If you’re in sales, recruiting, or any kind of outreach, you know the drill: Personalization gets replies, but nobody wants to handcraft 500 emails a week. This guide’s for people who want to use Instantly to send smarter, more personal campaigns—without spending their whole life in a spreadsheet or churning out emails that sound like they were written by a bad AI.
Let’s get into the nuts and bolts of actually making Instantly work for you, not the other way around.
1. Get the Basics Right: Clean Setup, Clean Data
Before you even open Instantly, you need two things: a reputable sender setup and a clean list. Skip these, and nothing else in this guide will matter.
Why? Even the fanciest personalization tricks won’t save you if your emails land in spam or you’re sending to garbage data. Here’s what you need to do:
- Warm up your sending domain: If you’re using a fresh domain, set up proper DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and start slow. Use Instantly’s warmup feature, but don’t expect miracles overnight. If your main domain has a bad reputation, fix that first or get a new one.
- Scrub your email list: Remove obvious junk, duplicates, and bounces. Tools like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce work, but don’t get obsessed—just avoid sending to role-based emails (info@, sales@) and obvious traps.
- Segment your audience: Don’t lump everyone into one list. Break prospects into logical groups—by industry, title, or pain point. This is what makes personalization possible later on.
Pro Tip: Don’t buy lists off sketchy forums. It’s a waste. Build your own, or use a reputable provider.
2. Map Out Your Personalization Strategy (Don’t Overthink It)
“Personalization at scale” sounds like a paradox. Here’s the honest truth: Most people go overboard and end up with emails that are either creepy (“I saw you went to State U in 2003...”) or so generic they’re pointless.
What actually works: - First name, company, role: The basics still matter. Get these right. - Relevant context: A line about their recent funding, a mutual connection, or a quick mention of something specific to their company. - Light customization: One or two lines max. The rest can (and probably should) be templated.
What to skip: - Overly complex mail merge fields (you’ll break something) - Deep “research” that doesn’t scale or slows you down - Flattery (“I love your inspirational LinkedIn posts!”—nobody buys it)
Pro Tip: Think about what you would reply to. If it feels forced, it is.
3. Set Up Custom Fields in Instantly
This is where Instantly starts to pull its weight. Custom fields let you drop in personalized nuggets without rewriting every email.
How to do it:
1. Import your list: CSV, Google Sheets, whatever you like. Make sure your columns are labeled clearly—first_name, company, custom_note, etc.
2. Match columns to custom fields: Instantly will prompt you to map your CSV columns to its internal fields. Take two minutes to double-check this. One mismatch and your emails will look broken or spammy.
3. Add unique fields: Besides the basics, consider adding a personal_note column. Fill it with a short, relevant line for each prospect (e.g., “Congrats on your recent funding!”).
What to watch out for: - Don’t go crazy with custom fields. Every extra one means more room for error. - If you leave a custom field blank, Instantly can either skip the line or fill it with a fallback—but check your settings.
Pro Tip: You can bulk edit custom fields in Google Sheets or Excel before uploading. That’s way faster than fixing mistakes inside Instantly.
4. Write Templates That Don’t Suck
The temptation to use Instantly’s built-in templates or copy something you found online is real. Resist. Blah templates get blah results.
How to write a good template: - Short subject lines: Keep it under 50 characters. Don’t use clickbait. - Open with a relevant line: Use a custom field, but make it sound like a human wrote it. - One clear ask: Don’t cram in five CTAs. What do you want them to do? - No “Hope this finds you well”: Just... don’t.
Example:
Subject: Quick question for {{first_name}} at {{company}}
Hi {{first_name}},
Saw {{custom_note}}—thought it was impressive.
Quick question: Are you the best person to talk to about [pain point or topic]?
Thanks, [Your name]
What matters:
- The template works because it’s simple and easy to personalize.
- The {{custom_note}} is your secret weapon. If you can’t think of anything real to say, skip it instead of faking it.
Pro Tip: Send test emails to yourself with sample data before launching. Catch awkward phrasing and broken fields early.
5. Automate and Schedule (But Stay in Control)
Now it’s time to use Instantly’s automation features—but don’t just “set it and forget it.” You’re still responsible for what goes out.
Steps: 1. Set up sequences: Instantly lets you send a follow-up (or several). Space them out—no one likes three emails in two days. 2. Personalize follow-ups: Use the same fields to reference your previous message or add a new tidbit, but keep it light. 3. Schedule sending: Spread emails out over the week. This helps avoid spam traps and keeps things manageable if you get a bunch of replies.
Things to avoid: - Sending on weekends or holidays (unless your audience works then) - Large bursts—keep your daily volume reasonable, especially on new domains
Pro Tip: Instantly’s analytics aren’t perfect, but use them to see what’s actually getting replies. Open rates are only half the story—focus on real conversations.
6. Monitor Results and Make Real Changes
Most people send one campaign, get mediocre results, and blame the tool. The reality: Tiny tweaks make a big difference.
What to track: - Reply rate: The only metric that really matters. Opens and clicks are nice, but replies mean people actually noticed you. - Positive vs. negative replies: Are people interested, or just telling you to stop? - Which fields drive engagement: Does your custom note actually get a response, or can you skip it?
How to improve: - Swap out lines that aren’t working. - Try different subject lines. - Adjust your custom fields—maybe you don’t need as much detail as you thought.
Pro Tip: Don’t chase perfection. If you get a 10%+ reply rate, you’re already ahead of the game.
7. What to Ignore (and What to Be Skeptical About)
Here’s what doesn’t move the needle, no matter what the “growth hacks” say:
- Fancy HTML templates (plain text works best)
- Embedding images or GIFs (just increases spam risk)
- Spammy tricks to “boost” deliverability (focus on good lists and steady sending)
- Overly clever personalization (nobody cares if you mention their podcast from 2017)
Stick to the basics: Good list, real personalization, simple templates, and steady sending.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Burn Out
Personalized outreach with Instantly isn’t magic, but it is doable if you keep things simple and focus on what matters. Don’t try to automate away all the work—just use the tool to handle the boring parts so you can spend your time on real conversations.
Test, tweak, and don’t be afraid to start over if something isn’t working. And remember: half the battle is just not sounding like everyone else in their inbox.
Good luck—and don’t overthink it.