Ken sends your one-to-one emails from your own inbox and reads the replies there, so connecting it is the first thing to do. This guide shows how to connect Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, what Ken can read and send, what to do when your company's admin has to approve Kenso first, and how to connect LinkedIn.

Your inbox and your sending inboxes

Kenso uses two kinds of inbox, and they do different jobs.

  • Your own inbox, such as [email protected], sends your one-to-one touches to target accounts and handles the replies. It connects through an app called Kenso Workspace.
  • Sending inboxes sit on separate domains you keep for outreach. Campaign email goes out from them, spread across several inboxes, so your main domain keeps its reputation. They connect through an app called Kenso Mail, or you can buy them from Kenso.

Kenso decides by domain. A mailbox on a sending domain connects as a sending inbox. A mailbox on your workspace's own domain can't send campaigns, so Kenso offers to connect it as your inbox instead. To plan sending inboxes, read How many inboxes do I need and Set up sending domains and check their DNS.

Two cards. Your own inbox for one-to-one touches and replies. Campaign sending inboxes on separate domains for campaign email
Keep campaign volume off the domain your company runs on.

Connect your inbox

  1. Open Delivery. Click Delivery in the sidebar, or press G then D. Open the Inboxes tab.

  2. Click Add inboxes, then Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.

    The Add inboxes menu open in Delivery, with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 outlined
    Pick Google Workspace for Gmail, or Microsoft 365 for Outlook.

  3. Sign in as the mailbox you want to connect. Google's or Microsoft's sign-in opens in the same tab, with no address to type first. Pick that mailbox's account, or sign in to it, and allow the permissions. Kenso brings you back to Delivery when you're done.

  4. Check how it connected. A mailbox on a sending domain now shows under Inboxes as a sending inbox. A mailbox on your workspace's own domain can't send campaigns, so Kenso says it keeps your primary domain out of cold email, and offers Connect as your inbox. Click it and sign in with the same mailbox again to connect it as your own inbox.

For any other mail server, click Add inboxes, then SMTP and IMAP. Enter the email, the password and the SMTP and IMAP servers, then click Connect inbox.

If Kenso says your admin has to approve the app first, see "If your company has to approve Kenso" below.

Check the connection

Your inbox now shows in Delivery under Inboxes. To see what Ken does with it, open its page in Settings.

  1. Open Settings with G then , and click All integrations.
  2. Click Email and calendar, then Gmail or Outlook.
  3. Check the status line. It reads "Connected as" followed by your address.
From Settings to the Gmail page in four clicks.
The Email and calendar integrations, with the Gmail and Outlook cards outlined
Gmail and Outlook are under Email and calendar.

The page lists What Ken uses it for and the Permissions Kenso asked for. Below them are two switches for your inbox:

  • Add your signature is on by default. Ken adds the signature set on each inbox in Delivery, under Sender.
  • Track opens is off by default. It adds a tracking pixel to replies you send from the Inbox, which can hurt deliverability. It doesn't affect campaigns, which have their own Track opens switch, or the emails Ken sends for your accounts, which never carry a pixel.
The Gmail page with Connected as jordan@pathline.io outlined, then What Ken uses it for and Permissions
The status, what Ken uses the inbox for, and the permissions it asked for.

What Ken can read and send

  • It sends only what you approve. Ken sends approved emails from your address and nothing else.
  • It reads replies. Ken reads replies to the threads it started and sorts them in Inbox.
  • It learns from your mail only if you turn that on. Learn from my mail is off by default and is opening to workspaces in stages. When it is on, Ken keeps short facts, never the mail itself. See Teach Ken how you write.
  • It reads your calendar. Ken syncs events from 12 months back to 12 months ahead, so it can prepare you for meetings and offer open times in replies.
  • It sees only its own files on Google Drive. Ken sees the files it creates or that you pick. On OneDrive, Microsoft's permission covers your whole OneDrive, and Ken uses it only to create and share the docs it makes.

Your admin can revoke access at any time.

If your company has to approve Kenso

Some companies let only an admin approve new apps. Google then shows a warning, or blocks the sign-in. Microsoft says admin approval is required. An admin approves Kenso once for the whole company. It takes about 2 minutes.

