---
title: "Data Enrichment: Definition and Examples"
description: "Data enrichment is the process of adding missing or updated details to records you already have, such as contacts or companies, by matching them against..."
path: /glossary/data-enrichment
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/data-enrichment
sources:
  - "https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/data-enrichment"
  - "https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/data-enrichment-fundamentals/define-data-enrichment"
  - "https://www.hubspot.com/products/artificial-intelligence/use-cases/enrich-contact-data"
facts:
  term: "Data enrichment"
  also_called: "lead enrichment, contact enrichment, B2B data enrichment, CRM enrichment, data append"
  category: "Data"
---

# Data enrichment

Data enrichment is the process of adding missing or updated details to records you already have, such as contacts or companies, by matching them against outside data sources, for example adding job title, verified email, company size, industry or technology used.

## What Is Data Enrichment?

**In short:** Enrichment starts from an identifier you already hold, such as a name and company, an email address, a LinkedIn URL or a company domain.

A provider matches it against its data and returns extra fields: contact data such as email and phone, firmographic data such as industry, size and revenue, and technographic data such as the tools a company uses. Waterfall enrichment queries several providers in turn and keeps the first verified result, which raises coverage.

B2B data decays as people change jobs, companies grow and email addresses stop working. Enrichment keeps CRM records usable for routing, scoring and outreach, and it shortens forms: ask a prospect only for a work email and fill in the rest. Data can come from your own systems (first-party), partners (second-party) or outside providers (third-party).

## Data Enrichment Example

For example, a team exports 5,000 webinar signups with only name and email. Enrichment adds company size and industry to 4,100 of them, an 82% match rate. Filtering to SaaS companies with 100 to 1,000 employees leaves 900 leads, which go to SDRs, while the rest go to a nurture list.

## Data Enrichment in Practice

Outbound teams enrich at three points: when building a list (find an email for each target), before a campaign (re-verify emails to keep bounce rates low) and on inbound (fill in firmographics so the lead routes to the right rep). Measure match rate and accuracy per field, not only how many fields come back.

## FAQ

### What are the types of data enrichment?

IBM lists seven: behavioral, contact, demographic, firmographic, geographic, psychographic and technographic. B2B sales teams mostly use contact, firmographic and technographic enrichment.

### What is the difference between data enrichment and data cleansing?

Cleansing fixes what is already there, such as duplicates, typos and bad formats. Enrichment adds what is missing from another source. Clean records first so enrichment matches the right person or company.

### What is waterfall enrichment?

Querying several data providers in sequence and keeping the first verified result, so a record one source misses can be filled by the next.

### Does enrichment overwrite my CRM data?

It depends on the tool's settings. HubSpot, for example, lets admins set per property whether enrichment overwrites existing values.

## Do this in Ken

### Do This in Ken

Ken Search covers 250M people and 24M companies. Searching is free, and you spend 1 credit only for each valid email Ken finds.

- Link: [Do This in Ken](/features)

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Waterfall enrichment](/glossary/waterfall-enrichment)
- [Email verification](/glossary/email-verification)
- [Firmographics](/glossary/firmographics)
- [Technographics](/glossary/technographics)
- [Lead scoring](/glossary/lead-scoring)
- [CRM](/glossary/crm)
- [Ken features](/features)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IBM: What is data enrichment? | https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/data-enrichment | 2026-10-17 |
| Salesforce Trailhead: Understanding data enrichment | https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/data-enrichment-fundamentals/define-data-enrichment | 2026-10-17 |
| HubSpot: Enrich contact and company data | https://www.hubspot.com/products/artificial-intelligence/use-cases/enrich-contact-data | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.