Stop sending generic cold emails that get ignored. This workflow takes your prospect list from Apollo, researches each person on LinkedIn and their company, uses AI to craft personalized opening lines based on their background and interests, and delivers ready-to-send emails that feel handwritten.
Receive prospect data from Apollo
The workflow triggers when new prospects are added to your Apollo outreach list. It receives their name, title, company, email, and any enriched data Apollo has like company size, industry, and technologies used.
Research prospect on LinkedIn
The workflow researches each prospect's LinkedIn profile to gather their career history, recent posts or articles, shared connections, groups they belong to, and any recent job changes or promotions that could be relevant conversation starters.
Generate personalized email with OpenAI
Using OpenAI, the workflow crafts a personalized email for each prospect. The AI creates an opening line referencing something specific from their profile (a recent post, career move, or shared interest), connects it to your value proposition, and writes a compelling but brief body that feels genuinely personal.
Export personalized emails to Google Sheets
The personalized emails are exported to Google Sheets with the prospect info, personalized subject line, email body, and the specific personalization hooks used. Your team can review, tweak, and import into your email tool for sending.
Why personalize cold emails with AI?
Generic cold emails get deleted. Personalized emails get replies. But manual personalization takes 10-15 minutes per prospect, making it impossible to scale. AI research and writing gives you personalization at volume.
Get the reply rates of personalized emails at scale
Personalized emails see 2-3x higher reply rates than templates. With AI, you can send hundreds of emails that each feel like you spent 15 minutes researching the prospect.
Reference specific details that show you did your homework
The AI doesn't just insert a company name. It references their recent LinkedIn post, congratulates them on a promotion, or mentions a mutual connection. These specific details signal genuine interest.
Save hours of research time per campaign
Manually researching 100 prospects takes a full day. AI does it in minutes, freeing your sales team to focus on conversations instead of research.
How to set up AI cold email personalization
Setting up this outreach personalization workflow takes about 15 minutes. You'll connect your prospect source and configure your email templates.
What you need to get started
- Apollo account with prospect lists
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator for research access
- OpenAI API key for email generation
- Google Sheets for email output
Configuring your email template
- Define your core value proposition for the AI to work with
- Set preferred email length and tone
- Specify what types of personalization to prioritize
- Provide example emails that have worked well
- Configure fallbacks for prospects with limited LinkedIn data
Types of personalization hooks
- Recent LinkedIn posts or articles they shared
- Job changes or promotions
- Company news or funding announcements
- Mutual connections or shared groups
- Alma mater or previous companies in common
- Conference attendance or speaking engagements
Frequently asked questions about AI email personalization
Will the emails sound robotic or generic?
With good configuration, AI-personalized emails are indistinguishable from hand-written ones. The key is providing specific research data and good example emails. Review the first batch and refine your prompts.
What if a prospect has limited LinkedIn activity?
The workflow falls back to company-level personalization (recent funding, product launches, job postings) when individual data is sparse. You can also flag these for manual review.
Can I A/B test different personalization approaches?
Yes, you can configure the AI to generate multiple versions with different personalization styles. Test whether prospects respond better to professional compliments, shared interests, or company insights.
Is this compliant with email regulations?
The workflow generates email content but doesn't send emails automatically. Compliance depends on how you use the output. Ensure you have proper consent and include unsubscribe options as required by CAN-SPAM, GDPR, etc.