You found the perfect prospect on LinkedIn. VP of Engineering at a Series B SaaS company that matches your ICP exactly. One problem: no email address on their profile, no phone number, and your current data provider returns nothing. The ContactOut API exists specifically for this scenario, pulling personal emails, work emails, and phone numbers from LinkedIn profiles that other providers miss.
The bottom line
ContactOut specializes in extracting contact information from LinkedIn profiles. Through Databar, you can access the ContactOut API alongside 100+ other data providers without signing a separate contract or managing another vendor relationship. The real power comes from combining ContactOut with other providers in a waterfall, so if one provider has a gap for a specific record, the next provider fills it automatically.
Feature | ContactOut Direct | ContactOut via Databar |
|---|---|---|
Data types returned | Personal email, work email, phone number, social profiles | Same data, plus access to 100+ additional providers |
Input required | LinkedIn profile URL or name + company | Same inputs, with option to chain other enrichment steps |
Waterfall capability | ContactOut data only | Auto-cascade to other providers when ContactOut misses |
API access | Available on higher-tier plans | Included by default via Databar's REST API |
What ContactOut Provides
ContactOut's core capability is mapping LinkedIn profiles to contact information that isn't visible on the profile itself. When you give it a LinkedIn URL, it returns:
Personal email addresses. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and other personal domains. These are valuable for recruiting outreach where work emails may bounce if someone changes jobs.
Work email addresses. Corporate email addresses associated with the person's current employer. Useful for B2B sales when you need the professional email, not the personal one.
Phone numbers. Both mobile and direct dial numbers, where available. Phone coverage varies by region and seniority level.
Social profiles. GitHub, Twitter/X, and other social links associated with the professional identity.
ContactOut's database is built primarily from LinkedIn data combined with public web sources, email verification services, and partner data contributions. Their coverage is strongest in the US and Western Europe, particularly for tech industry professionals.
Where ContactOut excels
ContactOut performs best in specific scenarios. Understanding these helps you decide when to use it and when to rely on alternatives.
Recruiting and talent acquisition. This is ContactOut's original use case. Recruiters need personal emails because candidates often leave the company whose work email you found. ContactOut's personal email coverage is stronger than most competitors because that's where the product started.
LinkedIn-first prospecting workflows. If your SDRs work through Sales Navigator and need to convert a LinkedIn profile into actionable contact data, ContactOut is purpose-built for that workflow. Input is a LinkedIn URL. Output is email and phone.
Individual lookups and small batches. ContactOut works well for 1-to-1 lookups where you have a specific person in mind. Their Chrome extension makes this fast for individual research.
How to Use ContactOut Through Databar
Accessing the ContactOut API through Databar gives you two key advantages: pay-per-use pricing instead of a monthly subscription, and the ability to combine ContactOut with other providers in a single workflow.
Setup
Create a Databar account at databar.ai. The free tier includes credits to test the workflow before committing budget.
Search for ContactOut in the enrichment marketplace. You'll find it under contact data providers.
Configure your input. The ContactOut enrichment accepts LinkedIn profile URLs as the primary input. You can also use name + company as a fallback input.
Set up output mapping. Choose which ContactOut fields you want returned: personal email, work email, phone number, or all of the above.
Run a test batch. Send 10-20 records through to validate coverage and accuracy before committing to a larger run.
Building a waterfall with ContactOut
The real value of accessing ContactOut through Databar is combining it with other providers. Here's a practical waterfall configuration for finding verified emails from LinkedIn profiles:
First pass: ContactOut. Returns personal and work emails from LinkedIn profile matching. Typically covers 50-70% of records for tech industry professionals.
Second pass: Provider B (e.g., Hunter, Snov.io, or another email finder). Adds coverage from different data sources and matching methods to maximize your total hit rate.
Third pass: Provider C (e.g., Dropcontact, Prospeo). Catches remaining gaps using pattern matching and verification.
Final step: Email verification. Run all returned emails through a verification service to confirm deliverability before outbound.
This waterfall approach typically achieves 80-90% email coverage, by combining multiple specialized providers like ContactOut in sequence. You only pay each provider for records it actually matches, so cost stays proportional to results.
Use Cases for the ContactOut API
Sales prospecting
SDR teams using LinkedIn Sales Navigator as their primary prospecting tool can integrate ContactOut to convert saved leads into actionable contacts. The workflow: build a lead list in Sales Navigator, export LinkedIn URLs, run through ContactOut via Databar to get emails and phone numbers, then push to your outbound sequencer.
For teams focused on improving cold email response rates, having both work and personal emails gives you a fallback. If the work email bounces (person changed jobs), the personal email still reaches them.
Recruiting
Recruiters need to reach candidates outside of LinkedIn InMail, which has notoriously low response rates. ContactOut's personal email data lets recruiters reach candidates through their inbox, which typically gets higher engagement than InMail.
