ai-marketing-skills/outbound-engine/references/instantly-rules.md

Instantly-Specific Rules

Valid Variables (ONLY these — no others)

Variable	Usage
{{firstName|there}}	Prospect first name, fallback "there"
{{companyName|your company}}	Prospect company, fallback "your company"
{{personalization}}	Custom personalization field (set per lead)
{{sendingAccountFirstName}}	Sender's first name (from sending account)

Never use:

• Square-bracket placeholders like [Competitor A], [Your Company], [Industry]
• Custom variables not listed above — they won't render in Instantly
• If a concept can't be expressed with valid variables, rewrite the copy to not need it

firstName Rule (Critical)

• Always require firstName during lead upload. Filter out leads without first name.
• Do NOT rely on the |there fallback as a design choice — it signals a bad list.
• If the list has >5% missing firstName, flag it before launch.

Sequence Structure

• Steps: 5-6 max (not 8). Diminishing returns after 6.
• Step delays (days after previous step):
  • Step 1: Day 0 (immediate)
  • Step 2: Day 2
  • Step 3: Day 4-7
  • Step 4: Day 7
  • Step 5: Day 7-14
  • Step 6 (breakup): Day 7-14 after Step 5

A/B Testing

• Step 1 only: Test 2 subject line variants (A/B)
• Don't A/B test body copy in early campaigns — isolate subject line variable first
• Winning subject line = whichever hits higher open rate at 100+ sends per variant

Signature Format

{{sendingAccountFirstName}}

• No company name, no title, no tagline — unless explicitly requested
• Keep it human. Feels like it came from a person, not a company.

Deliverability Rules

Send Limits

• Safe: 30 emails/day per account
• Aggressive: 50 emails/day per account (only with score 90+, warmed 30+ days)
• Never exceed 50/day per account without explicit discussion

Warmup Requirements

• Minimum: 14 days warmup before first campaign
• Minimum score: 80+ warmup score
• Accounts below 80 or under 14 days: DO NOT add to active campaigns

Domain Setup (must verify before launch)

• SPF: configured and passing
• DKIM: configured and passing
• DMARC: policy set (at minimum p=none with reporting)
• MX records: pointing correctly
• Custom tracking domain: set up in Instantly (subdomain, not root domain)

Spam Signals to Avoid

• Words: "free", "guarantee", "no risk", "limited time", "act now", "click here"
• Excessive links (max 1 per email, ideally 0 in Steps 1-2)
• Images in cold email (never)
• HTML formatting (plain text only)
• All-caps words
• Exclamation points in subject lines

Upload Requirements

Leads must have:

• firstName (required — filter out if missing)
• email (required)
• companyName (required for {{companyName}} variable)
• personalization (required if using {{personalization}} in sequence)

Validate list before upload. Bad data = bad deliverability.