers or people exploring opportunities)
- Companies that match my target (tech-forward cultures where my candidates fit)
- Seniority level (I’m usually going after individual contributors or junior managers, not C-suite)
What I’ve learned is that perceived relevance matters. If my message arrives from someone at a tech recruiting firm, and it lands on a VP of Engineering at a relevant company, they’re more likely to read it. But if the same message lands on someone at a random company that happens to have the right job title? It gets less attention.
So my filtering includes thinking about context. Who are these people? What’s their day-to-day like? What would actually matter to them?
LiSeller’s filtering should let you narrow down on most of these dimensions. If it doesn’t, you might need to do a secondary manual pass through your filtered list to ensure quality.
Are you filtering for active job changers, or are you trying to reach the passive market?
Great question! Let me break down how the smart lead filtering actually works in LiSeller so you can set it up confidently.
During setup, you’ll see filtering options in the campaign creation section. You can set multiple filter layers:
- Company filters: Industry, company size (by employee count), company growth rate, funding status
- Profile filters: Job title, seniority level, keywords in bio/headline
- Geographic filters: Country, region, timezone
- Behavioral filters: Profile activity (recently posted, recently changed jobs, etc.)
You can stack these filters to create your ideal segment. The preview tool will show you how many people match your criteria. That number helps you gauge if you’re too narrow or too broad.
One pro tip: start with 2-3 core filters, then add one more if you want to narrow further. Don’t go crazy with 10+ filters on day one—you’ll filter out potentially good prospects.
After you create your filtered segment, you can run a small test campaign (10-20 connection requests) to validate your targeting before scaling up. That’s how you know if your pre-qualification actually worked.
Does that help you understand the flow? Want me to walk you through a specific filter setup?