Results
Production numbers from real client systems.
We measure success by inbox placement, reply rate, and bounce — not vanity metrics.
Sending volume scaled (Keith)
From 0 to 5K emails/day with 2× more meetings vs prior 10K/day setup.
Microsoft-heavy outbound (Nicole)
10–15% total reply rates across Outlook-dominant audiences.
Inbox placement (Phil)
Across Google and Microsoft simultaneously.
Bounce rates (Tomas)
8–16% reply rates with bounce kept under 1% throughout the engagement.
How We Increased Inbox Placement From 12% → 98% While Cutting Volume In Half
A B2B marketing agency was sending 10,000 emails/day through a costly Marketo + ZoomInfo setup with poor deliverability and weak reply rates. We rebuilt the infrastructure using Instantly and Apollo, improving inbox placement, lowering costs, and doubling replies.
01 / Context
The Problem
The client was running outbound at scale through Marketo and ZoomInfo, sending roughly 10,000 emails/day. Despite the volume, deliverability had collapsed:
- Seed-tested inbox placement had dropped to ~12%
- Microsoft inboxing was especially weak
- Reply quality was poor
- Infrastructure was inefficient and expensive
- Sending volume was too aggressive for the setup
02 / Engineering
What We Changed
We rebuilt the outbound infrastructure from the ground up using Instantly and Apollo. This included:
- Reworking sending architecture
- Improving inbox and domain configuration
- Optimising SPF, DKIM and DMARC
- Reducing volume to healthier scaling levels
- Improving Google + Microsoft placement
- Replacing expensive ZoomInfo workflows with Apollo
03 / Results
Measured Outcomes
Inbox Placement
Seed-tested placement across Google and Microsoft.
Daily Sending Volume
Reduced volume while improving efficiency and deliverability.
Reply Performance
Booked more meetings with healthier infrastructure.
Stack Optimisation
Moved from Marketo + ZoomInfo to Instantly + Apollo.
Audit
Want Us To Audit Your Infrastructure?
We'll identify the bottlenecks affecting inbox placement, scaling and reply performance.