Note: Before you begin, make sure your sender profiles are connected and leads are uploaded. If you're using pre-built templates, you're good to go — but creating automations from scratch helps you understand how everything works under the hood.
🚦 Step 1: Add Leads to an Automation
You can add leads to an automation using one of the following two methods:
1. 📝 Manual Addition
You can manually add leads from two places:
The Contacts page (CRM view) — select leads and send them to an automation by clicking Automations
Directly inside the Automation Builder — click Add Contacts above any segment node
Apply filters to group them by criteria (e.g. industry, source, job title)
You can keep adding more leads to the automation at any time
2. ⚙️ Auto-Filter (Recommended for scaling)
Set a filter on a specific list or other properties
New leads matching the filter will be added automatically
Perfect for recurring imports from Sales Navigator or LinkedIn Basic Search
Important: You can set rules to control how many leads are added and how many contacts from the same company can be included. This helps avoid overloading the same company with multiple messages.
🧩 Segmenting Leads and Sender Profiles
Segments let you assign different groups of leads to different sender profiles or flows. For example:
Create one segment for Sales Navigator leads and another for manually imported leads
Assign specific sender profiles to each segment
Maintain message relevance and sender consistency
Note: Leads are distributed randomly across sender profiles that are already added when the automation starts. If you add sender profiles later, existing leads will not be reassigned — only new leads will be.
🔍 Lead Statuses in Automation
As leads progress through the automation, they’ll be assigned statuses based on their activity:
Waiting Enrichment – lead data is being enriched
In Progress – active and moving through the sequence
Cancelled – removed manually or via condition
Failed – issue with the lead (e.g. broken LinkedIn link)
Tip: Monitor lead statuses regularly to make sure everything is running smoothly. Learn more about Statuses in the article "Node Status"
Need help deciding which method to use or how to structure your segments? Chat with us — we're here to help!