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Signals

Daniel Wiener avatar
Written by Daniel Wiener
Updated over a week ago

Autobound's Signal Engine helps your team automatically detect high-value business triggers—like job changes, funding rounds, and hiring surges—so you can add the right contacts into campaigns at exactly the right time.

Rather than relying on static lists or manual research, the Signal Engine continuously watches for meaningful events across millions of companies and prospects. When a match is found, contacts are pushed directly into your campaign—fully personalized, fully automated.


What is a Signal?

A signal is a rule you create that listens for a specific business event (like "company raised funding") and defines which contacts to add to a campaign when that event occurs.

You can filter by things like:

  • Role or seniority (e.g., “only add if title contains VP Sales”)

  • Industry, location, or company size

  • Keywords in a LinkedIn post or job description

  • Volume or frequency (e.g., “more than 3 job posts in 30 days”)


How to Create a Signal

To create a new signal:

  1. Open a Campaign
    Navigate to any campaign in AI Studio.

  2. Go to the Automation Tab
    Only users with Manager or Admin roles can access this.

  3. Click “Create Signal”
    This opens the Signal Builder.

  4. Define Your Signal
    Go through 4 simple steps:

    • Choose Source: Select whether to monitor Autobound’s 250M+ contact database or (coming soon) another campaign.

    • Trigger Logic: Select a primary business event, then layer in filters (job title, industry, etc.).

    • Set Daily Limits: Prevent overwhelming your campaign—e.g., max 50 contacts/day.

    • Activate: Your signal is now live and watching for matches.


Example Signals

  • Simple: “Add VP Sales at companies that raised funding in the last 7 days”

  • Advanced: “Add contacts if 3+ sales jobs were posted in the past 30 days AND the company has fewer than 200 employees”

  • Social: “Add someone who posted about 'sales automation' on LinkedIn in the past 30 days”


What Happens When a Signal Fires?

When a signal finds a match:

  • The contact is added to your campaign

  • The contact row is auto-tagged with a lightning bolt icon

  • Clicking it shows the name of the signal and the matched data

  • 1 credit is consumed per contact added

  • All core fields (name, email, title, LinkedIn) are auto-mapped

  • Any additional data can be added as columns like any other prospect


Where Does Signal Data Come From?

Signals are powered by data from:

  • Job boards & hiring feeds

  • LinkedIn posts

  • News & press

  • Custom CRM fields

  • SEC filings

Signals are evaluated in real time whenever new data is cached.


Monitoring & Managing Signals

  • View active signals per campaign

  • Edit, rename, or delete signals at any time

  • Deleted signals show as “Deprecated” but keep already-added contacts

  • Filter the campaign table to show signal-added contacts


Key Rules & Safeguards

  • Signals won’t add the same contact twice

  • If credits run out, the signal pauses until replenished

  • If no filters are applied, we warn you before continuing

  • Signals only run forward—no retroactive imports (yet)


Pro Tip: Combine with Auto-Sending

Pair signals with Auto-Pilot mode in your campaign to auto-send personalized emails the moment a new contact is added.


Coming Soon

  • Monitor your own campaigns as signal sources

  • More aggregation logic (e.g., “# of mentions across platforms”)

  • Advanced webhook-based actions

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