Apollo’s Cold Email Deliverability Checklist 1/2

Recommended overall approach

Go for quality emails over quantity CHEC
Personalize emails with your own research or Apollo’s data
LIST K
Write and send emails “like a real person.
Email deliverability is never a one-and-done, it’s an ongoing process!

The Basics

Link your mailbox to Apollo and read this guide on deliverability

Create a subdomain and link it to Apollo (never send cold emails from your company’s primary domain)

Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain

Not sure if this was set up already or correctly? Click “Run diagnostics” in the Engage tab of Apollo to make sure!

Set up (and authenticate) subdomains and non-primary domains in case of deliverability disruptions and to "fence"
off different types of emails (sales, marketing, transactional)
Set a daily and hourly sending limit in Apollo, 10 per hour or 50 a day at most (set it to an amount a human would
typically be able to achieve)
Set a minimum delay between sends of 90 seconds or more
Add an opt-out/unsubscribe link
Enable open & click tracking (this is the only way we can help you monitor your email engagement and prevent low
engagement from turning into a high spam complaint rate)
Set up a custom tracking subdomain (for example, mail.apollo.io instead of apollo.io) to use for tracking opens and
add it to your subdomain list in Apollo
Only add verified email addresses to sequences and to be extra careful only add leads who were:

last updated in Apollo within 3 months

Have opened emails sent from Apollo in the past
leads that are marked as likely to engage
Avoid adding contacts to multiple sequences

Use plain-text (not HTML)

Format your messages like a real person would when sending to a peer. Avoid things like:

Promotional images. You can use images but not in a way that feels spammy
HTML tables and other formatting
Don’t go crazy with bold and italics

Include few (if any) links

If you must include links, always use secured (https://) and not (http://)
Don't use public link shorteners like bit.ly or link to files in Google Drive

Don’t include attachments

Make your email signature information-rich (full name, title, company address)
Set up Google Postmaster Tool to monitor domain reputation
Apollo’s Cold Email Deliverability Checklist 2/2

Email warm-up
If you’re warming up a new email domain, follow all the steps in the basics and gradually
increase the volume of your email sends in the first couple of weeks of using your new domain
Start with 25 emails/day on st
1 & 2 nd week, 0 emails/day on 3rd week, 00 emails/day on th week etc.
5 1 4

Increase volume only when you see positive engagement signals like opens and clicks, or else update
and personalize your emails further
Ask your closest contacts to respond to your emails. If possible, then forward them as well.
(Mailbox providers track opens and clicks which helps to signal that you’re sending relevant
or “wanted emails.”)
Don't start sending until a domain/subdomain has been around for at least 30 days

Advanced Tactics
Leverage multiple inboxes (ideally across multiple subdomains / domains ) by linking
additional mailboxes to Apollo and using mailbox rotation — as long as you're acting like a
legitimate business sender
B e sure to set up S , D IM, and DMARC records for these, too
PF K !

Before you add multiple domains make sure you’re sending enough with the first domain. It’s
better to send emails using subdomains and accounts before using fresh domains
Set up multiple a/b tests for each email in a sequence — this allows you to experiment with subject
lines or email content to optimize for high-engagement emails
Continually monitor your domain reputation, email volume, and tracking subdomains to
ensure good deliverability

Repair damaged deliverability

Stop using the damaged domain and warm until health is restored (weeks to months)
Rotate in a ready domain (should be properly aged and warmed)
If you don't have one, set up and warm additional subdomains / domains
U se alternate methods of outreach during recovery, including calling and LinkedIn
Reconfigure your setup to look like a legitimate business sender (by following the
CHEC
LIST K
steps above) and continually monitor your domain reputation