# Signal-based outbound – how to use Intent Signals from your ABM Target Accounts for effective outreach

> Everyone’s talking about signal-based outbound (aka intent-based outbound) – and for good reason. After running ABM programs on LinkedIn for years, I can tell you that guessing who to contact is over.

Author: Emilia Korczynska
Published: 2025-12-07
Updated: 2025-12-07
Categories: Intent & Stages
Source: https://zenabm.com/blog/signal-based-outbound

---

![Signal-based outbound - how to use intent signals for more effective outreach cover](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Signal-based-outbound-how-to-use-intent-signals-for-more-effective-outreach.png)

Everyone’s talking about **signal-based outbound** (aka intent-based outbound) – and for good reason. After running ABM programs on LinkedIn for years, I can tell you that guessing who to contact is over. With signal-based outbound, just using 1-st party intent signals you can find in your CRM + a couple of cheap tools (Like RB2B, Vector for website visitor deanonymization or [ZenABM for Linkedin ad engagement deanonymization) ](/blog/what-is-zenabm)you can finally use the signals already sitting in your CRM and LinkedIn Ads to drive **timely, automated, highly relevant outreach** that actually turns into pipeline – by making the outreach so relevant, the prospects are asking for a call themselves.

![LinkedIn post by Mahinour Sabra on intent-led outbound, with prospects asking for a call after warm outreach](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Mahinour-Sabra-intent-led-outbound-prospects-asking-for-a-call-.png)

In this guide – I will walk you through setting up your first Signal based outbound play from scratch.

## Summary – all you need to know about signal-based outbound in a nutshell

If you only have a few minutes, here’s what signal-based outbound is and how to use it:

- **Signal-based outbound** means you only reach out to [accounts](/faq/identify-high-intent-accounts-linkedin-ads) that are already showing **buying intent** – based on their behaviour in your CRM, product and ads – instead of hammering random cold lists.
- Your **CRM is your best source of signals**: high-intent page visits, form fills, lifecycle stages, deal history, email engagement, and product usage – plus company-level [LinkedIn ad](/blog/linkedin-document-ads-guide-with-examples) engagement pulled in via **ZenABM.**
- With ZenABM, you can build **“signal buckets” or account stages** (e.g. “Aware”, “Interested”, “Selecting”) that combine ***any* CRM property, deal stage, lifecycle stage and LinkedIn ad engagement** – and keep those labels updated automatically.
- Those signal-based segments can then be **pushed to Clay, Smartlead, Heyreach, or any other tool** via webhooks – so your outbound is always targeting accounts that are *actually* in-market.
- The result: **fewer emails, more replies, more pipeline**. At Userpilot, we literally replaced a traditional BDR motion with signal-based outbound automation using ZenABM + HubSpot + Clay + Smartlead + Heyreach.

If you want to see this in action on your own data, you can [book a demo](/book-a-demo) or just [start a 37-day free trial](https://app.zenabm.com/signup) of ZenABM and play with signal-based outbound yourself.

## What is signal-based outbound (and why manual outbound is dying)

![Clay workflow pulling ZenABM interested-stage companies, finding people and pushing them to outreach tools](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/STEP-1-New-Clay-ZenABM-autoprospecting-template.png)

**Signal-based outbound** is a sales and marketing motion where *buyer behaviour* – not your hunch – decides who gets sequenced, when, and with what message.

Instead of starting with a cold list (“all SaaS companies 50–500 employees in North America”), you let **intent signals** drive your targeting:

- Which accounts visited key pages (pricing, integrations, security)?
- Who clicked your LinkedIn ads multiple times in the last 30 days?
- Who is already in an MQL or “Evaluating” lifecycle stage in the CRM?
- Who downloaded your whitepaper or attended a webinar?

![ZenABM analytics dashboards](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Dashboard-scaled.png)

Signal-based outbound flips the usual outbound approach on its head:

- **Traditional outbound:** guess a segment → blast it with generic messaging → hope someone is magically in-market.
- **Signal-based outbound:** wait for buying signals → route those accounts into intent-based sequences → reference the exact behaviour they showed.

This is why intent/signal-based outbound came out as one of the **top GTM bets for 2026** in the study by Maja Voje & Kyle Poyar – it’s cheaper, more scalable and frankly, more humane than “spray & pray” SDR teams burning through lists.

![Intent based outbound Kyle Poyar](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Intent-based-outbound.png)

## Where your best intent signals actually live: your CRM

Everyone loves to talk about “intent [data](/blog/account-penetration-strategy-guide) providers”, but the truth is: **your CRM is already the best source of signals.**  You’re just not using it that way yet.

Some of the strongest first-party signals are hiding in plain sight:

- **High-intent website behaviour:** pricing page visits, integrations & security pages, comparison pages, docs.
- **Content engagement:** ebooks, whitepapers, webinars, product tear-downs.
- **Lifecycle & deal stages:** Marketing Qualified Lead, open opportunity in “Evaluating” or “Proposal Sent”, closed-lost with a fresh evaluation.
- **Sales interactions:** meetings booked or no-showed, demo requested but never scheduled, trial expired with no follow-up.
- **Product usage (if you’re PLG):** new workspaces created, key feature activation, expansion usage patterns.
- **Ad engagement:** impressions, clicks and engagements from your [LinkedIn ABM campaigns](/blog/revenue-attribution-from-linkedin-abm) – once you suck them into the CRM via ZenABM.

