7 posts tagged with "Free Tools"

The average B2B sales rep spends 64% of their time on non-selling activities — and a huge chunk of that is hunting for leads (Salesforce State of Sales, 2025).

Searching LinkedIn. Guessing email addresses. Cross-referencing company websites with database tools. Building lists manually in spreadsheets. It's the most time-consuming part of the job, and AI is finally making it optional.

In 2026, there are genuinely good free AI lead generation tools that can find contacts, verify emails, enrich profiles, and even draft personalized outreach — without requiring a $10K/year contract with ZoomInfo or a $99/month Apollo subscription.

We tested the free tiers of 12 AI lead generation tools and ranked them by what you can actually accomplish without paying. Here's the honest breakdown.

What Makes a Good AI Lead Generation Tool?​

Before comparing tools, here's what matters:

1. Data quality — Accurate emails and phone numbers that don't bounce
2. AI capabilities — Smart filtering, lead scoring, or personalization beyond basic database queries
3. Free tier generosity — How much can you actually do before hitting a paywall?
4. LinkedIn integration — Since LinkedIn is the primary B2B prospecting channel, how well does the tool work with it?
5. Enrichment depth — Beyond email/phone, does it provide company data, tech stack, recent activity?
6. Ease of use — Can a rep start finding leads in 5 minutes, or does setup take a week?

The 10 Best Free AI Lead Generation Tools​

1. MarketBetter AI Lead Generator (Best Free LinkedIn Prospecting)​

Website: tools.marketbetter.ai/lead-generator

What it does: Analyze any company and find buyer contacts on LinkedIn — with AI-powered matching to identify the most relevant decision-makers.

How it works:

1. Enter a company name or URL
2. AI analyzes the company's size, industry, and org structure
3. Get a list of buyer contacts with LinkedIn profiles, titles, and relevance scores
4. Use the results to build targeted outreach lists

Free tier: Completely free. No signup, no credit card, no usage limits for individual company lookups.

Why it's #1 for free:

• No gates — every other tool on this list either limits free credits, requires signup, or locks key features behind paid plans. MarketBetter's tool is genuinely free.
• AI-powered buyer identification — doesn't just list employees, it identifies the people most likely to be decision-makers for your product
• LinkedIn-native — results link directly to LinkedIn profiles for immediate outreach
• Company context — provides company analysis alongside contact data so you understand the prospect's business before reaching out

Best for: SDRs and AEs who prospect on LinkedIn and need to quickly find the right contacts at target accounts.

2. Apollo.io​

Website: apollo.io

What it does: All-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform with a large contact database.

Free tier highlights:

• Unlimited email credits (250 emails/day sending limit)
• 5 mobile number credits/month
• Basic sequencing (2 active sequences)
• LinkedIn extension for profile enrichment
• 275M+ contact database access

Pros:

• The most generous free tier among established platforms
• Good data quality with verification
• Integrated email sequencing
• LinkedIn Chrome extension works well
• Buying intent data available

Cons:

• 5 mobile credits/month is extremely limiting
• Free plan sequences are basic (no A/B testing, limited steps)
• Export limits on the free tier
• Email deliverability can suffer with shared sending infrastructure

Pricing: Free → $49/user/month (Basic) → $79/user/month (Professional)

Best for: Individual reps who primarily need email addresses and basic sequencing.

3. Seamless.AI​

Website: seamless.ai

What it does: AI-powered sales lead search engine with real-time contact verification.

Free tier highlights:

• 50 credits (one credit = one contact lookup)
• Real-time email and phone verification
• Chrome extension for LinkedIn
• Basic list building

Pros:

• Real-time verification means higher accuracy than static databases
• Chrome extension is well-designed
• Good at finding direct dial phone numbers
• AI-powered company and contact recommendations

Cons:

• 50 free credits is very limiting — burns through in a single session
• Aggressive upsell experience
• Data accuracy can be inconsistent (some users report 70-80% email accuracy)
• Premium features (buyer intent, data enrichment) locked behind expensive plans

Pricing: Free (50 credits) → $147/month (Basic) → Custom (Pro/Enterprise)

Best for: Reps who need direct dial phone numbers and are willing to pay after the trial.

4. Hunter.io​

Website: hunter.io

What it does: Email finding and verification tool. Enter a company domain, get associated email addresses and the email pattern used.

Free tier highlights:

• 25 searches/month
• 50 verifications/month
• Chrome extension
• Domain search (find all emails at a domain)
• Email pattern detection

Pros:

• Simple and focused — does email finding extremely well
• High accuracy email verification
• Shows email pattern (e.g., [email protected]) so you can extrapolate
• API available on free tier (limited)

Cons:

• 25 searches/month is very limited
• Email-only — no phone numbers, no LinkedIn enrichment
• Doesn't provide AI-powered lead recommendations
• No contact titles or role information on the free tier

Pricing: Free (25 searches) → $34/month (Starter, 500 searches) → $104/month (Growth)

Best for: Marketers and reps who know exactly who they want to email and just need the address.

5. Lusha​

Website: lusha.com

What it does: B2B contact and company data platform with LinkedIn integration.

Free tier highlights:

• 50 email credits/month
• 5 phone credits/month
• Chrome extension for LinkedIn
• Basic prospecting

Pros:

• Good phone number accuracy (direct dials)
• Clean Chrome extension for LinkedIn prospecting
• Intent data available on paid plans
• GDPR/CCPA compliant data sourcing

Cons:

• 5 phone credits/month is barely enough to test
• Free tier doesn't include bulk enrichment
• Company data is limited on the free plan
• Smaller database than Apollo or ZoomInfo

Pricing: Free → $36/user/month (Pro) → $59/user/month (Premium)

Best for: European teams who need GDPR-compliant contact data.

6. Snov.io​

Website: snov.io

What it does: Email finding, verification, and cold email outreach platform.

Free tier highlights:

• 50 credits/month
• Email finder and verifier
• 100 email recipients in drip campaigns
• LinkedIn email finder extension

Pros:

• Combined prospecting and outreach in one tool
• Technology checker included (identify a company's tech stack)
• Email warmup on paid plans
• Good for small teams running complete outbound workflows

Cons:

• 50 credits/month split across finding and verifying (you burn through quickly)
• Email accuracy is good but not best-in-class
• UI can be overwhelming with many features
• Drip campaign limits on free tier are very tight

Pricing: Free (50 credits) → $30/month (Starter) → $75/month (Pro)

Best for: Solopreneurs and small teams who want prospecting + outreach in one tool.

7. RocketReach​

Website: rocketreach.co

What it does: Contact info lookup tool with a database of 700M+ professionals.

Free tier highlights:

• 5 free lookups
• Email and phone data
• Chrome extension
• Company search

Pros:

• Large database (700M+ contacts)
• Good accuracy for senior-level contacts
• Integrates with many CRMs and tools
• Straightforward lookup interface

Cons:

• 5 free lookups is essentially a trial, not a real free tier
• Pricing jumps steeply ($53/month for Essentials)
• No AI-powered recommendations
• Limited enrichment depth

Pricing: Free (5 lookups) → $53/month (Essentials) → $179/month (Pro)

Best for: Occasional lookups for specific, hard-to-find contacts.

8. Kaspr​

Website: kaspr.io

What it does: LinkedIn-focused lead generation tool with a Chrome extension that reveals contact data on LinkedIn profiles.

Free tier highlights:

• 5 phone credits/month
• 5 direct email credits/month
• Unlimited B2B email credits
• LinkedIn Chrome extension
• Lead list management

Pros:

• Excellent LinkedIn integration
• Unlimited B2B emails on the free tier (company emails, not personal)
• Good European data coverage
• Simple, focused interface

Cons:

• B2B emails (company addresses) are less valuable than personal/direct emails
• Very limited phone and direct email credits on free tier
• Smaller database than Apollo or ZoomInfo
• Limited enrichment beyond contact data

Pricing: Free → $49/user/month (Starter) → $79/user/month (Business)

Best for: SDRs who live on LinkedIn and need a quick-access contact finder.

9. Cognism​

Website: cognism.com

What it does: Premium B2B sales intelligence with phone-verified mobile numbers (Diamond Data).

Free tier highlights:

• 25 free leads (one-time, not recurring)
• Chrome extension trial
• Limited data access

Pros:

• Best-in-class phone number accuracy (manually verified "Diamond" data)
• Strong European and APAC coverage
• Intent data powered by Bombora
• GDPR-compliant with do-not-call list checking

Cons:

• 25 free leads is basically just a trial
• Expensive paid plans (reportedly $15K-$30K/year)
• No self-serve pricing — must talk to sales
• Limited free functionality

Pricing: Free trial (25 leads) → Contact sales (enterprise pricing)

Best for: Enterprise teams with budget who need verified phone numbers for cold calling.

10. LinkedIn Sales Navigator (Free Alternatives)​

Website: linkedin.com/sales

While Sales Navigator itself isn't free ($99/month), LinkedIn's free features still offer significant prospecting capability:

Free LinkedIn prospecting capabilities:

• Advanced People Search (limited filters)
• Company pages with employee lists
• Boolean search operators
• InMail credits (limited)
• Profile viewing with partial data

Pros:

• First-party data — the most up-to-date professional information available
• Everyone is on LinkedIn
• Rich profile data (experience, education, endorsements)
• Group membership and activity visible

Cons:

• Commercial use limits — LinkedIn restricts how many profiles you can view
• No email addresses or phone numbers
• Free search filters are limited
• Can't export data natively

Tip: Pair free LinkedIn search with MarketBetter's AI Lead Generator to identify the right contacts at target companies, then connect directly on LinkedIn.

