How to connect your Google Workspace / Gmail accounts
Sometimes setup of the account can be challenging, that's why we prepared step-by-step guide to make it easier for our users.
For your convenience we also added a video step-by-step guide here
Step 1: Enable IMAP
Enabling IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) in Gmail allows you to access your emails from other email clients or applications.
Open Gmail in Your Web Browser: Start by opening your Gmail account in a web browser.
Access Gmail Settings: Click on the gear icon (Settings) located in the top right corner of the Gmail interface.
Go to Settings: In the dropdown menu, select "See all settings" to access the full settings menu.
Navigate to Forwarding and POP/IMAP Settings: Within the settings menu, click on the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab.
Enable IMAP Access: Under the "IMAP access" section, locate the option for enabling IMAP and select "Enable IMAP".
Save Changes: Scroll down and click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the settings page to apply the changes.
Step 2: Connecting Your Google Account
Connecting your Google Workspace account to Instantly using OAuth authentication allows seamless access and integration between the two platforms. Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up OAuth access in your Google Workspace account and connect it with Instantly.
Steps to Connect Your Google Account with OAuth Method:
Open your Instantly account in one browser tab and your Google Workspace account in another tab within the same browser window.
Before proceeding with OAuth setup, ensure that IMAP access has been enabled for all relevant email accounts within your Google Workspace. Check this article.
In your Google Workspace Admin console, navigate to "Security" > "API Controls" > "App Access Control".
Click on "View list" and then "Add App" to begin setting up the OAuth access.
Select OAuth App Name or Client ID, choose the option to add a new OAuth app. Copy the Client ID from your Instantly account settings (found under "Add New" > "Google/Gsuite" > "Yes, IMAP has been enabled" > "Option 2 OAuth").
Copy the Client ID from your Instantly account settings (found under "Add New" > "Google/Gsuite" > "Yes, IMAP has been enabled" > "Option 2 OAuth").
Paste the Client ID into your Google Workspace Admin console and click "Search". Select "Instantly" from the search results.
Select Instantly, check the box, and click on "Select"
Select "Trusted can access all Google services" and click on "Configure"
Instantly oAuth v1 will appear in the list of your trusted apps. Now you can go back to Instantly and complete the Login
Select the Google account you wish to connect or choose "Use another account". Click "Allow" to grant Instantly access to your Google Workspace.
Your Google Workspace account is now connected to Instantly. You can add additional accounts from the same Workspace using the OAuth method by repeating the login process with the same OAuth settings.
Steps to Connect Your Google Account with App Password Method:
Please check this guidance if you would like to connect your Google accounts using App Password method.
Now when it comes to free Gmail accounts - Google is very strict with respect to limits and rules. This is because they don't want to promote cold emailing through free Gmail accounts.
As a matter of fact, their algorithm is very smart in detecting what use the accounts are being put to.
Their rules and limitations are more relaxed towards Gsuite accounts. So when it comes to recommendation- we suggest using Gsuite or maybe even Microsoft accounts.
The problem is that it is an industry-wide thing, so even if you try some other cold emailing platform or you were to manually send out cold emails - it is still an issue one would face.
There was a question once asked in reference to free Gmail accounts used for cold emailing in our Facebook group. And majority of our members seconded this notion that it is not advisable to use free Gmail accounts for cold emailing.
How to connect your Microsoft/O365 accounts:
You need both IMAP ((Internet Message Access Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) enabled to connect an O365/Microsoft account to Instantly. It's not permitted to connect only SMTP for sending emails as our warmup is a peer-to-peer network consisting of real accounts that must both send and receive emails.
Steps to Enable SMTP and IMAP:
Enable SMTP (Outgoing Mail)
If you use Microsoft Outlook: Follow the official Microsoft guide to enable SMTP authentication for your account. Visit Microsoft SMTP Authentication Guide for detailed instructions.
If you have an Outlook account from GoDaddy: Refer to GoDaddy's guide on enabling SMTP authentication specific to their services. Visit GoDaddy SMTP Authentication Guide for detailed instructions.
Enable IMAP (Incoming Mail)
For Office 365 (O365) accounts: Follow Microsoft's guide to enable IMAP for your O365 account if it's not already enabled. Visit Microsoft IMAP Configuration Guide for detailed instructions.
IMAP Settings for O365/Microsoft (including GoDaddy) accounts: Refer to Microsoft's support article for IMAP settings applicable to O365 and Microsoft accounts, including those associated with GoDaddy. Visit Microsoft IMAP Settings for detailed information.
Once you have enabled SMTP, wait for one hour, and connect your email account by logging in to a Microsoft connector in Instantly. Visit this guide for detailed instructions.
How to add Custom Tracking Domain
What is a custom tracking domain and what does it do?
In order to track certain things like email opens (for example - and link clicks in the future), we insert special code into the body of your emails. That special code is generally in the form of a URL - for example. xyz.inreg1.com/[code]
Now while we keep changing that URL every once in a while, that same domain is used by every Instantly customer - unless you setup a custom tracking domain.
