Smart Outreach is AskScout's AI-powered outreach engine. Instead of manually writing messages and scheduling them yourself, Scout decides which channel to use, writes a personalized message for each contact, and sends it at the right time — automatically.
What Smart Outreach does
For each contact in a list, Scout:
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Checks whether you have an existing LinkedIn connection with them
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Picks the best channel (LinkedIn or email) based on that relationship
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Writes a personalized message using the contact's name, company, title, and your campaign goal
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Sends it — respecting daily rate limits so your accounts stay healthy
All activity is tracked in the Outreach dashboard so you can see what was sent, opened, or replied to.
How to launch Smart Outreach
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Open a contact list (
Contacts → Lists → [your list]) -
Click the Smart Outreach button (sparkles/play icon in the header)
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Fill in the campaign brief:
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Goal — what you want the recipient to do (e.g. "book a 15-minute call")
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Tone — how you want to sound (e.g. "warm and direct")
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Lead with — let Scout choose automatically, or force LinkedIn or email first
- Click Launch
Scout begins working through the list in the background. You'll see progress update in the list view.
Channel selection logic
| You're already connected on LinkedIn | Sends a LinkedIn direct message |
| Not connected, LinkedIn is available | Sends a LinkedIn connection request with a note |
| LinkedIn isn't connected | Falls back to email |
| Gmail isn't connected either | Skips the contact |
To enable both channels: connect Gmail under Account → Integrations → Connect Google and LinkedIn under Account → Integrations → Connect LinkedIn.
What Smart Outreach is NOT
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It does not use templates with merge tags — every message is written fresh by AI from the contact's profile data
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It is not a manual sequence — you don't define steps or delays. If you want multi-step campaigns you control, use Sequences instead
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It does not send to contacts who have already replied
Stopping Smart Outreach mid-run
Go to Outreach in the sidebar. Any message with status Scheduled or Queued can be cancelled individually using the cancel (×) button. This stops that specific message from sending but doesn't affect messages already sent.
To cancel everything for a list, go to the list → Smart Outreach status panel → Cancel all.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit the messages before they send?
Not in real time — Scout generates and queues them in the background. If you want to review and approve each message manually, use Sequences instead where you write the templates yourself.
Will it send to the same contact twice?
No. Smart Outreach checks the contact's outreach history before sending. If they've already been touched via Scout, they're skipped.
What if a contact replies?
Scout detects replies via Gmail. Once a reply is detected, no more messages are sent to that contact.