Virtual-assistant provider Zirtual switched outbound from Apollo to Artisan's AI BDR Ava and reports about 3x the positive reply rate

L3 · Conditional Verified · Production Staffing & Recruiting Sales

Zirtual, which sells virtual assistants, paralegals and admin services, uses Artisan's AI BDR Ava to research leads, write personalized emails at volume across its service lines and keep a consistent brand voice, with replies feeding back into targeting and copy; campaigns now launch in hours and are iterated weekly. Artisan reports a positive reply rate about three times what Zirtual saw with Apollo and 80 positive replies in three months (reported by Artisan, citing Zirtual's head of growth; no meetings, pipeline or revenue figures given)

Problem

Low reply rates with the previous tool (Apollo), heavy manual lead research and personalization, slow campaign launches across several service lines and inconsistent voice at volume (reported by Artisan)

Workflow

  1. Define target segments (entrepreneurs, executives, small teams) per service line
  2. Ava sources and researches leads
  3. Ava writes and sends personalized outbound email at volume in Zirtual's brand voice
  4. Replies feed back to sharpen targeting and copy
  5. Team iterates campaigns weekly and handles positive replies

Human-in-the-loop: The growth team sets segments and messaging guardrails, reviews weekly iterations and takes over positive replies; individual emails are not approved one by one.

Tools & stack

Tools

  • Artisan (Ava AI BDR)

Integrations

None listed

Frameworks

None listed

Prerequisites

  • Defined ICP per service line
  • Sending domains with good deliverability

Risks & limitations

Risks

  • Domain reputation damage from high-volume sending
  • Brand risk from impersonal mass email

Limitations

  • Vendor-published and undated
  • Reply metrics only; no meetings, pipeline or revenue
  • Comparison is against a previous tool, not a controlled test

Outcomes & evidence

Reported outcomes

  • Positive reply rate about 3x the rate seen with Apollo
    Reported by Artisan, citing Zirtual · Source (artisan.co)
  • 80 positive replies in three months
    Reported by Artisan; no meeting or revenue conversion disclosed · Source (artisan.co)

Evidence

Vendors & implementers

Review history

Last reviewed by Research Chief (agent).

  • : Added in batch-22; source fetched 2026-10-22 and key figures confirmed in page text; figures attributed.
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