Add iMessage to Your Apollo Outbound
The short answer
Apollo sequences run emails, calls, tasks, and LinkedIn steps; there's no text step. Blue Reacher adds the missing channel: a scheduled job pulls the contacts who finished your sequence without replying, posts them to the Blue Reacher REST API, and a blue-bubble iMessage goes out from your dedicated line. Replies write back and the sequence stops for that one contact. No A2P registration required, $249 per line per month, unlimited iMessages. Lines pace at 50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day to stay deliverable; replies are never metered. This page is the setup; the strategy case lives on the partner page.
Key takeaways
- No. Apollo's sequences run emails, calls, tasks, and LinkedIn steps, with no text step.
- One thing shapes the whole build: Apollo's documented webhook surface retrieves results rather than firing events when a contact finishes a sequence (docs.apollo.io), so you poll on a schedule instead of waiting for a push.
- Email reply rates run 0.45% (Belkins, 7.5M sends, 2025).
- White-glove onboarding: the dedicated line is stood up, message intent configured, and the polling job mapped with you.
How a message falls back
Can Apollo send texts from a sequence?
No. Apollo's sequences run emails, calls, tasks, and LinkedIn steps, with no text step. Apollo's job is picking who to contact and enriching them; the channel that gets answered isn't on its menu.
- Contacts who opened your Apollo emails more than once and never replied are the warmest names you own. They're the exact profile blue-bubble texts convert: 98% open rate, 90% read inside three minutes.
How do you wire Apollo to Blue Reacher, step by step?
One thing shapes the whole build: Apollo's documented webhook surface retrieves results rather than firing events when a contact finishes a sequence (docs.apollo.io), so you poll on a schedule instead of waiting for a push. Everything else is standard REST on both sides.
- Build the list in Apollo and enrich for mobile numbers, spending Apollo credits or filling gaps from Blue Reacher's mobile-validated 700M+ database at $0.03 per contact, billed monthly with the line.
- Run the email sequence unchanged: three or four automatic steps over roughly ten days.
- Schedule a job (n8n, Make, Zapier, or a small script) that polls Apollo's API for contacts who completed the sequence, or hit your open threshold, without replying.
- POST those contacts to the Blue Reacher REST API to start a short iMessage sequence from your dedicated line, first text referencing the emails: same sender name, same offer, one question.
- Listen on Blue Reacher webhooks for the reply, write it to your CRM, and call Apollo's Update Contact Status in a Sequence endpoint for that one contact so no automated email lands mid-conversation. Don't use Deactivate a Sequence here; it stops the sequence for everybody in it.
- Let STOP detection handle opt-outs automatically, and mirror them into Apollo so neither channel touches that contact again.
What changes when the text layer is on?
Email reply rates run 0.45% (Belkins, 7.5M sends, 2025). Texting the engaged-but-silent subset turns already-paid contacts into conversations at 2-3x the reply rate, on a channel where under 3% get flagged as spam vs 85% of email.
- Blue Reacher checks iMessage availability and falls back to RCS, then SMS, automatically, so Android numbers still get the message.
Sequence steps
- Apollo sequence alone
- Email, call, task, LinkedIn
- With the Blue Reacher layer
- The same, plus an iMessage leg for non-repliers
Engaged non-repliers
- Apollo sequence alone
- Marked no-response
- With the Blue Reacher layer
- A blue-bubble text inside the hour
Handoff mechanism
- Apollo sequence alone
- Not available natively
- With the Blue Reacher layer
- Scheduled poll of Apollo's API into the Blue Reacher REST API
Registration
- Apollo sequence alone
- Email domain setup
- With the Blue Reacher layer
- No A2P registration required for the iMessage line
Cost model
- Apollo sequence alone
- Per user, credit-based
- With the Blue Reacher layer
- $249 per line per month, unlimited iMessages (50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day)
How does setup work on the Blue Reacher side?
White-glove onboarding: the dedicated line is stood up, message intent configured, and the polling job mapped with you. Most teams fire the first handoff within a week.
- $249 per line per month, unlimited iMessages ($199 at 4+ lines), or $1,949 per year (about $162.50/month with activation waived). Lines pace at 50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day; replies never metered.
Frequently asked questions
Does Blue Reacher have a native Apollo integration?
Not a native tile. Apollo connects through the two REST APIs with a scheduled job in the middle, or through your CRM as the hub. Apollo publishes endpoints for contacts and sequences at docs.apollo.io.
Why polling instead of a webhook trigger?
Apollo's webhook surface is built for retrieving results, not firing events when a contact finishes a sequence (docs.apollo.io). A scheduled poll every 15-30 minutes reads sequence state and hands qualifying contacts to Blue Reacher.
Which Apollo contacts should get the text?
Contacts who opened more than once and never replied first, then contacts who completed the full sequence silent. Never text the whole list; the handoff works because they already recognize your sender.
Do I need A2P 10DLC registration for the text leg?
No A2P registration is required for the Blue Reacher line, because A2P 10DLC governs carrier SMS routes and iMessage isn't carrier SMS. It's a registration distinction, not a consent exemption: TCPA applies to the text leg the same as everything else you send, and STOP replies are detected and suppressed automatically.
What does the stack cost together?
$249 a month on top of Apollo seats, or $1,949 a year (about $162.50/month with activation waived). Lines pace at 50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day; replies never metered. Worked totals against Apollo's verified pricing are at bluereacher.com/partners/apollo.
See the handoff on your own Apollo list
Book a demo and bring a segment that finished a sequence without replying. We'll walk the polling job, send a real blue-bubble text against one of those records, and show the reply writing back while the sequence stops for that contact. Pricing is public, and most teams are live within a week.