Cold Email Outreach

The final mile of the outbound pipeline. Takes leads from wherever the user has them, builds email sequences, loads campaigns into the user's chosen outreach tool, and launches.

Tool-agnostic: Asks the user which outreach platform they use. Defaults to Smartlead if they have MCP tools configured. Falls back to CSV export for any other tool or manual workflow.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User says "launch a campaign", "send outreach", "email these leads", "set up cold email"
• User has a list of leads and wants to run an outbound email campaign
• User wants to create and configure a campaign in Smartlead or another outreach tool

Supported Outreach Tools

This skill does NOT assume a specific tool. It asks first, then adapts.

mcp__smartlead__*

Tool selection logic:

1. Ask user in Phase 0: "Which outreach tool do you use?"
2. If Smartlead → use MCP tools for full automation
3. If Instantly / Lemlist / Apollo → generate tool-specific import CSV
4. If Other or unknown → generate generic CSV (

   email

   ,

   first_name

   ,

   last_name

   ,

   company

   ,

   title

   ,

   subject

   ,

   body

   per touch) and ask user for their tool's import requirements

Prerequisites

Environment Variables

For Smartlead (full automation):

SMARTLEAD_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

All Smartlead API calls go to

https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1

?api_key=$SMARTLEAD_API_KEY

For CSV-based tools: No env vars needed.

Phase 0: Intake

Ask all questions at once. Organize by category. Skip any already answered.

Campaign Goal

1. What's the objective? (book meetings, drive demo requests, get replies, nurture)
2. What's the outreach angle or hook? (hiring signal, competitor displacement, event-based, pain-based, cold database)
3. What should we name this campaign?

Outreach Tool

4. Which outreach tool do you use? (Smartlead / Instantly / Lemlist / Apollo / Other / Just give me a CSV)

Lead Source

5. Where are your leads? Accept any of these:
   • CSV file — read the file, map columns to required fields
   • Pasted list — names, emails, companies pasted directly
   • CRM export — Salesforce, HubSpot, or other CRM data
   • Database query — if the user has a database, help them query it
   • Upstream output — data from a prior task in this conversation
6. Any exclusions? (specific companies, recently contacted leads, certain titles)
7. Max campaign size? (default: 200)

Minimum required per lead: email address. Nice to have: first_name, last_name, company, title.

Sequence Design

8. How many touches? (default: 3)
9. Timing between touches? (default: Day 1 / Day 5 / Day 12)
10. Personalization tier? (Tier 1: merge fields only / Tier 2: segment-specific / Tier 3: unique per lead)

Sending Config (skip if CSV export)

11. Which email accounts should send? (list accounts or "use all available")
12. Sending schedule? (default: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm in recipient's timezone)
13. Daily send limit per account? (default: 30/day)
14. Track opens and clicks? (default: opens yes, clicks no)

Phase 1: Lead Ingestion

Parse Leads

Accept leads from whatever source the user provides:

• CSV file: Read the file. Flexibly match columns:

  • email

    (required) — also matches

    Email

    ,

    email_address

  • first_name

    — also matches

    firstname

    ,

    first

    ,

    First Name

  • last_name

    — also matches

    lastname

    ,

    last

    ,

    Last Name

  • company_name

    — also matches

    company

    ,

    organization

    ,

    Company

  • Any extra columns become custom fields
• Pasted data: Parse whatever format the user provides. Extract emails, names, companies.
• CRM/Database: Help the user query or export, then parse the result.

Validate & Deduplicate

• Remove rows without a valid email
• Deduplicate by email (keep first occurrence)
• Report: total rows, valid, invalid, duplicates removed

Present & Confirm

Show a sample table (10-15 leads) with:

• Name, Title, Company, Email

Tell user: total eligible leads, how many were invalid/removed.

Ask user to confirm or adjust before proceeding.

Phase 2: Sequence Design

Present the sequence plan as a table before writing any copy:

Get user approval on the structure before generating copy in Phase 3.

Phase 3: Email Generation

Write the email copy directly using these guidelines.

Email Structure Formula

Every cold email follows this skeleton:

Hook (1 sentence) → Evidence (1-2 sentences) → Offer (1 sentence)

Word count targets:

• Cold intro (Touch 1): 50-90 words
• Follow-up (Touch 2-3): 30-50 words
• Breakup (final touch): 20-40 words

By Personalization Tier

Tier 1 (Generic): Generate one template per touch with merge fields (

{first_name}

{company}

{title}

Tier 2 (Segment): Generate one template per segment per touch. Segments are defined by role, industry, or signal type. Swap pain points and proof points between segments.

Tier 3 (Deep): Generate unique email per lead per touch. Cap at 50 leads — recommend Tier 2 above that volume.

Hard Rules

1. No filler openers. Never "I hope this finds you well"
2. No "just checking in" follow-ups. Every touch adds a new reason to reply
3. Under 150 words per email. Most should be 80-120.
4. One CTA per email. Always low-friction.
5. No selling in the first sentence. Lead with them, not you.
6. Subject lines under 50 chars. No caps, no exclamation marks, no emoji.
7. Sign off with name only. No "Best regards."