The workflow for recruiting: identify candidates in LinkedIn Recruiter, export profile URLs, enrich through ContactOut for personal emails and phone numbers, then reach out through email or phone. Combine with email finder alternatives in a waterfall for maximum coverage.
ABM contact discovery
For account-based marketing, you often need to build a buying committee from scratch. LinkedIn shows you who works at a target company, but not how to reach them. ContactOut bridges that gap.
Identify 5-10 stakeholders at each target account via LinkedIn, run their profiles through ContactOut, and enrich any remaining gaps with additional providers. Push the complete contact list to your CRM and ABM platform.
Event follow-up
After a conference or webinar, you might have a list of names and companies but no direct contact information. If attendees have LinkedIn profiles (most B2B professionals do), ContactOut can convert names into verified emails for post-event outreach.
ContactOut vs. Alternatives
Several tools specialize in LinkedIn-based contact discovery, and ContactOut is one of the strongest. Here's how it compares with the main alternatives:
The honest assessment: no single tool wins across every dimension. ContactOut leads on personal email coverage. Lusha leads on phone numbers. Apollo offers the broadest free tier. The teams getting the best results use multiple tools in a waterfall rather than betting on any single source.
Integrating ContactOut Data into Your GTM Stack
Contact data from ContactOut needs to flow into the tools your team actually uses. Here are the most common integration patterns:
CRM sync. Push enriched contacts directly to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Attio. The HubSpot enrichment guide covers the HubSpot-specific setup. For other CRMs, Databar's API can push data to any system with a REST API or webhook endpoint.
Outbound sequencer. Route verified emails to Smartlead, Instantly, or Lemlist for automated outreach sequences. Include phone numbers for call steps in the sequence.
Spreadsheet export. For teams not ready for API integration, Databar lets you export enriched data as CSV for manual import into your tools.
A good GTM engineer builds this as an automated pipeline: LinkedIn list goes in, enriched and verified contacts come out, routed directly to the CRM and sequencer without manual steps.
Getting the Most from ContactOut on Databar
A few practical tips to maximize your results:
Always provide LinkedIn URLs as input. ContactOut's matching is significantly better with a profile URL than with name + company alone. If you have URLs, use them.
Use ContactOut for personal emails, other providers for work emails. ContactOut's strength is personal email discovery. For work emails, providers using email pattern matching and domain verification often perform equally well at lower cost.
Set up a waterfall, not a single source. ContactOut covers 40-60% on its own. Adding two more providers in a cascade pushes coverage to 80-90%. The incremental cost per additional record found is worth it.
Verify before sending. Always run a verification step after enrichment. ContactOut's data is generally accurate, but email addresses can go stale. A verification step costs a fraction of a credit and saves your sender reputation.
Monitor coverage by segment. Track your ContactOut match rates by industry, geography, and seniority.
The key advantage of accessing ContactOut through Databar is flexibility. You're not locked into a subscription for a tool that might cover only part of your prospect universe. Pay for what you use, supplement with technographic data and other enrichment types from the same platform, and build a workflow that matches your specific needs.
FAQ
What data does the ContactOut API return?
ContactOut returns personal email addresses, work email addresses, phone numbers (mobile and direct dial where available), and social profile links. The primary input is a LinkedIn profile URL, though name + company matching is also supported.
How accurate is ContactOut's data?
ContactOut's email accuracy is generally high for recently updated profiles, though accuracy varies by region and industry. Personal emails tend to be more stable than work emails since they don't change when someone switches jobs. Always run a verification step before using any enriched emails for outbound.
Can I try ContactOut through Databar?
Through Databar, yes. Through Databar, you can access ContactOut's API on a flexible pay-per-use basis, which works well for teams that want to try it before committing to a direct subscription. You only pay for records that return results, with no monthly minimum or contract commitment.
Is ContactOut compliant with GDPR and data privacy regulations?
ContactOut states that their data is sourced from publicly available information and opt-in databases. However, using contact data for outreach is your responsibility. Ensure your outreach practices comply with local regulations (GDPR in Europe, CAN-SPAM in the US, TCPA for phone calls).
How does ContactOut compare to Lusha for phone numbers?
Lusha generally has stronger phone number coverage, particularly for US-based direct dials. ContactOut has stronger personal email coverage. For phone numbers specifically, consider combining ContactOut for personal emails with Lusha or Cognism for phone numbers to get the best of both.
Can I run ContactOut in a waterfall with other providers on Databar?
Yes. Databar's waterfall feature lets you chain ContactOut with other email and phone providers. Records are automatically passed through each provider in sequence until a match is found, maximizing your overall coverage. You define the provider order, and the platform handles the routing and deduplication.
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