When you setup a custom tracking domain, the special code that we insert will use your specified domain instead of ours. And so it will be unique - which helps ensure that your sending reputation and deliverability are completely isolated from the rest of the accounts.
Think of it as bringing your own toothbrush on a road trip rather than using one
that's shared by multiple people. Only you get to use it, which prevents any dental problems that you could get by using a shared one.
When you add a custom tracking domain, it essentially works as a proxy/mask for
the tracking end-point and it isolates your sender reputation from the rest of the
user base... and so in a nutshell, always use a custom tracking domain.
How to add a custom tracking domain to Instantly?
Start off by going to the settings for the email account
Then, click on ‘Use custom tracking domain’
Add a new CNAME for your domain and set it to prox.itrackly.com
Use
instas the name of the CNAMEUse
prox.itrackly.comas the value of the CNAME
Add the new CNAME in Instantly -
inst.yoursendingdomain.comwith yoursendingdomain.com being the domain you added the CNAME record under.Click on ‘Check Status’. If everything is set up correctly you will receive the following notifications below the Check Status button: CNAME Verified SSL Verified
Should I use a new custom tracking domain per account?
There are a couple of different ways to organize your custom tracking domains:
Organize them on a per-business basis - i.e., use a single custom tracking domain for multiple sending accounts. This would make sense if your primary domain is old/warmed up. If you're running a lead agency, this is what we would recommend.
Organize them based on the associated domain for the email account. For example, if you had
[email protected]and[email protected], you may useinst.first.comfor all email addresses associated withfirst.comandinst.second.comwith all emails associated withsecond.com(and so on). This approach would make sense when all of your domains are new, or if you’re experimenting with a new campaign that could potentially have a negative impact your reputation. By creating separate groups, you can minimize the damage from a ‘bad’ campaign.
💡Pro Tip: If you use Instantly's in-built warmup tool, you can automatically warm up the new tracking domains and accounts at the same time!
How Warm-Up Works and Why it's Important
The warmup functionality mimics human conversations between email accounts.
Think of it as you emailing back and forth with your friends - on autopilot.
But in this case, your ‘friends’ are other Instantly.ai users who have also enabled the warmup feature. You can be sure that all of them will open your email and a high percentage will write you back with a ‘thoughtful’ and positive sentiment.
The emails written by the Instantly AI algorithm signal to Google, Outlook, and others ESP’s that your email account and sending domain is relevant and legitimate.
This increases the likelihood that the messages that are sent to the cold leads in your outreach campaigns will also actually land in their inbox and subsequently be opened and replied to.
The bottom line is that the warmup will improve the deliverability of your cold email accounts by mimicking human conversations in the Instantly.ai user pool.
On top of the deliverability benefits, your outreach email accounts will also stay alive for longer and the likelihood of you ‘burning’ through an account is significantly lower.
How to Enable Warm-Up
To enable the warmup functionality go to your Email Accounts section and click on the flame icon on the right-hand side for each email account.
Methods to Enable Warmup:
By Clicking on the Warmup Enable/Disable Button
Step 1: Check the Current Status. Look at the warmup icon (flame icon) to determine its current status. If the icon is grey, it means warmup is not yet enabled.
Step 2: Enable Warmup. Click directly on the warmup enable/disable button (flame icon). When you click it, the icon will turn green, indicating that warmup mode is now enabled.
Through Account Settings
Step 1: Access Account Settings. Navigate to your account settings by clicking on the email account.
Step 2: Locate Warmup Settings within the account settings.
Step 3: Enable Warmup. Follow the prompts or options provided to enable warmup for the email account.
How to change the warmup settings
You can change the warmup settings of each email account by clicking on the ‘Settings’ icon.
In Instantly, there are two types of warmup settings:
Basic warmup settings
Advanced warmup settings (available on HyperGrowth and LightSpeed outreach plans)
Steps to Customize Warmup Settings:
Navigate to the warmup settings section within your email account management interface.
The warmup settings are pre-filled with suggested amounts for Increase per day, Daily limit, and Reply rate %. To change these values, click on the respective field (Increase per day, Daily limit, Reply rate %) and enter your desired numbers.
After adjusting the settings, click the blue ‘Save’ button to apply your modifications. Kindly check all the warmup settings here.
Consider Disabling Slow Warmup (Optional):
Below the ‘Increase per day’ field, you may find an option to "Disable slow warmup."
Use this option only for older email accounts that are already warmed up. Avoid using this for new accounts.
Creating And Editing Outreach Campaign
Creating A New campaign
To create a campaign, go to the left-hand side and click on the arrow. Once in the campaign overview, you’ll see the ‘+ ADD NEW” button on the top right.
As a next step, type in the name of your campaign. We suggest adding target audience parameters such as title, industry/niche, geo in the campaign name (e.g. Marketing Director_Advertising Agency_US) so you can more efficiently find and optimize your campaigns down the line.
Once you’ve typed in your campaign name click the blue Continue button and it will bring you to the next step. Now it’s time to add leads.
