Bright Omoriame

Portfolio Targeted ICT Lead Sourcing & Prospecting with Apollo.io This project shows how I generated high-quality leads in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector, focusing specifically on C-level decision-makers in New Jersey using Apollo.io. The goal was to filter the right audience, clean the data, and prepare it for marketing and sales activation. The screenshots highlight the full workflow, from setting detailed firmographic filters to organizing the leads into clean segments that can be used for email outreach, sequences, and CRM updates. This process demonstrates how raw lead data is turned into a clear and targeted list ready for marketing campaigns. 2 G I R B M O T H 3 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 4 I OR E M A These image (page 3 & 4) show the main dashboard of the Apollo.io platform, the central place where lead generation begins. It’s the starting point for identifying target personas, enriching their details, and moving them into a sales pipeline. This view highlights how the platform helps uncover new revenue opportunities quickly and efficiently. The “Recommended prospects” section includes people like “Alahdal Hussein” (COO) and “Paula Bellizia” (VP at Amazon Web Services), along with tags such as “Similar to past prospects” and “Seniority.” This reflects how Apollo uses AI to source leads automatically, helping focus outreach on real decision-makers rather than lower-level contacts. The green checkmarks next to the “Access email” buttons show that the emails are verified. This is important for email deliverability, keeping bounce rates low and protecting the sender reputation during cold outreach campaigns. Buttons like “Generate Pipeline,” “Add to Sequence,” and “Save” show how easy it is to move from finding leads to taking action. With these tools, leads can be added directly into automated sequences or CRM workflows, speeding up the outreach process. The “Location” column showing places like Brazil, France, India, and Kuala Lumpur highlights Apollo’s ability to support geo-targeted campaigns. Overall, the images simply shows the main Apollo dashboard and its core functions, from navigation to settings, that support efficient B2B prospecting. 5 G I R B M O T H 6 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 7 I OR E M A The images (page 6 & 7) show the People and Companies search tools inside Apollo.io. This is the main area used to discover leads by applying filters like location, industry, employee size, and other ICP details. It demonstrates how the platform turns a target market idea into an actual list of prospects you can export and use for outreach. The search panel includes filters for “Location,” “Industry & Keywords,” and “Employee Count.” This shows how I translate a client’s Ideal Customer Profile into a real search, for example, finding “tech companies in New Jersey with 50+ employees.” Using these filters helps build high-quality lead lists that match the sales strategy. The difference between the People tab (hundreds of millions of contacts) and the Companies tab shows support for Account-Based Marketing. This means I can search for companies first, then find the decisionmakers inside them, ensuring more targeted outreach. The highlighted “Net New” tab shows how the platform helps find fresh leads that are not yet in the database, which is important for keeping the pipeline growing. The AI search bar also demonstrates how Apollo can suggest the right prospects using natural-language prompts. Overall, the images highlight the People/Companies dashboard where leads are generated using filters based on ICP, location, industry, and more. 8 G I R B M O T H 9 I OR E M A The image (page 9) show the “My Lists” section in Apollo.io, which is where all bulk leads are stored after they’re generated or imported. This is the main place where large groups of contacts are organized before being used for email campaigns, CRM exports, or outreach sequences. Different list names like “Philly List 1” and “August C4 List” show how leads are grouped by location, campaign timeline, or audience type. This helps with market segmentation, making it easier to send personalized messages to each group for better open and reply rates. The “# of Records” column displays lists of all sizes, from smaller lists of a few hundred contacts to larger datasets with tens of thousands of leads. This shows the ability to manage data at scale and understand how list size affects deliverability and email-sending limits. A list like “CRM Software Buying Intent List” highlights the use of intent-based targeting, focusing on leads who are actively showing interest in a product or service. This increases the chance of getting higher conversions. The “Type” and “Last Modified” columns help maintain clean, updated data. Overall, this section serves as the storage area for all lead lists that can later be used for campaigns inside Apollo.io. 10 G I R B M O T H 11 I OR E M A The image (page 11) shows the Sequence Dashboard inside Apollo.io, where outreach campaigns are managed. This is the main area for controlling which email sequences are active, paused, or inactive, and it helps track how each campaign is performing. The toggle buttons in the “Activate” column show one sequence turned on and another turned off. This reflects campaign control, making it easy to pause a sequence that needs adjustments or activate a new one for testing. It also helps manage outreach volume so the team can handle incoming replies properly. Columns like “Bounced” and “Spam Blocked” highlight the importance of email deliverability. Monitoring these numbers helps protect sender reputation and ensures campaigns don’t harm the domain by sending to bad or outdated emails. You can also see status labels such as “Active,” “Paused,” “Finished,” and “Scheduled.” These show exactly where each prospect is in the sequence, making it easy to understand campaign progress and decide when to add more leads. The “Analytics” and “Diagnostics” tabs at the top show that deeper performance data is available for optimizing open rates, reply rates, and overall campaign results. Overall, this dashboard gives full visibility into all outreach sequences running inside Apollo.io. 12 G I R B M O T H 13 I OR E M A The image (page 13) shows the Direct Communication Interface inside Apollo.io, where you can clearly see all email activity in one place, including messages sent, received, and ongoing conversations. The highlighted thread with a prospect (“Ian