  1. Send it to your admin. On the Gmail or Outlook page in Settings, find Send to your admin. Click Copy message or Email it. The message has the client ID and the steps. Read the admin guide opens the full guide for your admin.
  2. Your admin approves Kenso. On Google, they open the Admin console and go to Security, then Access and data control, then API controls. They click Manage App Access, then Configure new app, paste the client ID and pick the app. They choose Trusted, click Continue and then Finish. On Microsoft, they open the admin consent link from the message and accept. Kenso Workspace and Kenso Mail are two apps, so if you also connect sending inboxes, your admin approves each one.
  3. Connect again. Once your admin is done, everyone at your company can connect their own inbox.
Four steps. You try to connect, you send the request to your admin, your admin approves once, everyone connects
One admin approval covers everyone at the company.

Connect LinkedIn

Ken sends your LinkedIn invites and messages from your own account, after you approve them.

  1. In Delivery, open the LinkedIn accounts tab.
  2. Click Connect account. The dialog Connect a LinkedIn account? shows what the account costs per month and how many credits you have.
  3. Click Continue. LinkedIn's sign-in opens in a new tab.
  4. Sign in with the LinkedIn account Ken should send from. Delivery reloads when you're done.

A LinkedIn account costs 1,500 credits a month. Kenso takes the first month when the account connects, then it renews monthly.

The LinkedIn accounts tab in Delivery, outlined, with three accounts connected by cloud sign-in
Each LinkedIn account shows its status and today's invites and messages.

Tips

  • Connect the inbox you actually sell from. Prospects reply to the address they see. If your account executives send, each one connects their own inbox and LinkedIn.
  • Never run campaigns from your main domain. If your main domain gets a bad reputation, your invoices, support mail and sales threads land in spam too. A sending domain can be replaced.
  • Leave Track opens off. Ken judges results by replies, and the pixel can push your replies into spam.
  • Keep each inbox's volume low. Plan on about 30 campaign emails a day from each warmed inbox. Ken never sends more than 50 a day from one inbox. To send more, add inboxes instead of raising the limit.

If something goes wrong

  • "Connecting your own inbox isn't on for this workspace." Or the same message for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 inboxes. That kind of connect is not turned on for your workspace yet. Write to [email protected] to ask for it.
  • Google says the app is unverified, or blocks you. Your company has to trust Kenso first. Use Send to your admin.
  • "Microsoft 365 admin consent is required." Send your admin the message from Send to your admin. It has the admin consent link. When they are done, Kenso says "Microsoft 365 admin consent is done. You can connect the mailbox now."
  • You signed in with the wrong account. Click Add inboxes and connect again. On Google's or Microsoft's sign-in, pick the right account, or click Use another account.
  • You signed in with a different mailbox. Kenso asks "Connect" and the mailbox's address. Click It's mine, connect it only if the mailbox is yours. Otherwise click Cancel and connect again with the right account.
  • "Kenso keeps your primary domain" (your domain) "out of cold email to protect its reputation." The mailbox is on your workspace's own domain, so it can't be a sending inbox. Click Connect as your inbox on the message to connect it as your own inbox, and put sending inboxes on separate domains.
  • "Another member of this workspace already connected..." A teammate connected that mailbox as their own inbox. Ask them or a workspace admin to disconnect it first.
  • "...connect link expired or was started by someone else." Start again from Add inboxes.
  • A LinkedIn account shows Needs reconnect. Click Reconnect on its row and sign in again.
  • "You need" a number of credits "and have" fewer. Click Buy credits in the dialog, then connect the account.
  • "All LinkedIn seats are in use." Your plan has no free LinkedIn seat. Write to [email protected] to add seats.
  • "LinkedIn accounts aren't included on the Free plan." Upgrade to the Platform plan to connect one.
  • "Couldn't open the LinkedIn sign-in." Your browser blocked the new tab. Allow pop-ups for app.ken.so and try again.

Next: Launch your first campaign, How many inboxes do I need or How warm-up works.