How to Use Apollo for B2B Prospect Search

Apollo is a sales intelligence and engagement platform built on a large B2B contact database — the company claims over 275 million contacts and 60+ million companies. You filter by title, industry, size and tech stack, then export or email those prospects from the same tool.

Because Apollo does both data and outreach, it is popular with small sales teams that cannot afford separate tools. Here is how to get from zero to a first campaign.

What does Apollo actually include?

Apollo bundles three things: a contact database with emails and phone numbers, an enrichment API to fill gaps in your CRM, and a sequencing engine for multi-step email and call campaigns. The Apollo platform also offers a Chrome extension that scrapes and enriches profiles while you browse LinkedIn.

How do I build my first prospect list?

1. Create an account and open the People search.
2. Apply filters: job title contains “Head of Marketing”, company size 51-200, industry SaaS.
3. Apply location and tech-stack filters as needed.
4. Save the search and create a list from the results.

Filter discipline is everything here. A query that returns 40,000 people is useless; tighten until you have a few hundred that match your ideal customer profile.

How do I launch a sequence?

From a list, click Sequence and pick a template or build from scratch. A common pattern: connection-style intro email, a follow-up 3 days later, a call task on day 5, a final email on day 8. Apollo sends the emails and logs opens and replies against each contact.

Set a daily send limit lower than your mailbox provider’s threshold. Sending 500 cold emails the first day from a new domain lands you in spam — ramp up over two weeks.

Is Apollo free?

Apollo has a free tier with limited credits and basic email sending, then paid plans that scale by credits and seats. The paid tiers unlock more export credits, phone numbers and advanced filters. Exact pricing changes with promotions, so check the current page; the free plan is enough to test the data quality before you commit.

Where are Apollo’s weaknesses?

Data decay is the honest problem — B2B emails go stale, and some contacts bounce. Always verify emails before a large send, and expect a percentage to be wrong. The UI is dense to the point of overwhelming for new users. And because it is a cold-outreach tool, it will not fix a weak offer; a bad pitch sent 5,000 times is still a bad pitch.

Best for: SDRs and founder-led sales doing outbound. Not for: inbound-only teams that already have plenty of leads.

Quick Summary

• Apollo combines a 275M+ B2B contact database with email sequencing.
• Build a tight list first — filter by title, size, industry and tech stack.
• Ramp send volume slowly to protect domain reputation.
• Verify emails before big sends; free tier covers initial testing.