Platform Guide & Instructions
Complete step-by-step guide to getting the most out of BalticLeads
Contents
Part 1: Getting Started
Register Your Business Account
Go to balticleads.ee/register and fill in:
- Full name - your name as the contact person
- Email address - used for login and notifications
- Company name - your registered business name
- Registration code - your company's official registry number (required for B2B verification)
- Password - at least 8 characters
Verify Your Email
After registering, check your inbox for a verification email from BalticLeads. Click the verification link to activate your account. If you don't see it within 5 minutes, check your spam folder. You won't be able to log in until your email is verified.
Choose a Subscription Plan
Go to Pricing and choose the plan that fits your outreach volume:
| Plan | Price | Monthly Emails | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €49/mo | 500 emails | Estonia only |
| Business | €99/mo | 2,500 emails | Estonia + Latvia |
| Professional | €199/mo | 6,000 emails | All 3 countries |
| Enterprise | €899/mo | 67,500 emails (5 mailboxes × 450/day) | All 3 countries |
Set Up Your Sending Email
This is the most critical step. See Part 2 for detailed instructions on setting up a business email for sending campaigns.
Part 2: Setting Up Your Sending Email
Warning: You Cannot Use a Personal Email
Do not use your personal Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo email to send campaigns. This will damage your personal inbox reputation and may result in your account being flagged as spam. You must use a business email tied to your company domain.
Why You Need a Dedicated Business Email
- Protects your main company inbox reputation from mass-sending
- Required for deliverability - ISPs flag bulk sends from consumer email services
- Gives you a professional outreach identity (outreach@yourdomain.com)
- Allows proper unsubscribe handling without affecting your main email
⚠️ Zoho FREE does NOT work for cold email
Logging in via Gmail SSO doesn't give you a real Zoho mailbox, and the free tier throttles outbound to ~50 emails/day. Use Google Workspace (Option B below) — it's the recommended path. Zoho only works with a paid plan ($1+/mo) AND your own custom domain.
Option A (advanced) - Zoho Mail (paid plan + own domain only)
If you already have Zoho with a paid plan and custom domain, here's the setup:
- Go to zoho.com/mail and click Get Started for Free
- Choose the Free plan (1 user, 5 GB)
- Enter your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) and verify DNS ownership
- Create your outreach email: outreach@yourdomain.com
- Go to Zoho Mail Settings → SMTP and note the credentials
Zoho SMTP Settings
Host: smtp.zoho.euPort: 587
Security: TLS / STARTTLS
Username: outreach@yourdomain.com
Password: your Zoho password
✓ Option B (RECOMMENDED) - Google Workspace (€6/month)
Best deliverability on the market. Google Workspace gives you a @yourdomain.com Gmail account with proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC out of the box. Pair it with a €10/year domain and you're set.
Gmail SMTP Settings
Host: smtp.gmail.comPort: 587
Security: TLS / STARTTLS
Username: outreach@yourdomain.com
Password: App Password (NOT your main password)
Option C - Your Hosting Provider Email
Most web hosting plans (cPanel, Plesk, etc.) include email hosting. Create outreach@yourdomain.com in your hosting control panel.
Check your hosting provider's documentation for SMTP host, port, and credentials. Usually the SMTP host is mail.yourdomain.com and port is 587.
How to Enter SMTP Settings in BalticLeads
- Go to Settings in the left sidebar
- Scroll to SMTP Configuration
- Fill in: SMTP Host, Port, Username, Password, From Name, From Email
- Click Test Connection to verify it works
- Save settings
outreach@yourdomain.com • campaigns@yourdomain.com • hello@yourdomain.com
Avoid: info@, support@, contact@ (those receive too many replies and signal generic inboxes)
Part 2b: Aliases vs Real Mailboxes — Don't Get Frozen at 900 Emails
The #1 mistake that kills cold-email senders
Adding an alias (like marketing@yourdomain.com pointing to hello@yourdomain.com) does NOT give you a second sending pool. Both addresses share the same physical mailbox's daily quota. Send 450 from hello@ + 450 from marketing@ alias = Gmail sees 900 from ONE source = your account is frozen for 24-72 hours.
How Gmail counts your sends
Gmail (and every other ISP) tracks deliverability per physical mailbox, not per "From" address. Aliases, plus-addressing (hello+x@), and email forwarding all share one underlying reputation and one daily quota.
| Setup | Separate sending pool? | Cost | Daily safe limit |
|---|---|---|---|
Alias (x@ aliased to main@) | ❌ NO — shares with main | Free | 450 total (not per alias) |
Plus-addressing (main+x@) | ❌ NO — same mailbox | Free | 450 total |
Separate Workspace user (x@ as own seat) | ✅ YES — own quota | ~€6/mo per seat | +450/day per seat |
| Different domain in different Workspace | ✅ YES — independent reputation | Domain + Workspace | +450/day per domain |
Why 450/day and not Gmail's 2,000 cap?
