Nobody wakes up excited to read a cold email.
But if done right, prospects might actually thank you for sending one. However, the problem is that most cold emails are primarily about the sender – rather than the prospect.
And guess what? Nothing gets ignored faster than a self-centred pitch.
That’s why in this blog, we’ll tell you how to structure a cold email outreach campaign, the essential setups you can’t afford to skip, and a side-by-side comparison of popular cold email tools so you know which one you should use.
Let’s begin:
Contents
Cold Email Outreach Best Practices: How to Avoid Being Marked as Spam
Cold email is not the same as spam. Spam is lazy… it’s blasting the same:
“Hey {firstname}, let’s jump on a quick call.”
to 5,000 random inboxes and praying someone says yes.
Good cold email, on the other hand, works when you personalise it for the right prospect.
And the golden rule of personalisation is simple:
- WIIFM (What’s in it for me?)
By me, we mean your prospect. Are you helping them save time? Make money? Avoid a headache? If your email doesn’t make their life easier in some way, it’s not outreach… it’s just another distraction they’ll delete without a second thought. So every email should be treated as the start of a relationship, not a transaction. You’re not closing a deal in Email #1 (spoiler: you rarely will). What you’re doing is starting a conversation and opening a door.
Simply doing this consistently will get you ahead of 90% of other senders who are still blasting templates.
Email Outreach Campaign Setup: Basics to Get Right Before Sending
Here are a few non-negotiables you must do before you launch your cold email outreach campaign:
- Define your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
Get super clear on your ICP: industry, job title, company size, geography, and pain points. Then, only build a list that matches this profile.
Remember: cold email is not a numbers game anymore, it’s a relevance game.
- Build verified contact lists
Use tools like Apollo or Hunter to pull verified emails and always double-check them with an email verifier before adding them to your sequences.
- Technical setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Sounds technical? Actually, it’s simpler than it looks. You only need to add three records to your domain settings. And here’s why it matters: without these, your emails risk ending up in spam or, worse, being spoofed by attackers pretending to be you.
- SPF: Confirms which servers can send emails for your domain.
- DKIM: Adds a digital signature so your emails look authentic.
- DMARC: Tells inboxes what to do if something looks fishy.
Set these up once with your domain registrar, and you’ll protect your sender reputation for the long run.
- Warm up your inbox
If you create a new domain and instantly start blasting 200 emails/day, guess what will happen? Gmail and Outlook will flag you as suspicious – and your shiny new domain will end up in spam before it ever has a chance. That’s why inbox warmup is important.
So, how do you do it the right way? Here’s how:
Start Small: Begin with a “safe” range like 20-30 emails/per day, observe your bounce and open rates, and only scale if you’re confident that your domain health is solid.
Peer-to-Peer Warmup: Another way is to send and receive emails with a cohort of trusted inboxes. This back-and-forth signals to email providers that your domain is legit and actively engaging.
Recommended Reading:
Want to make your email campaigns more effective beyond just outreach? Read our blog on – Checklist for Effective Email Marketing
Cold Email Tools Compared: Hunter vs Instantly vs Apollo
We’ve tested Hunter, Instantly, and Apollo across multiple client campaigns at Brandshark. Each tool brings something useful to the table… but if you’re wondering which one actually drives results, here’s the side-by-side breakdown.
| Feature | Hunter | Instantly | Apollo |
| Use Case | Find & verify emails | Warmup + Deliveribility | All in one: leads, outreach, and deliverability |
| Database | Decent (but limited) | None | Huge verified B2B database |
| Automation | None | Basic sequence | Full database + A/B testing |
| Deliveribility | Minimal | Excellent warmup | Strong dashboard + fixes |
| Integrations | CRM & outreach tools | Mostly inboxes | Wide: CRM, Linkedin, sales tools |
| Best For | Just email IDs | Protecting inbox health | End-to-end cold outreach |
So yeah, Hunter’s good, Instantly’s great – but Apollo?
That’s our go-to. We use it to run cold email outreach campaigns for clients. It’s like having your data, sequences, and deliverability all under one roof.
Recommended Reading:
Cold email is just one piece of the larger sales funnel. If you want to see how it fits in, read this guide – 5 Effective Lead Nurturing Strategies for Your Business
Conclusion
Cold outreach works… when you do it right. Keep your sending practices clean, make your emails personal, and support it all with the right technical setup. And when it comes to tools, Apollo stands out as the best balance of data, automation, and deliverability. It’s the platform we rely on at Brandshark to run campaigns that actually get replies.
