Smartlead

Connect Your Mailboxes and Configure Warmup

Before building any campaigns, connect your sending mailboxes in Smartlead's dashboard under Settings > Mailboxes. You can add Google Workspace accounts via OAuth, Microsoft Outlook via OAuth, or any provider via SMTP credentials. For each new mailbox, enable the warmup toggle. Smartlead will begin sending low-volume warmup emails within its network, gradually ramping up over 2–4 weeks. Set your daily send limit per mailbox (typically 30–50 emails/day for new accounts, scaling to 100–150 for warmed accounts). If you're connecting multiple mailboxes for rotation, Smartlead will automatically distribute sends across all active mailboxes in a campaign, so your total daily capacity scales linearly with the number of connected accounts.

Create a Campaign and Build Your Sequence

Navigate to Campaigns > New Campaign. Name your campaign, assign the mailboxes you want to use for sending, and configure sending windows (days of week, time ranges, time zone handling). In the sequence builder, add your email steps. Each step supports plain text or HTML, personalization variables in the format `{{variable_name}}`, and conditional logic (e.g., 'only send this step if the lead has not replied to any prior step'). Add as many follow-up steps as your sequence requires — typically 4–7 for cold outreach. Set the delay between steps in days. Save the sequence before moving to lead upload. For best deliverability, keep emails under 150 words, avoid spam trigger phrases, and use a mix of plain text and minimal formatting.

// Example personalization variable usage in Smartlead email body:
Hi {{first_name}},

I noticed {{company}} recently {{custom_trigger_line}}.

{{personalized_opening}}

Would it make sense to connect this week?

Best,
{{sender_name}}

Integrate HubSpot or Salesforce for CRM Sync

For HubSpot: Go to Integrations > HubSpot in Smartlead's dashboard and authenticate with your HubSpot portal credentials. Once connected, configure field mappings — decide which Smartlead lead properties map to which HubSpot contact properties (e.g., Smartlead's `email_status` maps to a custom HubSpot property like `Smartlead Status`). Enable bidirectional sync if you want HubSpot contacts to auto-enroll in Smartlead campaigns based on list membership or workflow triggers. For Salesforce: Smartlead does not currently offer a one-click native Salesforce connector, so the recommended approach is to use Zapier or Make as a middleware layer. Set up a Zap that triggers on Smartlead webhook events (reply received, status changed) and creates or updates Leads/Contacts in Salesforce. Alternatively, use Smartlead's API to push campaign activity data directly to Salesforce via its REST API. From our work with B2B teams, the Zapier path is fastest to implement (under 2 hours), while a direct API integration gives more control over data fidelity and field mapping.

// Zapier: Smartlead Webhook → Salesforce Lead Update
// Trigger: Smartlead Webhook (catch hook on reply event)
// Action: Salesforce - Update Record
// Field Mapping:
// Smartlead: lead_email → Salesforce: Email
// Smartlead: reply_text → Salesforce: Description
// Smartlead: campaign_name → Salesforce: Lead Source
// Smartlead: reply_time → Salesforce: Last Activity Date

Set Up the Clay + Smartlead Integration for Automated Lead Enrollment

In Smartlead, navigate to Settings > API and copy your API key. In Clay, open the table where your enriched leads live. Add a new HTTP action column and configure it to call Smartlead's lead enrollment endpoint: `POST https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1/campaigns/{campaign_id}/leads`. Pass the API key as a query parameter (`?api_key=YOUR_KEY`) and build the JSON body using Clay column values as dynamic variables — mapping Clay's enriched fields (first name, last name, email, company, custom personalization lines) to Smartlead's expected payload schema. Add a filter condition to this Clay action so it only fires for rows where the email is verified and the lead does not already exist in Smartlead (to prevent duplicates). For duplicate prevention across multiple enrollment sources (e.g., both Clay and HubSpot feeding the same Smartlead campaign), use Smartlead's `allow_duplicate` parameter set to `false` — Smartlead will reject duplicate emails at the API level and return a 400 error that Clay can log without breaking the table run.

// Clay HTTP Action → Smartlead Lead Enrollment
POST https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1/campaigns/{{campaign_id}}/leads?api_key={{smartlead_api_key}}

Headers:
  Content-Type: application/json

Body:
{
  "lead_list": [
    {
      "email": "{{email}}",
      "first_name": "{{first_name}}",
      "last_name": "{{last_name}}",
      "company_name": "{{company}}",
      "custom1": "{{personalized_opening_line}}",
      "custom2": "{{trigger_event}}"
    }
  ],
  "allow_duplicate": false,
  "ignore_global_block_list": false
}

Configure Webhooks for Real-Time Event Routing

Navigate to Settings > Webhooks in Smartlead. Add a new webhook endpoint URL — this can be a Zapier catch hook URL, a Make webhook, a Slack incoming webhook, or your own server endpoint. Select which events should trigger the webhook: Email Sent, Email Opened, Email Replied, Lead Status Changed, Email Bounced, Lead Unsubscribed. Smartlead will POST a JSON payload to your endpoint for each triggered event. For Slack notifications specifically, create an incoming webhook in your Slack workspace (Slack App > Incoming Webhooks), copy the webhook URL, and paste it into a Zapier or Make flow that formats the Smartlead event payload into a readable Slack message. Test your webhook by manually triggering a test event in Smartlead and confirming the payload arrives at your endpoint with the expected fields. Common troubleshooting: if webhooks aren't firing, check that your endpoint returns a 200 status code within 5 seconds — Smartlead will retry failed webhooks but will eventually disable an endpoint that consistently times out.

// Example Smartlead Webhook Payload (Reply Event)
{
  "event_type": "EMAIL_REPLIED",
  "campaign_id": 12345,
  "campaign_name": "Q1 Outbound - SaaS CFOs",
  "lead_email": "john.smith@company.com",
  "lead_name": "John Smith",
  "reply_text": "Hey, thanks for reaching out. Can you share more details?",
  "reply_time": "2024-01-15T14:23:00Z",
  "mailbox_email": "outreach@yourdomain.com",
  "sequence_number": 2
}

Validate Your Integration and Monitor for Sync Failures

Once all integrations are live, run a test cycle with a small batch of 5–10 internal test leads. Enroll them via Clay (or your lead source), confirm they appear in the Smartlead campaign's lead list, verify the first email sends from the correct mailbox, and check that the reply event fires the webhook and updates your CRM. For HubSpot sync issues: the most common cause of contacts not syncing is a field mapping mismatch — ensure the HubSpot property type (single-line text, dropdown, date) matches the data type Smartlead is sending. For Clay enrollment failures: check the API response in Clay's run log — a 400 error typically means a duplicate lead (expected if `allow_duplicate: false`) or a missing required field. A 401 means your API key is invalid or has been rotated. Set up a Clay filter to flag rows where the HTTP status is not 200, so failed enrollments are visible and can be retried. In Maestro, you can centralize monitoring across all your Smartlead integrations — surfacing failed webhook deliveries, CRM sync errors, and enrollment gaps in a single RevOps dashboard.

// Validate Smartlead API connectivity
curl -X GET "https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1/campaigns?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&limit=10&offset=0"

// Expected response:
{
  "ok": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 12345,
      "name": "Q1 Outbound - SaaS CFOs",
      "status": "ACTIVE",
      "created_at": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}