The traditional cold email workflow is time-intensive: scrape leads from Apollo, verify them with Million Verifier, run AI personalization, upload to your sending tool, reply to responses, and repeat when campaigns run dry. For teams that want to generate leads without the daily grind, Instantly now offers a way to automate almost the entire process.

This guide walks through setting up a system where leads flow into campaigns automatically, and an AI agent handles replies—so you can focus on taking meetings instead of managing spreadsheets.

What You’ll Need

This setup requires two Instantly plans:

Outreach plan (Hypergrowth at $97/month recommended) for sending campaigns
Lead Finder plan (Supersonic at $97/month recommended) for Super Search access

You’ll also want accounts with:

Icypeas - Affordable email finding with API access
Findymail - Secondary email enrichment source

The total monthly cost runs around $200-250, but replaces hours of manual lead sourcing and inbox management.

Step 1: Connect Your Email Enrichment APIs

Before building lead filters, integrate your external data sources so Instantly can use cheaper credits for email finding.

Go to Settings → Integrations in Instantly
Add your Icypeas API key (found in your Icypeas dashboard under API)
Add your Findymail API key
Optionally connect Apollo for storing contact data

The key insight here: Instantly charges 1 credit per email found using their native database, but Icypeas and Findymail connections cost zero Instantly credits. You’ll pay through those platforms instead, typically at much lower rates.

Step 2: Build Your Lead Filter in Super Search

Super Search is Instantly’s lead database with filtering capabilities. The goal is to create a saved filter that describes your ideal customer profile precisely.

Job Titles

Start with decision-makers only. Use “contains” matching for flexibility:

CEO, COO, CMO
President
Director of Marketing
Founder
Owner

The “contains” setting catches variations like “Co-Founder” or “Part Owner” that exact matching would miss.

Location

Select countries where you sell well:

United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia

Company Size

Smaller companies typically yield higher reply rates:

0-25 employees (best for getting started)
25-100 employees (add once you’ve validated messaging)

Targeting Method: Technologies

Instead of filtering by industry (which can be inconsistent), filter by B2B technologies the company uses:

Salesforce
Apollo
ZoomInfo
Cognism
Pipedrive
Freshsales

If a company uses B2B sales tools, they’re likely a B2B company themselves—making them potential buyers of lead generation or outreach services.

Keywords

Add include keywords to further qualify:

B2B
Enterprise
Agency
Business services

Save this filter with a descriptive name like “0-100 B2B Keywords Evergreen” so you can find it later.

Step 3: Configure Waterfall Email Enrichment

With your filter ready, click Find Emails and select Custom Flow to control which services find emails and in what order.

Set the Enrichment Order

Icypeas (first) - Zero Instantly credits, most affordable
Findymail (second) - Zero Instantly credits, catches what Icypeas misses
Instantly (third) - Falls back to native credits only when needed

Both Icypeas and Findymail validate emails before returning them, so you can skip Instantly’s verification step entirely.

Enable Evergreen Mode

This is what makes the system automated:

Check Enable Evergreen
Set frequency to Daily
Set volume to 100 leads per day (adjust based on your sending capacity)

The system will now automatically find and enrich 100 new leads matching your filter every day, depositing them into a dedicated lead list.

Test First

Before enabling evergreen, enrich just 25 leads manually to verify:

Your filter returns relevant prospects
The waterfall finds emails successfully
The lead quality matches your expectations

Step 4: Create Your Campaign

Build a campaign in Instantly with your email sequence. This guide doesn’t cover copywriting, but a few principles:

Keep sequences short (3-4 emails)
Focus on a single, clear call-to-action
Test subject lines aggressively

Once your campaign is built, connect it to your evergreen lead list:

Go to your lead list in Super Search → Lead Lists
Select all leads
Click Move → Move to Campaign
Select your target campaign
Enable Evergreen on the move action
Match the daily volume to your Super Search settings (100/day)

Now leads flow automatically: Super Search finds 100 leads daily → deposits them in your lead list → moves them to your active campaign → sends your sequence.

Step 5: Set Up AI Reply Agents

Instantly’s AI agents can categorize and respond to replies automatically. Find them under AI Agents in the left sidebar.

