I've helped dozens of sales teams set up their cold email automation, and I'm going to walk you through the exact process I use to turn cold hard leads into booked meetings. Let's break down the flow and then get into the technical setup.
Understanding the Lead Flow
The key to successful cold email automation is understanding how data moves between your tools. Here's the flow I've found works best:
Apollo → HubSpot
- Pull targeted leads from Apollo using your ICP criteria
- Leads automatically sync to HubSpot as new contacts
- Custom fields map company data and contact details
- Lead source tracking enables proper attribution
HubSpot → Instantly
- Contact data syncs to Instantly for personalization tokens
- Open rates, click rates, bounce rates are tracked in Instantly
- Sequences pause automatically when leads reply
Instantly → HubSpot (Response Loop)
- Replies automatically create tasks for SDR follow-up
- Meeting bookings trigger deal creation (in certain scenarios)
- Contact status is updated to SQL
Setting Up The Integration
Here's your step-by-step setup checklist:
- Apollo Configuration
- Set up targeted search filters
- Enable real-time HubSpot sync
- Configure field mappings
- Set daily lead import limits
- HubSpot Preparation
- Create custom properties for Apollo data
- Set up lead stages workflow
- Configure lead assignment rules
- Build automated task creation
- Instantly Integration
- Connect email sending domain
- Set up sequence triggers
- Create email templates
- Configure sending windows
Pro Tips From The Trenches
Things I've learned along the way:
- Start with <30 emails/day per domain for the first month
- A/B test each sequence to allow for best possible conversion rates
- Set up instant notifications for positive replies
- ALWAYS use separate domains for cold email outreach
- DON'T forget to set up your DMARC, DKIM and SPF records for each new email domain you create. Forgetting to do this will guarantee your all emails will land in spam folders.
Metrics To Track
Keep an eye on these numbers:
- Email deliverability (95%+ is good)
- Open rates (40%+ indicates good targeting and subject lines)
- Reply rates (5%+ is solid for cold outreach)
- Meeting conversion (25%+ of positive replies)
Common Pitfalls To Avoid
- Don't skip domain warming (minimum 2 weeks, ideally 3)
- Never use URL shorteners in cold emails
- Make the email text only if possible. If not, have max 2 links per email
- Don't mix marketing and sales email domains (reiterating)
The beauty of this setup is that once it's running, it's mostly hands-off. Your SDRs can focus on responding to interested leads while the automation handles the initial outreach and follow-ups.
Need help with any specific part of the setup?
I've probably run into that issue before and can help you troubleshoot it.