Waterfall Enrichment
Waterfall enrichment is a method of filling a data field by querying several data providers in sequence, moving to the next provider only when the previous one returns no result or a weak one.
Also called: enrichment waterfall, multi-provider enrichment
Why it matters
Data providers differ in coverage, and each is stronger in certain countries, company sizes or roles. A waterfall raises the share of records that end up with an email or phone number by trying providers in a set order, usually starting with the cheapest or most accurate source for that segment, and stopping as soon as one returns a usable value.
Waterfalls are usually paired with verification, so a found email is checked before it counts as a result. Because some providers charge only when they return data, the order affects cost as well as coverage. Waterfall enrichment differs from single-source enrichment, which calls one provider, and from deduplication, which merges duplicate records rather than filling in missing fields.
Example
A team needs work emails for 1,000 contacts. Provider A returns 600, so the remaining 400 go to Provider B, which finds 200 more. The last 200 go to Provider C, which finds 100. The team now has 900 found emails instead of the 600 a single provider gave, and every one of them goes through an email verifier before use.
Questions people ask
What is waterfall enrichment in sales?
In sales it usually means finding contact details, most often work emails or phone numbers, by querying several data providers in order until one returns a verified result, so more of the prospect list can be reached than with any single provider.
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