Skip to main content

How to use Vertical Filters?

Written by Bourhan Sbalbal

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR: ✅ Self-Serve

Stage: Trial / Onboarding / Live

Owner: CS

Last updated: 2026-7-27


TL;DR

  • Vertical filters companies by broad industry category: Healthcare, Education, Retail, Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Construction, Financial Services, Government, Real Estate, Media, and more.

  • Similar to Industry, but often used as a higher-level grouping for broad segmentation.

  • Best used early in your targeting process to define your macro market.

  • Combine with Micro Industry for a full broad-to-narrow targeting funnel.


When you'd use this / Why it matters

Before you get specific, you need to define the broad market you're playing in. Vertical gives you that macro-level view — the big-picture category your ICP lives in — before you narrow down with more specific filters like Micro Industry or SIC Code.

Why the Vertical Filter matters

Vertical determines:

  • The broad market category your ICP belongs to

  • Your starting point for building out more specific targeting layers

  • How you segment reporting and campaign structure at a high level

If you skip Vertical and jump straight to narrow filters, you risk missing adjacent segments within the same broad market that could also convert.

Using Vertical keeps your lists:

  • Organized by clear macro-market segments

  • Easy to expand or narrow as needed

  • A solid foundation for layering more specific filters


When you should use the Vertical Filter

Use Vertical when:

  • You're starting a new campaign and defining your macro market

  • You want to build separate campaigns per broad vertical (e.g. Healthcare campaign vs. Financial Services campaign)

  • You need a high-level filter before drilling into Micro Industry or SIC Code


How the Vertical Filter works

  1. Open the Vertical filter panel

  2. Search or scroll through options: Healthcare, Education, Retail, Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Construction, Financial Services, Government, Real Estate, Media

  3. Check the relevant box(es)

  4. Click Save


Example workflow

Step 1: Define your macro market

Example: You serve companies in Financial Services

Step 2: Apply Vertical = Financial Services

Step 3: Narrow with Micro Industry

Add Banking, Brokerage, or Accounting

Step 4: Refine further

  • Add Employee Range

  • Add Revenue Range


Example use cases

Example 1: Compliance software for financial firms

  • Vertical: Financial Services

  • Micro Industry: Banking, Brokerage

  • Outcome: A clearly scoped financial-sector list

Example 2: Property management platform

  • Vertical: Real Estate

  • Outcome: Broad real estate list, ready to narrow with Micro Industry

Example 3: Multi-vertical campaign structure

  • Vertical: Healthcare (Campaign A), Construction (Campaign B)

  • Outcome: Two cleanly segmented campaigns with vertical-specific messaging


Pro tips for best results

  • Use Vertical as your first filter when starting a new market exploration

  • Build separate campaigns per Vertical if your messaging needs to differ significantly

  • Always pair Vertical with Micro Industry for precision — Vertical alone is often too broad to export directly

  • Use Vertical for reporting structure even if your targeting also uses Industry or SIC Code


Expected outcome

You should now be able to:

  • Define your macro market using Vertical

  • Structure campaigns around broad industry segments

  • Use Vertical as a foundation before narrowing further

  • Organize your targeting strategy from broad to specific


Final takeaway

Think of Vertical as your zoomed-out map.

  • Vertical shows you the whole territory

  • Micro Industry and SIC Code zoom in on the exact street

Start broad, then narrow — Vertical is where that process begins.

Did this answer your question?