Apollo Core Workflow B: Email Sequences & Outreach

Overview

Implement Apollo.io's email sequencing and outreach automation capabilities for B2B sales campaigns.

Prerequisites

• Completed apollo-core-workflow-a (lead search)
• Apollo account with Sequences feature enabled
• Connected email account in Apollo

Workflow Components

1. List Existing Sequences

// src/services/apollo/sequences.ts
import { apollo } from '../../lib/apollo/client';

export async function listSequences() {
  const response = await apollo.request({
    method: 'GET',
    url: '/emailer_campaigns',
  });

  return response.emailer_campaigns.map((campaign: any) => ({
    id: campaign.id,
    name: campaign.name,
    status: campaign.active ? 'active' : 'paused',
    stepsCount: campaign.num_steps,
    contactsCount: campaign.contact_count,
    createdAt: campaign.created_at,
    stats: {
      sent: campaign.emails_sent_count,
      opened: campaign.emails_opened_count,
      replied: campaign.emails_replied_count,
      bounced: campaign.emails_bounced_count,
    },
  }));
}

2. Create Email Sequence

// src/services/apollo/create-sequence.ts
interface SequenceStep {
  type: 'auto_email' | 'manual_email' | 'call' | 'task';
  subject?: string;
  body?: string;
  waitDays: number;
}

interface CreateSequenceParams {
  name: string;
  steps: SequenceStep[];
  sendingSchedule?: {
    timezone: string;
    days: string[];
    startHour: number;
    endHour: number;
  };
}

export async function createSequence(params: CreateSequenceParams) {
  const sequence = await apollo.request({
    method: 'POST',
    url: '/emailer_campaigns',
    data: {
      name: params.name,
      permissions: 'team',
      active: false, // Start paused
      emailer_schedule: params.sendingSchedule ? {
        timezone: params.sendingSchedule.timezone,
        days_of_week: params.sendingSchedule.days,
        start_hour: params.sendingSchedule.startHour,
        end_hour: params.sendingSchedule.endHour,
      } : undefined,
    },
  });

  // Add steps to sequence
  for (const step of params.steps) {
    await addSequenceStep(sequence.emailer_campaign.id, step);
  }

  return sequence.emailer_campaign;
}

async function addSequenceStep(sequenceId: string, step: SequenceStep) {
  return apollo.request({
    method: 'POST',
    url: `/emailer_campaigns/${sequenceId}/emailer_steps`,
    data: {
      emailer_step: {
        type: step.type,
        wait_time: step.waitDays * 24 * 60, // Convert to minutes
        email_template: step.subject ? {
          subject: step.subject,
          body_html: step.body,
        } : undefined,
      },
    },
  });
}

3. Add Contacts to Sequence

// src/services/apollo/sequence-contacts.ts
interface AddToSequenceParams {
  sequenceId: string;
  contactIds: string[];
  sendEmailFromId?: string;
}

export async function addContactsToSequence(params: AddToSequenceParams) {
  const results = await Promise.allSettled(
    params.contactIds.map(async (contactId) => {
      return apollo.request({
        method: 'POST',
        url: '/emailer_campaigns/add_contact_ids',
        data: {
          emailer_campaign_id: params.sequenceId,
          contact_ids: [contactId],
          send_email_from_user_id: params.sendEmailFromId,
        },
      });
    })
  );

  const succeeded = results.filter(r => r.status === 'fulfilled').length;
  const failed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'rejected').length;

  return {
    added: succeeded,
    failed,
    total: params.contactIds.length,
  };
}

export async function removeContactFromSequence(
  sequenceId: string,
  contactId: string
) {
  return apollo.request({
    method: 'POST',
    url: '/emailer_campaigns/remove_contact_ids',
    data: {
      emailer_campaign_id: sequenceId,
      contact_ids: [contactId],
    },
  });
}

