How bootstrapped Albato create winning campaigns with all-in-one AI

Background

Founded in 2019, Albato is a no-code integration and automation platform that makes it simple for digital teams to streamline their workflows. The company offers a cost-effective solution that helps individuals and businesses connect their favorite apps including OpenAI, Trello, Shopify, HubSpot, and 600+ more. Albato also enables SaaS companies to white-label and embed one-click integrations into their products, creating a strong value-add for their users.  

This is the story of how the bootstrapped Albato team found their way to Amplemarket - and their magic 18 months of growth with us so far!

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The challenge

Mariana Guerci joined the Albato growth team in early 2023 and recalls how the company was still in the process of building its sales engine for Albato’s B2B product, Albato Embedded (embedded iPaaS, integration platform as a service)

“When I joined, sales processes were still being redefined and it was just me and our sales manager on the growth team. We started by listing our priorities when choosing tools and how we could use AI to do more with our small team.”

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As a bootstrapped startup, the pressure was on for Albato to make the most of their limited personnel and budgets. Scaling their sales was important, but so too was minimizing complexity and keeping their tech stack as streamlined as possible.

Mariana explains the team researched piles of sales tools, data providers, and engagement platforms before creating a shortlist of options.

“We were searching for all-in-one style tools that included lead generation, enrichment, email validation, multiple mailbox support and deliverability.”

Specifically, the team was looking for a solution that provided:

• Detailed prospecting filters. Albato’s Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a SaaS company that needs customer-facing, white-label integrations, so being able to pinpoint their target personas with laser precision was crucial for their outbound efficiency.
• Top-quality, reliable contact data. With resources tight, it was important to make every minute of outreach count!
• A strong HubSpot integration. The team was happy with their existing CRM and hoped their sales tools would connect seamlessly and without having to use third-party automation tools.
• Multichannel engagement support. Connecting with their ICP depended on being flexible across LinkedIn, phone, and email.
• Good ROI! The Albato team realized early on that it could be better to invest in a robust all-in-one tool than complicate things with piecemeal solutions (that could end up costing the same).

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The solution

Albato faced the decision many young startups encounter when building their tech stack: to invest smartly early on, or to opt for cheap, rudimentary tools that need upgrading later.

“We had a long list of requirements and spent some time comparing and trialing different tools. For us, Amplemarket was a clear winner after around a month. Since we came to that conclusion, it’s been impossible for us to think of going elsewhere!”

As Mariana explains, the final choice came down to two platforms:

‍“Amplemarket and Apollo were the “all-in-one” options we were deciding between and they were the two we could really test side by side from A to Z.”

“We saw very different results when from the data and emails we ran through them. The bounce rate was much higher for Apollo, so the data quality and deliverability was clearly much better with Amplemarket.”

In the end, Albato were confident investing in Amplemarket because it meant all their lead generation, engagement, and analytics needs were taken care of in one place: “Being bootstrapped and having very tight budgets meant cost was an important factor in our decision. 

“But we saw that if we chose different tools to cover each of our requirements - one tool for lead generation, one for LinkedIn - the overall cost would end up being similar to Amplemarket, which gives you the best of everything anyway.

“We knew that finding the right tool was really important in allowing us to build a great strategy and create successful campaigns.”

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The results

Since settling on Amplemarket, the Albato team has seen spectacular results in their outbound!

In one example campaign alone, Mariana’s team recorded:

• Email open rates consistently >70%
• Interested rates hitting 3.6%
• 9 meetings booked

Other successes over the past 12 months include:

• 98% deliverability success 
• 1.2% bounce rate (compared to the industry average of 3%).
• 3.6 weeks of work saved by automating LinkedIn tasks 

Mariana tells us that this was only possible because they made the right tool choice early on: “Amplemarket is really helpful for getting us lists of companies and exact buyer personas so we’re looking for our ICP in the right place. Then, using AI has allowed us to handle much higher volumes and more complex campaigns than two of us could have done manually!”

Adding value to their pipeline is just one side of the story. As Mariana tells us, Albato’s broader outbound strategy has completely transformed over the past year, and Amplemarket has been a key part of this:

“This has been the year I’ve learned the most about sales! The Amplemarket team has provided us with so much support and practical guides on things like deliverability, liquid syntax, and how to make messaging more relevant. We use so many more data points to personalize our campaigns now, and it’s all helping us become better at engaging our ICP!”

Mariana also felt the Amplemarket Support team were committed to enhancing Albato’s customer experience with regular feature updates. “We see that lots of things that we suggested have been implemented or are on the roadmap so we know the tool is always growing according to customer feedback!”

As for favorite features, Mariana highlighted:

• “The native HubSpot integration - it fits our use case well and is definitely a differentiator from other tools. We help SaaS products scale their native integrations through Albato Embedded, so we know better than anyone how vital a robust, two-way CRM integration is.”
• “Full LinkedIn task automation - it’s amazing knowing everything is executing without you having to do any manual work.”
• “The recent Analytics updates! I really like having more visibility over each campaign and our different channels.”

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The conclusion

Any bootstrapped company or fledgling startup can relate to the challenge Albato faced: to scale with limited resources, fast!

Instead of opting for quick fixes or piecemeal solutions, the team selected a tool that would set them up for long-term success and keep scaling with them.

So, what would sales look like for Mariana if she lost Amplemarket?

“It would be impossible!  Automating outreach is crucial for us, so we can focus 100% on prospects and make our offering more relevant for them!” 

We’re sure this is only the beginning of Albato’s story, and we’re delighted to be alongside them for the journey.

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Learn more about Albato's integration and automation capabilites here and follow them on LinkedIn!