Overview
Plays help you automate actions in Apollo that would otherwise require manual input. The automated steps include the option to add or remove contacts from sequences and lists and the ability to automatically schedule tasks for your reps.
Follow the steps in the sections below to learn how to create and configure plays in Apollo.
Create a Rule
Launch Apollo and click Settings.
Click Plays in the "Configurations" section.
Click + Create new play.
Rule Details
Give your play a name and an optional description.
Under "Target type," decide whether your play should apply to People or Companies. This decision determines which filter options are available for the rest of your setup.
Under "Play type," click Batch or Triggered. A Batch play type occurs on a set schedule, whereas a Triggered play type automatically occurs after specific events happen.
Triggered Plays
Follow the steps below if you would like to create a Triggered play. Otherwise, skip this section and proceed to the "Filters" section below.
Click Triggered to create a Triggered play type.
Click Yes to confirm your decision.
Click the Triggers accordion to expand the section and then click Add Trigger.
Click the Select Trigger drop-down and select the Trigger you want to add.
You can select multiple Triggers for your rule.
Filters
Expand the Filters accordion.
Click + Add Filter to show the complete list of filter options.
Please note, if you do not apply any filters, your play applies to all contacts or accounts.
Select the filters you want to apply to your play.
For more on Filters, see the "Search Filters Overview" article.
As you add filters, the Filter Summary populates the contact list.
Actions
Expand the Actions accordion.
Click + Add Step to access the Actions drop-down.
Click the Select Action... drop-down.
The Action you select determines which follow-up options Apollo provides. For example, the Create Contact Task action provides you with the fields pictured below.
Please note, if you want to improve your email deliverability, you may want to select the "round robin" option in the Add contact to sequence action. This allows you to send emails from multiple users in your Apollo instance. Apollo then evenly distributes the number of emails sent per selected user.
Alternatively, you can choose to "rotate your mailbox." This means that Apollo divides the total number of emails evenly between all the mailboxes connected to your personal Apollo account.
If you want to go for the killer combo, you can activate the "round robin" and "rotate your mailbox" actions together. Apollo evenly splits the number of emails you send from each user. Apollo also then evenly distributes the number of emails sent from each of the user's connected mailboxes. For example, let's say you select 3 users to "round robin" and each user has 2 connected mailboxes. If you send 60 emails from this play, each user will send out 20 emails—10 from 1 mailbox and 10 from the other.
Schedule
Expand the Schedule accordion.
Define the Qualification Rules for your play. Qualification Rules determine how many times a record can run through a play action.
Timing for qualification rules comes in 3 delicious flavors: only once, once every, and every time. The only once setting limits a contact to run through a play one time. The once every setting allows a contact to run through the play when it meets the criteria for the filters at a time interval you specify. The every time setting allows a contact to run through a play every time it meets the criteria for the filters.
Next, define the Schedule Recurrence. Use the Schedule drop-down to make your play reoccur daily, weekly, monthly, or non-recurring.
For the First run on: field, define when you want the play to run for the first time.
With the Repeat every: field, define how often your play repeats. You can choose either every weekday (Monday-Friday) or add a manual timeframe (for example, every 2 days).
Fill in the parameters for the Limit: field to limit the number of contacts your play uses each time it runs.
Use the End on: field to add a firm end date for your play.
Click Save Changes when you have finished configuring your play.