Gmail's hard limit is 2,000 recipients/day for Workspace — but that's for normal business email with engaged recipients. For cold outreach (new recipients with no prior interaction), Gmail's abuse detection silently throttles or suspends accounts that exceed ~500/day. 450 is the industry-standard safe ceiling used by every serious cold-email tool.
Push past it and your symptoms appear in 24-72h: emails land in spam, bounce rate spikes, then the mailbox is "deferred" or suspended. Recovery takes weeks.
Scaling beyond 450/day — the right way
- Don't add aliases. They cost nothing but give you nothing.
- Buy additional Workspace seats. Each new user (
outreach2@,outreach3@) gets its own 450/day pool. €6/mo per seat × 5 = 2,250/day total — exactly what Enterprise plan supports. - Use a second sending domain. Buy
yourdomain.cooryourdomain-mail.com, set up its own Workspace, run independent sending. Protects your primary domain reputation. - Warmup is automatic. BalticLeads' warmup engine throttles a fresh mailbox starting at ~20/day and ramps it to 450/day over 2-4 weeks. You don't configure anything — connect the mailbox and the system handles it.
Part 3: Finding & Filtering Companies
Go to the Leads page to browse the company database. Use filters to narrow down your target audience:
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Available countries depend on your plan. Starter = Estonia only, Business = EE+LV, Professional/Enterprise = all 3.
Filter by city name
Type a city name (Tallinn, Tartu, Riga, Vilnius, etc.) to show only companies in that city.
Filter by industry keyword
Type keywords like: IT, construction, food, transport, healthcare, retail, marketing, finance, automotive, beauty, etc.
Show only contactable companies
Check "Has email" to show only companies with a known email address.
Part 4: Sending Campaigns (Manual)
Manual sending lets you select specific companies and send them an email right from the Leads page.
{company_name} • {city} • {country} • {industry}
Go to History after sending to see which emails were sent successfully and which failed.
Part 5: Campaign Queue (Automated)
Campaigns let you set up automated sending that runs every day at 08:00, sending up to 450 emails per day until the campaign is complete.
Creating a Campaign
- Go to Campaigns in the sidebar
- Click New Campaign
- Choose filters: country, city (optional), industry (optional)
- Write your email subject and body - use {company_name}, {city}, {country}, {industry} tokens
- Click Launch Campaign
How the Queue Works
- System sends 450 emails per day at 08:00 automatically
- Multiple campaigns share the 450/day limit - processed by priority order
- Lower priority number = sends first (Priority 1 = highest priority)
- Pause or resume any campaign anytime - progress is always saved
- When all matching companies have been emailed, the campaign shows as Completed
Quota & Credits Integration
- Campaigns check your monthly plan quota before sending each day
- When your monthly plan quota is reached, extra credits kick in automatically - no action needed
- When both plan quota and extra credits are exhausted, the campaign pauses automatically
- Campaign resumes automatically on your next billing cycle (when quota resets)
Part 5b: Admin Approval & Trust Score
To protect deliverability of our shared infrastructure, new accounts go through a brief manual review on their first few campaigns. Once you build a track record, this stops automatically.
How Approval Works
- You create a campaign and click Launch.
- The campaign enters PENDING REVIEW — it's paused, not sending. You receive an email confirming submission.
- Our team reviews your subject line + body within 24 hours (usually faster). We check: spam triggers, deliverability risk, GDPR compliance, content quality.
- Three possible outcomes:
- APPROVED — campaign starts sending immediately, you get an email.
- REVISION REQUESTED — we email you with specific feedback. Your credits are returned to your balance immediately so you can edit and resubmit at no cost.
- REJECTED — campaign is cancelled. All unused credits are returned to your balance immediately. Reason explained by email.