Review Loop

1. Generate sample emails for 3-5 leads first
2. Present to user for review
3. Iterate until approved (max 3 rounds)
4. Generate remaining emails after approval

Phase 4: Campaign Setup

If Smartlead (MCP Automation)

Full automation via MCP tools. Execute in this order:

Step 1: Find and allocate mailboxes

mcp__smartlead__get_email_accounts

Returns all email accounts with

id

from_email

from_name

daily_sent_count

is_smtp_success

is_imap_success

To find free mailboxes (not already assigned to active campaigns):

1. Fetch all campaigns:

   mcp__smartlead__get_campaigns

2. For each campaign with status

   ACTIVE

   or

   STARTED

   , fetch its email accounts:

   mcp__smartlead__get_campaign_email_accounts

3. Build a set of all

   email_account_id

   values currently assigned to active campaigns
4. A mailbox is "free" if its

   id

   is NOT in the active set AND

   is_smtp_success

   = true AND

   is_imap_success

   = true
5. Sort free mailboxes by

   daily_sent_count

   ascending (prefer least-used)
6. Select the requested number of free mailboxes

If fewer free mailboxes than requested, tell the user and ask how to proceed.

Present available/selected accounts to user for confirmation.

Step 2: Create campaign

mcp__smartlead__create_campaign
  name: {campaign_name}

Save the returned

campaign_id

Step 3: Add sequence steps

mcp__smartlead__save_campaign_sequences
  campaign_id: {campaign_id}
  sequences: [
    { seq_number: 1, subject: "...", email_body: "...", seq_delay_details: { delay_in_days: 0 } },
    { seq_number: 2, subject: "...", email_body: "...", seq_delay_details: { delay_in_days: 4 } },
    { seq_number: 3, subject: "...", email_body: "...", seq_delay_details: { delay_in_days: 7 } }
  ]

Merge variable mapping: Convert

{first_name}

{{first_name}}

{company}

{{company}}

Note: Blank

subject

Step 4: Import leads (batch 100)

mcp__smartlead__add_leads_to_campaign
  campaign_id: {campaign_id}
  lead_list: [{ email: "...", first_name: "...", last_name: "...", company_name: "...", ... }]

Smartlead accepts max 100 leads per call. Chunk the list and call for each batch. Extra columns become

custom_fields

Step 5: Assign sending accounts

mcp__smartlead__add_email_accounts_to_campaign
  campaign_id: {campaign_id}
  email_account_ids: [...]

Step 6: Set schedule

mcp__smartlead__update_campaign_schedule
  campaign_id: {campaign_id}
  schedule: {
    timezone: "America/New_York",
    days_of_the_week: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    start_hour: "08:00",
    end_hour: "18:00",
    min_time_btw_emails: 10,
    max_new_leads_per_day: 20
  }

days_of_the_week

Step 7: Configure settings

mcp__smartlead__update_campaign_settings
  campaign_id: {campaign_id}
  settings: {
    track_settings: [],
    stop_lead_settings: "REPLY_TO_AN_EMAIL",
    send_as_plain_text: false,
    follow_up_percentage: 100
  }

Allowed

track_settings

DONT_TRACK_EMAIL_OPEN

DONT_TRACK_LINK_CLICK

DONT_TRACK_REPLY_TO_AN_EMAIL

stop_lead_settings

REPLY_TO_AN_EMAIL

CLICK_ON_A_LINK

OPEN_AN_EMAIL

If CSV-Based Tool (Instantly, Lemlist, Apollo, Other)

Step 1: Generate CSV

Columns depend on personalization tier:

Tier 1 (same template for all):

• CSV columns:

  email

  ,

  first_name

  ,

  last_name

  ,

  company

  ,

  title

  ,

  custom_field_1

  (signal/hook)
• Separate file with sequence templates (subjects + bodies with merge fields)

Tier 2/3 (per-segment or per-lead emails):

• CSV columns:

  email

  ,

  first_name

  ,

  last_name

  ,

  company

  ,

  title

  ,

  touch_1_subject

  ,

  touch_1_body

  ,

  touch_2_subject

  ,

  touch_2_body

  ,

  touch_3_subject

  ,

  touch_3_body

Step 2: Save file

Save to the current working directory:

{campaign-name}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.csv

Step 3: Provide tool-specific import instructions

Instantly:

• Upload CSV → Sequences → Create new sequence
• Map columns: Email → email, First Name → first_name, etc.
• Paste sequence templates into each step
• Set delays between steps

Lemlist:

• People → Import → Upload CSV
• Map custom variables to columns
• Create campaign → add email steps → insert variables

Apollo:

• Sequences → Create Sequence → add email steps
• Contacts → Import → Upload CSV
• Add imported contacts to sequence

Other / Manual:

• Provide the CSV path and explain the column structure
• Ask user what format their tool expects, adjust if needed

Phase 5: Review & Launch

Present campaign summary:

Campaign: {name}
Leads: {count}
Sequence: {touches} touches over {days} days
Sending: {accounts} accounts × {daily_limit}/day = {daily_volume} emails/day
Estimated completion: {date}
Tool: {smartlead/instantly/etc.}

Hard Approval Gate

Do NOT activate the campaign without explicit user confirmation. Present the summary, then ask: "Ready to launch? Type 'yes' to activate."

• Smartlead:

  mcp__smartlead__update_campaign_status

  → set status to

  START

• CSV tools: Tell user the file is ready for import, provide the file path

Smartlead API Reference

All endpoints use base URL

https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1

?api_key=

/campaigns/create

/campaigns

/campaigns/{id}

/campaigns/{id}/schedule

/campaigns/{id}/settings

/campaigns/{id}/sequences

/campaigns/{id}/leads

/campaigns/{id}/email-accounts

/campaigns/{id}/email-accounts

/campaigns/{id}/status

/campaigns/{id}/analytics

/email-accounts/

Cost

Error Handling

SMARTLEAD_API_KEY

.env