Opening Problem Statement
Meet Justin, a marketing specialist at Pollup Data Services. Every day, Justin spends hours manually gathering information on leads’ social media via LinkedIn and Twitter, trying to piece together insights that could help craft personalized outreach emails. This tedious process often wastes precious time — sometimes upwards of several hours a week — and the manual approach leads to inconsistent outcomes, lost opportunities, and slow engagement with potential clients.
Imagine trying to keep up with dozens of leads, copying URLs, scrolling through posts, and then trying to write tailored emails without missing a detail. If Justin could automate even part of this, he’d reclaim hours, reduce errors, and increase the success rate of his campaigns.
What This Automation Does
This n8n workflow automates the entire process of social media profile analysis and custom email generation, transforming lead outreach for marketers like Justin. When the workflow runs, it:
- Starts from a Google Sheets list of leads containing LinkedIn URLs, Twitter handles, names, and emails.
- Automatically queries RapidAPI’s LinkedIn and Twitter APIs to fetch up to 10 recent LinkedIn posts and Twitter tweets per lead.
- Processes the gathered social media content with JavaScript Code nodes to extract and limit relevant posts.
- Uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model to analyze the content and generate a personalized email subject and an HTML cover letter based on mutual interests inferred from the data.
- Sends the generated email to the lead and CCs the marketing specialist for tracking.
- Updates the Google Sheets row marking the lead as “done” to avoid reprocessing.
This automation slashes research time from hours per lead to minutes and boosts outreach personalization quality without manual labor.
Prerequisites ⚙️
- Google Sheets account with a sheet containing: linkedin_url, name, twitter_handler, email, and done columns.
- RapidAPI account subscribed to Twitter API and Fresh LinkedIn Profile Data API for social media scraping.
- OpenAI account with API access for GPT-4 model.
- SMTP email credentials (or equivalent) for sending personalized emails automatically.
- Active n8n environment (cloud or self-hosted) for workflow orchestration.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Set Up Your Lead Data in Google Sheets
Create a Google Sheet with these columns: linkedin_url, name, twitter_handler, email, and done. Populate it with your leads, but leave the done field blank.
You should see formatted rows with contact details ready for processing.
Common mistake: Forgetting to leave “done” empty, which will prevent the workflow from triggering on those rows.
Step 2: Trigger Workflow on New Leads via Google Sheets Trigger
In n8n, configure the Google Sheets Trigger node to poll your sheet every minute for rows where the “done” field is empty.
Setup details: Click the node → Choose your Google Sheets credential → Set the sheet and range.
After setup, the workflow runs when new leads appear or “done” is cleared.
Step 3: Filter to Process Only Unhandled Leads with IF Node
Add an IF node connected to the trigger that checks if the “done” field is empty, allowing only new leads through.
This keeps already processed leads from re-triggering.
Step 4: Configure Company Variables with Set Node
Use the Set node to define your company details, contact name, email, and business description — these fill the AI prompt dynamically.
Example values: “Pollup Data Services” for company name, a short business activity description, “Justin” as your name, and your sender email.
Step 5: Fetch Twitter User ID Using HTTP Request Node
Use an HTTP Request node pointing to RapidAPI’s Twitter API to get the Twitter user ID from the Twitter handle provided in Google Sheets.
Method: GET with header x-rapidapi-host: twitter-api47.p.rapidapi.com, query parameter username from the sheet.
Step 6: Retrieve Recent Tweets with HTTP Request Node
Another HTTP Request node fetches the user’s latest tweets using the Twitter user ID.
Parameters mirror the previous request’s authentication and header setup.
Step 7: Extract and Limit Twitter Posts with Code Node
Use a Code node containing JavaScript code that loops over the tweets, extracts tweet text, and limits to 10 entries for manageable analysis.
// Loop over Twitter tweets and extract text
output = [];
max_posts = 10;
let counter = 0;
for (const item of $input.all()[0].json.tweets) {
if(!item.content.hasOwnProperty('itemContent')) continue;
let post = {
text: item.content.itemContent?.tweet_results?.result.legacy?.full_text
};
output.push(post);
if(counter++ >= max_posts) break;
}
return {"Twitter tweets": output};
Common mistake: Tweets without the expected content structure are skipped by the code.
Step 8: Fetch LinkedIn Posts with HTTP Request Node
Use an HTTP Request node with RapidAPI’s Fresh LinkedIn Profile Data API to get the lead’s recent LinkedIn posts.
Use the linkedin_url parameter from Google Sheets and add necessary headers.
