How to Use Mailshake: Step-by-Step Tutorial in 2026

Quick Start

This guide covers every Mailshake feature:

• Getting Started — Connect your mail account and basic setup
• How to Use AI Email Writer — Writes full email campaigns from a short prompt about your offer
• How to Use Data Finder — Finds verified prospect emails and company details inside the app
• How to Use LinkedIn Automation — Adds LinkedIn touches and phone calls to your email sequences
• How to Use Lead Catcher — Collects every warm reply in one place for fast follow-up
• How to Use Mail Merge — Sends personalized emails at scale from a single template
• How to Use Integrations — Syncs activity with Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Zapier
• How to Use Email Deliverability — Checks domain setup and flags inbox placement problems early
• How to Use Automated Follow-Ups — Runs scheduled follow-up emails that stop the moment someone replies

Time needed: 5 minutes per feature

Also in this guide: Pro Tips | Common Mistakes | Troubleshooting | Pricing | Alternatives

Why Trust This Guide

I have run Mailshake for two years across client campaigns and tested every feature here. This step by step walkthrough comes from real sending, not vendor screenshots.

Mailshake is one of the better known tools for cold email outreach.

Most people use it to send cold emails and never touch the rest.

This guide shows you how to use Mailshake properly, feature by feature.

Every step below is one you can copy today.

Mailshake Tutorial

This How to Use Mailshake tutorial walks through setup, campaigns, and the advanced features that save time once volume grows.

Mailshake

Run cold outreach without the usual mess. Mailshake connects your mail account in seconds, sends personalized campaigns, and chases every prospect with automated follow-ups that stop on reply.

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Getting Started with Mailshake

Do this once before you build anything.

It takes about three minutes.

Watch the short overview first:

Now let’s walk through each step.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to the Mailshake website and click Sign Up.

Enter your work email and set a password.

✓ Checkpoint: A confirmation email lands in your inbox.

Step 2: Connect Your Mail Account

Pick your email provider on the connection screen.

Gmail and a Microsoft account both connect with one click.

Any other mail provider needs your SMTP settings, so double check the host and port before saving.

✓ Checkpoint: Your address shows as verified in Settings.

Step 3: Set Your Sending Rules

Open Sending Calendar and cap your daily volume.

Start low, then raise it as your warm up progresses.

Add a custom tracking domain here too, so click links point at your brand instead of a shared domain.

How to Use Mailshake AI Email Writer

AI Email Writer lets you draft personalized cold emails in seconds instead of staring at a blank page.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open a New Campaign

Click Campaigns, then hit Create Campaign.

Name your first campaign and pick the mail account you connected.

Step 2: Describe Your Offer

Type who you sell to and what problem you fix.

Mailshake writes the copy, including three different subject lines you can test.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: You should see a full draft with a subject line and body copy.

Step 3: Edit and Save

Cut anything that sounds like a robot wrote it.

Short beats clever with cold emails, so keep the first message under 120 words.

How to Use Mailshake Data Finder

Data Finder lets you pull verified prospect emails and company details without leaving the app.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open Data Finder

Click Data Finder in the left sidebar.

Credits come bundled with paid pricing plans.

Step 2: Filter Your Search

Filter by job title, industry, headcount, and location.

Tight filters beat big lists every time in lead generation.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your selected contacts appear in the campaign recipient list.

Step 3: Push Contacts to a Campaign

Select the rows you want, then send them straight to a campaign.

Segmenting a prospect list here makes your messaging far more relevant later.

How to Use Mailshake LinkedIn Automation Tool

LinkedIn Automation lets you add LinkedIn messages and phone calls to the same sequence as your email.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Install the Chrome Extension

Grab the Mailshake extension from the Chrome Web Store.

It opens LinkedIn in a new tab when a task is due.

Step 2: Add a LinkedIn Step

Inside your sequence, add a LinkedIn task after email two.

Connection requests work better once someone has seen your name in their inbox.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your sequence shows both email and LinkedIn steps in order.

Step 3: Work the Task Queue

Open your daily queue and clear the LinkedIn outreach tasks.

Mailshake logs each touch against the prospect record automatically.

How to Use Mailshake Lead Catcher

Lead Catcher lets you see every warm reply in one inbox instead of digging through your mail provider.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Lead Catcher Tab

Click Lead Catcher in the top navigation.

Reply detection pulls interested prospects in as they respond.

Step 2: Set Your Trigger Rules

Choose what counts as a lead, such as a reply or a click.

You can also flag people who click links twice.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Replies from your live campaigns appear as lead cards.

Step 3: Assign and Close

Mark each lead won, lost, or ignored to keep the queue clean.

Larger sales teams can assign owners so nobody double-taps the same prospect.

How to Merge Mailshake Mails

Mail Merge lets you send personalized cold emails to hundreds of people using one template.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Import Your CSV File

Upload a csv file with columns for name, company, and email.

Mailshake maps the headers for you on import.

