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How to Automate LinkedIn Lead Outreach?

Grow your LinkedIn pipeline without manual research. The system finds people who match your ICP, enriches company data, scores priority, then sends connection requests and messages at safe daily limits. It suits sales teams and founders who want steady, personal outreach.

Work can start on a schedule, by clicking test, or from a simple chat prompt. An AI agent turns your ICP into LinkedIn search filters and gathers profiles using Horizon Datawave. Records go to Google Sheets with append or update logic. The flow then pulls the company website, user and company posts, and news. A site map and parser fetch core pages, and OpenAI creates short summaries. Scoring and sort steps rank leads before sending. Limit and wait nodes protect your account. If checks fill only missing fields, so re-runs are fast.

Setup needs OpenAI, Google Sheets, and Horizon Datawave credentials, plus a LinkedIn account. Expect hours saved each week and better replies because messages use real context from posts and news. Use it for outbound prospecting, event follow ups, and account research at scale. You can cap to about 200 sends per week and adjust the count as your risk policy allows.

What are the key features?

  • AI agent converts your ICP into precise LinkedIn search filters for fast targeting.
  • Horizon Datawave nodes pull profiles, company websites, posts, and news.
  • Google Sheets append or update stores leads, summaries, scores, and status.
  • Site map and parser crawl key website pages for better company context.
  • OpenAI summarizes posts, news, and site content into short notes for messaging.
  • Scoring, sort, and limit steps rank leads and control weekly send caps.
  • If checks only fill missing data, so future runs are quick and avoid duplicates.
  • Connection and messaging nodes send invites and follow up once accepted.

What are the benefits?

  • Reduce manual prospecting from 5 hours to 30 minutes per day by automating search, research, and outreach steps.
  • Automate up to 70% of repetitive work across lead discovery, enrichment, scoring, and messaging.
  • Improve data accuracy by 90% with structured parsing and consistent Google Sheets updates.
  • Handle 5 times more leads per week with batching, limits, and safe delays.
  • Connect OpenAI, Horizon Datawave, and Google Sheets so data stays in one place.
  • Raise reply rates with messages that include context from posts, news, and the company website.

How do you set it up?

  1. Import the template into n8n: Create a new workflow in n8n > Click the three dots menu > Select 'Import from File' > Choose the downloaded JSON file.
  2. You'll need accounts with Google Sheets, OpenAI and Horizon Datawave. See the Tools Required section above for links to create accounts with these services.
  3. In n8n, open the OpenAI node. In the Credential to connect with field, click Create new credential, then follow the on screen steps to add your OpenAI API key from the OpenAI API page.
  4. Open each Google Sheets node. In the Credential to connect with field, click Create new credential and complete Google OAuth in n8n Cloud. Select the correct spreadsheet and Sheet1 in each node.
  5. Open any Horizon Datawave nodes. Click Create new credential and paste your Horizon Datawave API key from your horizondatawave.ai account.
  6. In Google Sheets nodes, review column mappings such as URL, URN, Name, Company, Website, and Scores. Confirm key fields like URN are consistent across all update steps.
  7. Open the AI Agent node that builds filters from your ICP. Enter or reference your ICP text. Run a small test with the manual trigger to verify the filter output.
  8. Check schedule trigger nodes and set times for when you want searches and sending to run. Keep them during business hours for better acceptance and replies.
  9. Open the Limit node near the send steps and adjust the item count. The included note suggests capping near 200 per week. Start lower if your account is new.
  10. Verify the If nodes that check for empty fields like post summaries, company news, and website. These ensure only missing data is fetched on re-runs.
  11. Run a small batch with the manual trigger. Check Google Sheets to confirm profiles save, website and posts are summarized, and scores appear before sending.
  12. If Horizon Datawave returns no website, confirm the backup website lookup node is active. If you see rate limit errors, increase the wait duration node and lower the limit count.

Tools Required

$24 / mo or $20 / mo billed annually to use n8n in the cloud. However, the local or self-hosted n8n Community Edition is free.

Google Sheets

Sign up

Free: $0 (Google Sheets API usage has no additional cost; quota limits apply)

Horizon Datawave

Sign up

Free tier: $0, 100 requests / mo

OpenAI

Sign up

Pay-as-you-go: GPT-5 at $1.25 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens

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