How to set up your first email outreach campaign in Mailreach step by step

So, you want to actually get responses from your cold outreach, not just spray emails into the void. This guide is for you. Whether you’re doing sales, partnerships, recruiting, or just trying to get someone’s attention, setting up your first campaign in Mailreach can be straightforward—if you know what matters and what’s just noise.

Let’s skip the fluff. Here’s how to set up your first Mailreach campaign, step by step, with honest advice about what to pay attention to and what you can safely ignore.

Step 1: Get Your Foundations Right

Before you touch Mailreach, you need a few basics sorted. If you skip these, you’ll just end up frustrated, or worse, in the spam folder.

A real, warmed-up email address. Don’t use your main personal inbox, or a brand-new domain. Set up a dedicated email (or a few) on your company’s domain, and make sure it’s properly “warmed up”—meaning it’s been sending and receiving some real emails for a few weeks. Mailreach has a warming feature, but do this before you start blasting cold outreach.
Your outreach list. Have a CSV or spreadsheet of people you actually want to contact, with names and emails. Don’t buy random lists. It’s not 2005, and those don’t work.
A reason to contact people. If your value prop is “let’s connect,” you’re invisible. Know what you’re offering, and why anyone should care.

Pro tip: If you’re not sure if your domain is set up right (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), check with your IT person or use an online tool. Deliverability issues are the #1 way to waste your time.

Step 2: Sign Up and Set Up Your Mailreach Account

Head to Mailreach and create your account. No rocket science here, but a few things to watch out for:

Create your account. Use your work email, not a throwaway Gmail.
Verify your email address. Standard stuff—check your inbox for their confirmation.
Pick a plan. Don’t overthink it; start small, you can always upgrade if you need to send more.

Honest take: Mailreach isn’t the cheapest tool, but you’re paying for deliverability features—if all you care about is blasting emails, you can find cheaper (and riskier) options.

Step 3: Connect Your Email Account(s)

This is where a lot of people get tripped up. Mailreach will ask you to connect your sending email account(s), usually via SMTP or OAuth (for Google or Microsoft accounts).

Here’s what you actually need to do:

Choose the right sending account. This should be the email you set up and warmed earlier. Don’t use your main personal or company support inbox.
Follow the prompts for connection. Mailreach does a decent job guiding you, but if you hit a snag, triple-check your IMAP/SMTP settings, or try OAuth if available.
Set sending limits. Start small—like 20-50 emails per day, per account. More isn’t better; it just gets you flagged faster.

Things to ignore: Don’t connect every account you have just because you can. Start with one, get it working, then scale up if you want.

Step 4: Set Up Email Warming (Optional, but Highly Recommended)

Mailreach has a built-in email warm-up feature. Use it, especially if your sending account is new, or hasn’t sent cold emails before.

Turn on warm-up. You can do this right in the dashboard. It’ll send low-volume, simulated emails to other Mailreach “seed” accounts, which helps your reputation.
Let it run for at least 2 weeks. Don’t rush this step. Impatient senders end up in spam.

What doesn’t work: Skipping warm-up and sending 200 emails on day one. You will not get the results you want.

Step 5: Import Your Prospects List

Once your sending account is connected and warmed, you need people to email.

Prepare your CSV file. At minimum: first name, last name, email address. Add any custom fields you want to personalize your emails.
Import your list. Mailreach has a straightforward importer. Double-check your columns match up.
Scrub your list. Remove obvious spam traps, role accounts (like info@), and duplicates. Mailreach sometimes flags these, but be proactive.

Honest take: Quality beats quantity every time. 100 well-qualified leads are better than 1,000 random ones. Don’t get lazy here.

Step 6: Write Your Email Sequence

This part matters more than any tool you use. Mailreach lets you set up multi-step sequences—emails and follow-ups.

Here’s how to avoid sounding like a robot:

Start with a template, but personalize. Use {{first_name}} and other fields, but add a line or two that shows you know who you’re talking to.
Keep it short. No one reads a three-paragraph cold email. 3-5 lines is plenty.
Follow up. Most replies happen on the second or third touch. Set up at least 2-3 follow-ups, spaced a few days apart.
Clear call-to-action. Don’t ask for a “quick call” in the first email unless you have a compelling reason. Sometimes just a question is enough.

What to ignore: Fancy HTML, images, signatures with banners. Plain text works best for cold outreach—and keeps you out of spam.

Step 7: Configure Sending Settings and Throttling

Before you launch, make sure you’re not setting yourself up for disaster.

Daily sending limits: Start at 20-50 emails per day per sender. If you’ve warmed up longer, you can go higher, but only increase gradually.
Send windows: Don’t send at 3 AM. Set your emails to go out during normal business hours in your recipients’ time zones.
Randomize sending times: Mailreach can stagger your sends. Turn this on—it looks more human.

Pro tip: Track your open and reply rates. If you see a sudden drop, pause and investigate—don’t just send more.

Step 8: Launch and Monitor

You’re ready to go. Hit launch, but don’t walk away thinking the job is done.

Watch your stats. Open rates below 30%? Might be a deliverability problem. Reply rates below 2%? Your message may need work.
Reply manually. When someone responds, take over the conversation yourself. Don’t let the automation keep going.
Handle bounces and unsubscribes. Mailreach will flag these, but you should clean your list if you start seeing a lot.

What doesn’t work: Set-and-forget. Outreach is a living process. Iterate as you go.

Step 9: Tweak, Test, and Improve

The real work starts after your first batch goes out.

A/B test subject lines and messages. Mailreach supports this. Small tweaks can make a big difference.
Personalize more. If you’re not getting replies, get more specific in your messages.
Rotate sender accounts if scaling. If you need more volume, add warmed-up accounts, but never at the expense of quality.

Ignore: Chasing every new “deliverability hack” you see online. The fundamentals—good lists, real personalization, slow ramp-up—work better than any shortcut.

Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple

You don’t need to overthink this. Start small, focus on quality, and keep an eye on your results. Tools like Mailreach can make your life easier, but they’re only as good as the effort you put in. Iterate, learn from your replies (or lack thereof), and don’t fall for myths about “secret” cold email tactics.

Get the basics right, and you’ll do better than 90% of people out there. Good luck, and keep it human.