Step 9: Extract and Limit LinkedIn Posts with Code Node
Similar to Twitter, use a Code node to extract article titles and texts from the retrieved LinkedIn data, limiting results to 10.
// Loop over LinkedIn posts and extract title and text
output = [];
max_posts = 10;
let counter = 0;
for (const item of $input.all()[0].json.data) {
let post = {
title: item.article_title,
text: item.text
};
output.push(post);
if(counter++ >= max_posts) break;
}
return {"linkedIn posts": output};
Step 10: Generate Personalized Email Using OpenAI Chat Model Node
Feed the extracted posts along with your company variables and the lead’s name into the OpenAI Chat Model node, powered by GPT-4.
The prompt asks the AI to find common activities and generate a tailored subject and HTML cover letter for outreach.
You should see a JSON response with “subject” and “cover_letter”.
Step 11: Parse the AI’s JSON Output with Structured Output Parser Node
This node ensures that the subject and cover letter extracted from the AI’s response are correctly formatted for further use.
Step 12: Send Customized Email with Email Send Node
Use the Email Send node configured with your SMTP credentials to send the generated email to the lead’s email address and CC yourself.
Set email subject and HTML body dynamically from the AI’s output.
Step 13: Update Google Sheet to Mark the Lead as Done
Finally, use the Google Sheets node to update the lead’s row by marking the “done” column with an “X” to prevent future reprocessing.
Customizations ✏️
1. Modify AI Prompt for Tone or Sales Approach
In the “Generate Subject and cover letter based on match” node, edit the prompt text to reflect your brand voice or specific sales frameworks like AIDA or PAS, enhancing email impact.
2. Increase or Decrease Post Limits
Adjust the max_posts variable in the JavaScript Code nodes to control how many social media posts you analyze per lead, balancing depth and API usage.
3. Add More Social Platforms
Extend the workflow by integrating APIs for other social media like Instagram or Facebook if relevant to your leads, by adding similar HTTP Request nodes and parsing logic.
4. Customize Email Templates
In the Email Send node, edit the HTML template to include personalized greetings, company branding, or conditional content blocks for different lead segments.
5. Integrate Lead Scoring
Add a node to score leads based on social activity or engagement metrics, influencing follow-up priority or email content dynamically.
Troubleshooting 🔧
Problem: “Authentication failed” on HTTP Request nodes accessing RapidAPI.
Cause: Incorrect or expired API keys or headers.
Solution: Double-check your RapidAPI key in credentials, ensure you’re using Header Auth with “x-rapidapi-key” set correctly, and update the key if expired.
Problem: “No tweets found” or empty LinkedIn post data.
Cause: Private or inactive social profiles, or API limits reached.
Solution: Verify the public accessibility of lead profiles and your API usage quota in RapidAPI dashboard. Refresh keys or upgrade your plan if needed.
Problem: Email not sending despite no errors.
Cause: SMTP misconfiguration or blocked ports.
Solution: Test SMTP credentials with a simple email test, check firewall rules and ports, or switch to another email service provider.
Pre-Production Checklist ✅
- Ensure Google Sheets columns are correctly named and data entered as expected.
- Confirm RapidAPI Twitter and LinkedIn API credentials and quota availability.
- Test the OpenAI API key and verify connectivity to GPT-4 model.
- Send test emails manually through SMTP to verify email node setup.
- Run workflow on a single test lead and verify steps complete successfully without errors.
Deployment Guide
Activate the workflow in your n8n environment by setting the Google Sheets trigger live. Monitor execution via n8n’s UI for any failures. Use logs to debug errors, and ensure your API quotas are sufficient for your lead volume.
Optionally set up alerts for failed email sends or API errors to promptly handle interruptions.
FAQs
Q: Can I use another API instead of RapidAPI for social data?
A: Yes, but you’ll need to create equivalent HTTP Request nodes and update authentication accordingly.
Q: Does this workflow consume a lot of OpenAI tokens?
A: Usage depends on lead volume and prompt length. Keep content brief for token efficiency.
Q: Is data handled securely?
A: All API calls and email transmissions use secure HTTPS and SMTP protocols. Store credentials safely in n8n.
Q: How many leads can I process?
A: Dependent on your API quotas at RapidAPI and OpenAI, as well as email service limits.
Conclusion
By implementing this workflow, Justin successfully freed hours weekly from his lead research and personalized emailing tasks. With automated social media analysis and AI-assisted content creation, his outreach became faster, targeted, and more effective.
After completing this, you might explore adding CRM integration for pipeline management, expanding to other social media platforms, or developing automated follow-up sequences to boost engagement further.
Now, you have the power to transform your lead outreach with n8n’s versatile automation and AI capabilities!