4. Sequence Analytics

// src/services/apollo/sequence-analytics.ts
export async function getSequenceAnalytics(sequenceId: string) {
  const response = await apollo.request({
    method: 'GET',
    url: `/emailer_campaigns/${sequenceId}`,
  });

  const campaign = response.emailer_campaign;

  return {
    id: campaign.id,
    name: campaign.name,
    metrics: {
      totalContacts: campaign.contact_count,
      activeContacts: campaign.active_contact_count,
      completedContacts: campaign.finished_contact_count,
    },
    emailMetrics: {
      sent: campaign.emails_sent_count,
      delivered: campaign.emails_sent_count - campaign.emails_bounced_count,
      opened: campaign.emails_opened_count,
      clicked: campaign.emails_clicked_count,
      replied: campaign.emails_replied_count,
      bounced: campaign.emails_bounced_count,
    },
    rates: {
      deliveryRate: calculateRate(
        campaign.emails_sent_count - campaign.emails_bounced_count,
        campaign.emails_sent_count
      ),
      openRate: calculateRate(
        campaign.emails_opened_count,
        campaign.emails_sent_count
      ),
      clickRate: calculateRate(
        campaign.emails_clicked_count,
        campaign.emails_opened_count
      ),
      replyRate: calculateRate(
        campaign.emails_replied_count,
        campaign.emails_sent_count
      ),
    },
  };
}

function calculateRate(numerator: number, denominator: number): number {
  if (denominator === 0) return 0;
  return Math.round((numerator / denominator) * 100 * 10) / 10;
}

5. Complete Outreach Pipeline

// src/services/apollo/outreach-pipeline.ts
import { searchPeople } from './people-search';
import { createSequence } from './create-sequence';
import { addContactsToSequence } from './sequence-contacts';

interface OutreachCampaign {
  name: string;
  targetCriteria: {
    domains: string[];
    titles: string[];
  };
  emailSteps: Array<{
    subject: string;
    body: string;
    waitDays: number;
  }>;
}

export async function launchOutreachCampaign(campaign: OutreachCampaign) {
  // Step 1: Find matching leads
  const leads = await searchPeople({
    domains: campaign.targetCriteria.domains,
    titles: campaign.targetCriteria.titles,
    perPage: 100,
  });

  console.log(`Found ${leads.contacts.length} matching contacts`);

  // Step 2: Create sequence
  const sequence = await createSequence({
    name: campaign.name,
    steps: campaign.emailSteps.map((step, index) => ({
      type: 'auto_email' as const,
      subject: step.subject,
      body: step.body,
      waitDays: index === 0 ? 0 : step.waitDays,
    })),
    sendingSchedule: {
      timezone: 'America/New_York',
      days: ['monday', 'tuesday', 'wednesday', 'thursday', 'friday'],
      startHour: 9,
      endHour: 17,
    },
  });

  console.log(`Created sequence: ${sequence.id}`);

  // Step 3: Add contacts to sequence
  const contactIds = leads.contacts.map(c => c.id);
  const result = await addContactsToSequence({
    sequenceId: sequence.id,
    contactIds,
  });

  console.log(`Added ${result.added} contacts to sequence`);

  return {
    sequenceId: sequence.id,
    contactsAdded: result.added,
    contactsFailed: result.failed,
  };
}

Usage Example

// Launch a cold outreach campaign
const result = await launchOutreachCampaign({
  name: 'Q1 2025 Engineering Leaders Outreach',
  targetCriteria: {
    domains: ['stripe.com', 'plaid.com', 'square.com'],
    titles: ['VP Engineering', 'Director of Engineering'],
  },
  emailSteps: [
    {
      subject: 'Quick question about {{company}}',
      body: 'Hi {{first_name}}, ...',
      waitDays: 0,
    },
    {
      subject: 'Following up',
      body: 'Hi {{first_name}}, wanted to follow up...',
      waitDays: 3,
    },
    {
      subject: 'Last attempt',
      body: 'Hi {{first_name}}, one last note...',
      waitDays: 5,
    },
  ],
});

Output

• List of available sequences with stats
• New sequence creation with steps
• Contacts added to sequences
• Campaign analytics and metrics

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Email Not Connected	No sending account	Connect email in Apollo UI
Contact Already in Sequence	Duplicate enrollment	Check before adding
Invalid Email Template	Missing variables	Validate template syntax
Sequence Limit Reached	Plan limits	Upgrade plan or archive sequences

Resources

• Apollo Sequences API
• Apollo Email Templates
• Sequence Best Practices

Next Steps

Proceed to apollo-common-errors for error handling patterns.