How to choose job titles for a B2B lead list
The job titles you pick decide who ends up on your list. Pick too few and you miss buyers. Pick too many and you pay for people who cannot say yes. This guide shows how to choose job titles for a B2B lead list, how to exclude the wrong ones, and how title and seniority filters work together.
What is the difference between job title and seniority?
A job title is the text on a person's profile, like "Head of Growth". Seniority is a level, like VP, director or manager, that groups many titles together. Titles are precise but messy. Seniority is broad but tidy. Use titles to name the role you want and seniority to set the level.
Two companies rarely use the same words for the same job. One calls the person "Head of Growth", another says "VP Marketing", a third says "Demand Generation Lead". A seniority filter catches all three if they sit at the same level. A title filter catches only the words you typed.
On cheapleads.io you can also filter by department (marketing, sales, finance and so on). Seniority plus department is a good first pass, because it works even when you do not know the exact titles. Title filters then tighten the result.
How do you pick the titles to include?
Start with the person who feels the problem and the person who approves the spend. Write down every title each of them might hold, add the common variants, and stop at the roles that can say yes or will take it to someone who can.
Here is a short process that works for most offers:
- Name the buyer in one sentence. "The person who owns lead generation at a 20 to 200 person software company."
- List the titles that person could have. Write the short form and the long form, such as "VP" and "Vice President".
- Add one level up and one level down. In a small company the founder does everything. In a large one the decision may sit with a director or manager.
- Check the live count. If the number is far larger than you can contact, narrow by title, industry or company size. If it is tiny, widen the titles.
The title filter on cheapleads.io matches whole words. "CEO" also finds "Chief Executive Officer". For other titles, add both spellings yourself: "VP" and "Vice President", "CFO" and "Chief Financial Officer".
The four-bucket sort
If you are unsure whether a title belongs, sort it into one of four buckets before you add it.
- Decides: signs or approves. Always include.
- Influences: recommends, runs the evaluation, or lives with the result. Include when the offer is easy to explain in one email.
- Uses: does the daily work. Include only when the product is cheap and the user can buy alone.
- Blocks: assistants, interns, students, and anyone whose job is to screen mail. Put these on the exclude list.
Most weak lists fail in the third and fourth buckets. They include every "user" title and forget to block the people who will never reply with a yes.
Which titles should you include by buyer type?
The table below shows example starting points for five common buyers. They are illustrations, not rules. Your offer decides the final list.
| If you sell to | Titles to include | Titles to exclude |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing teams at software companies | Head of Marketing, VP Marketing, Director of Demand Generation, Growth Lead | Intern, Student, Assistant, Coordinator |
| Finance teams | CFO, Controller, VP Finance, Director of Finance | Intern, Assistant, Accounts Payable Clerk |
| Engineering teams | CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering, Engineering Manager | Intern, Student, Recruiter, Assistant |
| HR and talent teams | Head of People, HR Director, Talent Acquisition Manager, VP Talent | Intern, Assistant, Coordinator |
| Small local businesses | Owner, Founder, Co-Founder, General Manager | Assistant, Intern, Student |
Why exclude job titles, and which ones?
You exclude titles because an include list pulls in every title that contains your words, including roles you do not want. "Marketing" matches "Marketing Intern" and "Assistant to the VP of Marketing". An exclude list removes them before you pay for them.
The usual suspects are intern, student, assistant, trainee, coordinator and "former". Add "executive assistant" and "assistant to" if you include C-level titles. An "Executive Assistant to the CEO" contains the word CEO, and it is not the person you want to reach.
Exclude lists are blunt, so check them against your market. In banking, "Assistant Vice President" is a real mid-level role. Excluding "assistant" would remove those people. If that is your market, exclude the exact phrases "executive assistant" and "assistant to" instead of the single word.
Why does whole-word matching matter?
Whole-word matching means a search term matches only when it appears as a complete word, not inside a longer one. Without it, "CTO" would match "Director" (it hides inside the word) and "IT" would match "Digital Marketing". Whole-word matching keeps those false hits out.
It also means you have to be explicit. The word "Head" will not match "Headhunter", and that is what you want. But it also will not match "Chief" or "Lead". If you want those, type them. A short list of exact words beats a long list of loose guesses.
How do you check that your title list works?
Build a small batch first and read it. Look at the titles that came back and ask whether you would be happy to have each person reply. Every title you would skip is a candidate for the exclude list. Every title you wish you had seen more of is a candidate for the include list.
You can try this at no cost: cheapleads.io offers 500 free leads to try it. Read those 500 rows, adjust, and then size the full list. Reading a sample is one of the cheapest checks in list building. If you are also planning the size of the campaign, read how many leads you need for a cold email campaign.
Common questions
Should I filter by seniority, title, or both?
Use both. Seniority and department set a wide, tidy base. Titles then tighten it to the roles you want. If you do not know the exact titles yet, start with seniority and department, read the results, and add titles after.
How many job titles should I include?
Enough to cover the real variants of one buyer, and no more. Five to ten well-chosen titles tends to beat thirty loose ones. If you sell to two different buyers, build two lists so you can write two different emails.
Do I need to exclude titles if I already filter by seniority?
Often yes. Seniority removes junior roles, but words like assistant, advisor and former can still slip through on senior-sounding titles. A short exclude list is cheap insurance.