How to Save Money in Clay

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares practical tips for saving money while using Clay.com for data enrichment. Key strategies include using conditional formulas to avoid unnecessary enrichments, performing company-level enrichments to prevent duplicate costs, and integrating data with CRMs like HubSpot to track when data was last updated. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of using personal API keys to bypass Clay’s credits and suggests leveraging external platforms like Google Sheets or Airtable for data storage and future lookups. These tips help users maximize the efficiency of their credits and keep operational costs low.

Takeaways

• 😀 Use conditional formulas to prevent enriching unnecessary data, such as contacts without valid email addresses or companies without a certain number of employees.
• 😀 Avoid duplicate enrichments by enriching at the company level instead of the contact level, saving credits by using lookup functions for multiple contacts within the same company.
• 😀 Push enriched company data to your CRM (e.g., HubSpot) with timestamps to avoid re-enriching the same data repeatedly.
• 😀 Use your own API keys for integrations like OpenAI, Apollo, and BuiltWith to bypass Clay's credit charges and save money.
• 😀 Consider using Cent as a cost-effective alternative for many enrichment services, including company news and funding information.
• 😀 Create separate tables for different types of enrichment (e.g., company data) to prevent unnecessary re-enrichments and to reduce costs.
• 😀 Always ensure data is timestamped in your CRM so you can easily check when it was last updated and avoid redundant enrichments.
• 😀 Use automation to set up conditions in Clay that ensure enrichments are only triggered when the required data exists, such as valid email addresses or specific company attributes.
• 😀 Utilize tools like Google Sheets, Airtable, or HubSpot to store enriched data and retroactively check when data was last enriched, saving you from re-enriching unnecessarily.
• 😀 Keep an eye on alternative API providers like Cent and ser.dev, which can help reduce your reliance on Clay's own enrichment services for specific data.

Q & A

How can you save money using Clay.com for data enrichment?

You can save money by using conditional formulas, separating company-level enrichments from contacts, pushing data to your CRM to avoid re-enriching, using your own API keys, and exploring cheaper alternative data providers.

What are conditional formulas, and how do they help in saving money?

Conditional formulas allow you to set specific conditions for when an enrichment should run. This prevents wasting credits on enrichments for irrelevant or unnecessary data, helping you use your credits more efficiently.

What is the advantage of separating company-level enrichments from contact-level enrichments?

By enriching company data separately, you avoid paying for the same enrichment multiple times for different contacts within the same company, saving credits.

How can sending data to a CRM help save money on Clay.com?

By sending enriched company data to your CRM, you can reference it later instead of re-enriching the same information. This eliminates redundant enrichments and helps you keep track of when data was last updated.

Why is it important to timestamp data when sending it to your CRM?

Timestamping data allows you to track when it was last updated, so you can set up conditions to only enrich data if it hasn't been updated within a specific time frame, preventing unnecessary enrichments.

What are some examples of alternative API providers that can help reduce costs on Clay?

Some alternative API providers include Cent, Serper.dev, Zenr, and Kit. These services often offer similar or better data at a lower cost compared to Clay’s built-in integrations.

How can using your own API keys save money on Clay.com?

By using your own API keys for services like Apollo, OpenAI, and BuiltWith, you bypass Clay's markup on these integrations, paying only the base cost of the APIs instead of higher prices through Clay.

What is the recommended way to handle company-level enrichments when there are multiple contacts at the same company?

It’s recommended to enrich the company-level data separately in a distinct table, and then use lookups to link the enriched company data to the contacts. This prevents paying multiple times for the same company information.

Why should you avoid using Clay’s Google enrichment integration?

Google enrichment within Clay can be expensive. Instead, consider using alternative APIs like Serper.dev for Google search data, which is a more affordable solution for pulling similar information.

Can you use Clay.com to enrich contact-level data as effectively as company-level data?

Enriching contact-level data can be more challenging because Clay requires a contact's email address to perform enrichments. However, using CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot, you can optimize contact enrichment by avoiding duplicate enrichments and saving money.