how to automate outbound email campaigns with apolloleadscraper

If you’re tired of copy-pasting leads into spreadsheets and wish your cold email outreach didn’t eat up half your week, you’re in the right place. This guide is for people who want to actually automate outbound email campaigns—scraping leads, organizing them, and sending emails—without drowning in buzzwords or getting burned by shady tools. Whether you’re a founder, a solo consultant, or just the unlucky one in your company who drew the short straw, let’s get you set up with a workflow that runs itself (mostly).

Heads up: We’ll walk through setting up outbound email campaigns using Apolloleadscraper. If you’re hoping for a “press one button and get rich” solution, this isn’t it—but you’ll get something that works.

Why bother automating outbound emails?

Manual outreach is slow, soul-sucking, and usually full of errors. Automation, done right, lets you:

  • Pull hundreds (or thousands) of leads in minutes, not days.
  • Stay organized, so you don’t double-email people or lose track of who replied.
  • Spend less time on grunt work and more time actually selling.

But here’s the truth: Automation can make your mistakes automatic, too. Sloppy data or bad messaging gets multiplied fast. So, we’ll focus on doing it well, not just doing it fast.

Step 1: Get the basics sorted (before you scrape anything)

Before you even touch Apolloleadscraper, make sure:

  • You have a clean, properly set up email domain.
    Don’t use your main company domain for cold outreach. Get a separate domain (e.g., getyourcompany.com if your main is yourcompany.com). Warm it up for a couple of weeks by sending real-ish emails back and forth.
  • You know your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
    If you can’t describe your target customer in 1-2 sentences, fix that first. Bad targeting = spam complaints.
  • You have a real email sending tool.
    Don’t try blasting cold emails from Gmail or Outlook. Use something built for cold outreach (like Mailshake, Lemlist, or Reply.io).

Pro tip: If you skip these basics, you’ll either hit spam filters or burn your domain. Not fun.

Step 2: Set up Apolloleadscraper

Time to bring in the main tool. Apolloleadscraper is a browser-based tool that pulls contact info from Apollo.io—one of the bigger B2B lead databases out there. (Yes, you’ll need an Apollo account, even if it’s a free one.)

What Apolloleadscraper actually does

  • Automates scraping contact info (emails, names, company, etc.) from Apollo.io search results.
  • Exports that data to CSV so you can use it elsewhere.
  • Saves you from hours of manual copy-paste.

What it doesn’t do: It’s not an email sender or CRM. It just gets you the leads, fast.

How to install

  1. Download the tool.
    Most versions are Chrome browser extensions or lightweight scripts. Only get it from the official source—some sketchy clones are floating around.
  2. Add it to Chrome (or your browser of choice).
    Follow the extension install prompts.
  3. Log in to Apollo.io.
    You’ll be scraping from inside your account.

Caution: Apollo.io doesn’t love scrapers. Don’t go nuts with 10,000 leads at once or you could get your account flagged.

Step 3: Build your lead lists

This is where most people get lazy and end up with garbage leads. Don’t do that.

Tips for cleaner targeting in Apollo.io

  • Use filters: Industry, company size, role, location, technologies used, etc.
  • Get specific. “Marketing managers at SaaS companies with 11–50 employees in the US” will get you better results than “Anyone in marketing.”
  • Save your search inside Apollo.io so you can come back to it later.

Using Apolloleadscraper

  1. Run your filtered search in Apollo.io.
  2. Open Apolloleadscraper and set your scrape parameters.
    Choose how many pages to scrape, what data to pull, etc.
  3. Start the scrape.
    The tool will go through the list, page by page, and export a CSV with your chosen fields.
  4. Check your CSV.
    Open it up and make sure the fields look right—sometimes formatting breaks or emails are missing. It’s easier to fix now than later.

Pro tip: Don’t scrape more than a few hundred leads at a time if you want to stay under the radar.

Step 4: Clean and enrich your leads

Raw scraped data is rarely plug-and-play. Here’s what you actually need to do:

Clean your CSV

  • Remove obvious junk: No name, missing email, or weird formatting? Delete.
  • Standardize fields: Make sure names, titles, and emails are in the right columns.
  • De-duplicate: No one likes getting the same cold email twice.

(Optional) Email verification

If you want to protect your sender reputation, run the emails through a verifier like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce. This cuts down the chance of bouncing into spam folders.

(Optional) Enrich your data

Sometimes you want more info—LinkedIn URL, company size, funding, etc. Tools like Hunter.io or Clearbit can add these fields, but don’t go overboard. More data isn’t always better if you’re not using it.

Step 5: Set up your outbound email campaign

Now you have a clean lead list. Here’s how to get your emails sent (and not ignored).

Pick your sending tool

  • Mailshake, Lemlist, Reply.io, Instantly.ai
    These let you upload CSVs, personalize at scale, and schedule follow-ups. Use one. Don’t try to “hack” Gmail—it’ll just get you blocked.

Import your leads

  • Map the CSV columns (first name, company, email, etc.) to your tool’s merge fields.
  • Double-check that emails and names line up. Mess this up and you’ll call “James” by “Sarah” in your email.

Write your emails (without sounding like a robot)

  • Short, clear, and human-sounding beats “Dear Sir/Madam.”
  • Reference something specific (like their company or role) if possible.
  • Don’t cram in buzzwords or fake flattery. People can spot it a mile away.

A basic cold email flow: 1. Initial email (“Saw you’re growing your team at X, curious if you...”) 2. Follow-up #1 (3–4 days later, polite nudge) 3. Follow-up #2 (a week later, “Should I close the file?”)

Pro tip: Don’t send more than 50–100 cold emails per day per inbox. More than that, and you’ll get flagged as spam.

Step 6: Monitor, tweak, and don’t get lazy

Automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” Here’s what you should do:

  • Watch your bounce and reply rates.
    High bounce? Clean your list. Low reply? Fix your targeting or email copy.
  • Rotate inboxes or domains if you ramp up volume.
    If you’re sending hundreds per day, split it across multiple sending accounts.
  • Pause if you get warnings.
    If your sending tool or email provider warns you about spam, stop. Figure out what tripped the filter.

What to ignore

  • Don’t obsess over open rates—they’re unreliable and often blocked by privacy settings.
  • Don’t pay for sketchy “send unlimited emails” tools. They usually just get you blacklisted.

Summary: Keep it simple, iterate fast

Most people overcomplicate outbound email. Start with a clear ICP, use Apolloleadscraper to pull targeted leads, clean your data, and send simple, honest emails. Don’t expect instant magic. Test, tweak, and improve as you go. The folks actually getting replies aren’t the ones with the fanciest tools—they’re just the ones who keep it real and keep following up.