Free Tier Comparison​

The Smart Free Prospecting Stack​

You don't need to spend $500/month on sales tools to prospect effectively. Here's a free stack that covers the entire workflow:

1. Find Target Companies​

MarketBetter Lookalike Company Finder — enter your best customer, find 50+ similar companies. Free.

2. Find Buyer Contacts​

MarketBetter AI Lead Generator — analyze each company, get buyer contacts with LinkedIn profiles. Free.

3. Research Their Tech Stack​

MarketBetter Tech Stack Detector — check what tools they use to qualify fit and personalize outreach. Free.

4. Verify Email Addresses​

Hunter.io (25 free verifications/month) — confirm email deliverability before sending.

5. Personalize Outreach​

MarketBetter GiftDM Copilot — AI-personalized gifts and LinkedIn DMs for top prospects. Free.

6. Send Outreach​

Apollo.io free tier (250 emails/day) or LinkedIn free (connection requests + messages).

Total cost: $0/month. Not "free trial" — actually free, ongoing.

Tips for AI-Powered Lead Generation​

1. Quality Over Quantity​

AI makes it easy to generate hundreds of leads. Resist the temptation. 50 highly-targeted leads will outperform 500 poorly-targeted ones every time.

2. Layer Multiple Data Sources​

No single tool has perfect data. Use 2-3 tools to cross-reference and verify contacts. If Apollo and Hunter both show the same email for a contact, you can be confident it's accurate.

3. Personalize Based on AI Insights​

The AI in these tools isn't just for finding contacts — it's for understanding them. Use company analysis, tech stack data, and recent activity to craft relevant, personalized messages.

4. Respect Privacy and Compliance​

GDPR, CCPA, and CAN-SPAM regulations apply regardless of how you source leads. Always include opt-out options, honor unsubscribes, and don't scrape personal data from platforms that prohibit it.

5. Measure What Matters​

Track these metrics:

• Lead-to-reply rate (aim for 5-15%)
• Reply-to-meeting rate (aim for 30-50% of replies)
• Data accuracy (bounce rate below 5%)
• Time to first touch (how fast from lead identification to first outreach)

Start Finding Leads for Free​

The best AI lead generation tool is the one that gets you talking to the right people with the least friction.

Try MarketBetter's free AI Lead Generator →

Enter any company, get AI-identified buyer contacts with LinkedIn profiles. No signup, no credits, no catch.

Build your full prospecting workflow: find similar companies to your best customers, check their tech stack for fit, then use the Conference Scraper to source leads from upcoming trade shows.

You're about to hop on a sales call. You pull up the prospect's website and wonder: What CMS are they using? Do they have a chatbot? What analytics platform? Are they running HubSpot or Salesforce?

Or maybe you're a developer scoping a competitor's site, a marketer evaluating a potential partner, or a founder doing due diligence.

Whatever the reason, knowing what technology a website uses is incredibly valuable — and there are free tools that can tell you in seconds.

We tested 10 of the most popular website technology checker tools in 2026 and ranked them on accuracy, depth, speed, and actual free-tier usability. Here's what we found.

Why Check a Website's Technology Stack?​

Before diving into tools, here's why this matters:

• Sales prospecting: If you sell a Shopify app and a prospect runs WooCommerce, you're wasting your time. Tech stack data lets you qualify leads instantly.
• Competitive intelligence: See what tools your competitors use for analytics, A/B testing, live chat, and marketing automation.
• Development scoping: Evaluate what frameworks, CDNs, and hosting providers a site relies on before building an integration.
• M&A due diligence: Understand technical debt and infrastructure before acquiring a company.
• Partnership evaluation: Check if a potential partner uses compatible technology before proposing an integration.

According to a 2025 Gartner report, the average mid-market company uses 120+ SaaS tools. That's a lot of technology surface area to analyze — and manual inspection won't cut it.

How Website Technology Checkers Work​

Most tech stack detection tools use a combination of these methods:

1. HTTP header analysis — Server headers reveal web servers (Nginx, Apache), frameworks, and caching layers.
2. JavaScript library detection — Scanning the DOM for known JavaScript frameworks, analytics scripts, and tracking pixels.
3. DNS and SSL analysis — DNS records and SSL certificates can reveal hosting providers and CDN usage.
4. HTML meta tag scanning — CMS platforms often leave fingerprints in meta tags, generator tags, and structured data.
5. Cookie analysis — Different platforms set distinctive cookies that can be identified.
6. Pattern matching — Comparing page source code against databases of thousands of known technology signatures.

The best tools combine multiple methods to maximize detection accuracy.

The 10 Best Free Website Technology Checker Tools​

1. MarketBetter Tech Stack Detector (Best Overall Free Option)​

Website: tools.marketbetter.ai/techstack-detector

What it does: Enter any URL and get a comprehensive breakdown of the technologies that site uses — CMS, frameworks, analytics, marketing tools, hosting, CDN, and more.

Why it stands out:

• Completely free — no signup required, no credit card, no usage limits for individual lookups
• AI-enhanced detection — goes beyond pattern matching to identify technologies that other tools miss
• Sales-focused output — results are organized in a way that's immediately useful for prospecting (e.g., "this company uses HubSpot for marketing automation" rather than just listing script names)
• Clean, fast interface — paste a URL, get results in under 10 seconds
• No browser extension required — works entirely in the browser

Limitations: Designed for individual URL lookups rather than bulk scanning. For analyzing thousands of URLs at once, you'd pair this with a programmatic tool.

Best for: Sales reps who need quick tech stack intel before calls, marketers doing competitive research, and anyone who wants accurate results without creating an account.

2. BuiltWith​

Website: builtwith.com

What it does: One of the original technology profiling tools. Enter a URL and get a detailed breakdown organized by category (analytics, frameworks, CDN, hosting, CMS, etc.).

Pricing:

• Free: Individual URL lookups with basic results
• Basic: $295/month (full technology lists, lead generation features)
• Pro: $495/month (extended historical data)
• Enterprise: $995/month (API access, bulk lookups)

Pros:

• Massive technology database (tracks 100,000+ technologies)
• Historical data showing when technologies were added or removed
• Market share data for each technology category
• Lead lists filtered by technology (paid feature)

Cons:

• Free tier shows limited results — many technologies are hidden behind the paywall
• Interface feels dated compared to newer tools
• Expensive if you need full data access
• Can be slow on complex sites

Best for: Enterprise teams with budget for deep technographic data and lead list building.

3. Wappalyzer​

Website: wappalyzer.com

What it does: Browser extension and web-based tool that identifies technologies on websites. Originally open-source, now a commercial product owned by Dun & Bradstreet.

Pricing:

• Free: Browser extension with basic detection (50 lookups/month)
• Starter: $99/month (1,000 lookups)
• Team: $249/month (5,000 lookups)
• Business: $449/month (10,000 lookups)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Pros:

• Browser extension works passively as you browse — see tech stacks without leaving the page
• Well-organized categories (67+ technology categories)
• API available for programmatic access
• Company and contact data bundled in paid plans

Cons:

• Free tier is very limited (50 lookups/month)
• Was open-source, now fully commercial — some community resentment
• Browser extension can slow page loading
• Accuracy has declined according to some users after the acquisition

Best for: Users who want passive tech detection while browsing and are willing to pay for API access.

4. WhatRuns​

Website: whatruns.com

What it does: Browser extension that shows the technologies used by any website you visit. Focuses on simplicity.

Pricing: Free (with optional paid plans for teams)

Pros:

• Genuinely free browser extension
• Simple, clean interface
• Detects WordPress themes and plugins specifically
• Works on any page you visit

Cons:

• Chrome extension only — no web-based lookup
• Detection accuracy is lower than BuiltWith or Wappalyzer for less common technologies
• Limited to what can be detected client-side
• No API or bulk scanning capabilities

Best for: Casual users who want a free browser extension for quick checks.

5. Stackcrawler​

Website: stackcrawler.com

What it does: Web-based technology checker with a focus on CMS and e-commerce platform detection (particularly strong at identifying Shopify stores).

Pricing: Free for individual lookups

Pros:

• Good at e-commerce platform detection (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento)
• Clean, modern interface
• No signup required
• Includes some hosting and CDN detection

Cons:

• Narrower technology coverage than BuiltWith or Wappalyzer
• E-commerce focus means it may miss SaaS tools, marketing tech, and analytics
• No bulk scanning
• Limited to major technology categories

Best for: E-commerce professionals who primarily need CMS and platform detection.

6. W3Techs​

Website: w3techs.com/sites

What it does: Academic-grade technology survey tool. Enter a URL to check specific technology categories, or browse their extensive market share reports.