Adding Leads To A Campaign
Click on either one of the blue Import buttons to upload your leads. Next step choose the preferred method for uploading your leads, such as CSV file upload, manual email entry, or importing from Google Sheets, more lead import methods will be added down the line.
CSV file upload
Check this detailed guidance to upload your leads using a CSV file.
As a best practice, make sure that the leads you’re uploading are all verified. You can also check how to verify your leads here.
Lead Finder Import
Simply select the filters you need, and once happy with the result, select the number of leads and click "Add to campaign".
Bulk Insert Manually
To bulk insert or copy-paste a list of email addresses, simply paste it into the box and click on the blue button “Import emails >” below it.
Google Sheets Import
To import a lead list via Google Sheets, make the Google sheet publicly accessible and then paste the URL. Check this guide to upload your leads using Google Sheets.
To avoid formatting issues:
Select all your rows and columns with Ctrl/Cmd + A, and then
Click Format → Number → Plain text
Finally, import your spreadsheet.
Check this detailed guidance to upload your leads using Google Sheets.
Creating Sequences
First Email and Follow-Up Steps
Paste your body copy and subject line into the first email that your leads will be receiving.
To add a step in your cold email sequence, simply click on “Add step”. You can also adjust the time delay between the steps. In Step 1, you can define how many days Instantly should wait before sending Step 2.
You can add as many follow-up steps as you’d like, although we recommend a maximum of 3-4 steps for most cold outreach campaigns.
Previewing And Testing Email Steps
To preview any email in your sequence and test it click on the eye icon on the bottom editing section.
A pop-up will appear where you can automatically see the preview of that email step. In the top left, you can also send out a test email to an email address you specify.
Inserting Variables And Other Editor Functionalities
Variable in the subject line
To insert a variable into the subject line click on the bolt icon next to the top-right blue Save button.
Variable in the body copy
To insert a variable in the body copy click on the bolt icon in the bottom editing section.
How To Add And Use Custom Variables
You can also import Custom Variables which will later show up in your email copy editor as the header name of that column.
For example, if you have a column with Title, it will upload that as a Custom Variable, which you can later use in the copy as {{Title}} to dynamically insert the title of that contact.
When you upload custom variables they will show up as options in the email when you’re adding your variables in the email copy. Simply select the custom variable you want to use from there.
Adding Links/URLs
To insert a link into the body copy highlight the text that you want to hyperlink or select the link icon in the bottom editing section.
Insert Unsubscribe Link
If you want to add an unsubscribe link at the end of your emails click the respective icon in the bottom editing section, then click “Insert Unsubscribe Link”.
Cold Email Templates
Using Saved Templates
If you’re not quite sure what to write, we provide templates to get the creative juices flowing. To find the templates, simply click on the template icon in the bottom editor section.
Once you click the template icon a pop-up will appear with a wide selection of templates that Instantly provided to you as well as your own custom templates that you have saved in the past.
This allows you to set up a campaign even faster.
Saving Your Own Custom Templates
Once you’ve created your own email copy or made adjustments to an existing template, you can save that new version as a new template for future use as well.
Campaign Schedule
In the Schedule step of the campaign wizard, you can adjust the days of the week and the time frame in which Instantly sends to your leads.
Campaign Options
In the Options section of the Campaign wizard, you can select which email account to use for the sending and decide on the maximum number of emails to send per day.
You can also disable Open Tracking, Stop Sending emails on reply and auto-reply, or send emails as text only. Check all the campaign settings here.
Do a final check of your campaign setup and then hit the “Launch” button.
Advanced Email Body
Placeholder Values
When a mail merge variable isn’t available for a lead, we replace it with an empty string. However, you may want to have a default value for such cases.
Placeholder values are helpful when a mail merge variable isn’t available for a lead.
Here’s how you can use them:
Hi {{firstName | there,}}In the above example, ‘there,’ will be used if the variable ‘firstName’ isn’t available for a lead.
You may also insert more than one placeholder value and the algorithm will pick one randomly.
Hello {{firstName | there, | friend,}}
Spintax
Creating variations of sentences or words is pretty straightforward and can help you generate even more diverse email bodies for your leads. Check the detailed instructions here.
{{RANDOM | Hello | Hi | Greetings!}},
Liquid Syntax
To use conditional logic with your email body, you may use Liquid syntax.
💡 This feature is currently in Beta - please contact us if you run into any issues
Using email open status
There are two special variables that you can use to change your email body according to whether a lead has opened your previous email steps:
sequence_email_opened- Check if any of the previous steps (in the sequence) were openedlast_email_opened- Check if the immediately previous step (in the sequence) was opened
{% if sequence_email_opened %} I see that you opened my email. Yay! 😃 {% else %} 😕 Please open my emails. {% endif %}
You may, of course, combine the above format with other variables:
Hi {{firstName}}, {% if sequence_email_opened %} Here's a special discount code for you. {% else %} Don't miss out on this deal for {{companyName}} {% endif %}