Jarvis”) shows how real follow-ups look in action, helping keep communication organized and easy to track. The email includes a simple “Meeting Details” block (June 27th, 9 AM, Zoom link) and a clean signature with the title “Customer Support Specialist, Lead Gen & VA.” This reflects good conversion-focused copy, professionalism, and trust-building. Clear details make it easier for prospects to say yes and show up. The green “Delivered” badge next to the subject line confirms proper email deliverability, meaning the message landed in the inbox and technical settings (like SPF/DKIM) are working. This is important for keeping a strong sender reputation. On the right side, the profile for “Ian Jarvis” shows his location (New York) and current sequence status (“Demo I” paused). This supports context-aware selling, letting you know when to adjust your approach. Lastly, the “Reply to thread” button and message history help maintain smooth conversation continuity, keeping everything in one clear thread. 14 G I R B M O T H 15 I OR E M A The image (page 15) shows the lead generation setup inside Apollo.io, where I’m preparing to generate fresh leads in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector. At the top, the dashboard displays a huge pool of 235.2M potential contacts under the “Net New” tab, confirming there are plenty of new prospects available to target. On the left, the Lists filter is set to “Exclude,” where existing lists like “Philly List 1,” “CRM Buying Intent,” “C1,” and “August C4 List” are removed from the search. This helps avoid duplication and keeps the data clean. Excluding old lists also prevents repeating outreach to the same people, which reduces marketing fatigue and protects the overall sender and brand reputation. The main results show verified emails and phone access options for high-value roles such as Chief Growth Officers, Founders, and Product or Project Managers. These are ideal decision-maker targets for ICTfocused marketing and sales campaigns. Overall, this setup ensures that the new generated leads are truly net new, clean, and ready for multichannel outreach without any overlap from previous campaigns. 16 G I R B M O T H 17 I OR E M A The image (page 17) shows the email verification step inside Apollo.io while preparing a clean lead list. Once the Verified Email filter is selected, the system automatically removes all unverified or risky email addresses. This causes the total number of leads to drop from about 235M to 84.6M, leaving only contacts that Apollo has confirmed as safe and valid. On the left sidebar, the Email Status filter is set to “Verified,” which helps protect deliverability and keeps the sending domain healthy. Filtering this way removes catch-all, invalid, or low-quality emails that would cause bounces and hurt future campaign performance. Even after filtering, the list still includes high-value roles like Chief Growth Officers and Founders, each marked with a green Verified check. This means the final list maintains strong decision-maker quality, but now with fully verified emails ready for reliable outreach. 18 G I R B M O T H 19 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 20 I OR E M A The images (page 19 & 20) shows the step where I refine the target persona inside Apollo.io by selecting only top management roles. In the Management Level filter, I chose titles like Owner, Founder, C-Suite, Partner, and VP, while leaving options like Senior, Entry, and Intern unchecked. This helps narrow the search to people who actually make buying decisions, perfect for Account-Based Marketing and high-value outreach. Once these filters are applied, the total number of leads drops to 32.6M, showing a more accurate and focused segment. This reduction is intentional because it removes lower-level employees and keeps only high-leverage contacts with real budget authority. By targeting only top-tier roles, the list becomes more precise and useful for sales and marketing teams. It avoids wasting resources on individuals who can’t approve purchases and ensures every campaign reaches someone who has the power to move a deal forward. Overall, this setup confirms that the search is now tuned for high-value prospects, decision makers who can influence or approve a sale, making the outreach more efficient and improving conversion potential. 21 G I R B M O T H 22 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 23 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 24 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 25 I OR E M A The images (page 22-25) show the step where I refine the Departments and Job Functions inside Apollo.io to match the exact ICP I’m targeting in the ICT industry. I carefully selected only the departments and roles that fit the audience; such as IT, Operations, DevOps, Cloud, AI, and Information Security, while skipping categories that do not align with the goal. For example, if I’m generating leads for a digital agency that offers brand awareness or social media services, it wouldn’t make sense to target people working in Marketing or Social Media roles. They either do the work themselves or are direct competitors. Instead, I focus on people who actually make decisions, like IT leaders, Operations executives, and Founders. This helps ensure the list is filled with buyers, not practitioners or competing service providers. As these filters are applied, the total lead count drops from a broader pool to a more focused number like 1.5M or 4.1M. This reduction is intentional. It means the search is becoming more accurate and aligned with the ideal customer profile. By narrowing down the departments and job functions, the final list becomes highly relevant, improves outreach results, and delivers better-quality leads for the campaign. 26 G I R B M O T H 27 I OR E M A The image (page 27) shows the step where I apply location filters inside Apollo.io to target a specific region, in this case, New Jersey, USA. This is an important part of geo-targeted lead generation, making sure the leads match the exact area the outreach or campaign is focused on. The “Location” filter is set to New Jersey, which helps with proper territory management and ensures all leads fall under the same region. This also supports localized outreach, so messages can feel more relevant (for example, referencing the New Jersey market) and helps the sales team contact prospects during the right working hours. Once the filter is applied, the “Net New” count shows 38.5K prospects available in New Jersey. This number is useful for understanding the size of the local audience and helps with planning, showing how many leads are available before expanding to nearby states like New York or Pennsylvania. The search results also display high-level decision makers like CEOs and Founders based in New Jersey. With options such as “Access email” and “Access mobile,” the platform provides direct contact details, making the leads immediately usable for email campaigns, outreach sequences, or local marketing activities. 