Pricing: Free for site lookups; premium reports available

Pros:

• Extremely accurate for server-side technologies (web servers, programming languages, CMS)
• Trusted by researchers — their methodology is transparent and well-documented
• Market share data updated daily
• No account required

Cons:

• Doesn't detect client-side technologies well (JavaScript frameworks, analytics, marketing tools)
• Interface is functional but not pretty
• Focused on top-level technologies, not granular MarTech detection
• No API for programmatic access

Best for: Developers and researchers who need reliable server-side technology data.

7. Hexomatic Tech Stack Analyzer​

Website: hexomatic.com/tools/tech-stack-analyzer

What it does: Free tool that detects technologies used on any website, with results organized by category.

Pricing: Free tool (part of Hexomatic's automation platform; paid plans start at $20/month)

Pros:

• Detects 1,000+ technologies
• Free to use without signup
• Can be combined with Hexomatic's automation workflows for bulk scanning
• Decent accuracy for common technologies

Cons:

• Free tool shows basic results; advanced features require a Hexomatic subscription
• Slower than dedicated tech stack tools
• Part of a broader platform — not a focused tech detection product
• Detection database isn't as comprehensive as BuiltWith

Best for: Users already on Hexomatic's platform who want to add tech detection to their automation workflows.

8. Seomator Website Technology Checker​

Website: seomator.com/website-technology-checker

What it does: Free technology lookup as part of Seomator's SEO audit platform.

Pricing: Free for individual lookups

Pros:

• No signup required
• Combines tech stack data with SEO audit information
• Decent at detecting CMS, JavaScript libraries, and analytics tools

Cons:

• Limited technology database
• Primarily an SEO tool — tech detection is a secondary feature
• Results can be incomplete for non-web-standard technologies
• No bulk or API access

Best for: SEO professionals who want tech stack data as part of a broader site audit.

9. WhatCMS​

Website: whatcms.org

What it does: Focused tool for detecting Content Management Systems. Also identifies hosting providers and some web technologies.

Pricing: Free for individual lookups; API plans from $10/month

Pros:

• Best-in-class CMS detection (identifies 800+ CMS platforms)
• Also detects WordPress themes and plugins
• API available at reasonable prices
• Fast and accurate for its focus area

Cons:

• CMS-focused — doesn't detect most MarTech, analytics, or development frameworks
• Not useful if you need a full technology profile
• Limited free API calls (10/day)

Best for: Agencies and developers who primarily need to identify CMS platforms.

10. Ful.io​

Website: ful.io

What it does: Technology detection with a Chrome extension and web-based lookup. Includes contact information discovery.

Pricing: Free tier available; paid plans for team features

Pros:

• Combines tech detection with contact info discovery
• Chrome extension for passive detection
• Includes e-commerce platform identification

Cons:

• Newer tool with smaller technology database
• Free tier has usage limits
• Accuracy varies depending on the technology category
• Less established reputation

Best for: Users who want tech detection and contact data in one tool.

Quick Comparison Table​

How to Use Tech Stack Data for Sales Prospecting​

Knowing what tools a website uses is only valuable if you act on it. Here's the playbook:

1. Qualify Leads by Technology Fit​

If you sell a Salesforce integration, check if prospects actually use Salesforce before reaching out. This alone can double your reply rates by eliminating bad-fit prospects.

2. Personalize Your Outreach​

"I noticed you're running HubSpot with a WordPress site" is a dramatically better opening line than "Hi, I'd like to tell you about our product." Tech stack data makes personalization effortless.

3. Identify Competitive Displacement Opportunities​

If a prospect uses a competitor's product, you know exactly what to position against. "I see you're on Marketo — here's how teams like yours have saved 40% by switching" hits harder than a generic pitch.

4. Build Targeted Account Lists​

Filter your total addressable market by technology to create hyper-focused lists. Companies using Shopify + Klaviyo + Google Analytics represent a very different buyer than those using Magento + Salesforce + Adobe Analytics.

5. Trigger Event-Based Outreach​

If you can detect when a company adds or removes a technology, that's a buying signal. Company just added Drift? They're investing in conversational marketing and might be open to related tools.

When to Use Which Tool​

• Quick individual lookups (no signup): MarketBetter Tech Stack Detector — paste a URL, get results instantly
• Passive browsing detection: WhatRuns (free Chrome extension)
• Enterprise technographic data: BuiltWith (if you have the budget)
• Programmatic/API access: Wappalyzer or WhatCMS
• CMS-specific detection: WhatCMS
• E-commerce platform focus: Stackcrawler
• Server-side technology research: W3Techs

The Bottom Line​

For most users — especially sales reps, marketers, and founders — the best website technology checker is the one that gives you accurate results without friction. You shouldn't need to create an account, install an extension, or pay $295/month just to see what CMS a website uses.

MarketBetter's Tech Stack Detector does exactly that: paste any URL, get a comprehensive tech stack breakdown in seconds, completely free. No signup, no limits for individual lookups, no hidden paywalls.

Try it now — pick any website you're curious about and see what it's built with.

Looking for more free tools? Check out our AI Lead Generator to find buyer contacts at any company, or use the Lookalike Company Finder to discover companies similar to your best customers.

Creating a marketing plan has traditionally been a weeks-long ordeal. You gather data, research competitors, define personas, map channels, set budgets, build timelines, and create a 30-page document that — let's be honest — nobody reads after the first meeting.

What if you could generate a solid first draft in 5 minutes?

AI marketing plan generators have gone from gimmicky to genuinely useful in 2026. The best ones don't just fill in a template — they research your company, analyze your market, and produce strategic recommendations that are surprisingly on-target.

This guide walks through how to create an AI marketing plan, compares the tools available, and shows you how to get a complete plan in minutes using MarketBetter's free Marketing Plan Generator.

What Is an AI Marketing Plan Generator?​

An AI marketing plan generator takes basic inputs about your business — company name, industry, target audience, goals — and produces a structured marketing plan with strategy, channels, tactics, and timelines.

The best tools do more than fill in a template. They:

1. Research your company — pulling data from your website, social media, and public sources
2. Analyze your market — identifying competitors, market trends, and opportunities
3. Recommend channels — suggesting the most effective marketing channels for your specific business
4. Propose tactics — offering concrete, actionable steps, not vague strategic platitudes
5. Suggest budgets — providing realistic budget allocations based on your company size and goals
6. Set timelines — creating a phased roadmap with milestones

Why Use AI to Generate a Marketing Plan?​

Speed​

A traditional marketing plan takes 2-4 weeks to research, write, and refine. An AI-generated first draft takes 5 minutes. Even if you spend 2-3 hours refining and customizing the AI output, you've saved 80%+ of the time.

Comprehensive Coverage​

Marketing plans often have blind spots. You focus on the channels you know and ignore ones you don't. AI tools consider all viable channels and tactics, reducing the risk of missing opportunities.

Data-Driven Recommendations​

AI generators can pull from vast amounts of data about what works for similar businesses. A human marketer might have experience with 5-10 companies in your space. An AI has been trained on thousands.

Starting Point, Not Finished Product​

The best use of AI marketing plans isn't to replace human thinking — it's to accelerate it. Having a structured first draft to react to is dramatically faster than starting from a blank page. You can agree, disagree, modify, and add your unique insights to an existing framework.

Accessibility​

Not every company has a marketing team. Founders, solopreneurs, and small teams often skip marketing plans entirely because they're intimidating to create. AI generators make strategic marketing accessible to everyone.

How to Create an AI Marketing Plan (Step by Step)​

Step 1: Choose Your Tool​

Here's a quick comparison of the major options:

MarketBetter Marketing Plan Generator — Free, no signup, AI-researched plan based on your company

• Input: Company name or URL
• Output: Full marketing plan with strategy, channels, tactics, and timelines
• Unique value: AI researches your company, competitors, and market automatically
• Cost: Free

Venngage AI Marketing Plan Generator — Free, template-focused

• Input: Business description, goals, audience
• Output: Visual marketing plan using templates
• Unique value: Beautiful visual output with editable templates
• Cost: Free (limited), Pro from $10/month

Visme AI Marketing Plan Generator — Free, design-centric

• Input: Text prompts about your business
• Output: Designed marketing plan presentation
• Unique value: Polished presentation-ready output
• Cost: Free (limited), Starter from $12.25/month

FounderPal Marketing Strategy Generator — Free, solopreneur-focused

• Input: Product description, target audience, goals
• Output: Marketing strategy with positioning, channels, and tactics
• Unique value: Built specifically for solopreneurs and indie founders
• Cost: Free (basic), Pro from $49 one-time

Piktochart AI Marketing Plan Generator — Free, infographic-style

• Input: Content about your business
• Output: Visual marketing plan
• Unique value: Infographic-style output
• Cost: Free (limited), Pro from $14/month

Easy-Peasy.AI Marketing Plan Generator — Free, text-based

• Input: Business name, industry, goals, audience
• Output: Text-based marketing plan
• Unique value: Simple, fast text output
• Cost: Free (limited), Plus from $9.99/month

Taskade AI Marketing Plan — Free, collaborative

• Input: Prompts about your marketing needs
• Output: Structured marketing plan in workspace format
• Unique value: Team collaboration features
• Cost: Free (limited), Pro from $8/user/month

Step 2: Provide Your Business Information​

The quality of your AI marketing plan directly correlates with the quality of your inputs. Here's what to prepare:

Essential inputs:

• Company name and website URL
• Industry and sub-industry
• Target audience (who are you trying to reach?)
• Main product/service and key differentiators
• Primary marketing goals (awareness, leads, sales, retention)
• Current stage (startup, growth, established)

Optional but helpful:

• Current marketing budget (even a rough range)
• Existing channels that work
• Main competitors
• Specific challenges or constraints
• Timeline (next quarter, next year)

Pro tip: With MarketBetter's Marketing Plan Generator, you only need your company name or URL. The AI researches everything else automatically from your website and public data.

