Email Outreach Automation

A complete cold email outreach pipeline built on n8n and Google Sheets. Import prospects, run multi-step email sequences, track replies, and get daily campaign reports.

Problem

Cold email outreach requires consistent followup sequences, reply detection, and status tracking across hundreds of prospects. Most tools charge $50-200/month per seat and lock you into their platform.

This system provides a free, self-hosted outreach pipeline with full control over your data and sending.

What It Does

1. Prospect Import — Webhook API to import prospects (single or batch) with validation and deduplication
2. Email Sequences — 4-step automated outreach: initial, follow-up 1 (Day 3), follow-up 2 (Day 7), breakup (Day 14)
3. Reply Tracking — Webhook to mark prospects as replied and notify your team
4. Campaign Reports — Daily metrics: reply rates, bounce rates, step distribution, per-campaign breakdown

Included Workflows

| # | File | Purpose | |---|------|---------| | 01 | 01-prospect-import.json | Webhook import with validation, dedup, and Sheets storage | | 02 | 02-outreach-sequence.json | Scheduled 4-step email sequence with timing logic | | 03 | 03-reply-tracker.json | Webhook to log replies and notify team | | 04 | 04-campaign-report.json | Daily campaign analytics email |

Architecture

Prospect Import (webhook/CSV)
    |
    v
Workflow 01: Validate & Store
    +-> Deduplicate by email
    +-> Save to Google Sheets (status: new)

Scheduled (every 4 hours):
    |
    v
Workflow 02: Outreach Sequence
    +-> Read prospects with status != replied/bounced
    +-> Check timing (Day 0/3/7/14)
    +-> Send appropriate email template
    +-> Update step + next_send_at in Sheets

Reply received:
    |
    v
Workflow 03: Reply Tracker
    +-> Match email to prospect
    +-> Mark as replied in Sheets
    +-> Notify team via email

Daily Schedule:
    |
    v
Workflow 04: Campaign Report
    +-> Aggregate metrics by campaign
    +-> Reply rate, bounce rate, step distribution
    +-> Email report to admin

Email Sequence

| Step | Timing | Template | |------|--------|----------| | 1 - Initial | Day 0 | Introduction + value proposition | | 2 - Follow-up 1 | Day 3 | Brief followup + case study mention | | 3 - Follow-up 2 | Day 7 | Different angle + call-to-action | | 4 - Breakup | Day 14 | Polite closing, leaves door open |

Required n8n Credentials

| Credential Type | Used For | Placeholder in JSON | |----------------|----------|---------------------| | Google Sheets OAuth2 | Prospect storage and tracking | YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIAL_ID | | SMTP | Sending outreach emails and reports | YOUR_SMTP_CREDENTIAL_ID |

Environment Variables

# Required
OUTREACH_SECRET=your-webhook-auth-secret
OUTREACH_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourbusiness.com

Configuration Placeholders

| Placeholder | Description | |-------------|-------------| | YOUR_OUTREACH_SHEET_ID | Google Sheet ID for prospect data | | YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIAL_ID | n8n Google Sheets credential ID | | YOUR_SMTP_CREDENTIAL_ID | n8n SMTP credential ID | | YOUR_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL | Fallback admin email (also set via OUTREACH_ADMIN_EMAIL env) |

Google Sheets Schema (Prospects)

| Column | Type | Description | |--------|------|-------------| | email | text | Primary key, prospect email | | name | text | Prospect name | | company | text | Company name | | title | text | Job title | | campaign | text | Campaign identifier | | status | text | new / in_sequence / replied / bounced / completed | | step | number | Current sequence step (0-4) | | last_sent_at | datetime | When last email was sent | | next_send_at | datetime | When next email is due | | replied | boolean | Whether prospect replied | | replied_at | datetime | Reply timestamp | | bounced | boolean | Whether email bounced | | imported_at | datetime | Import timestamp |

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials
• SMTP credentials (dedicated outreach email recommended)

2. Create Prospect Sheet

Create a Google Sheet with the columns above. Name the tab "Prospects".

3. Import & Configure

Import all 4 JSON files into n8n. Replace all YOUR_* placeholders.

4. Import Prospects

curl -X POST https://your-n8n.com/webhook/outreach/import \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "_secret": "your-outreach-secret",
    "prospects": [
      {"email": "john@company.com", "name": "John", "company": "Acme Inc", "campaign": "q1-2026"}
    ]
  }'

5. Track Replies

curl -X POST https://your-n8n.com/webhook/outreach/reply \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "john@company.com", "subject": "Re: Quick question", "message": "Sure, let us chat!"}'

Use Cases

1. Freelancers — Automated client prospecting with professional followup
2. Agencies — Multi-campaign outreach with per-campaign analytics
3. SaaS founders — Early-stage customer development outreach
4. Recruiters — Candidate outreach with sequenced followup
5. Sales teams — Supplement CRM with lightweight, self-hosted sequences

Requirements

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted recommended)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials
• SMTP email credentials (use dedicated sending domain for deliverability)