How to automate cold email sequences in Instantly for B2B lead generation

If you do B2B sales, you’ve probably heard that cold email is “dead.” It’s not. But sending the same generic email to 1,000 people is dead—and a waste of everyone’s time. This guide walks you through how to use Instantly to automate cold email sequences that actually get replies. No magic formulas, just a clear process for busy people who want real results.

Who this is for

  • Sales folks who want to do cold outreach without losing their soul (or spamming anyone)
  • Founders who need leads but can’t afford a sales team yet
  • Anyone sick of manual follow-ups and messy spreadsheets

Let’s get into it.

Step 1: Get your email basics right (or nothing else matters)

Before you even open Instantly, make sure you’ve got the essentials sorted. Automation just makes mistakes faster, so get this right:

  • Use a real domain: Don’t send cold emails from your main company domain. Buy a lookalike domain (e.g., if you’re at acmecorp.com, get acmecorp.co). This protects your main domain’s reputation.
  • Set up DNS properly: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC aren’t optional. These are email authentication records. If you skip this, expect your emails to land in spam, or never arrive.
  • Warm up your inbox: Don’t send 100 emails on day one. Use Instantly’s built-in warmup feature (or another tool) to slowly start sending emails over a couple weeks. This builds trust with email providers.
  • Clean your list: Run your prospects through an email verifier. Sending to a bunch of bad addresses will tank your deliverability.

Pro tip: If your open rates are under 30%, stop. Fix deliverability first—automation is useless if nobody sees your emails.

Step 2: Sign up for Instantly and connect your email

Assuming you’ve got the basics covered, here’s what you need to do:

  1. Create an Instantly account
    Head to Instantly, pick your plan, and sign up. You’ll use this dashboard for everything.

  2. Connect your sending email

  3. Go to Settings > Email Accounts.
  4. Hit “Add New Email Account.”
  5. Follow the prompts for Gmail, Outlook, or custom SMTP (if you use something else).

  6. Instantly will guide you through granting access and verifying the account.

  7. Set sending limits
    Instantly lets you set daily sending caps. Start low (20–50 emails/day per inbox). Increase slowly over time. This keeps you under the radar and out of spam.

Watch out for:
Don’t connect your main work inbox. Use a dedicated address from your secondary domain.

Step 3: Build (or import) your lead list

Automation is only as good as your list. Instantly isn’t a list-building tool—it expects you to bring your own leads.

  • Find your prospects elsewhere (LinkedIn, Apollo, Crunchbase, whatever you like).
  • Format your list as a CSV. Include fields like first name, last name, company, email, and any other data you want to personalize with.
  • Import to Instantly:
  • Go to Campaigns > New Campaign.
  • Name your campaign.
  • Click “Add Leads” and upload your CSV.
  • Map the columns correctly (first name, company, etc.).

Don’t skip: Double-check your data. Nothing screams “automated spam” like a “Hey {FirstName}” greeting.

Step 4: Write your cold email sequence (keep it real)

This is where most people mess up. Here’s what actually works:

  • Short, plain emails: Skip the fancy HTML and corporate speak.
  • Personalization: Use custom fields from your CSV. “Saw you’re at {Company}—quick question,” beats “Dear Sir/Madam.”
  • Clear ask: Don’t ask for 30 minutes. Try something easy to reply to, like “Are you the right person to talk to about X?”
  • Follow-ups: Most replies come after the 2nd or 3rd email. Space them a few days apart.

Setting up your sequence in Instantly

  1. Go to your campaign
    Click into the campaign you created earlier.

  2. Add your emails

  3. Write your initial email.
  4. Use variables like {FirstName} or {Company}—these pull data from your list.

  5. Click “Add Step” to schedule follow-ups. Each one can be a new message or a reply in the same thread.

  6. Set timing
    Space your follow-ups 2–5 days apart. Instantly lets you control this for each step.

  7. A/B test
    Instantly lets you create variants of your emails. Test different subject lines or intros. Don’t overthink it—just try two versions and see which gets more replies.

Stuff to ignore:
Don’t bother with big walls of text, attachments, or images in cold emails. They hurt deliverability and don’t help.

Step 5: Automate sending (and make sure it’s not spammy)

With your sequence ready, let Instantly do its thing.

  • Turn on the campaign: Instantly will start sending based on your sending limits and timing.
  • Monitor performance: Instantly shows opens, replies, bounces, and more.
  • Handle replies manually: The magic’s in the human follow-up. Don’t automate this part—people can spot canned responses from a mile away.

Deliverability settings worth tweaking

  • Randomize sending times: Instantly can stagger emails to look more human.
  • Rotate inboxes: If you’ve connected multiple sending addresses, Instantly can spread sends across them.
  • Pause on reply: By default, follow-ups stop when someone replies. Double-check this is enabled.

Pro tip: If you’re getting a lot of bounces or spam complaints, stop the campaign. Diagnose the issue, fix it, and only then restart. Otherwise, you risk burning your domain.

Step 6: Review, tweak, repeat

No sequence is perfect out of the gate. The only way to get better is by looking at the numbers and adjusting.

  • Look at reply rates, not just opens: Open tracking isn’t perfect (Apple Mail ruins this). Replies are what matter.
  • Refresh your list: Don’t keep hammering the same stale prospects.
  • Update templates over time: If you’re not getting replies, rewrite your emails. Ask someone outside your company to read them—if they say “sounds like a template,” it is.
  • Test small changes: Subject lines, intro sentences, call to action. Don’t change everything at once.

What works, what doesn’t, and what to skip

Works: - Short, clear, personalized emails - Following up (but not endlessly—3–4 emails is plenty) - Sending at a reasonable volume, warming up first

Doesn’t work: - Blasting generic templates to huge lists - HTML-heavy emails or lots of images - Hiding your intent (just say why you’re reaching out)

Ignore: - “Secret” deliverability hacks promising to get you into the inbox instantly (pun intended) - Buying lists from shady sources - Over-automating the response process

Keep it simple—iterate, don’t automate your way into trouble

Cold email works if you keep it simple and keep improving. Instantly can save you a ton of time, but it won’t save a bad list or a bad message. Start small, watch your results, and tweak as you go. Don’t worry about scaling until you see what actually gets replies.

If you’re thoughtful, persistent, and a little skeptical of shortcuts, you’ll do just fine.