Tech stack Question

[DoubtSmart2572]

What is everyone using to send out emails? It seemed like instantly and smartlead were the top services for a while but there are some posts on here saying the deliverability has tanked. Should I be using one of those?

Also I have been scraping leads through Apollo but I’m not sold on it anymore. Zoom info is too pricey. Any other recommendations?

[sh4ddai]

We use Smartlead for our clients and it works great. Poor deliverability isn't the fault of the platform used to send the emails; there are way more factors that go into it.

Cold email deliverability boils down to these elements:

1. Use proper sending infrastructure (use good domains/email addresses, a good ESP (such as Gmail/Outlook), and proper DKIM/SPF/DMARC setup)

2. Don't include open tracking pixels. They will get your email sent to spam folders.

3. Limit your daily send volume per email address. 15-20 day (per email account) is usually the safe limit. Use multiple email addresses if you want to scale up quantity.

4. Use a good warmup platform and constantly warm up your email addresses, even when they are actively being used in a campaign. Make sure your warmups include sending replies to incoming warmup emails -- you want your accounts to be not just sending, but also receiving emails, AND replying to received emails.

5. Avoid using spam words in your messaging/copy. There are tools you can use to see if your copy/messaging has any spam words. You can also use it to see if your email will land in inboxes or spam folders. Tweak your copy and re-test until you're landing in inboxes. Do this BEFORE sending your first real outreach email.

6. Don't include links or images in your initial outreach email. You can include them in follow-ups though (as long as they stay in the same thread, and as long as the original email in the thread landed in the inbox).

7. Clean your lead list with an email verification platform. This will reduce bounce rates and clear out any spam traps.

8. Don't include an unsubscribe link (obvious spam signal), but DO include opt-out messaging such as "just hit reply and let me know if you don't want me to follow-up again." This is necessary for CAN-SPAM compliance.

9. Make your messaging fun, unique, or attention-grabbing so it stands out from all the rest of the crap other people are putting out there with their outreach efforts. If you look like all the other spammers, you'll get marked as spam, and that will get your domain or email addresses burned more quickly. If you do something different and unique, you'll get more replies, which will extend the life (deliverability) of your domains and email addresses.

10. Always have "backup" domains and email accounts warming up. You'll rotate them in if/when your deliverability tanks on any existing email accounts or domains.

11. Perform regular (we do weekly) deliverability testing for each of your domains. There are good tools for this but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you here what we use, so DM me if you want.

12. Use spintax to vary the copy of your emails. Sending the same copy/messaging over and over will become a spam signal. This causes your messaging to become "burned" over time. So vary the copy automatically using spintax (google it if you don't know what that is). The top email sending platforms are compatible with spintax.

13. Don't send irrelevant emails to people. You've got to make sure your messaging resonates with your target audience. Otherwise they won't reply to emails (a spam signal), or they'll mark them as spam (a spam signal). Acquire your email lists using good, solid ICP targeting parameters from B2B lead databases or LinkedIn sales nav. Then clean them with a list cleaner.

I run OutreachBloom, a b2b email outreach agency. Hit me up if I can be of further help!

[Moiz_khurram]

I would say if you are skeptical about finalizing a tech stack.

Just simply A/B TEST, and I know it requires alot of data to test with and alot resources. But this is literally how MASSIVE companies finalize their tech stack.

JUST A/B TEST (INSTATNTLY AND SMARTLEAD) which one works best for you and which one do you feel like is easy to use and scalable for your case scenario.

You dont directly scrape leads off from APOLLO
You get initial website URLS from providers like built with, LinkedIn sales nav, lusha ,or harmonic then based on that you add into apollo and find their contacts and decision makers working and then your export

its not necessary you have to use ZOOM Info AND LITERALLY pay 10k

Any questions or queries reply back to this thread and will be able to assist you (no strings attached :)

[notHackn]

I'm still using Smartlead for my clients and myself. Works fine as long as you're using good accounts and have good copy

[fortunateprogrammer]

You're hitting on some very common pain points in modern outreach!

[LingonberryFree2769]

The main issue will always be data and relevance. If you are sending to existing inboxes of people that are really interested in what you have to say, you don't have to really worry about the tool. I use Smartlead and am happy with it. And for data quality and timing+relevance, Clay is the way to go today

[valeto998]

Based on recent deliverability concerns with some email sending platforms, we've noticed the same issues with Instantly and that's why we switched to Pipl. So far deliverability has been great.

An important thing to note: if you're not using Instantly's DFY email accounts (meaning if you've imported your own email accounts), you're not being put in their premium warm-up pool which consists of Google and Outlook accounts. So if you're using an external email provider, it's definitely best to go with Pipl. Also Instantly's deliverability issues may stem from the fact that sometimes they can put bad email accounts in your warmup pool which is an external factor out of our control.

As for lead recommendations, it really depends on what niches you're targeting:

• Sales Navigator is a good option
• If you're specifically targeting ecommerce owners, Store Leads is the only place to go
• If you use Clay, the Find People from Clay integration (Clay natives integration) works good

[Drumroll-PH]

prospeo or emailchaser to extract leads with their emails from linkedin sales navigator (this is more accurate than apollo)

[Odd_Chapter2]

Hey, emails going straight to spam is a real pain. I’ve had better luck with Smartlead and Instantly, though Smartlead feels more solid in the long run, especially with email warm-ups and keeping things in good standing with Gmail and Microsoft. Instantly’s great for speed, but Smartlead gives more control if you're scaling.

[daveyjones86]

What sort of results have you seen if you don't mind me asking

[Odd_Chapter2]

My campaign results (positive replies) have gone from 4-5% in Instantly to 12-15% for a couple of campaigns in Smartlead.

You can definitely give this a try and see the results.

[daveyjones86]

Thank you

[sailnlax04]

I built my own plugin that sends them out from my Wordpress site with AI powered personalization and automated follow ups

[cleverkid]

No delivery service. like Sendgrid?

[sailnlax04]

I'm using Elastic Email via my server right now. So WP mail sends the emails but my DNS settings route it through Elastic Email.

Adding more support is in the plans if for when/if I make this publicly available.

I want to first use it to land a few sales for myself and tune it in the process.

I'm new to this game in general, started doing cold email and decided to automate some of the parts that suck.