Learning how to use Waalaxy takes about 15 minutes — I've timed it, twice, including once with a friend who thinks “CSV” is a TV channel.
But there's a difference between launching a campaign and launching one that converts at 34% instead of 19%. That gap comes down to five decisions inside the setup, and this guide walks you through every one of them, in order, with the exact settings I use.
Key Takeaways
- Install → import → sequence → personalize → launch takes ~15 minutes for a first campaign
- Import from Sales Navigator searches for dramatically better targeting than basic LinkedIn search
- Rewrite the template messages — stock copy converted 15 points worse in my testing
- Start at 10-15 invites/day and ramp weekly, even though the tool allows more
Step 1: Install Waalaxy (2 Minutes)
- Create your account at Waalaxy's site — the free plan needs no credit card and gives you 80 invites/month
- Add the Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store
- Install the desktop companion app when prompted — this lets campaigns run without keeping the browser tab babysat
- Log into LinkedIn in the same browser, and the Waalaxy icon appears in your LinkedIn interface
That's the whole install. No API keys, no webhooks, no configuration files.
Step 2: Build Your Prospect List (4 Minutes)
Open a LinkedIn search (or better, a Sales Navigator search) with your target filters — role, industry, geography. Then hit the Waalaxy button and import the results directly.
Three import quality rules that decide your campaign before it starts:
Rule 1 — Sales Navigator if you have it. My 34% acceptance campaign ran on a Sales Nav-filtered list. Basic search filters are blunt instruments; Sales Nav lets you cut by seniority, company size, and recent activity. If you already pay for it, this is where it earns its keep.
Rule 2 — Import more than you'll message. Waalaxy auto-deduplicates against your existing campaigns and drops invalid profiles, so a 300-prospect campaign wants a 350+ import.
Rule 3 — Segment by persona, not by convenience. One campaign per audience. Founders and HR managers should never share a message sequence — different pains, different first lines.
You can also import via CSV upload if your leads live in a spreadsheet already.
Step 3: Choose Your Sequence (2 Minutes)
Waalaxy ships 99+ pre-built sequence templates, all named after space objects. Ignore the astronomy; only the structure matters. For a first campaign, you want:
“Invitation + 2 follow-ups” — the workhorse. Connection request → wait for accept → message 1 (day 1 after accept) → message 2 (day 4-5 if no reply).
Skip the complex multi-branch templates for now. Three touches is enough to learn what your audience responds to, and Waalaxy's sequences cap at 7 follow-ups anyway.
Step 4: Write Messages That Don't Smell Like a Bot (5 Minutes)
This step is where campaigns are won, so it gets the most detail.
The connection request: you have 200 characters. My testing was unambiguous — personalized first lines hit 34% acceptance vs 19% for stock templates. The formula that worked:
“Hi {{firstName}} — saw [specific thing: their post / company news / shared group]. I work with [their role type] on [relevant problem]. Thought it'd be worth connecting.”
No pitch. No link. No “I'd love to add you to my professional network” (instant delete).
Message 1 (after accept): thank them, ask one genuine question about their world. Still no pitch. Reply rates die the moment you sell in message one.
Message 2 (the gentle nudge): if silence after 4-5 days — one sentence of value (a resource, an insight, a relevant observation), one soft call to action. Then stop. Persistence past this point converts prospects into blockers.
Variables to use: {{firstName}} and {{companyName}} render naturally. Skip {{position}} in first lines — exact job titles pasted into sentences read robotic (“I see you are Senior Regional Sales Manager II”).
Step 5: Set Safe Limits & Launch (2 Minutes)
Before hitting launch, open the quota settings. The defaults lean aggressive; override them:
- Invites: 10-15/day for week one — yes, even though your plan allows more
- Ramp up ~5/day each week toward your ceiling
- Stay under ~100 invites/week permanently — the full reasoning and LinkedIn's detection patterns are in my guide to Waalaxy safety limits
- Keep actions inside business hours in your prospects' timezone — 3 AM connection requests are a tell
Hit launch. The desktop app handles execution from here.
Follow Along Live — Set Up Your Free Waalaxy Account NowAfter Launch: The 10-Minute Daily Routine
Waalaxy isn't fire-and-forget, but it's close. Daily, in order:
- Check acceptance rate. Above 30% — healthy. Below 25% — pause and fix targeting or your first line today, both for conversions and because low acceptance is a LinkedIn detection signal.
- Answer replies fast. Waalaxy's reply detection stops sequences automatically when prospects respond — your job is the human part. Speed of reply correlates with meetings booked more than anything else in the sequence.
- Tag conversations (interested / later / dead) so your pipeline survives the week.
Weekly: compare campaigns, kill the losing message variant, feed what you learned into the next batch.
Troubleshooting: The 4 Problems Everyone Hits
“My campaign is stuck / actions aren't sending.” Nine times out of ten the desktop companion app isn't running, or you've been logged out of LinkedIn in that browser. Check both, then check whether you've simply exhausted your daily quota — Waalaxy pauses silently when limits hit.
“Prospects imported but show as ‘invalid.'” Usually profiles that restrict visibility or premium-only profiles your account level can't fully access. Waalaxy skips them automatically; import extras to compensate.
“The same message sent twice.” A known intermittent bug users report. If it happens, pause the campaign, note the affected prospects, and message support with the campaign ID — and send a light human apology to the prospect. One “sorry, gremlin in my tools” message has rescued more than one conversation.
“My acceptance rate dropped suddenly mid-campaign.” LinkedIn quietly adjusts per-account invite allowances based on your recent acceptance history. Pause for 3-4 days, tighten targeting, resume at lower daily volume.
Level-Up Moves (Once the Basics Work)
Enrich emails. Waalaxy's Dropcontact integration finds verified, GDPR-compliant email addresses for your prospects — but credits are scarce on lower plans (25/month on Pro), so spend them only on engaged prospects. The full credit math is in my email finder credits test.
Trigger-based imports. Import people who commented on a relevant post or attended an event — warm signals convert far better than cold search lists.
CRM sync. Connect HubSpot or Pipedrive so replies land in your pipeline automatically.
And if you're wondering whether all this effort is worth it before committing — my complete in-depth Waalaxy review covers the 30-day results, pricing traps, and honest limits.
80 Free Invites/Month Is Enough to Test Everything AboveFAQ
How long does Waalaxy take to set up? About 15 minutes from account creation to a live first campaign — the fastest onboarding in the LinkedIn automation category.
Does Waalaxy run when my computer is off? Not fully. The desktop companion app reduces browser babysitting, but Waalaxy isn't a 24/7 cloud tool — actions run while your environment is active.
How many people should my first campaign target? 250-350 prospects of a single persona. Big enough for statistically meaningful acceptance data, small enough to fix mistakes cheaply.
Can I run multiple campaigns at once? Yes, across different prospect lists — but a prospect list can't start a new campaign until its current one finishes.
When should I upgrade from the free plan? When you consistently exhaust the 80 monthly invites and your acceptance rate is above 30%. Upgrading with bad targeting just scales the badness.
That's how to use Waalaxy from zero to launched: fifteen minutes of setup, five deliberate decisions, and safe daily limits — get those right and the tool quietly does the other 80% of prospecting for you.
Launch Your First Campaign Today — Waalaxy Free Plan