This guide shows how to collect LinkedIn prospects for any campaign type (email, multichannel or LinkedIn-only) with LinkedIn Search in your Snov.io account, or with the LI Prospect Finder extension while you work on LinkedIn directly.
Collect prospects for your campaign type
Two ways to collect prospects
- LinkedIn Search in your Snov.io account. Find prospects by search results URL, Sales Navigator URL, LinkedIn filters or profile links.
- LI Prospect Finder extension, while you work on LinkedIn. Collect contacts from LinkedIn search results, events and company pages.
Both tools work for every campaign type. The only difference is whether you save prospects with or without emails.
Collect prospects for your campaign type
For email or multichannel campaigns
You need prospects' email addresses as well as their LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn Search and LI Prospect Finder find emails as part of the search. Finding emails uses credits.
For LinkedIn-only campaigns
You only need prospects' LinkedIn profile URLs. Search by URL, Sales Navigator or filters, with Save without emails turned on in LinkedIn Search or LI Prospect Finder. Profile links (file import) always find emails, so use them for email or multichannel campaigns. On a LinkedIn Automation subscription, this is free: saving prospects without emails doesn't use credits, and reaching them with LinkedIn actions doesn't use recipients. If you later add email steps, the subscription includes 50 credits and 100 recipients for finding emails and sending email follow-ups.
Search methods
By LinkedIn search URL
Go to the Finder tab and choose LinkedIn Search. Click Add from the search results tab to look for prospects by LinkedIn URL.
Select the LinkedIn account that Snov.io will use to gather leads from search results. The first connected account is selected by default, but you can switch to another. 
Go to LinkedIn and enter your search query. Apply the necessary filters. 
Now, copy the URL with the search results at the top of the page. Paste the copied link into the LinkedIn search URL field.
Select an existing prospect list or create a new one where the new prospects will be added.
Enter the number of prospects to be saved to your prospect list. Click the Search button and check the results.
Using a Sales Navigator search URL
If you have a Sales Navigator subscription on LinkedIn, you can use your Sales Navigator search results to find prospects in Snov.io, in addition to the regular LinkedIn search.
Why it matters
Sales Navigator offers more advanced, precise search filters that aren't available in standard LinkedIn search — like company headcount growth, years in current position, seniority level, buyer intent signals, plus a higher search limit and deeper access to people outside your network.
Using Sales Navigator search in Snov.io lets you collect more precisely targeted prospects from these deeper filters, without extra steps.
To use Sales Navigator search in Snov.io, make sure the LinkedIn account connected to Snov.io has an active Sales Navigator subscription.
If your account doesn't have an active subscription, you'll see this message:
"You need a Sales Navigator subscription to launch this search. Upgrade your subscription on LinkedIn or use a regular LinkedIn search link."
How to run Sales Navigator search
Step 1. Go to LinkedIn Search in your Snov.io account.
Step 2. Open the Add from search results tab and select the connected LinkedIn account you want to use.
Step 3. In the search type selector next to the URL field, choose Sales Navigator (default is LinkedIn Search).
Step 4. Open Sales Navigator on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/sales/search/people), apply your search filters, and copy the search results URL.
Step 5. Paste the Sales Navigator URL into the search URL field in Snov.io, choose the prospect list and the number of prospects to save.
Step 6. Click Search.
Tip: You can click Open search page next to the selector — it will take you directly to the Sales Navigator people search page.
Auto-detection: If you paste a Sales Navigator URL while LinkedIn Search is selected (or vice versa), Snov.io automatically switches the search type to match your link.
The rest of the search process is identical to regular LinkedIn Search. After the search completes, prospects are added to your list with the same data fields: name, email, LinkedIn URL, job title, location, industry, and company details.
Sales Navigator search only supports people search. Company search URLs from Sales Navigator are not supported.
By LinkedIn filters
The search by filters is only available to users who have a LinkedIn account connected to Snov.io.
If you don't have a LinkedIn account connected to Snov.io, search for LinkedIn profiles in the Database Search — it also has filtering options.
The main fields you need to fill in include the keyword field and the prospect list. They are essential for completing the process.
Complete the following steps:
- Choose LinkedIn account
- Enter search keyword
- Select prospect list
Optional fields to refine your search:
- Connections: Search for 2nd connections - they're more likely to accept your connection request than distant contacts
- Location: Filter prospects by specific location or region
- Company: Target prospects from specific companies
Once the required fields are filled in, press Search to begin the search process.
While the search is active, a progress bar will show the current status. You can stop the process at any time. If you stop, you'll still see the number of contacts successfully imported up to that point.
Find prospects and emails by profile links
The file upload feature allows you to search prospects in bulk.
On the LinkedIn Search page, click Import from file tab on the right to upload LinkedIn profile links in bulk.
Upload a CSV or TXT file with LinkedIn profile links to collect your emails. You can drag and drop files or select them from your computer.
To ensure that your uploaded file is processed correctly, certain requirements must be met:
- The uploaded files should be in either CSV or TXT formats
- The uploaded file should have only one column with links (Column A)
- Each line should contain only one link and the maximum number of lines should be 20,000
- File size should not exceed 10 MB
- The tool supports links to standard LinkedIn profiles
Import from file in LinkedIn Search supports uploading both standard profile links and Sales Navigator links.
Here are the link formats you can use:
- Standard LinkedIn profiles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prospect-name-ba3821134/
- Sales Navigator links: https://www.linkedin.com/sales/lead/ACwAAABcD1kBs... (full Sales Navigator URLs work too)
Once you upload the prospect file, select a prospect list where the results will be saved. You can create a new list from the same drop-down menu if needed. You aren't charged for prospects with invalid emails or no emails found.
Check the progress bar to see the current status of the search. You can also stop the process if needed.
Check your prospect list after import and search. If all prospects were added successfully, you will see the list name here.
See a download icon? Some profiles couldn't be saved. Download the file to see which LinkedIn links had issues. Common reasons: invalid link format, non-standard profile URLs, or incorrect file structure.
Delete option: The delete button removes this import from your search history. Your actual prospect list stays safe, only the import record disappears.
Errors and troubleshooting
You may have 2 types of errors, as indicated in the message in your app:
Error 1. The system detects an error in the file or the prospects contain incorrect addresses. It means some of your links couldn’t be recognized as LinkedIn profiles or might have typos. You need to download them to review.
Error 2. The system detects the wrong file format. Make sure you only upload a CSV or TXT file to proceed. Other file formats are not supported.
What's next?
Once your prospects are in a list, start reaching them with a sequence of LinkedIn actions. See how to build a LinkedIn outreach sequence.
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