Best Cold Outreach Tools 2024: Apollo vs Lemlist Review

Apollo's Sequences feature in the Campaign Creation sub-feature lets you set up a series of emails, messages, and tasks to target and convert sales leads. While powerful, it has a more linear approach to sequences, focusing on simple, straightforward automation rather than complex branching paths.

Key features of Apollo's Sequences:

• Linear Email Sequences: Supports a simple series of automated emails.
• Social Media Integration: Includes tasks for LinkedIn, like sending connection requests and messages.
• Manual and Automatic Tasks: Offers both automated emails and tasks for manual follow-up actions.

Reddit feedback indicates mixed views on Apollo's Sequences, with users exploring alternatives and reporting issues with email scheduling and quality.

🤔 "Seeking better alternatives for cold emailing than Apollo.io" - r/Emailmarketing

👎 "when you actually schedule emails to be sent out it doesn't work or it works so badly that it is useless" - r/LeadGeneration

When we use lemlist's Sequences for Campaign Creation, we can send tailored emails, engage on social platforms like LinkedIn, and set tasks to effectively reach and close sales leads. The visual arrangement of branching conditions and sequences in a sandbox format simplifies the creation of complex campaigns, catering to the needs of advanced users.

• Visual Sequence Builder: Create complex sequences with ease using the visual sandbox editor.
• Multichannel Reach: Supports both email and LinkedIn for comprehensive lead engagement.
• Customizable Steps: Use a mix of automatic and manual actions to personalize your campaign.
• Conditional Branching: Set rules that define the flow of your campaign based on lead behavior.

😐 "Lemlist, in theory, is great. I have a whole list of reasons I stopped using it." - r/Emailmarketing

👍 "Using LemList to create 'custom' automated email campaigns" - r/Emailmarketing

Apollo's Sequences feature deals with deliverability by allowing users to manage multiple mailboxes. However, it's important to note that while Apollo supports multiple mailboxes, it does not offer email warming services, which can be crucial for avoiding spam filters and maintaining a good sender reputation. For those services, you would need to use a different product.

Key aspects of deliverability features:

• Support for multiple mailboxes
• No built-in email warming service
• Rate limits to prevent spamming
• Monitoring of setup progress and sending limits

On Reddit, users discuss the effectiveness and risks associated with Apollo's email sequences:

😐 "mediocre results...screw up your domain reputation" - r/sales

😐 "Allowing link tracking adds some inherent risk when sending emails" - r/Emailmarketing

Deliverability is critical for any sales engagement platform, and lemlist addresses this with lemwarm, a dedicated product designed to improve email deliverability. Lemwarm requires an additional subscription, but it offers vital features for those serious about their email campaigns.

• Email Warming: lemwarm actively warms up your email addresses to boost deliverability.
• Spam Avoidance: Tips and guides to ensure emails land in the inbox, not the spam folder.
• Rate Limits: Set daily limits on emails to prevent being flagged as spam.
• Multiple Mailboxes: Manage several mailboxes to spread out your campaign's reach.

🤔 "Be sure that DMARK/SPF/DKIM are working." - r/agency

Apollo's Sequences feature allows for high levels of customization in email campaigns. The personalization sub-feature includes dynamic variables from Apollo's extensive enrichment database, which can be used directly in the email body to make each message feel more personal and relevant to the recipient.

• Dynamic Variables: Insert custom fields into your emails using placeholders in {{ }} brackets to include information like the recipient's name, company, or location.
• Preview Personalization: Check how your email will look by selecting an existing lead or sending a test email to yourself.
• Conditional Content: Create emails that adapt content based on whether certain variables exist or meet specific conditions.
• Rich Media Integration: Enhance your emails by adding meeting invites, Vidyard recordings, or images to engage your leads further.
• Normalized Fields: Some data fields are normalized, offering natural-sounding references in your emails.

Personalization is key in engaging leads effectively, and lemlist offers features that let you customize each email in a sequence. You can insert dynamic variables like the recipient's name or company, which helps in making emails feel more personal and less like a mass message.

• Dynamic Variables: Insert basic fields such as first name, last name, and company name into emails.
• Liquid Syntax: Use conditionals and pull variables like the current date into your messages, with fallback options if data is missing.
• Custom Images: Include personalized images in your emails to catch the lead's attention.
• Custom Landing Pages: Direct leads to personalized landing pages to increase engagement and conversion.

Apollo's AI feature in the Sequences tool lets us write full sentences and allows us to use custom signals for each lead. This feature can significantly improve our engagement with prospects by providing personalized and relevant content.

• AI Email Generation: Apollo's AI can write entire emails, including subject lines and body content.
• Customization: We can steer the AI by inputting information about our company, product, and target persona to personalize content.
• Various Customization Options: From one-liners to full emails, the AI helps us craft messages that resonate with our audience.
• Automatic Meeting Transcription: Apollo can record, transcribe, and analyze video call meetings, which saves us time and helps us review important points.

Lemlist's AI features within the Sequences tool help you create entire campaigns by providing input fields where you can enter specific details about the target audience and campaign objectives. However, the AI does not offer extensive customization options for each lead's unique signals.

• AI-generated campaign creation
• Basic AI commands for email and messaging
• Limited customization for unique lead signals
• User input fields to guide AI campaign generation

Apollo's Native Enrichment feature stands out by offering in-depth data on companies and leads. This feature is particularly useful for personalizing emails and other communications based on a variety of enrichment parameters. The buyer signals, coupled with additional data from various sources, provide rich insights into your leads, enhancing the ability to target them effectively.

• Buyer Signals: Receive notifications when a lead shows high engagement, such as opening multiple emails.
• Enrichment Data: Access detailed information like job changes and contact details to personalize your outreach.
• Data Health Metrics: View the percentage of contacts with accurate or missing information and schedule updates.
• Personalization: Use enrichment parameters to tailor your sequences for higher relevance and impact.

Lemlist's Native Enrichment within the Sequences feature offers basic lead enrichment capabilities. It provides buyer signals and data from various sources to give you more insights about your leads. Although it's not as comprehensive as dedicated enrichment tools, it can be a good starting point for learning more about your prospects.

• Basic list building and enrichment functions
• Incorporates data from multiple sources
• Provides essential lead details
• Less detailed compared to specialized tools
• Data may not always be up-to-date

Apollo's Sequences feature for Social Automation gives you the power to automate tasks and social interactions, especially on LinkedIn. You can set up tasks for calls, emails, and LinkedIn actions without having to do them manually. This is great for staying on top of your sales process and making sure you don't miss any chances to connect with leads.

• Task Creation: Set up tasks for manual emails, phone calls, or custom actions.
• LinkedIn Automation: Automate connection requests, messages, profile views, and post interactions.
• Priority Setting: Choose the importance of each task to stay organized.
• Due Date Adjustment: Change when tasks are due to manage your time better.

Lemlist's Sequences feature includes a robust social automation component, specifically designed to automate actions on LinkedIn. It leverages a browser extension to perform tasks locally, which gives users the ability to automate LinkedIn connection requests, messaging, and even post engagement, which can significantly boost your sales outreach efforts.

• Local Automation: Uses a browser extension to perform actions directly within LinkedIn.
• Connection Requests: Send automated requests to connect with prospects on LinkedIn.
• Message Automation: Automate sending personalized messages to your LinkedIn connections.
• Post Engagement: Automatically like or comment on posts to increase visibility and engagement.