Create a New Agent

Click Add New
Select AI Reply Agent
Name it (e.g., “Demo Booking Agent”)
Choose Human in the Loop mode initially

Configure Agent Behavior

Set these options based on your workflow:

Handle follow-ups: Yes
Respond to out-of-office: No (saves credits on automated replies)
Handle objections: Yes

Each AI reply costs 5 credits, so be selective about which interactions the agent handles.

Connect to Your Campaign

Assign the agent to your campaign or specific email accounts. One agent can handle multiple campaigns.

Set Tone and Guidance

Configure the agent’s personality:

Tone: Professional and concise works for most B2B outreach
Context: Explain your offer so the agent can answer questions accurately
Escalation rules: Define when to send your calendar link vs. escalate to a human

For escalation, specify triggers like:

Prospect asks “what happens next”
Prospect asks about pricing or scaling
Prospect requests a call

When triggered, the agent sends your booking link rather than trying to answer complex questions.

Integrate Slack for Approvals

Connect Slack to receive AI-drafted replies for approval:

Create a Slack channel for approvals
Connect Slack in agent settings
Review and approve/deny replies directly in Slack

This workflow lets you monitor quality without logging into Instantly constantly.

Optimize Before Going Autopilot

Run in human-in-the-loop mode until you see 9 out of 10 responses are acceptable. Refine your prompts based on what the agent gets wrong. Common adjustments:

Adding FAQ content to context
Clarifying offer details
Adjusting escalation triggers

Once confident, flip the Autopilot switch. The agent will now reply autonomously and book meetings directly to your calendar.

Using Signals for Hot Leads

Super Search includes signal-based filtering for time-sensitive prospecting:

Received funding: Companies that just raised capital
Launched product: Recently shipped something new
Workforce expansion: Actively hiring

Signal-based lists are smaller but higher-intent. Set up separate evergreen campaigns for each signal type with tailored messaging that references the trigger.

The catch: Instantly isn’t the fastest source for signal data. Companies monitoring Crunchbase directly will reach prospects first. But you’ll still beat teams doing manual research.

Cost Optimization Tips

Minimize Instantly Credit Usage

Use Icypeas as your primary enrichment source
Use Findymail as secondary fallback
Only fall back to Instantly credits when both fail
Skip verification (Icypeas and Findymail validate automatically)

Right-Size Your Volume

Match evergreen lead volume to your sending capacity
No point enriching 500 leads/day if you can only send 100 emails
Start conservative and scale up

Monitor AI Agent Spend

At 5 credits per reply, costs add up:

100 replies/month = 500 credits
Be selective about which interactions trigger AI responses
Consider excluding out-of-office and auto-replies

The Complete Automated Flow

Once configured, your system works like this:

Daily: Super Search finds 100 new leads matching your filter
Daily: Waterfall enrichment finds emails via Icypeas → Findymail → Instantly
Daily: Verified leads move automatically to your campaign
Ongoing: Campaign sends your sequence to new leads
Ongoing: AI agent categorizes and responds to replies
Ongoing: Interested prospects receive your booking link
Outcome: Meetings appear on your calendar without manual work

The system runs continuously until you pause it or exhaust your target audience.

What This Doesn’t Automate

A few things still need human attention:

Copywriting: Your email sequence needs to be written and tested manually
Infrastructure: Domain setup, DNS configuration, and warmup still require setup
Quality monitoring: Check AI replies periodically for accuracy
Offer refinement: If response rates drop, you’ll need to adjust messaging

This system automates the repetitive operational work—not the strategic work that determines whether cold email works for your business.

Getting Started

Sign up for Instantly with Outreach + Lead Finder plans
Create accounts with Icypeas and Findymail
Connect all integrations in Instantly settings
Build and save your Super Search filter
Test with 25 leads manually
Enable evergreen with 100 leads/day
Create and connect your campaign
Set up AI reply agent in human-in-the-loop mode
Connect Slack for approval notifications
Monitor for 1-2 weeks, refine prompts
Enable autopilot when confident

The upfront setup takes a few hours. After that, you’re checking Slack notifications and taking meetings instead of managing spreadsheets.

How to Build a Fully Automated Cold Email System with Instantly AI