Stop Guessing Who Spends on Ads — Filter for It
The most expensive mistake in PPC agency outbound isn't bad copy — it's emailing companies that don't spend on ads. Every send to a business with no paid-media budget is a wasted touch, and most firmographic lists are full of them.
Apollo's technology filters fix that at the list-building stage. A Google Ads conversion tag, a Meta pixel, a marketing automation platform on a company's site are all technographic facts Apollo can filter on — and together they describe a company that is actively spending on acquisition and sophisticated enough to measure it. Cross those installs with revenue and headcount filters, and you're left with accounts that both run ads and can afford a management fee.
Apollo is where that list gets built and where the sequences run. ColdRelay is the infrastructure underneath — the secondary domains, mailboxes, and dedicated IPs Apollo actually sends from. This guide covers how to wire the two together and turn Apollo's database into a repeatable engine for finding provable spenders.
Why Run Apollo on ColdRelay Infrastructure
Apollo gives you the B2B database, the technographic and signal filters, and the sequencing engine — but it sends from whatever mailboxes you link to it. It doesn't provision sending domains or guarantee the deliverability of the mailboxes themselves; that's the infrastructure layer's job.
That's where ColdRelay fits. Instead of standing up workspace seats and hand-configuring DNS across a handful of domains, you order dedicated mailboxes on isolated Azure tenants with dedicated IPs, fully DNS-configured (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and ready in about an hour. There's no warmup waiting period before you can send — warmup runs continuously as part of each mailbox's send budget — so a list you build in Apollo this morning can be in-sequence this afternoon.
The pairing is additive, not competitive: ColdRelay is the infrastructure, Apollo is the data and sending layer on top. You keep Apollo's saved personas, technographic searches, and multichannel sequences — you just link mailboxes built to land. For an agency, the separation matters twice over: the precision of a technographic list is wasted if the emails land in spam, and the domain you use for client reporting should never be the one you prospect from.
Visit Apollo →Connecting ColdRelay Mailboxes to Apollo
Provision mailboxes on ColdRelay
Order secondary domains adjacent to your agency brand — never your client-facing domain. ColdRelay supports 100-150 mailboxes per domain; most agencies start with 50-150 mailboxes on 1-2 domains. Everything provisions on isolated Azure tenants with dedicated IPs in about an hour, with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC already configured.
Link the mailboxes under Settings → Mailboxes in Apollo
Export your mailbox credentials from the ColdRelay dashboard, then add each account in Apollo under Settings → Mailboxes via SMTP/IMAP. Each ColdRelay mailbox connects as its own linked mailbox, so Apollo can distribute sequence sends across the full pool.
Set per-mailbox daily send limits to match the ColdRelay budget
In each linked mailbox's settings, cap the daily send limit at 2 outbound emails per day — mirroring ColdRelay's per-mailbox budget of 4 sends/day total, split 2 outbound + 2 warmup. ColdRelay's warmup runs continuously on its own; Apollo only needs to handle the outbound half.
Build the technographic search and save it as a persona
In Apollo's search, stack the filters that define a provable spender: technologies including Google Ads and the Meta pixel, plus a marketing automation install as a sophistication signal; industry and geography to match your strongest verticals; and a revenue or headcount floor that clears your minimum retainer. Save the search and the persona so the list refreshes as new companies match — this is the asset the whole motion runs on.
Create the sequence with email, call, and LinkedIn steps
Build an Apollo sequence that opens with two email touches referencing the spend signal you filtered on, then layers in a call task and a LinkedIn step for contacts who engage. Enroll contacts from your saved search, attach the full linked-mailbox pool, and launch — at 2 outbound sends/day per mailbox, 100 mailboxes gives the sequence 200 sends/day of capacity.
The PPC Agency Apollo Playbook
Filter on the technology that proves the spend
A company with a Google Ads conversion tag and a Meta pixel on its site isn't a maybe — it's measurably spending on paid acquisition right now. Build your Apollo searches on those installs first, and add a marketing automation platform as a second-order signal: a company running HubSpot or Marketo alongside ad pixels measures its funnel, which means it can recognize when management is underperforming. Provable spenders reply to agency outreach; guessed ones don't.