Trust Score — How to Get Auto-Approved
Every account has a dynamic 0-100% trust score visible to admins. Once your score reaches 80%+, you become trusted and campaigns launch instantly without review. Score is built from:
- +10 — Email verified
- +15 — Active paid plan (any tier)
- +5 to +20 — Approved campaigns (more = higher)
- +10 — 12-month commitment in good standing
- +5 — 2FA enabled (Settings → Security)
- +2 to +8 — Account age (7d / 30d / 90d)
- −5 per revision request — minor concerns
- −10 per rejection — major issues
- −5 to −10 — High bounce/failure rate
Part 6: Payment, Credits & Refunds
Subscriptions
- All payments processed securely via Stripe - EU compliant, PCI-DSS certified
- Monthly billing - charged on your subscription date each month
- Monthly email quota resets automatically on each billing date
- Minimum 12-month commitment - early cancellation fee applies
- After 12 months, you can cancel anytime via Billing → Manage Billing
Extra Credits
- Purchase extra credits anytime from the Pricing page, works on any account, no subscription required
- Credits never expire - they carry over month to month indefinitely
- Credits are used automatically after your monthly plan quota is exhausted
- 1 credit = 1 email sent
Managing Your Billing
- Go to Billing page → click Manage Billing to open the Stripe customer portal
- In the Stripe portal: update payment method, download invoices, view billing history, cancel subscription (after 12 months)
What Happens if You Cancel
- Your plan downgrades to Free at the end of the current paid period
- Active campaigns pause automatically - they are not deleted
- Your data and campaign history are preserved for 30 days
- You can resubscribe anytime to resume campaigns immediately
- Extra credits you purchased are retained and restored upon resubscription
Credit Refunds on Campaign Rejection or Revision
When you launch a campaign, the credits required for sending are locked to that campaign so we can guarantee delivery. If admin review requests revision or rejects the campaign, those locked credits are immediately returned to your balance:
- REVISION — All locked credits return instantly. Edit and resubmit at no extra cost.
- REJECTED — All unused credits return (locked total minus any already sent). Use them on a new campaign.
You can always see your current balance + locked credits at the top of Dashboard.
If You Paid for a Campaign with Money (not credits) and It's Rejected
Some users pay for one-off campaigns directly via Stripe (instead of using a monthly subscription's plan quota). Special rules apply if that paid campaign hits admin review:
- REVISION REQUESTED (preferred outcome) — We almost always pick this for paid campaigns with fixable issues. Your money stays attached to the campaign — you edit the content, resubmit, and it ships as soon as we re-approve. No extra payment needed. Treat this as "redo for free, same payment".
- REJECTED — Only when content cannot be salvaged (illegal content, severe spam pattern, fraudulent claims, etc.). In that case:
- The campaign is cancelled and won't send
- Email credits already loaded into the campaign return to your account balance
- The money you paid is refunded to your card by our admin within 1-3 business days via Stripe
- You'll get a Stripe credit note email confirming the refund
- You want to redo it yourself? Email support@balticleads.ee and we'll switch a rejected campaign back to revision-status so you can edit and resubmit with the same payment.
Our default policy: we never delete a paid customer's intent without giving them a chance to fix it. Reject is the last resort.
Part 7: Deliverability & Scaling Beyond 450/day
Automatic Warmup — Nothing for You to Configure
Every new sending mailbox gets a slow, ISP-friendly ramp automatically. The warmup engine tracks the age of each connected mailbox and enforces a safe daily cap that grows over time. You don't pick numbers, you don't change settings — connect the mailbox and BalticLeads handles the rest.
DAY 1-3
~20
emails/day
WEEK 1-2
~100
emails/day
WEEK 3
~250
emails/day
WEEK 4+
450
emails/day
The dashboard shows your current safe cap per mailbox. If you try to launch a campaign exceeding the warmup ceiling, the queue paces it across multiple days automatically — no errors, no manual scheduling. See the interactive curves at /tips.
Why 450/day and not Gmail's 2,000 cap?
Gmail Workspace technically allows 2,000 recipients/day, but that limit is for engaged business email. Cold outreach (sending to recipients who don't know you) triggers Gmail's abuse-detection algorithm at much lower volumes — typically 200-500/day for new mailboxes, 450-700 for warmed accounts.
450/day is the safe ceiling used industry-wide. Exceed it and within 24-72h: emails drop into spam, bounce rate spikes, then the mailbox gets "deferred" or suspended for days. Recovery takes 2-4 weeks of fresh warming.
Scaling to 1,000+/day — Multi-Mailbox Setup
The only safe way to send more than 450/day is more mailboxes, not more sends per mailbox. Each new physical mailbox = +450/day independent capacity.
| Setup | Cost/mo | Daily capacity | Plan needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mailbox | €6 | 450/day | Starter / Business / Pro |
| 2-3 mailboxes (Workspace seats) | €12-18 | 900-1,350/day | Enterprise |
| 5 mailboxes (Enterprise max) | €30 | 2,250/day | Enterprise |
| 2 separate domains × 5 mailboxes | €60+domains | 4,500/day | Custom (contact us) |
Add mailboxes in Settings → Mailboxes. BalticLeads rotates between them automatically with proper per-mailbox throttling. See Part 2b for why aliases don't work for this.