Step 3: Generate and Review​

Once you submit your inputs, the AI generates a plan. Here's what a good AI marketing plan should include:

1. Executive Summary

• Business overview
• Key goals and objectives
• Target market summary

2. Market Analysis

• Industry overview and trends
• Competitive landscape
• Target audience personas
• SWOT analysis

3. Marketing Strategy

• Positioning statement
• Key messages and value proposition
• Brand voice and tone guidelines

4. Channel Strategy

• Recommended channels (content marketing, paid ads, social media, email, SEO, events, partnerships)
• Why each channel is recommended for your specific business
• Effort/impact analysis for channel prioritization

5. Tactical Plan

• Specific activities per channel
• Content calendar outline
• Campaign concepts
• Key milestones

6. Budget Allocation

• Recommended spend per channel
• Tool and resource costs
• Expected ROI by channel

7. Metrics and KPIs

• Key metrics to track per channel
• Reporting cadence
• Success benchmarks

Step 4: Customize and Refine​

The AI output is your starting point. Here's how to refine it:

Add your institutional knowledge. AI doesn't know that your CEO hates TikTok, that your best customer came from a podcast appearance, or that you tried Google Ads last year and lost money. Layer in what you know.

Prioritize ruthlessly. An AI plan might recommend 8 channels. If you're a 3-person team, pick 2-3 and do them well. Add the others to a "future consideration" list.

Set realistic budgets. AI budget recommendations are based on industry averages. Adjust based on your actual resources. A $5K/month marketing budget requires different tactics than a $50K/month one.

Add timelines and owners. AI plans are often light on who-does-what-by-when. Assign specific team members and deadlines to each tactic.

Validate channel recommendations. If the AI recommends LinkedIn as your top channel, does that match where your audience actually spends time? Cross-reference with your sales team's experience and your analytics data.

What Makes MarketBetter's Generator Different​

Most AI marketing plan generators are essentially prompt wrappers around ChatGPT. You fill in a form, it sends your inputs to an LLM with a template prompt, and you get generic output.

MarketBetter's Marketing Plan Generator works differently:

1. Automatic Company Research​

Enter just your company name or URL. The AI scrapes and analyzes your website, identifies your products, understands your positioning, and pulls relevant market data — before generating the plan. You don't have to describe your business; it figures it out.

2. Competitor-Aware Strategy​

The generator identifies your likely competitors and incorporates competitive positioning into its recommendations. Instead of generic channel suggestions, you get tactics that account for what your competitors are already doing.

3. Industry-Specific Recommendations​

A SaaS company's marketing plan should look nothing like a local restaurant's. MarketBetter's generator tailors channel mix, tactics, content types, and budget allocation to your specific industry and business model.

4. Actionable Specificity​

Instead of "do content marketing," you get recommendations like "publish 2 long-form comparison articles per month targeting [specific keywords] and promote via LinkedIn organic posts." Specific enough to act on immediately.

5. Free, No Signup​

No account creation. No credit card. No "freemium" with the good parts locked behind a paywall. Generate as many plans as you want.

Real-World Example: Creating a Marketing Plan for a SaaS Startup​

Let's walk through a real example. Imagine you're the marketing lead at a Series A B2B SaaS company that sells project management software to construction companies.

Input: Company URL (let's say constructionpm.io)

AI-generated plan highlights:

Target Audience: Construction project managers, general contractors, and operations directors at mid-size construction firms (50-500 employees)

Positioning: "The only project management tool built specifically for construction workflows — with field reporting, subcontractor tracking, and compliance documentation built in."

Recommended Channel Mix:

1. SEO/Content Marketing (40% of budget) — Target keywords like "construction project management software," "field reporting app for contractors," and "construction scheduling tool"
2. LinkedIn (25% of budget) — Sponsored content targeting construction industry titles + organic thought leadership
3. Industry Events (20% of budget) — Booth at ConExpo, World of Concrete, and regional construction tech events
4. Google Ads (15% of budget) — High-intent search campaigns for comparison keywords

Specific Tactics:

• Publish weekly blog content on construction management best practices
• Create comparison pages: "[Brand] vs Procore," "[Brand] vs Buildertrend"
• Launch a "Construction PM of the Month" spotlight series on LinkedIn
• Build a free construction project template library for lead generation
• Partner with construction industry associations for co-branded webinars

Metrics:

• Website traffic from organic search (target: 2x in 6 months)
• Demo requests per month (target: 50/month by month 6)
• Marketing-qualified leads (target: 150/month)
• Customer acquisition cost (target: <$500)

Total time to generate: ~3 minutes

This plan isn't perfect out of the box — you'd adjust based on your actual budget, team size, and what you know about your market. But it's a dramatically better starting point than a blank Google Doc.

When AI Marketing Plans Work Best​

1. Early-Stage Companies​

Startups and early-stage companies benefit most because they often lack marketing expertise on the team. An AI plan provides structure and direction when you're figuring things out.

2. Annual Planning Season​

When it's time to create next year's marketing plan, AI generates a solid first draft that your team can refine — saving weeks of planning meetings.

3. New Market Entry​

Launching in a new vertical or geography? AI can quickly analyze the new market and suggest an initial marketing approach.

4. Board Presentations​

Need to put together a marketing strategy slide for your board meeting by Friday? Generate a plan, pull the key points, and present with confidence.

5. Freelancer/Agency Onboarding​

If you're hiring a marketing agency or freelancer, generating an AI plan first ensures you have clear direction to share. It prevents the "we'll figure out strategy in month one" delay.

Limitations of AI Marketing Plans​

Be honest about what AI can't do:

• No proprietary insights — AI doesn't know your customer conversations, your sales team's feedback, or your unique competitive advantages that aren't public
• Generic benchmarks — Budget and KPI recommendations are industry averages, not tailored to your specific situation
• No brand personality — AI can suggest tone guidelines but can't capture your unique brand voice
• Snapshot, not dynamic — A plan generated today doesn't update as conditions change
• Execution gap — Even the best plan is worthless without execution. AI creates the plan; you still have to do the work

The best approach: AI generates the framework. Your team adds the insight, judgment, and execution.

Start Your Marketing Plan Now​

Stop staring at a blank page. Stop scheduling "strategy brainstorm" meetings. Stop paying agencies $5K to tell you what an AI can tell you for free.

Generate your free AI marketing plan →

Enter your company name or URL. Get a comprehensive, AI-researched marketing plan in minutes. No signup, no credit card, completely free.

Once your plan is ready, use our other free tools to execute: check your AI Brand Visibility to understand your current position, find Lookalike Companies for your target accounts, or use the AI Lead Generator to find buyer contacts at your target companies.

Here's a question every marketer should be asking in 2026: What does ChatGPT say when someone asks about your company?

Not Google. Not Bing. ChatGPT. Gemini. Claude. Perplexity.

Over 400 million people use ChatGPT weekly as of early 2026. Millions more use Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity as their primary research tools. When a potential buyer asks an AI model "What's the best CRM for small businesses?" or "Who are the top B2B sales tools?" — your brand either shows up in that answer, or it doesn't.

And unlike Google, where you can check your ranking by searching yourself, you can't easily monitor what AI models say about your brand. The responses change based on context, conversation history, and model updates. What ChatGPT said last month might be completely different from what it says today.

This is the new SEO. And most companies are flying blind.

Why AI Brand Visibility Matters​

The Shift from Search to AI Answers​

Traditional SEO focused on ranking in Google's blue links. Then featured snippets changed the game. Now, AI-powered answer engines are changing it again.

When someone asks ChatGPT "What are the best project management tools?", they get a curated list with explanations — not 10 blue links to click through. If your brand isn't in that AI-generated answer, you're invisible to a growing segment of your audience.

Key stats:

• ChatGPT handles over 1 billion queries per week (OpenAI, January 2026)
• 65% of ChatGPT users report using it to research products and services before buying (Forrester, 2025)
• Perplexity processes 25M+ queries daily, up from 10M in early 2025
• Google AI Overviews now appear on 30%+ of search results pages

What This Means for Your Business​

1. Lost discovery opportunities — If AI models don't mention your brand when users ask relevant questions, you're losing potential customers to competitors who do appear.

2. Reputation you can't control — AI models may describe your company inaccurately, mention outdated information, or position you unfavorably compared to competitors. If you don't know what they're saying, you can't fix it.

3. Competitive blind spots — Your competitors might be showing up in AI answers for your core keywords while you're not. Traditional SEO rank tracking won't catch this.

4. Content strategy gaps — If AI models consistently recommend competitors for certain queries, it reveals gaps in your content and authority that you need to address.