28 G I R B M O T H 29 I OR E M A The image (page 29) shows the step inside Apollo.io where I filter leads by company size, selecting businesses with 1–10 and 11–20 employees. This helps me target startups and small businesses that are still growing and more likely to need outside support, tools, or marketing solutions. The “# Employees” filter highlights 5.8K companies in the 1–10 range and 2.8K in the 11–20 range. Choosing these ranges is a strategic way to focus on organizations in their early stages, businesses that usually don’t have large internal teams and are more open to hiring agencies, consultants, or external services. After applying the filters, the “Net New” count adjusts to 8.5K leads. Even though the overall market is bigger, narrowing the list helps improve relevance. A smaller, focused list allows for more personalized outreach instead of broad, unfocused campaigns. The search results also show key decision-makers such as CEOs and Founders, which is common in small companies. This makes outreach faster because you're speaking directly to the person who can approve a service or make a buying decision. The companies shown, like Oblingo Payment and GPARENCY, represent agile businesses that are still expanding and actively looking for solutions, making them strong prospects for growth-focused marketing or service offers. 30 G I R B M O T H 31 I OR E M A The image (page 31) shows the final stage of my lead-generation setup in Apollo.io, where I apply the Industry & Keyword filters. Here, I selected Information Technology & Services, Information Services, and Telecommunications. This step helps me narrow the list to ICT companies in New Jersey that actually match my Ideal Customer Profile. It also ensures any marketing or outreach message I send uses the right industry language and speaks directly to their technical needs. After adding these filters, the “Net New” count drops to 1.2K. This smaller number is intentional, it gives me a highly targeted list of prospects instead of a large, random dataset. A focused list makes outreach more personalized and increases the chances of getting replies, especially when reaching out for services like brand awareness, automation, or business growth solutions. The results still include top decision-makers such as CEOs, Heads of Operations, and CTOs. These are the people who can approve marketing services and understand the value behind them. The companies shown, like SafeQual, Narrvance, and Arhamsoft LLC, fit the 1–20 employee range, meaning they’re growing tech startups that usually need support to scale. Before sending any cold emails, it's still important to research each company to confirm they’re a true match. And even when the lead volume is high, filters like these help avoid sending emails to the wrong businesses just for the sake of numbers. 32 G I R B M O T H 33 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 34 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 35 I OR E M A G I R B M O T H 36 I OR E M A The images (page 33-36) show the Action Phase in Apollo.io, where the leads I’ve generated can finally be put to use. This section makes it easy to turn a list of contacts into real marketing and sales actions, whether I’m saving them into organized lists, adding them to email sequences, or exporting them into another platform. The selection options “Select this page – 30” or “Select all – 1,119” make bulk processing simple. Instead of selecting leads one by one, I can handle thousands at once. This is helpful for high-volume lead generation, where speed and efficiency matter. The “Add to list” menu lets me save the leads into specific folders like “Philly List 1,” “August C4 List,” or create a new list. This keeps the database clean and organized so I can run retargeting or future campaigns without confusion. The “Sequence” option allows me to add leads into an existing outreach sequence or start a new one directly from the search page. This helps me launch automated cold email campaigns immediately. There’s also an Export button (and HubSpot integration), which shows I can move these leads into other CRMs or email tools. This keeps everything connected across the marketing and sales workflow. 37 G I R B M O T H 38 I OR E M A The image (page 38) shows the Imports & Exports page, which is basically the storage hub for all lead files you’ve exported or imported. It keeps a full history of every CSV export, so even if you forget to download a file or close the window by mistake, you can always come back here and redownload it. This makes it easy to manage your lead data without losing anything. The CSV Exports section lists all previous files with a download icon on the right. This acts as a backup system and ensures you don’t waste credits or run the same search again just to recover lost data. You can also see details like who exported the file (shown as initials like “BY”) and the exact timestamp. This adds transparency, especially for teams, because it helps track data usage, prevent unauthorized exports, and maintain proper data handling. The page also displays the total number of records in each export and confirms that redownloading uses 0 credits, which helps with resource management. Overall, this area ensures all your exported leads are easy to find, manage, and recover whenever needed. 39 summary Targeted ICT Lead Sourcing & Prospecting with Apollo.io Overall, these steps confirm a strong and organized approach to lead generation. Instead of focusing on large volumes, the priority was accuracy, data quality, and finding people who match the exact ICT Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) in New Jersey. By combining location filters, industry specifics, and seniority levels, the results produce fresh “net-new” opportunities that are more likely to convert. This project shows my ability to bridge technical prospecting with practical RevOps workflows, ensuring the leads collected are relevant, usable, and ready to support sales and marketing growth. 41 thank you Appreciate you reading through.