Put a revenue floor under every list
An account spending a few hundred dollars a month on ads can't pay your management fee, no matter how warm the reply. Stack Apollo's revenue and employee-count filters on top of the technographic ones so every contact who enters a sequence clears your minimum-retainer math before the first send. You'll cut list size sharply — and that's the point: capacity at 2 outbound sends/day per mailbox is too valuable to spend on companies that can't buy.
Time the pitch to marketing-team changes
Apollo's job-change and hiring signals tell you when an account's marketing leadership is in motion — a new head of growth, a freshly hired performance marketer, a CMO who just arrived from another company. New marketing leaders re-evaluate vendors and agencies in their first quarter, which makes them the single best-timed segment on any list. Build a dedicated saved search for these contacts and give them their own sequence with copy that speaks to inheriting someone else's ad account.
Make the saved search the asset, not the list
A static list decays; a saved search compounds. Once a filter stack produces meetings, save it as a persona in Apollo and let it surface new matches as companies adopt ad pixels, cross your revenue floor, or make a marketing hire. List-building becomes a weekly enrollment pass instead of a quarterly project — and because ColdRelay capacity is already provisioned and warm, every fresh batch of matches can be in-sequence the same day it appears.
Typical PPC Agency Outbound Benchmarks (Apollo + ColdRelay)
| Metric | Benchmark | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox placement rate | 95%+ | Dedicated IPs and isolated tenants outperform shared Google/Microsoft pools |
| Reply rate, technographic-qualified lists | 3-6% | Lists filtered to provable ad spenders beat firmographic-only lists |
| List pass rate after spend + revenue filters | 20-35% | Most of a raw industry list gets cut — what remains can actually buy |
| Outbound capacity per mailbox | 2/day | 4 sends/day total per mailbox — 2 outbound + 2 warmup |
| Time to first sequence | Same day | ~60 minutes to provision, plus search and sequence setup in Apollo |
What It Costs: Apollo + ColdRelay
You pay per mailbox per month for the infrastructure, with volume tiers that drop as you scale (see the table below). DNS, dedicated IPs, and isolated Azure tenants are included.
Apollo is billed separately on its own subscription for the contact database, technographic and signal filters, saved personas, and sequences — priced per its current plans.
Infrastructure cost scales with mailbox count; Apollo's cost scales with seats and credit usage. The stack splits cleanly — Apollo decides who deserves a send, ColdRelay makes sure the send lands. Because filtered lists are smaller and better qualified, most agencies find they need fewer sends per booked call, not more.
| Mailboxes | ColdRelay price / mailbox / month |
|---|---|
| 1–199 | $1.00 |
| 200–999 | $0.85 |
| 1,000–4,999 | $0.70 |
| 5,000+ | $0.55 |
Each mailbox sends 4 emails per day — 2 outbound to prospects + 2 warmup. ColdRelay provisions mailboxes on isolated Azure tenants with dedicated IPs; Apollo handles the sending, sequencing, and inbox rotation on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ColdRelay replace Apollo?
No. They're complementary layers doing different jobs. Apollo provides the contact database, technographic and signal filters, and the sequencing engine with email, call, and LinkedIn steps. ColdRelay provides the underlying domains, mailboxes, and dedicated IPs that Apollo sends from. You use them together — infrastructure below, data and sending software on top.
Can Apollo sequences send from ColdRelay mailboxes?
Yes. Link each ColdRelay mailbox in Apollo under Settings → Mailboxes via SMTP/IMAP, set the per-mailbox daily send limit to 2 outbound emails per day, and attach the linked mailboxes to your sequences. Apollo distributes sends across the pool while ColdRelay handles deliverability underneath.
How does Apollo know a company is actually spending on ads?
Apollo's technology filters detect what's installed on a company's website — including the Google Ads conversion tag, the Meta pixel, and marketing automation platforms. A company running those scripts is actively spending on paid acquisition and tracking the results, which is exactly the profile that can recognize the value of better account management. It's a much stronger qualifier than industry or company size alone.
Do I need a warmup period before launching Apollo sequences?
No. ColdRelay mailboxes run continuous warmup — 2 warmup sends/day per mailbox as part of the 4/day budget — so there's no waiting period before sending. A list you build in Apollo in the morning can be enrolled and sending the same day the mailboxes provision.