How AI Models Decide What to Say About Your Brand​

Understanding how LLMs form opinions about brands helps you influence them. Here's what matters:

Training Data​

AI models are trained on massive datasets of web content. If your brand appears frequently in authoritative sources — industry publications, review sites, news articles, blog posts — the model is more likely to mention you in relevant contexts.

Recency and Authority​

Models like ChatGPT (with web browsing enabled), Perplexity, and Gemini pull from recent sources. Having fresh, authoritative content about your brand increases your chances of being mentioned.

Semantic Association​

LLMs understand concepts, not just keywords. If your brand is consistently associated with specific solutions (e.g., "MarketBetter" + "sales intelligence" + "B2B"), the model builds that semantic connection and surfaces it in relevant queries.

Reviews and Third-Party Mentions​

G2 reviews, Capterra listings, Reddit discussions, and industry analyst reports all contribute to how AI models perceive and describe your brand. First-party content alone isn't enough.

Structured Data and Content Architecture​

Well-structured content (schema markup, clear headings, definitive statements like "X is a platform that does Y") makes it easier for AI models to extract and cite information about your brand.

How to Check Your AI Brand Visibility​

The Manual Method (Time-Consuming)​

You can manually check by:

1. Opening ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity
2. Asking questions your target audience would ask (e.g., "What are the best [your category] tools?")
3. Checking if your brand appears in the responses
4. Documenting the results
5. Repeating weekly to track changes

Problems with this approach:

• AI responses vary by conversation context, so you might get different answers each time
• Checking across 4+ AI platforms manually is tedious
• No way to track trends over time
• You'll inevitably miss important queries you should be monitoring

The Automated Method (What Tools Exist)​

Several paid tools have emerged to address this:

• Otterly.ai — Tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Starts at ~$29/month.
• SE Ranking Visible — ChatGPT visibility tracking integrated with their SEO platform. Plans from $65/month.
• Profound — AI search optimization platform with real-time visibility monitoring. Enterprise pricing.
• Frase AI Visibility — Multi-platform tracking for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. Part of Frase's content platform.
• GenRank — Tracks brand mentions and citations in ChatGPT responses. Newer tool.
• AIclicks — AI search optimization and visibility tool for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

Most of these tools are aimed at enterprise SEO teams with monthly budgets of $100-$1,000+.

The Free Method: MarketBetter AI Brand Visibility​

MarketBetter's AI Brand Visibility tool lets you check what AI models say about your brand — completely free.

How it works:

1. Enter your company name or brand
2. The tool queries multiple AI models with the types of questions your target audience would ask
3. You get a clear report showing:
   • Whether AI models mention your brand
   • How your brand is described and positioned
   • Which competitors appear alongside you
   • The sentiment and accuracy of mentions
   • Recommendations for improving your AI visibility

Why it's different from the paid alternatives:

• Free — no signup required, no credit card
• Instant results — see what AI says about your brand in seconds
• Actionable insights — not just raw data, but specific recommendations
• Multi-model coverage — checks across major AI platforms

How to Improve Your AI Brand Visibility​

Once you know where you stand, here's how to improve:

1. Create Definitive, Authoritative Content​

AI models prefer clear, authoritative statements. Instead of vague marketing copy, publish content that definitively describes what you do:

Weak: "We help companies grow with innovative solutions." Strong: "MarketBetter is a B2B sales intelligence platform that tracks job changes, identifies website visitors, and automates personalized outreach."

2. Get Listed on Review Sites​

G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, and similar platforms are heavily referenced by AI models. If you have fewer than 10 reviews on major platforms, that's your biggest gap.

Action items:

• Create profiles on G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius
• Ask 10-20 customers to leave honest reviews
• Respond to every review (positive and negative)
• Keep your product descriptions current

3. Earn Third-Party Coverage​

AI models weight third-party mentions heavily. Being mentioned in:

• Industry publications (TechCrunch, SaaStr, etc.)
• Comparison articles on other blogs
• Podcast transcripts
• Reddit and community discussions

...all contribute to your brand's AI visibility.

4. Publish Comparison and "Best Of" Content​

AI models frequently reference "best of" and comparison content. Publishing your own comparisons (honestly, including competitors) helps models understand where your brand fits in the landscape.

5. Use Schema Markup and Structured Data​

Help AI models understand your brand by implementing:

• Organization schema on your homepage
• Product schema on feature pages
• FAQ schema on relevant pages
• Review/rating schema where applicable

6. Monitor and Iterate​

AI brand visibility isn't a one-time fix. Models update regularly, competitors publish new content, and the AI landscape evolves. Check your visibility monthly and adjust your strategy.

What Queries Should You Monitor?​

Focus on the queries your buyers actually ask:

Category Queries​

• "What are the best [your category] tools?"
• "Top [your category] platforms in 2026"
• "Best free [your category] tools"

Comparison Queries​

• "[Your brand] vs [competitor]"
• "[Competitor] alternatives"
• "Is [your brand] good?"

Solution Queries​

• "How to [solve the problem your product addresses]"
• "Best way to [accomplish the task your product helps with]"
• "Tools for [your use case]"

Brand Queries​

• "What is [your brand]?"
• "What does [your brand] do?"
• "[Your brand] pricing"
• "[Your brand] reviews"

The Future of AI Brand Visibility​

This space is evolving fast. Here's what's coming:

• AI-powered ads — OpenAI, Google, and others are experimenting with sponsored placements in AI responses. If you're not visible organically now, you'll be paying for visibility later.
• Citation-based ranking — As AI models add more citations to their responses, the quality and quantity of sources mentioning your brand becomes even more important.
• Real-time brand monitoring — Tools will evolve to alert you when AI model responses about your brand change, similar to Google Alerts but for AI.
• AI SEO as a discipline — Just as SEO became a core marketing function, "AI SEO" or "LLM optimization" is becoming its own discipline with dedicated roles and budgets.

Start Checking Your AI Brand Visibility Now​

The first step is knowing where you stand. Most companies have never checked what AI models say about them — and many are surprised (often unpleasantly) when they do.

Try MarketBetter's free AI Brand Visibility tool →

Enter your brand name, see what AI thinks about you, and get actionable recommendations for improving your visibility. No signup required.

Want to take action on what you learn? Use our Tech Stack Detector to research competitors' technology, or generate a full AI Marketing Plan to improve your brand's online presence.

Your best customer — the one that closed fast, expanded twice, and has never complained — is not unique. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of companies that look just like them: same industry, similar size, comparable tech stack, facing the same problems.

If you could find those companies systematically, you'd have the most productive prospect list in your entire pipeline.

That's the idea behind lookalike company finding: start with your best customers, identify what makes them great, and find more companies that match. It's how Facebook Ads (now Meta) revolutionized advertising — and it works just as well for B2B sales prospecting.

Yet most B2B sales teams still build prospect lists the old way: filtering by industry and company size in a database, then hoping for the best. It's a blunt instrument. You end up with thousands of "technically-fit" companies, most of which will never buy.

This guide explains how lookalike modeling works for B2B sales, compares the tools available, and shows you how to find companies similar to your best customers — starting for free.

What Is Lookalike Company Finding?​

Lookalike company finding is the process of identifying companies that share key characteristics with your existing customers — particularly your best customers.

Instead of defining your ideal customer profile (ICP) from scratch using industry, size, and location filters, you let the data tell you what your best customers have in common. Then you find more companies that match those patterns.

How It Differs from Traditional Prospecting​

Traditional approach:

1. Define ICP manually (e.g., "SaaS companies, 50-500 employees, US-based")
2. Search a database with those filters
3. Get 10,000+ results
4. Manually sort through to find the good ones
5. Discover that most don't respond because the targeting was too broad

Lookalike approach:

1. Start with 10-20 of your best customers
2. AI analyzes what they have in common (beyond obvious firmographics)
3. Get a ranked list of companies that match, sorted by similarity score
4. Focus outreach on the highest-similarity matches
5. Get dramatically higher response and close rates

The difference is signal density. Traditional filters are binary (yes/no on each criteria). Lookalike models consider dozens of weighted attributes simultaneously, producing a similarity score that tells you exactly how closely a prospect resembles your best customers.

What Makes a Good Lookalike Model?​

Not all lookalike tools are created equal. The best ones consider these dimensions:

1. Firmographics (The Basics)​

• Industry and sub-industry (NAICS/SIC codes)
• Company size (employees, revenue)
• Location (HQ, offices)
• Founding year and growth stage

2. Technographics (What They Use)​

• Technology stack (CRM, marketing automation, analytics)
• Development frameworks and infrastructure
• SaaS tools and integrations

3. Business Model Similarity​

• Revenue model (SaaS, marketplace, services)
• Customer type (B2B, B2C, B2B2C)
• Sales motion (PLG, enterprise sales, channel)

4. Growth Signals​

• Hiring velocity (especially in relevant departments)
• Funding history and stage
• Recent news and expansions

5. Digital Presence​

• Website traffic and engagement
• Content marketing activity
• Social media presence

6. Buying Behavior Indicators​

• Previous technology purchases
• Conference attendance
• Content consumption patterns

The more dimensions a tool considers, the more accurate the lookalike matches will be.

Tools for Finding Lookalike Companies​

MarketBetter Lookalike Company Finder (Best Free Option)​

Website: tools.marketbetter.ai/lookalike-finder

How it works:

1. Enter the name or URL of your best customer
2. AI analyzes the company across multiple dimensions (industry, size, tech stack, business model, growth signals)
3. Get a ranked list of similar companies with similarity scores
4. Export results for outreach

Pricing: Completely free. No signup required.

