Apollo is a prospecting and sequencing platform that DevSecOps vendors use to find and invite the right buyers to events. Unlike generic email blasts, Apollo's filtering lets you target contacts by title, company tech stack, funding stage, and headcount -- so your webinar invites reach actual DevSecOps decision-makers, not security generalists. This guide covers the full workflow from prospect search to event invite delivery.
Step 1: Build Your DevSecOps Buyer List in Apollo
In Apollo, use the following search filters to build a DevSecOps-specific prospect list:
Job titles (include):
- Head of DevSecOps
- Director of Security Engineering
- Director of Application Security
- VP of Engineering (with security signals on the company side)
- Platform Security Lead
Company filters:
- Employee count: 100-2,000 (mid-market sweet spot for DevSecOps investment)
- Industry: Software, SaaS, Financial Services, Healthcare IT
- Technologies used: Include at least one of Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab (signals active DevOps pipeline)
- Funding: Series B or later (or profitable mid-market -- avoid pre-seed)
Intent signals (Apollo's built-in intent layer):
- Recent topic activity: "DevSecOps," "SAST," "container security," "shift-left"
- Job postings: DevSecOps or security engineering roles open in last 60 days
This typically yields 800-2,000 contacts for a US-focused campaign. Narrow to 300-500 for your highest-fit invite list.
Step 2: Build the Event Invite Sequence
For a live webinar or roundtable, use a 4-touch sequence over 12 days:
Touch 1 (Day 1) -- LinkedIn connection request. No message body. Just the connection. This warms the contact before email lands.
Touch 2 (Day 3) -- LinkedIn message. Use Apollo's LinkedIn task feature to send a manual message referencing the event: "Hi [name] -- inviting a small group of DevSecOps leaders to a live [event topic] session with [speaker]. Thought you'd find it relevant given [one specific signal from their profile or company]. Here's the registration link if interested: [link]"
Touch 3 (Day 5) -- Email. Subject: "[Speaker name] on [specific topic] -- live [date]" Body: 3-4 sentences. One specific hook tied to their role or company. Registration link. No attachments.
Touch 4 (Day 10) -- Email follow-up. Subject: "Last few spots for [event name]" Body: 2 sentences. Create urgency with remaining capacity or speaker credibility. Link.
Step 3: Personalize With Apollo AI or Bring in Clay
Apollo has a built-in AI personalization layer that pulls from contact and company data. For basic personalization -- title and company mention -- Apollo handles it natively.
For deeper personalization that references specific pain points or job postings, export your Apollo list to Clay, run Claude-powered enrichment (see account research guide), then re-import personalized copy back into Apollo sequences.
Step 4: Track and Prioritize Post-Registration
Once invites are delivered, Apollo's activity tracking shows who:
- Opened the email (signals awareness)
- Clicked the registration link (signals intent)
- Registered for the event (hot account)
For registered accounts, immediately add them to a separate Apollo sequence for pre-event engagement: a speaker preview or relevant resource 48 hours before the event.
Post-event, LinkedOtter routes the highest-engagement accounts to direct follow-up within 24 hours -- the window where 43 qualified meetings in 60 days come from. See event proof.