I’m getting irrelevant leads — what should I do?
If campaigns are generating irrelevant prospects, the ICP is usually either too broad in the wrong places (bringing in noise) or over-filtered (forcing inconsistent matches from a small pool). The goal is to balance quality (fit) with quantity (enough discovery data).
How a limited ICP impacts your lead generation process.
If your campaigns aren’t generating enough new prospects, your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is likely over-filtered. When too many filters are applied (industries, locations, titles, lookalikes, keywords, etc.), the discovery pool becomes smaller and your ICP Score drops.
The problem
When the ICP is too restrictive, the platform has a smaller search pool and fewer opportunities to identify or trigger new leads.
This also makes it harder to understand what a “good fit” looks like.
What Happens When Your ICP Is Too Limited
- It slows campaign activity
Fewer inputs create fewer discovery opportunities and reduce how often new prospects appear. -
It limits prospect discovery
Too many constraints → fewer matching companies or contacts.
➜ Result: lower number of new leads and trigger events. -
It reduces match quality
Over-filtering can exclude relevant profiles and blur the difference between high-potential and generic prospects.
➜ Result: less relevant or inconsistent matches. -
It slows down AI learning
The system learns from a broad sample of prospects and your feedback.
➜ Result: with limited data, optimization takes longer.
Why is this important?
A well-structured ICP balances quality (precise targeting) with quantity (consistent lead flow). If it becomes too narrow too early, the system can’t explore or learn effectively, even when campaigns are configured correctly.
Common Reasons for a “Too Limited” ICP
-
Company Lookalikes added too early
Lookalikes can improve quality but they also reduce the number of available prospects.
Tip: start without Lookalikes. If you decide to use them, add a larger group (around 10) so the system can learn meaningful patterns. Adding only one or two makes the ICP too narrow without real benefits. -
Including Industries instead of excluding.
Selecting specific industries excludes many others you may still want to reach.
Tip: avoid including industries at the start. Exclude only the ones you never target. -
Over-specific Locations
Tight geography filters cut volume fast.
Tip: keep locations as broad as possible. If a country never applies, exclude it. -
Hyper-specific Job Titles and duplicated seniority filters
Listing many exact titles + enabling Decision Maker + adding Seniority triple-constrains the pool.
Tip: use broad job-title keywords (e.g.,Security,Cloud,SRE) and filter only by Seniority(Director/Head/VP). Avoid using Decision Maker if you already filter by seniority. -
Headcount range too narrow
Tip: remove the headcount filter or keep it broad. Only narrow it if it’s essential to your offer.
Useful Tips
- Start broad and refine later by keeping only essential filters.
- Exclude noise as it appears, such as irrelevant industries, countries, or niches.
- Use job-title keywords plus seniority instead of long lists of exact titles.
- Keep Headcount and Locations broad unless absolutely necessary.
- If you use Lookalikes, add several at once; avoid adding only one or two.