Why it stands out:

• Zero friction — paste a company name or URL, get results instantly
• AI-powered matching — considers more than just industry and size
• Similarity scoring — ranked results so you know which prospects are closest to your ICP
• Free and unlimited for individual lookups
• Actionable output — results you can immediately use for prospecting

Best for: Sales reps, founders, and small teams who want to quickly find companies similar to their best customers without paying for expensive data platforms.

Instantly (SuperSearch)​

Website: instantly.ai

Instantly's SuperSearch feature includes lookalike company discovery as part of their outreach platform.

How it works: Upload your best customer domains, set filters (industry, size, location), and get similar companies ranked by fit.

Pricing: Free trial available; paid plans from $30/month (outreach), data add-ons extra

Pros: Integrated with email outreach platform, verified contacts included, good UI Cons: Lookalike is part of a larger platform — can't use it standalone, data credits have limits

La Growth Machine​

Website: lagrowthmachine.com

LGM's Lookalike Search lets you enter a company URL and get companies ranked by similarity score.

How it works: Enter a company URL, apply filters (industry, company size, location), browse results ranked by similarity.

Pricing: Plans from €50/month (includes outreach features)

Pros: Similarity scoring, integrated with LinkedIn outreach, good European coverage Cons: Can't use lookalike search without the full platform, limited free usage

Surfe​

Website: surfe.com

Surfe offers company search with smart lookalikes, integrated into their CRM-LinkedIn bridge.

How it works: Search from a database of 350M+ companies, with lookalike matching based on firmographic attributes.

Pricing: Free tier available; paid plans from $39/month

Pros: Large database, LinkedIn integration, CRM sync Cons: Lookalike is one feature among many, limited free tier

Coresignal​

Website: coresignal.com

Data provider offering a "Find Similar Companies" tool based on multiple firmographic and growth attributes.

How it works: Enter a company, get similar companies based on employee data, growth patterns, and firmographic matching.

Pricing: Enterprise/API pricing (contact for quotes)

Pros: Deep data (based on 700M+ professional profiles), growth signals, investor-grade data Cons: Enterprise-focused and expensive, not designed for individual sales reps

Clay​

Website: clay.com

Clay's enrichment platform can build lookalike lists using multiple data sources.

How it works: Import your customer list, use Clay's 75+ enrichment sources to find patterns, then search for similar companies.

Pricing: Free tier (100 credits/month); paid plans from $134/month

Pros: Extremely flexible, combines multiple data sources, customizable scoring Cons: Requires setup and configuration, not a one-click solution, credits-based pricing adds up fast

Apollo.io​

Website: apollo.io

Apollo's database of 275M+ contacts includes company search with advanced filters.

How it works: Search companies by industry, size, technology, and other attributes. No native "lookalike" feature, but you can replicate it by analyzing best customers and applying similar filters.

Pricing: Free tier (unlimited emails, limited features); paid from $49/user/month

Pros: Large database, includes contact data, integrated outreach Cons: No true lookalike search — you're manually building equivalent filter sets

How to Build Your Lookalike Prospect List (Step by Step)​

Step 1: Identify Your Seed Companies​

Start with 10-20 of your best customers. "Best" should mean:

• Fastest time to close — they bought without a long sales cycle
• Highest lifetime value — they expanded or renewed
• Lowest churn risk — they're actively using your product
• Best advocacy — they refer others or leave positive reviews

Don't include one-off wins or customers acquired through unusual channels (e.g., a personal connection). You want customers who bought because of genuine fit.

Step 2: Analyze What They Have in Common​

Look beyond the obvious. Yes, they might all be "mid-market SaaS companies," but dig deeper:

• What specific sub-industry? (e.g., not just "SaaS" but "vertical SaaS for healthcare")
• What growth stage? (Series A? Series C? Bootstrapped?)
• What tech stack? Use MarketBetter's Tech Stack Detector to check
• What departments are growing? (Hiring SDRs? Building a marketing team?)
• How do they sell? (PLG? Enterprise? Channel?)

Document the 5-10 attributes that your best customers share. This is your real ICP — not the one your VP of Sales wrote on a whiteboard, but the one validated by actual buying behavior.

Step 3: Run the Lookalike Search​

Enter your seed companies into MarketBetter's Lookalike Company Finder. Review the results, paying attention to:

• Similarity scores — higher is better, but don't ignore medium-similarity companies entirely
• Companies you recognize — if the tool surfaces companies you already know are good fits but haven't prospected, that's validation the model is working
• Surprises — companies you wouldn't have found through traditional filtering are where the real value lives

Step 4: Enrich and Qualify​

For your top lookalike matches, add additional qualifying data:

• Contacts: Use the AI Lead Generator to find buyer contacts
• Tech stack: Verify technology fit with the Tech Stack Detector
• Recent signals: Check for hiring, funding, product launches, or conference attendance

Step 5: Prioritize and Sequence​

Rank your final list by:

1. Similarity score (highest first)
2. Timing signals (recently raised funding, hiring relevant roles)
3. Accessibility (do you have a warm connection? Are they in your territory?)

Then build your outreach sequences — starting with the highest-priority accounts.

Why Lookalike Prospecting Outperforms Traditional Targeting​

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 2-3x higher response rates compared to broadly-filtered cold outreach (Instantly customer data, 2025)
• 40% shorter sales cycles when prospects closely match your ICP (Gong Labs research)
• 30% higher win rates on ICP-matched deals (TOPO/Gartner research)

This makes intuitive sense: if your best customer is a Series B vertical SaaS company with 100-300 employees using HubSpot and Intercom, and you find another company with those exact characteristics, your pitch is already battle-tested. You know the pain points, the objections, and the value proposition that works.

Common Mistakes in Lookalike Prospecting​

1. Using Too Few Seed Companies​

With only 2-3 seeds, the model can't identify meaningful patterns. Use 10-20 for reliable results.

2. Including Bad Customers as Seeds​

That enterprise customer who churned after 3 months? Don't use them as a seed. You want to find more companies like your best customers, not your worst ones.

3. Ignoring the Similarity Scores​

Not all lookalikes are equal. A company with 95% similarity is fundamentally different from one with 60% similarity. Prioritize accordingly.

4. Skipping Enrichment​

Lookalike data tells you which companies to target. You still need to find the right people at those companies, understand their current situation, and personalize your outreach.

5. Set-and-Forget Mentality​

Your ICP evolves as you close more deals and learn what works. Re-run your lookalike analysis quarterly with updated seed lists.

Get Started: Find Your Lookalike Companies​

The fastest way to build a high-quality prospect list is to start with what's already working and find more of it.

Try MarketBetter's free Lookalike Company Finder →

Enter your best customer's name or URL, and get a ranked list of similar companies in seconds. No signup required, completely free.

Found companies you want to prospect? Use our AI Lead Generator to find buyer contacts, or check their Tech Stack to qualify by technology fit. Need help with outreach? The GiftDM Copilot creates personalized gifts and LinkedIn messages for your top prospects.

It's Tuesday morning. Your sales team is prepping for the biggest trade show of the year. You need a list of every exhibitor, speaker, and sponsor — with company names, booth numbers, descriptions, and ideally contact info — so you can prioritize who to visit and who to prospect before the event.

You go to the conference website. The exhibitor list is there: 400+ companies spread across an interactive floor plan with infinite scroll, lazy-loaded cards, and no export button.

So you start copying and pasting.

Company name. Tab. Description. Tab. Website. Tab. Next company. Repeat 400 times.

This is the reality for thousands of SDRs, AEs, and marketing teams every year. Conference and trade show websites are designed for attendees to browse — not for sales teams to extract. The data is right there, but getting it into a usable format (a spreadsheet, a CSV, your CRM) is absurdly painful.

There's a better way.

Why Conference Lists Are Gold for Sales Teams​

Conference exhibitor, speaker, and sponsor lists are among the highest-quality prospecting sources available:

1. Pre-Qualified by Budget​

Companies that pay $5,000-$50,000+ for a booth at a trade show have budget. They're investing in growth. That's a buying signal you can't get from a cold database.

2. Industry-Specific Targeting​

A cybersecurity conference exhibitor list is a curated list of cybersecurity companies. A SaaS conference speaker list is a roster of SaaS leaders. No filtering required — the conference organizer already did it for you.

3. Timely and Relevant​

Conference lists are current. These companies are actively participating in industry events right now, which means they're engaged, investing, and accessible.

4. Multi-Stakeholder Data​

Speaker lists give you names of decision-makers. Exhibitor lists give you company profiles. Sponsor lists tell you who has the biggest budgets. Combined, it's a complete prospecting package.

5. Pre-Event Outreach Advantage​

The most successful conference prospecting happens before the event. If you can email or LinkedIn-message an exhibitor before the show with "I saw you're exhibiting at [event] — I'll be at Booth 342, would love to connect," your meeting rate goes through the roof.

The Pain of Manual Conference Data Extraction​

Let's be honest about what manual extraction looks like:

Time cost: A typical conference with 300 exhibitors takes 4-6 hours to manually copy into a spreadsheet. That's nearly a full working day.

