🚀 Build an Automated Lead Generation Workflow with Apify, Google Sheets & n8n

Automate Lead Collection and Save Data Directly to Google Sheets

Finding leads manually can take hours. With this simple n8n workflow, you can automatically collect business data using Apify, filter the results, and save qualified leads directly into Google Sheets.

This workflow is perfect for:

• Lead Generation Agencies

• AI Automation Specialists

• Digital Marketers

• Cold Email Campaigns

• Freelancers & Business Owners

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📌 Workflow Overview

The workflow starts when a form is submitted. The submitted data is sent to Apify, which scrapes targeted business information. The collected leads are then filtered and automatically stored in Google Sheets for future outreach.

Workflow Structure

Form Submission
      ↓
Run Apify Actor
      ↓
Get Dataset Items
      ↓
Filter Leads
      ↓
Append Rows to Google Sheets

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🔥 Step 1: Form Submission Trigger

The workflow begins when a user submits a form.

Possible form fields:

• Business Type

• Location

• Industry

• Keywords

Example:

Keyword: Digital Marketing Agency
Location: United States

This information is passed to Apify for scraping.

Benefits

✅ Dynamic lead searches

✅ User-controlled input

✅ Fully automated process

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🔥 Step 2: Run Apify Actor

The Apify Actor is responsible for scraping business data from online sources.

The actor can collect:

• Company Name

• Website

• Email

• Phone Number

• Address

• Social Media Profiles

Example Output

{
  "name": "ABC Marketing",
  "website": "https://abcmarketing.com",
  "phone": "+1 123 456 7890",
  "email": "info@abcmarketing.com"
}

Why Apify?

• Fast scraping

• Reliable data collection

• Supports Google Maps scraping

• Supports website extraction

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🔥 Step 3: Get Dataset Items

Once the Apify Actor completes its task, the workflow retrieves all collected records from the dataset.

Example:

[
  {
    "name": "ABC Marketing",
    "website": "https://abcmarketing.com"
  },
  {
    "name": "XYZ Agency",
    "website": "https://xyzagency.com"
  }
]

In the screenshot, the workflow collected:

50 Leads

These leads move to the next stage.

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🔥 Step 4: Filter Qualified Leads

Not every lead is valuable.

The Filter node removes unwanted records and keeps only qualified leads.

Common Filter Rules

• Has Website

• Has Email

• Has Phone Number

• Located in Target Country

• Business Rating Above Threshold

Example:

Email Exists = True
Website Exists = True

Benefits

✅ Better lead quality

✅ Cleaner database

✅ Higher cold email success rate

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🔥 Step 5: Append Data to Google Sheets

After filtering, qualified leads are automatically added to Google Sheets.

Suggested Columns:

Company Name	Website	Email	Phone	Address	Social Media

Example Row:

| ABC Marketing | abcmarketing.com | info@abcmarketing.com | +1 123456789 | New York | LinkedIn |

Benefits

• Centralized lead database

• Easy team collaboration

• Ready for cold outreach

• CRM integration friendly

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📊 Workflow Results

After one form submission:

50 Leads Scraped
↓
50 Leads Filtered
↓
50 Leads Saved to Google Sheets

No manual copy-pasting required.

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🎯 Advanced Improvements

You can extend this workflow by adding:

AI Lead Analysis

Use OpenAI or OpenRouter to:

• Analyze company websites

• Detect business pain points

• Generate personalized outreach messages

Automated Email Outreach

Add:

Google Sheets
     ↓
AI Personalization
     ↓
Gmail
     ↓
Send Cold Email

CRM Integration

Connect to:

• HubSpot

• Pipedrive

• Salesforce

• Airtable

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💡 Real Business Use Case

Imagine a marketing agency looking for local businesses.

Instead of manually searching:

1. Submit industry and location.

2. Apify scrapes businesses.

3. Leads are filtered.

4. Data is saved to Google Sheets.

5. AI generates personalized emails.

6. Gmail sends outreach automatically.

What normally takes several hours can be completed in minutes.

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Conclusion

This n8n workflow creates a complete lead generation pipeline by combining Apify and Google Sheets. It automates lead collection, filtering, and storage, allowing businesses to focus on outreach and conversions instead of manual data entry.

If you're building AI automation systems, lead generation services, or cold email campaigns, this workflow is a strong foundation that can be expanded with AI-powered personalization and automated email sending.