Add Contacts to a Sequence

Overview

Sequences are outreach campaigns that sales teams use to reach out to contacts over a planned period of time, with sequential touchpoints like phone calls, emails, social media engagement, and other tasks. You can add contacts to new or existing sequences at any time. If a sequence is active when you add a contact to it, Apollo enrolls them in the first step according to the sequence sending schedule.

By default, only sequence owners can add contacts to a sequence. If you don't have access to edit a sequence, ask the sequence owner to share can edit access. This allows you and other team members to add contacts or make the following changes:

• Remove contacts from a sequence
• Stop contacts in a sequence
• Change contact statuses (pause/unpause)
• Change send-from users
• Set auto-resume date
• Retry failed contacts

Check out the following sections to add contacts to a sequence.

Back to Top

Add Contacts to a Sequence

You can add contacts from search, from a CSV file, from a list, or automatically via the outbound copilot.

 

Safety Check

Wondering how to avoid adding the same contact to multiple sequences? Apollo warns you before adding contacts to a sequence if:

• The contact is already part of another sequence: Messaging contacts multiple times across different sequences can be burdensome. However, there are often real business reasons to add a contact to multiple sequences at the same time. Consult with your team if you're unsure how to proceed.
• The contact has unverified email addresses: Apollo only recommends enrolling contacts with verified email addresses.
• The contact has out-of-date information or doesn't have an email address: Use enrichment to find information and email addresses before adding contacts to a sequence.
• The contact has an owner other than you: If you're an admin, check out Edit a Contact Owner or Permission Profiles to update ownership permissions.

You can proceed despite the warning, or resolve the issue.

Add contacts from search

To add contacts to a sequence from search:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select a sequence.

3. Click Add contacts > Prospect Searcher.

4. Use search filters to find the right people for your sequence.
5. Check each contact that you want to add to the sequence.
6. Click Add to sequence.

 

Net New Vs. Saved

Apollo charges 1 credit per net new verified contact that you add to a sequence. There's no charge if you add a saved contact with a verified email address to your sequence.

To learn more about credits, check out What Are Credits?. To learn more about prospect email verification, check out How Apollo Verifies Emails.

7. Select the mailbox you want to use to message contacts in the sequence. Alternatively, check two or more mailboxes to rotate sends between the mailboxes. Mailbox rotation can help improve email deliverability by spreading your outbound volume across different sending email addresses.

 

Sequence Sender

Did you know? When you add contacts to a sequence, you choose the email address to use for sending sequence emails. Sequences themselves don't have mailbox settings.

• (Optional) Check Skip Contacts Validation if you don't want to review issues with contacts before sending them emails. Apollo doesn't recommend you skip validation, as you may miss important warnings.
• (Optional) Click Schedule to set a specific time to add the contacts to the sequence, then choose a date and time.

8. Click Add contacts.

9. If there are any issues with your contacts, review them and decide whether you still want to add those contacts to your sequence. Then, click Sequence selection.

You have now added contacts to your sequence.

 

Do Not Dial

If an Apollo admin has enabled DNC screening, Apollo automatically checks new phone numbers you request against official Do Not Call (DNC) lists. If a number is on a DNC list, Apollo displays "Do Not Call" on the contact phone number. Additionally, if a contact has opted out of calls on Apollo specifically, a tag on the contact lets you know. This helps prevent accidentally dialing someone in a sequence who has asked not to be contacted.

Back to Top

Add contacts from a CSV

 

Sample CSV

Download a sample CSV file that includes the required columns. Learn more about importing contacts via CSV.

To add contacts to a sequence via a CSV file:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Click the sequence you want to use.

3. Click Add Contacts > Upload CSV.

4. Click Select CSV File, and select the file on your computer.

5. Next, map each CSV column header to the matching Apollo field.

6. Select the appropriate options for the import settings.

7. When finished, click Import.

You have now added contacts to a sequence from a CSV.

Back to Top

Add contacts from a list

To add contacts to a sequence from a list:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Click the sequence you want to use.

3. Click Add Contacts > Select list.

4. Select one or more lists from the dropdown. There's no limit to the number of lists you can add to the sequence.
5. Select the email address you want to use to message contacts in the sequence, or toggle Rotate mailboxes to rotate between the mailboxes you use in Apollo. Then select multiple email addresses, or leave the dropdown blank to rotate all. Mailbox rotation can be useful for email deliverability.
• (Optional) Check Skip Contacts Validation if you don't want to review issues with contacts before sending them emails. Apollo doesn't recommend skipping validation because you may miss important warnings.
• (Optional) Click Schedule to set a specific time to add the contacts to the sequence, then choose a date and time.