Error rate: Copy-paste errors are inevitable. Company names get truncated, URLs get mangled, descriptions get partially captured.

Format inconsistency: Different conferences structure their data differently. Some have separate pages per exhibitor. Others use interactive maps. Others use accordion-style lists. Each requires a different manual approach.

Dynamic content problems: Many conference sites use JavaScript-heavy frameworks (React, Angular) that render exhibitor data dynamically. You can't even "View Source" to find the data — it's loaded asynchronously.

Repetitive across events: If your team attends 10+ events per year, you're burning 40-60 hours annually just copying exhibitor data. That's a full work week of pure drudgery.

Methods for Extracting Conference Data​

Method 1: Manual Copy-Paste (The Hard Way)​

Process: Open the conference website, manually select each exhibitor's name, description, and details, paste into a spreadsheet.

Pros: No tools required, works on any site Cons: Extremely time-consuming, error-prone, soul-crushing

Time per event: 4-8 hours for 300 exhibitors

Method 2: Browser Extensions (Semi-Automated)​

Tools like Instant Data Scraper (Chrome extension) can detect tables on web pages and export them.

Process: Install the extension, navigate to the exhibitor page, click the extension, hope it detects the right data, export to CSV.

Pros: Free, fast when it works Cons: Only works on simple HTML tables. Fails completely on dynamically-loaded content, interactive maps, and paginated lists. Captures lots of irrelevant data. Requires manual cleanup.

Success rate: Works on maybe 20% of conference websites. Most modern event sites use dynamic rendering that breaks these extensions.

Method 3: Custom Python Scripts (Technical)​

For developers, writing a custom scraper using libraries like Scrapy, BeautifulSoup, or Playwright is an option.

Process: Inspect the conference website's HTML structure, write a Python script to extract the relevant elements, handle pagination and dynamic loading, export to CSV.

# Example: Scraping a simple exhibitor list with BeautifulSoup
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

url = "https://example-conference.com/exhibitors"
response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')

exhibitors = []
for card in soup.find_all('div', class_='exhibitor-card'):
    name = card.find('h3').text.strip()
    desc = card.find('p', class_='description').text.strip()
    exhibitors.append({'name': name, 'description': desc})

Pros: Highly customizable, handles complex sites, can be reused Cons: Requires programming skills, breaks when site structure changes, needs to be rebuilt for each conference site, can take hours to debug JavaScript-rendered content

Time investment: 2-4 hours to write and debug per conference site

Method 4: Apify Actors (Platform-Dependent)​

Apify offers pre-built scrapers ("Actors") for specific conference platforms like Map Your Show, 10times, and Xporience.

Process: Find the right Actor for your conference platform, input the URL, run the scraper, download results.

Pros: Pre-built for specific platforms, handles dynamic content, outputs structured data Cons: Only works for supported platforms (many conference sites aren't covered), requires an Apify account, costs credits for large runs, doesn't work for custom-built conference websites

Pricing: Free tier includes some usage; paid plans from $49/month

Method 5: Web Scraping Services (Expensive)​

Companies like WebScrapingExpert and ScrapeHero offer custom scraping as a service.

Process: Submit the conference URL, they build a custom scraper, deliver results in 24-48 hours.

Pros: Hands-off, handles any site Cons: Expensive ($50-$500+ per project), slow turnaround, not practical for frequent use

Method 6: MarketBetter Conference Scraper (Free, Any Site)​

MarketBetter's Conference Scraper takes a completely different approach: paste any conference URL and get structured CSVs of speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors.

How it works:

1. Paste the conference website URL
2. The AI-powered scraper analyzes the site structure, navigates through exhibitor directories, speaker pages, and sponsor lists
3. You get downloadable CSVs with structured data: company names, descriptions, booth numbers, speaker names, titles, and topics

Why it's different:

• Works on any conference website — not limited to specific platforms like Map Your Show or Eventbrite
• AI-powered navigation — handles dynamic content, infinite scroll, paginated lists, and JavaScript-rendered pages
• Multiple data types — extracts speakers, exhibitors, AND sponsors in one pass
• Structured output — clean CSVs ready for import into your CRM or outreach tool
• Completely free — no account, no credits, no per-use charges

Time per event: 2-5 minutes (versus 4-8 hours manually)

The Conference Prospecting Workflow​

Here's the complete workflow for turning conference data into booked meetings:

Step 1: Extract the Data​

Use MarketBetter's Conference Scraper to pull exhibitor, speaker, and sponsor lists from your target conference.

Step 2: Enrich with Contact Data​

Conference lists give you company names, but you need individual contacts. Use tools like:

• MarketBetter AI Lead Generator — find buyer contacts at each company on LinkedIn
• Apollo.io — search for contacts by company and title
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator — find decision-makers at target companies

Step 3: Prioritize by Fit​

Not every exhibitor is a good prospect. Score your list by:

• Company size — do they fit your ICP?
• Industry fit — are they in your target vertical?
• Technology fit — use our Tech Stack Detector to check if they use compatible/competitive technology
• Sponsor level — Platinum sponsors have bigger budgets than basic exhibitors

Step 4: Pre-Event Outreach​

Reach out 2-4 weeks before the event:

Email template:

Hi [Name],

I noticed [Company] is exhibiting at [Conference] — we'll be there too.

[One sentence about what you do and why it's relevant to them]

Would love to grab 15 minutes at the event. Are you available on [day]?

LinkedIn message template:

Hey [Name], saw you're speaking at [Conference] on [topic]. Really looking forward to your session.

We work with companies like [similar company] on [relevant problem]. Would be great to connect while we're both there.

Step 5: At-Event Meetings​

With pre-scheduled meetings, your conference ROI multiplies. Instead of wandering the floor hoping for productive conversations, you arrive with a full calendar.

Step 6: Post-Event Follow-Up​

Within 48 hours of the event, follow up with everyone you met and everyone who didn't respond to pre-event outreach:

Great connecting at [Conference], [Name]. As discussed, [reference specific conversation point].

Here's [the resource/demo/proposal] I mentioned. Would [date] work for a follow-up call?

Real-World Example: SaaStr Annual​

Let's say your team is attending SaaStr Annual, one of the largest SaaS conferences with 300+ exhibitors and 200+ speakers.

Manual approach:

• Time to extract exhibitor list: ~6 hours
• Time to extract speaker list: ~3 hours
• Total data extraction: 9+ hours
• Result: One messy spreadsheet with inconsistent formatting

MarketBetter Conference Scraper approach:

• Paste the SaaStr exhibitor page URL
• Wait 3-5 minutes
• Download clean CSVs of exhibitors, speakers, and sponsors
• Total data extraction: 5 minutes
• Result: Three clean, structured CSVs ready for CRM import

Time saved: 8+ hours per event. Multiply that by 10 events per year, and you've reclaimed 80+ hours of productive selling time.

Tips for Effective Conference Prospecting​

Start Early​

The best conference prospecting starts 4-6 weeks before the event. Exhibitor lists are usually published 2-3 months in advance. Don't wait until the week before.

Focus on Speakers​

Conference speakers are typically senior leaders (VP+) who are active in the industry and open to networking. They're often higher-quality prospects than random booth visitors.

Layer Multiple Data Sources​

Combine conference data with:

• Lookalike Company Finder to find similar companies not at the conference
• Tech Stack Detector to qualify by technology fit
• LinkedIn to research individual contacts

Track Your Metrics​

Measure conference prospecting ROI:

• Pre-event emails sent
• Meetings booked before the event
• Meetings held at the event
• Deals generated from conference contacts
• Revenue attributed to conference prospecting

Get Started​

Stop manually copying exhibitor data from conference websites. Paste any conference URL into MarketBetter's free Conference Scraper and get structured CSVs of speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors in minutes.

Try the Conference Scraper free →

Once you have your conference list, use our AI Lead Generator to find buyer contacts at each company, or try the GiftDM Copilot to personalize outreach gifts for your top prospects.

Your prospect's inbox has 127 unread emails. Your cold call went to voicemail. Your LinkedIn connection request is sitting in a queue of 40+ pending invitations.

Then a package arrives at their desk. A book they've been meaning to read — one that's eerily relevant to a challenge they mentioned in a recent LinkedIn post. With a handwritten note that references their keynote at last month's conference.

They respond within the hour.

This is the power of personalized sales gifting. Not swag. Not branded mugs with your logo. Not generic gift cards sent to a list of 500 people. Genuinely personalized gifts that demonstrate you've done your homework and care about the person, not just the deal.

It works because of a principle as old as human psychology: reciprocity.

The Psychology of Why Gifting Works in Sales​

The Reciprocity Principle​

Robert Cialdini's research on influence identified reciprocity as one of the six fundamental principles of persuasion. When someone gives us something — especially something thoughtful and unexpected — we feel a deep, almost unconscious obligation to reciprocate.

In sales, this translates directly:

• Reachdesk data shows that personalized gifts like champagne or cupcakes can boost close rates by 19% and generate up to 447% more opportunities
• eGifts (coffee cards, lunch vouchers) increase booked meetings and can boost response rates by 212% (Reachdesk, 2025)
• Sendoso reports that corporate gifts can accelerate the sales cycle by 50%

The key word is personalized. A $10 Starbucks gift card sent to 500 people triggers no meaningful reciprocity. A $15 book that directly relates to something the prospect cares about creates a genuine connection.