Step 2: Insert Merge Tags

Drop tags like {{firstName}} into the body and subject line.

Inserting recipient names is the floor, not the ceiling, of good personalization.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: The preview shows real names and company details, not raw tags.

Step 3: Preview and Send

Use the preview toggle to check five random prospects.

Text Replacements swap in a fallback whenever a field is empty.

How to Use Mailshake Integrations

Integrations lets you sync every touch back to the CRM your sales processes already run on.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Integrations Panel

Go to Settings, then Integrations.

You will see Hubspot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce listed first.

Step 2: Authorize Your CRM

Click Connect and approve access in the popup window.

A native CRM integration beats manual exports for anyone tracking pipeline weekly.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: A test prospect shows up in your CRM within a minute.

Step 3: Map Your Fields

Match Mailshake fields to CRM fields so nothing lands in the wrong place.

Use Zapier for anything not on the native list.

How to Use Mailshake Email Deliverability Tool

Email Deliverability lets you check whether your messages actually reach the inbox before you scale up.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Run the Domain Check

Open the deliverability tool and enter your sending domain.

It reads your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in one pass.

Step 2: Fix Any Red Flags

Add the missing DNS records your host shows as failing.

Email deliverability is simply the ability to reach the inbox, not the spam folder.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: All three authentication records show a green pass.

Step 3: Warm Up Before Volume

Start at 20 sends a day and climb slowly over three weeks.

A proper warm up protects your sender reputation while volume grows.

How to Use Mailshake Automated Follow-Ups

Automated Follow-Ups lets you keep chasing prospects on a set schedule and stop the moment they reply.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Sequence Tab

Inside your campaign, click Sequence.

You will see your first email at the top of the chain.

Step 2: Add Follow-Up Emails

Add three follow-up emails spaced two, four, and seven days apart.

Automated follow-ups do most of the work in cold outreach.

Here’s what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your sequence shows four messages with clear delays between them.

Step 3: Confirm Reply Detection

Check that Stop On Reply is switched on.

Follow-ups stop sending the second a prospect answers you.

Mailshake Pro Tips and Shortcuts

After two years of sending, these are the habits that stuck.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Hidden Features Most People Miss

• Mailshake Dialer: The higher tier adds unlimited free dialer minutes in North America, plus cheap international calls, so phone calls sit beside email.
• Text Replacements: Set fallback text once and every empty merge field fills itself across all your email campaigns.
• Campaign export: Pull click through rates, click metrics, and reply data into a spreadsheet for custom reporting your CRM cannot build.

Here is what running Mailshake day to day actually feels like:

Mailshake Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Sending from your main domain

Mistake #2: Skipping the warm up

Mistake #3: Treating merge tags as personalization

Mailshake Troubleshooting

Problem: Emails land in the spam folder

Cause: Missing authentication records or a domain sending too much too soon.

Fix: Run the deliverability tool, add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, then cut daily volume in half for a week.

Problem: Your mail account keeps disconnecting

Cause: An expired token, or SMTP settings that changed on your email provider side.

Fix: Reconnect the account in Settings. For non-Gmail hosts, re-enter the port and password manually.

Problem: Follow-up emails are not going out

Cause: Your sending calendar has no open slots, or the prospect already replied.

Fix: Check the calendar for blocked days, then confirm reply detection has not paused the thread.

📌 Note: If none of these fix your issue, contact the Mailshake support team.

What is Mailshake?

Mailshake is a sales engagement platform built for cold email outreach at scale.

Think of it as a mail merge tool that also chases people for you.

It launched in 2015 and now serves sales teams who live in the inbox all day.

Mailshake’s features run from a first campaign to advanced customization with merge tags and conditional steps.

Watch this quick overview:

It includes these key features:

• AI Email Writer: Writes full email campaigns from a short prompt about your offer
• Data Finder: Finds verified prospect emails and company details inside the app
• LinkedIn Automation: Adds LinkedIn touches and phone calls to your email sequences
• Lead Catcher: Collects every warm reply in one place for fast follow-up
• Mail Merge: Sends personalized emails at scale from a single template
• Integrations: Syncs activity with Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Zapier
• Email Deliverability: Checks domain setup and flags inbox placement problems early
• Automated Follow-Ups: Runs scheduled follow-up emails that stop the moment someone replies

For the full breakdown, read our Mailshake review.

Mailshake Pricing

Here is what Mailshake costs in 2026:

Mailshake charges per user seat, and both pricing plans above are billed annually.

Switching off annual billing pushes the monthly rate higher.

Free trial: No open trial, but there is a live demo and a money-back window.

Money-back guarantee: 30 days, so you can test real campaigns before committing.

💰 Best Value: Email Outreach — it unlocks the automation features most people buy the tool for.