 

Sequence Sender

If you're using someone else's mailbox to send sequence messages, the recipient may see that name as the sender of the email. Check out Manage User Mailboxes to change the sender name on Microsoft Exchange mailboxes. Alternatively, use a Microsoft Exchange mailbox that you created in your name, or any other connected mailbox from a supported email service provider. Apollo recommends Gmail to get the most out of Apollo.

6. Click Add now.

You have now added contacts to a sequence from a list.

Back to Top

Add contacts with the outbound copilot

To add contacts automatically with workflows:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Click the sequence you want to use.

3. Click Add Contacts > Automate adding contacts.

4. Configure the copilot workflow, then click Create workflow.

You have now automated adding contacts with the outbound copilot. Check out Use the Outbound Copilot to learn more.

Back to Top

Pause and Resume Contacts

You can check the progress of contacts in the sequence over time:

1. Launch and Apollo and navigate to Sequences.
2. Select a sequence and click Contacts to review a contact's status.

There may be times you need to pause a contact moving through a sequence. For example, if you're already actively engaging with a contact's colleague, or if they request temporary space from your outreach campaign.

When you, your team, or Apollo pause a contact in a sequence, you have the option to resume the contact manually or with an automatic resume date.

Pause

To pause a contact in a sequence:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select your sequence.
3. Click Contacts, then check the contacts you want to pause in the sequence.
4. Click Pause Sequence.

5. If you want to set an automatic resume date, select a date. Click Pause.

You have now paused a contact in a sequence. You can manually resume the contact in the sequence later or use auto-resume.

 

Pass the Baton

If you change a contact or account owner while the contact is in a sequence, the contact stays enrolled at the same step and status, even if the sequence is paused.

When you update the ownership of a contact, Apollo assigns any new sequence tasks and emails created after the change to the new owner, while existing tasks and emails stay assigned to the previous owner.

While there isn’t a bulk option to update ownership across all sequences at once, you can manage ownership changes by individually updating each affected sequence.

Back to Top

Resume

To resume a paused contact:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select your sequence, then click Contacts.
3. Under filters, click Sequence Status and check Auto resume date not scheduled, Manually Paused, or Out of Office to find the contacts you want to resume.

4. Apollo displays the paused contacts. Check the contacts that you want to resume, then click ► to immediately resume the contacts. Click ► to confirm.

5. To schedule a date and time to automatically resume the contacts, click Set Auto-resume date.

6. Select a date and time, then click Set resume date.

7. When finished, click Resume.

You have now resumed a contact in a sequence.

Back to Top

Back to Top

Mark Contacts as Finished

By default, sequences end when a contact replies to an email. However, there may be situations where you want to manually mark a contact as finished. For example, if you changed the default trigger settings for sequences and a contact wishes to unsubscribe or has changed jobs.

To manually mark a contact as finished in a sequence:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select your sequence, then click Contacts.
3. Check the contacts you want to mark as finished, and click Mark as Finished.

4. Select a reason to mark the prospect as finished so Apollo can complete related tasks for you, then click Mark Finished.

You have marked a contact as finished in a sequence.

Back to Top

Remove Contacts

There may be times when you need to remove a contact from a sequence. For example, if you enroll multiple contacts from the same company in a sequence and one of the contacts responds to close a deal. Removing the other contacts from your sequence might make sense.

To remove a contact from a sequence:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select your sequence, then click Contacts.
3. Check the contacts you want to remove, and click Remove from Sequence.

4. Click Remove to confirm.

You have now removed a contact from a sequence.

Back to Top

Troubleshoot Missing or Stuck Contacts

If you've added contacts to a sequence but they don't seem to be there, or they're there but aren't progressing, check the contact's sequence status. The sequence status tells you where a contact is in your sequence and whether they're progressing.

To check a contact's status:

1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
2. Select your sequence, then click Contacts.
3. Review the contact status.

Here's what each status means:

If the contact doesn't appear at all:

1. Confirm you're viewing the correct sequence and that you're on Contacts, not Emails or Tasks.
2. Click Show filters, clear any active filters, and search by name or email.
3. If they still don't appear, try adding them again from search, a list, or CSV. Watch for warnings such as:
   • "Already in another sequence"
   • "Blocked by contact stage"
   • "Missing or invalid email address"

If the contact appears but isn't progressing:

• Scheduled or Active: Review the wait time before the next step and your sending schedule. The email may not be eligible to send yet.
• Paused: Scroll up to the Pause and Resume Contacts section for why they were paused and how to resume them.
• Bounced or Not sent: Verify the contact's email address. For next steps, refer to Troubleshoot Sending Emails or Troubleshoot Bounced Emails.

Back to Top

Next Steps

Looking to get even more from your sequences? Here are a few next steps to keep your outreach on track:

Back to Top