Best Practices Checklist
- Always personalize - at minimum use {company_name} in every email
- Keep emails short - 150-300 words perform best; longer emails get ignored
- Write a clear subject line - avoid spam trigger words (FREE, URGENT, GUARANTEED, !!!)
- Always include: who you are, what you offer, and a clear call to action
- Check your History page for bounce rates - keep failed rate under 5%
- If bounces exceed 5%: reduce sending volume and review your email list quality
- Use a professional tone - avoid being salesy or pushy in the first email
- Set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC DNS records for your domain (test at mxtoolbox.com)
- Enable 2FA on your account — also boosts your Trust Score
Part 8: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use my Gmail or Outlook personal email?
Not recommended. Using a personal consumer email for bulk sending risks your inbox reputation and may get your personal email flagged. You should always use a business domain email (e.g., outreach@yourcompany.com). See Part 2 for setup instructions.
What happens when my monthly limit runs out?
Extra credits activate automatically if you have them - your campaigns continue without interruption. If you have no extra credits, campaigns pause automatically until your next billing date when the quota resets.
Will my campaigns stop if I forget to buy credits?
No - campaigns only pause when BOTH your plan quota AND extra credits are zero. You receive warning banners in the dashboard at 75%, 90%, and 100% usage so you have time to top up before hitting the limit.
Can I cancel anytime?
All plans have a 12-month minimum commitment. After the 12-month period, you can cancel anytime by going to Billing → Manage Billing in the Stripe portal. Early cancellation during the minimum period incurs a fee equal to 2 months of your plan price.
Are the company emails verified?
Email addresses come from official Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian business registries, supplemented by DNS-based email discovery. Quality varies - expect approximately 5-15% bounce rate, which is normal for B2B cold outreach. The platform performs SMTP verification before sending to minimize bounces.
How do I know if my emails are being delivered?
Check the History page - it shows every email sent with status (sent / failed) and timestamps. Monitor your failure rate: keep it under 5% for healthy deliverability. If you see high failure rates, check your SMTP settings and email quality.
Do extra credits expire?
No. Extra credits never expire. They carry over month to month and remain in your account until used. They are retained even if you temporarily cancel and resubscribe.
I need help. How do I contact support?
Email us at support@balticleads.ee. We aim to respond within 1 business day. For billing issues, you can also manage your subscription directly in the Stripe portal via Billing → Manage Billing.
Can I just add an alias like marketing@mydomain.com to get more daily sends?
No. Aliases share the underlying mailbox's daily quota with Gmail — sending 450 from your main address plus 450 from an alias = Gmail sees 900 from one source and freezes the account. The only way to get more daily capacity is real additional Workspace seats (each its own login + own quota) or a second sending domain. See Part 2b.
My campaign says "Pending review" — what now?
New accounts have their first few campaigns reviewed by our team (usually within 24h, often faster). This protects shared sending infrastructure. You'll get an email with the outcome: approved (starts sending), revision requested (we explain what to fix, credits returned), or rejected (credits returned, reason explained). After a few approvals you become trusted and campaigns launch instantly. See Part 5b.
What's the Trust Score I see in my account?
A 0-100% measure of how established your account is. Verified email, paid plan, approved campaigns, 2FA, account age all add points; rejections, revisions, and high bounce rates subtract. At 80%+ you become trusted — campaigns auto-launch without admin review. Most active users reach this within 2 weeks.
If admin rejects my campaign, do I lose the credits?
No. All unused credits return to your balance immediately when a campaign is rejected or revision is requested. You can use them on a new (or edited) campaign at no extra cost.
I paid for a campaign with my card and it was rejected. What happens to my money?
For paid campaigns we almost always choose "Request Revision" instead of rejection — your money stays attached, you edit the content, resubmit, and it ships at no extra cost. True rejection only happens for content that cannot be fixed (illegal, severe spam, fraud). In that case, the money is refunded to your card via Stripe within 1-3 business days and you receive a Stripe credit note. If a paid campaign was rejected and you'd rather rework it than receive a refund, email support@balticleads.ee — we'll switch it back to revision status so you can edit and resubmit with the same payment. See Part 6 for full policy.
Can I send more than 450 emails per day?
Yes, but not from a single mailbox. Each Workspace mailbox safely tops out around 450/day for cold outreach (regardless of what Gmail's "2000/day" theoretical limit says). To scale: add more mailboxes — Enterprise plan supports 5 (= 2,250/day rotating). Beyond that, a second sending domain in its own Workspace gives you another independent pool. See Part 7.
Need more help? Contact us at support@balticleads.ee
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