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Outreach channels

Multichannel outreach

Capability Reviewed · not yet fact-checked

In short

Can Reply run outreach across email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp in one sequence?

One Reply sequence can hold email, LinkedIn, call, SMS, WhatsApp, task, and Zapier steps with Yes/No condition branches. Calls run through built-in Cloud Calls with recording and resolutions; SMS sends automatically or as tasks; WhatsApp is semi-automated. The Channel Efficiency dashboard compares touches, replies, and meetings per channel.

At a glance

What it doesOne sequence combining email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, WhatsApp, to-do and meeting tasks, Zapier triggers, and Yes/No condition branches
Required objectsContact; sequence; per-channel prerequisites — email account, LinkedIn account, rented phone number, funded Cloud Calls wallet
SurfacesUI · REST API · MCP
Key limitEach channel keeps its own caps — email daily limits, LinkedIn safety limits, 160 characters per single SMS
Stops onReply handling per sequence settings; optional pause on a successful call; a Zapier step can hold contacts until an external signal
Does notFully automate WhatsApp (semi-automated tasks); send automatic SMS to contacts without a phone number; allow more than one Zapier step per sequence
PlansChannel availability varies — Cloud Calls and SMS require the calling feature and a rented number; LinkedIn requires a seat

Summary

A Reply sequence is not email-only: its steps can be automatic or manual emails, automatic or manual LinkedIn actions, call steps backed by built-in Cloud Calls, automatic or manual SMS, semi-automated WhatsApp tasks, to-do and meeting tasks, Zapier triggers into 7,000+ external apps, and condition steps that branch contacts into Yes/No paths on data or behavior. Channel results meet in one place — the Channel Efficiency dashboard.

Problems it solves

  • Coordinating touches across channels in one timeline instead of three disconnected tools
  • Routing contacts by fit and signal — branch on email validation, LinkedIn connection status, opens, phone type, ICP score, and more
  • Calling at the moment of interest — trigger a call automatically after a set number of email opens
  • Comparing what actually books meetings, per channel, over time

What Reply can do

  • Mix automatic and manual steps for email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp in one sequence, in any order
  • Create call tasks and place calls in-platform via Cloud Calls — record calls, take notes in the call widget, and log resolutions (default or custom)
  • Trigger a call automatically once a contact opens your email a set number of times (4–7 opens recommended), and optionally pause a contact after a successful call
  • Send automatic template-based SMS or create manual SMS tasks, with replies synced to the contact activity log and a dedicated SMS Inbox for threads
  • Run WhatsApp as semi-automated tasks — the contact moves to the next step once the task is sent or completed
  • Generate manual LinkedIn tasks (Message, Connect, InMail, View Profile) that the Reply Chrome extension completes automatically as you act on LinkedIn
  • Add to-do and meeting Task steps with manual or automatic completion modes
  • Trigger external automations with a Zapier step — continue immediately or hold the contact until Zapier signals to move on
  • Branch sequences with condition steps on dozens of criteria: email presence and validation status, LinkedIn URL and connection status, InMail status, phone number and type, opens, clicks, views, ICP score, inbox category, company data, custom fields, CRM source, and more
  • Compare channels in the Channel Efficiency dashboard — prospects contacted, touches, replies, and meetings booked across automatic and manual email, calls, LinkedIn, SMS, and WhatsApp, with breakdowns by channel, team member, and sequence

What Reply cannot do

  • Fully automate WhatsApp — WhatsApp steps are semi-automated tasks completed by a person
  • Send automatic SMS to a contact with no phone number — in manual task-handling mode the contact stops on the step; in automatic mode they skip forward
  • Fit more than 160 characters in a single SMS — longer texts are split into multiple messages
  • Add more than one Zapier step per sequence
  • Check LinkedIn connection or InMail status conditions with less than a 2-hour step delay — the system needs that time to detect the status
  • Place calls without the Cloud Calls feature enabled, a funded wallet, and a rented number

Required inputs

A sequence with the steps you need; per channel: a connected email account, a connected LinkedIn account, a rented phone number with Cloud Calls enabled, or phone numbers on contacts for SMS and WhatsApp. For Zapier steps, a configured Zap on the Zapier side.

Produced outputs

Executed touches and created tasks per channel, call recordings and logged resolutions, SMS and WhatsApp threads, branch routing decisions, and per-channel statistics — touches, replies, meetings booked — in sequence stats and the Channel Efficiency dashboard.

Use Reply when

  • Your buyers answer on different channels and you want one timeline, one contact state, and one report — see Run multichannel outreach
  • You want behavior-driven routing: different follow-ups for connected vs not-connected, valid vs invalid email, opened vs silent
  • Reps make calls and need tasks, dialing, recording, and resolutions inside the same tool

Do not use Reply when

  • You only ever send email — email outreach alone is simpler to operate
  • You need fully automated WhatsApp or a contact-center phone system — Reply's WhatsApp is task-based and Cloud Calls is built for outreach calls, not inbound queues

What you still need to build

  • The channel strategy — which sequence of touches fits your market; Reply executes the plan you design
  • Zapier-side configuration for any external automation a Zapier step triggers
capability: multichannel_outreach
supported: true
interfaces:
  product_ui: live
  api: live
  mcp: live
  cli: not-verified
required_objects:
  - contact
  - sequence
  - email_account
  - linkedin_account
side_effects:
  - sends_messages
  - executes_linkedin_actions
  - creates_tasks
  - updates_statistics
human_approval_recommended: true

Limits

  • One SMS carries 160 characters; longer texts send as multiple messages
  • Conditions on LinkedIn connection status or InMail status require a step delay of at least 2 hours
  • One Zapier step per sequence
  • A last-step call or task marks the contact Finished after a set number of days (5 by default)
  • Per-channel caps still apply — email daily limits and LinkedIn safety limits; see Limits

FAQ

How do manual steps move contacts forward?

In manual mode the contact waits until you finish the task. In automatic mode the contact moves on after the step delay even if the task was not completed. WhatsApp tasks move the contact as soon as the task is sent or completed. See Sequence execution.

Can the sequence react to what a contact does?

Yes — condition steps branch into Yes/No paths on behavior (opens, clicks, replies), channel state (LinkedIn connection status, InMail accepted or rejected, email validation), and data (phone type, company size, ICP score, custom fields). Contacts route automatically when they reach the condition.

What happens to replies on non-email channels?

SMS replies sync into the contact's activity log and the SMS Inbox; LinkedIn replies land in the Inbox alongside email threads. Reply detection and stopping rules are described in Reply detection.

Which channel performs best?

That is what the Channel Efficiency dashboard answers: replies and meetings booked per channel, as counts and rates, over any date range — with drill-downs by team member and sequence. See Analyze campaign performance.

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