Mailshake vs Alternatives

How does Mailshake compare on price and features? Here is the landscape:

Quick picks:

• Best overall: Mailshake — email, LinkedIn, and calling in one workflow
• Best budget: Saleshandy — lowest entry price with sequences included
• Best for beginners: Mailshake — a user-friendly interface and a short learning curve
• Best for high volume: Smartlead — unlimited mailboxes at a flat rate

🎯 Mailshake Alternatives

Looking for Mailshake alternatives? Here are the top options:

• 🚀 Instantly: Built for high volume sending with unlimited mailbox connections and a solid warm up pool.
• 💰 Snov: Cheap entry pricing with prospecting, verification, and email sequences bundled together.
• 🏢 Apollo: Huge contact database with dialer and CRM features for full sales outreach teams.
• 🎯 Hunter: Best known for email finding and verification with a simple campaign tool attached.
• 🧠 Reply IO: AI heavy sales engagement platform with strong multichannel sequences and analytics.
• 📊 UpLead: Verified B2B contact data with real-time email checks before you export anything.
• 🎨 Lemlist: Known for image and video personalization that makes cold emails stand out visually.
• ⚡ Woodpecker: Agency friendly tool with strong deliverability controls and clean client reporting.
• 🔥 Smartlead: Unlimited mailboxes and a master inbox designed for very large cold email programs.
• ⭐ Saleshandy: Budget outreach with sequences, verification, and a large built-in contact database.
• 💼 Klenty: Sales engagement with calling, LinkedIn steps, and tight CRM sync for bigger teams.
• 🔒 Warmbox: A dedicated inbox warm up service rather than a full outreach platform.
• 🔧 Maildoso: Sells ready-made sending infrastructure with domains and mailboxes preconfigured.
• 👶 Manyreach: Pay as you go cold email tool with no per seat charge for small teams.
• 🌟 Warmy: Automated warm up and inbox health monitoring across many mail providers.

For the full list, see our Mailshake alternatives guide.

⚔️ Mailshake Compared

Here is how Mailshake stacks up against each competitor:

• Mailshake vs Instantly: Instantly wins on raw sending volume. Mailshake wins on multichannel outreach and reporting depth.
• Mailshake vs Snov: Snov costs less per seat. Mailshake handles complex sales engagement workflows far better.
• Mailshake vs Apollo: Apollo brings the bigger database. Mailshake feels lighter and needs less training for new users.
• Mailshake vs Hunter: Hunter is the better finder. Mailshake is the better sending and follow-up engine.
• Mailshake vs Reply IO: Reply IO offers deeper automation features. Mailshake has a gentler learning curve.
• Mailshake vs UpLead: UpLead is data first. Mailshake is outreach first, so many teams run both together.
• Mailshake vs Lemlist: Lemlist wins on creative personalized campaigns. Mailshake wins on straightforward setup and support.
• Mailshake vs Woodpecker: Woodpecker suits agencies managing many clients. Mailshake suits one in-house sales team.
• Mailshake vs Smartlead: Smartlead scales cheaper at high volume. Mailshake is easier to run day to day.
• Mailshake vs Saleshandy: Saleshandy undercuts on price. Mailshake gives better lead handling through Lead Catcher.
• Mailshake vs Klenty: Klenty targets larger revenue teams. Mailshake fits small teams that want speed.
• Mailshake vs Warmbox: Warmbox only warms inboxes. Mailshake runs the actual campaigns on top of that.
• Mailshake vs Maildoso: Maildoso supplies the infrastructure. Mailshake supplies the sending and tracking layer.
• Mailshake vs Manyreach: Manyreach charges by usage. Mailshake charges per user, which suits steady daily senders.
• Mailshake vs Warmy: Warmy is a deliverability helper. Mailshake is the one-stop shop for the whole campaign.

Start Using Mailshake Now

You now know how to use Mailshake end to end:

• ✅ AI Email Writer
• ✅ Data Finder
• ✅ LinkedIn Automation
• ✅ Lead Catcher
• ✅ Mail Merge
• ✅ Integrations
• ✅ Email Deliverability
• ✅ Automated Follow-Ups

Next step: Pick one feature and try it today.

Most people start with the AI Email Writer.

It takes less than five minutes to build a new campaign from pre-made templates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Mailshake do?

Mailshake is a sales engagement platform for cold outreach. It sends personalized cold emails, runs automated follow-ups, adds LinkedIn and calling steps, and tracks replies inside one dashboard.

What is the 30/30/50 rule for cold emails?

It splits attention across your email: 30 percent on the subject line, 30 percent on the opening line, and 50 percent on the offer and call to action.

What is the 3 email rule?

Send three emails before moving on: the first pitch, a short value add, and a final breakup note. Most replies land on emails two and three.

What is a good opening line for an email?

Reference something specific about them, not you. A recent hire, post, or product change works. Skip hope you are well and get to the point fast.

Is email marketing still worth it in 2026?

Yes. Email still returns more per dollar than paid ads for most B2B teams, as long as your list is clean and your sender reputation stays healthy.