Understanding Performance Discrepancies in Clay and Smartlead Campaigns

Hi Team, I’ve noticed some challenges while running campaigns through Clay with Smartlead. The open rates for these campaigns have been consistently lower than expected. Previously, Clay offered a direct integration option for Smartlead, but it seems that feature is no longer available. Interestingly, when I export data from Clay and manually upload it to Smartlead for campaign execution, the open rates show a significant improvement. Could you help me understand why this performance discrepancy exists when executing campaigns directly via Clay with Smartlead? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

7 comments

Channeled
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When sending campaigns through Clay to Smartlead, the success of your email campaigns depends heavily on proper variable mapping and integration setup. The lower open rates you're experiencing might be due to incorrect variable mapping between Clay and Smartlead.To ensure optimal performance: 1. Double-check that your custom fields in Clay match exactly with the variables set in your Smartlead campaign (like subject_line and email_body) 2. Verify that all necessary fields (email address, names, company names) are properly mapped 3. Review the final output in Smartlead after syncing to confirm everything displays correctlyIf you're still experiencing issues, you may want to verify your Smartlead API key is correctly configured in Clay and that you're following all the integration requirements. Sources: SmartLead - Clay University Personalized Direct Email Campaigns Step-By-Step Walkthrough with SmartLead [Automated Outbound] - Clay University
Bharat S.
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Earlier i received the answer from some one from Clay's team that performance is affecting, that is the reason Smartlead direct email sending option is now not visible inside table.
Channeled
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Clay is designed to work alongside email sequencers rather than replace them. We don't directly send emails - instead, we integrate with your preferred email sending tools to enable personalized outreach campaigns.You can still use Clay with Smartlead through our integration - you'll just need to: 1. Draft your personalized emails in Clay 2. Connect them to Smartlead using our integration 3. Send the campaigns through Smartlead itselfThis approach actually gives you more flexibility and control over your email campaigns while maintaining all the personalization capabilities of Clay. Source: How do I send emails with Clay? - FAQ | Clay.com
Channeled
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Looks like you're still looking for help. We're escalating this over to our support team and someone should be in touch soon. In the meantime, feel free to include any other information that may be helpful in solving your issue!
Bharat S.
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Thank you, Please connect me with someone from the team.
Owen C.
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Hi Bharat, thanks for reaching out! I’m sorry to hear that the results didn’t meet your expectations. With Explorer+ plans, we still offer direct email sequencing tool integrations, including Smartlead, La Growth Machine, and others. Open rates can be influenced by several key factors: sender credibility and deliverability, copywriting (both subject lines and body text), and timing. Additionally, it’s important to ensure that the leads you’re reaching out to are relevant and likely to be interested in your email content. I’m curious—were there any differences in the copywriting or the types of leads you were targeting when comparing open rates between different import methods? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help brainstorm this further! :) https://downloads.intercomcdn.com/i/o/w28k1kwz/1264896802/b8437cab775b8432c9455faa4411/CleanShot+2024-11-25+at+09_49_22%402x.png?expires=1732548600&signature=93657df90b2152318587b7cd3f511587fb0f2fa7115821f92b73e8a9a2950a00&req=dSIhEsF3m4lfW%2FMW1HO4zTrQjgBTTFjiSkHpnrSnYP6FdeCaCKKLRfskynKT%0AiefG%0A
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Understanding Performance Discrepancies in Clay and Smartlead Campaigns | Clay