# Weekly cold email review: rank your Instantly campaigns and fix the weak ones

Source: https://mcpforgtm.com/recipes/instantly-weekly-campaign-review (StackMCP, independent directory of official MCP servers)

## Goal

SDRs, SDR managers and marketers who run cold email in Instantly. You get a short weekly read on what's working, what's broken and what to change, without clicking through every campaign. The same idea works with Smartlead, lemlist or Reply.io.

## Connected tools

- Instantly: https://mcp.instantly.ai/mcp (setup: https://mcpforgtm.com/tools/instantly)

## Guardrails

- Read only until I approve. Don't pause, activate or edit any campaign, lead or sending account without my approval.
- Never reply to or forward any email.
- Tell me whether the reply numbers include auto-replies, and leave them out where you can.
- Mark any campaign with fewer than {min_sends} sends this week as 'too early' instead of ranking it.
- Don't change workspace settings, API keys, webhooks or billing.

## Steps

1. Pull analytics for all my active Instantly campaigns for the last 7 days: sent, replies, reply rate, positive replies and bounce rate. Tell me whether replies include auto-replies. Show it as a table ranked by positive replies, and mark any campaign with fewer than {min_sends} sends as 'too early'. Don't change anything.
2. For each campaign, check whether it sent every day this week and whether its sending accounts are active or paused. List any campaign that stopped sending or has a bounce rate over {bounce_limit}%.
3. For the top campaign, show which sequence step gets the most replies (if the analytics break replies down by step), and quote that step's subject line. Based on it, suggest one test I could run in a weaker campaign. Just describe the test. Don't set anything up.
4. Give me up to three recommended actions, such as pausing a campaign or fixing a paused sending account. Wait for my approval on each one. Then make each approved change in Instantly, one at a time, and show me the result.

## Expected output

Last 7 days, ranked, with one fix waiting for approval. Example (all names fictional):

```
Instantly campaigns, last 7 days. The analytics don't say whether replies include out-of-office auto-replies, so read reply rate next to positive replies.

| Campaign | Sent | Reply rate | Positive replies | Bounce rate | Call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ops leaders, freight (Larkspur-style accounts) | 1,240 | 4.1% | 9 | 0.8% | Working. Keep it |
| RevOps, mid-market SaaS | 980 | 2.6% | 4 | 1.1% | Fine. Step 2 gets most replies |
| Founders, Series A | 1,510 | 0.7% | 0 | 6.4% | Needs attention |
| Re-engage closed-lost | 310 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.3% | Not sending since Tuesday |

What stands out:
1. 'Founders, Series A' has a 6.4% bounce rate. The list likely needs verifying before more sends.
2. 'Re-engage closed-lost' stopped sending Tuesday. Its one sending account (jordan@quarrylane-mail.example) is paused.
3. In 'Ops leaders, freight', step 1 ('Quick question about dock scheduling') drives 7 of the 9 positive replies. Worth testing that opener in the RevOps campaign.

Waiting for approval: pause 'Founders, Series A'. Nothing has been changed yet.

All campaigns, accounts and numbers here are fictional. The sender is Quarry Lane Analytics (fictional).
```

## Watch for

- Out-of-office replies inflate the reply rate: Auto-replies can count as replies. Ask whether the numbers include them. Compare reply rate with positive replies before you call a campaign a winner.
- Judging a campaign on too few sends: A campaign with 80 sends and one reply isn't a trend. Set a minimum (for example 300 sends this week). List smaller campaigns as 'too early' instead of ranking them.
- A sending problem mistaken for bad copy: A sudden drop to zero replies often means the campaign stopped sending. Check each campaign's sent count and the status of its sending accounts before anyone suggests a copy change.
- Pausing the wrong campaign: Campaign names can look alike ('Founders A' vs 'Founders A v2'). Before pausing, show each campaign's exact name, status and last send date. Pause one at a time.