The Endowment Effect​

Once someone receives a physical gift, they own it. The endowment effect means people value things they possess more than identical things they don't. A prospect who has your thoughtful gift on their desk feels a connection to you that a 100-word email can never create.

Pattern Interruption​

In a world of digital-only outreach, a physical gift breaks the pattern. It's unexpected. It demands attention in a way that email #47 from another sales rep doesn't. Your prospect has to physically interact with it — open the package, read the note, decide what to do with the gift.

That moment of attention is worth more than 50 cold emails.

When to Send Gifts in the Sales Cycle​

Timing matters more than budget. Here's when gifting creates the most leverage:

1. Pre-Meeting (Highest ROI)​

Goal: Get the meeting booked.

Send a small, personalized gift before asking for time. This is the highest-ROI use of gifting because it transforms a cold outreach into a warm one.

What works:

• $10-$25 value range
• eGift cards (coffee, lunch) tied to a personal message
• A relevant book with a note explaining why you chose it
• Something related to their hobby or interest (visible from LinkedIn)

Example:

Hi Sarah, I noticed from your LinkedIn that you're a runner training for the Austin Marathon — that's awesome. Sent you a $15 credit for [running nutrition brand]. Thought of you when I saw it.

Separately — I work with VPs of Marketing at companies like [similar company] who are struggling with [specific problem]. Would love to share what we're seeing. 15 minutes this week?

2. Post-Demo Follow-Up​

Goal: Stay top-of-mind during the evaluation period.

After a good demo or discovery call, a gift reinforces the positive experience and keeps you memorable during the decision process.

What works:

• $25-$50 value range
• Something tied to a personal detail from the conversation
• A "thank you for your time" framing (not transactional)

3. Re-Engagement (Stalled Deals)​

Goal: Restart a conversation that's gone quiet.

When a prospect ghosts after seeming interested, a gift provides a natural reason to re-engage without being pushy.

What works:

• $15-$30 value range
• Light, no-pressure framing
• "Thought of you when I saw this" positioning

4. Celebration Moments​

Goal: Build relationship equity.

Job promotions, company milestones, work anniversaries, and birthdays are natural gifting moments that build goodwill without any sales pressure.

What works:

• $20-$50 value range
• Congratulatory framing
• No sales ask — pure relationship building

How to Personalize Gifts That Resonate​

Generic gifts fail. Personalized gifts work. Here's how to personalize at scale:

Step 1: Research the Prospect​

Before choosing a gift, spend 5-10 minutes on research:

LinkedIn profile:

• Recent posts and articles (what topics do they care about?)
• Activity (what have they liked or commented on?)
• About section (personal interests, values)
• Volunteer experience (causes they care about)
• Education (alma mater, continuing education)

Twitter/X:

• Tweets and retweets (interests, opinions, humor style)
• Bio (hobbies, roles, identities)

Company news:

• Recent funding, product launches, awards
• Blog posts they've written
• Podcast appearances

Step 2: Match Gift to Person​

Based on your research, choose a gift that connects to something personal:

Step 3: Write the Note​

The note matters more than the gift. It should:

1. Reference something specific (not "I saw your LinkedIn" but "your post about the challenges of scaling a content team really resonated")
2. Explain why you chose this gift ("thought of you when I saw this because...")
3. Be genuinely warm (not corporate, not transactional)
4. Include a soft CTA (not "let's schedule a demo" but "would love to hear your perspective on [topic]")

Good note example:

Sarah — Loved your post about the challenges of building a marketing attribution model from scratch. Reminded me of this book (Chris Mercer's "Digital Marketing Measurement") that completely changed how we think about attribution. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Would love to pick your brain on how you're approaching it at [Company]. — [Your name]

Bad note example:

Hi Sarah, I'm reaching out from [Company]. We help businesses like yours improve marketing performance. I'd love to schedule a demo. Enjoy this gift card. — [Your name]

How to Scale Personalized Gifting​

"This sounds great, but I can't research every prospect for 10 minutes and hand-pick a gift."

Fair. Here's how to scale:

Tier Your Accounts​

Not every prospect gets the same treatment:

• Tier 1 (Top 10-20 accounts): Fully personalized research + custom gift + handwritten note. Spend 15-20 minutes per prospect.
• Tier 2 (Next 50-100 accounts): Personalized from LinkedIn data + curated gift options + personalized digital note. Spend 5 minutes per prospect.
• Tier 3 (100+ accounts): AI-personalized recommendations + eGift + templated-but-customized message. Spend 2 minutes per prospect.

Use AI to Speed Up Research​

This is where MarketBetter's GiftDM Copilot transforms the workflow.

How GiftDM Copilot works:

1. Enter a prospect's name, company, or LinkedIn URL
2. AI researches the prospect — analyzing LinkedIn activity, company context, and public information
3. Get AI-generated gift recommendations personalized to that specific prospect
4. Get draft LinkedIn DMs tailored to their interests and role
5. Send the gift and message with confidence that it'll resonate

What would take 15 minutes of manual research takes 30 seconds with AI.

Gift Fulfillment Platforms​

Once you know what to send, you need a way to send it:

• Sendoso — Largest gifting platform with warehouse fulfillment. Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach. Enterprise pricing ($$$).
• Reachdesk — European-focused gifting with good personalization features. From ~$3/gift.
• Postal.io — Direct mail and gifting platform with marketplace. Plans from $49/month.
• Tremendous — Digital rewards and gift cards at scale. Low per-gift costs.
• Amazon directly — For books and specific items, send directly via Amazon wish list or gift shipment. No platform cost.

For most SDR teams, starting with Amazon + a handwritten note or digital gift cards + a personalized LinkedIn DM is enough. You don't need a $10K/year gifting platform to get started.

Gift Ideas That Work (Organized by Budget)​

Under $15​

• Coffee gift card ($10 Starbucks/local shop) — universal, safe
• eBook — Kindle gift of a relevant book
• DoorDash/UberEats credit ($10-$15) — "lunch is on me"
• Charity donation in their name (for prospects who value social impact)

$15-$30​

• Physical book — always wins when well-chosen
• Specialty coffee/tea — a step up from Starbucks
• Desk plant (small succulent) — memorable and lasting
• Quality notebook (Moleskine, Leuchtturm) — practical and appreciated

$30-$50​

• Experience gift — cooking class, wine tasting (via platforms like Tinggly)
• Premium food gift — artisanal chocolate, local bakery delivery
• Personalized item — custom bookmark, engraved pen
• Restaurant gift card to a place near their office

$50+ (Executive/Tier 1 only)​

• Premium wine or spirits — for celebrating milestones
• Masterclass subscription — educational and personal
• High-quality tech accessory — noise-canceling earbuds, wireless charger
• Curated gift box — themed around their interests

Measuring Gifting ROI​

Track these metrics to prove gifting works:

Response Rate Lift​

Compare response rates on gifted vs. non-gifted outreach sequences. Expect a 2-5x improvement.

Meeting Booking Rate​

Track meetings booked per gift sent. Good targets:

• eGifts ($10-$15): 10-20% meeting rate
• Physical gifts ($25-$50): 20-35% meeting rate
• Premium gifts ($50+): 30-50% meeting rate

Pipeline Attribution​

Tag deals in your CRM that started with a gift touchpoint. Track:

• Pipeline generated from gifting
• Win rate on gift-sourced deals vs. non-gift deals
• Average deal size comparison
• Sales cycle length comparison

Cost Per Meeting​

Calculate: Total gifting spend ÷ meetings booked. If you spend $500 on 25 gifts at $20 each and book 5 meetings, your cost per meeting is $100 — likely cheaper than most paid channels.

Common Mistakes to Avoid​

1. Leading with the Gift, Not the Person​

The gift should feel like a natural extension of a genuine interest in the person. If it feels transactional ("here's a gift card, now take my meeting"), it backfires.

2. Over-Spending​

A $100 gift to a stranger can feel uncomfortable or even ethically questionable. Keep initial gifts in the $10-$30 range. Save bigger gifts for established relationships.

3. Generic Swag​

Company-branded merchandise is fine for customers and event attendees. For cold prospects, it screams "I'm trying to sell you something" and goes straight in the trash.

4. No Follow-Up​

A gift without a conversation is wasted. Always follow up within 2-3 days of delivery with a low-pressure message referencing the gift.

5. Ignoring Company Gifting Policies​

Many enterprises have policies about accepting gifts from vendors. Keep values modest and position gifts as "a book recommendation" or "coffee on us" rather than formal corporate gifts to avoid policy friction.

Get Started: Personalize Your First Gift in 60 Seconds​

Pick your most important prospect right now. The one you've been trying to reach for weeks.

Open MarketBetter's GiftDM Copilot →

Enter their name and company. In seconds, you'll get:

• AI-researched insights about the prospect
• Personalized gift recommendations
• Draft LinkedIn DMs ready to send

No signup required. Free to use.

Build your complete prospecting workflow: find target companies with our Lookalike Finder, identify buyer contacts with the AI Lead Generator, and personalize your outreach with GiftDM Copilot. All free.