![HubSpot workflow branching on ABM Stage to update company stages and record dates for signal-based outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ABM-stages-workflow-1-scaled.png)

The problem so far? **Acting on these signals has been painful.** You had to:

- build complex workflows in HubSpot or Salesforce,
- ship all of that into giant Clay tables,
- and ask your GTM engineer/ops person to duct-tape everything into Smartlead or Outreach.

That’s exactly the headache we set out to remove with [ZenABM’s **signal-led outbound** features](/blog/rollworks-vs-zenabm).

## How ZenABM turns CRM + LinkedIn data into signal buckets

In Zen[ABM](/blog/madison-logic-vs-influ2), your intent signals get turned into **live, auto-updating “buckets” of accounts** using a feature we originally called *ABM Stages* and have now extended into full-blown **signal-led outbound**.

In practice, it works like this:

- You connect your CRM (e.g. HubSpot or Salesforce) and LinkedIn Ads.
- [ZenABM pulls in company-level LinkedIn ad engagement](/blog/linkedin-ad-engagement-analytics-zenabm) (impressions, clicks, spends, campaign themes) and maps it to your target accounts.
- In the **ABM Stages** tab, you define *any combination* of [CRM properties + LinkedIn engagement](/blog/linkedin-ads-crm-automation) that should qualify an account for a stage or “signal bucket”.

For example, you can create a bucket like:

*“All companies that visited high-intent pages 3+ times, had 3+ [LinkedIn ad](/blog/how-do-linkedin-ads-work) clicks in the last 30 days OR are in the Marketing Qualified Lead lifecycle stage OR downloaded a white paper AND have ever had > 100 ad impressions.”*

![ZenABM intent signals table ranking target accounts by buying intent for signal-based outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-intents-demo-scaled.png)

ZenABM then:

- **Labels each account** with its current stage (e.g. “Aware”, “Interested”, “Selecting”) and with the **intent themes** it’s shown interest in (e.g. “Analytics”, “Adoption”, “AI”).

- **Updates those labels automatically** as new CRM and ad data flows in.
- **Pushes those labels and scores back into your CRM** as company properties – so everyone can see them and build workflows around them.

This is what turns your CRM from a static **black box** into an **open book of signals**[ that your sales and marketing](/blog/best-abm-tools-linkedin-advertising) teams can actually use.

## From signals to sequences: a simple signal-based outbound workflow

Once you have clean signal buckets, you can plug them into a very lean, very powerful outbound stack. Here’s the exact pattern we’ve been using:

![ZenABM account level intent signals](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Intent-Speargrowth.png)

### Step 1: Decide what “good signals” look like for your ICP

Start by defining the **moments that matter** for your ICP. For example:

- 3+ visits to pricing or plans page in 7 days.
- Clicks on your “AI for ABM” or “Churn prevention” [ad](/faq/see-companies-that-saw-your-linkedin-ads) groups.
- Lifecycle [stage = MQL + engagement score](/blog/abm-engagement-penetration-strategy) > X.
- Trial sign-up + activated at least 1 key feature.

You don’t need 50 conditions for evey outreach touchpoints – 3–5 strong, well-defined signals per stage are enough. You don’t want your signal-based outreach emails to look like this after all 😉

![Hands holding a tall, narrow screen packed with dense text, showing an overload of intent signal data](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Intent-led-outbound-overdose.png)

### Step 2: Build your stages and signal buckets in ZenABM

Next, go into the [ABM Stages tab in ZenABM](/pricing) and create stages like:

- **Aware:** saw ads or visited blog, but hasn’t touched high-intent content yet.
- **Interested:** 3+ ad clicks OR 2+ pricing/integrations visits OR downloaded a buying-guide asset.
- **Selecting:** high-intent behaviour *and* lifecycle stage MQL/SQL or open opp.

Under the hood, those stages are just **signal-based filters** across your CRM and ad data. Once you save them, [ZenABM automatically calculates](/free-tools/abm-budget-calculator) the right stage for every targeted company and keeps it up to date.

![ZenABM ABM Stages screen showing how accounts progress through intent-based buying stages](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-intent-stages.png)

### Step 3: Push “Interested” and “Selecting” accounts into Clay for auto-prospecting

Now comes the fun part. From ZenABM, you set up a **webhook** that sends all accounts in a given stage (e.g. “Interested” + “Analytics” intent) into a Clay table – exactly like in the [warm outbound playbook](/blog/zenabm-warm-outbound).

In Clay, you:

- Use “Find People” blocks to fetch the right personas (e.g. VP Product, Head of Growth, Demand Gen Lead) at those companies.
- Enrich them with emails, LinkedIn URLs and any firmographic filters you care about.
- Add de-duplication logic so the same person doesn’t get multiple sequences from different signals.

### **How to push accounts at “interested stage” in your ABM campaigns into intent-based campaigns – from ZenABM to Clay and email outreach/ LinkedIn outreach tools?**  

Below, I will show you how to push the hot, engaged [accounts from your ABM campaigns](/blog/abm-strategy-types) into Clay, and automate prospecting for specific personas there.

ZenABM de-anonymizes your LinkedIn ad engagements (= tells which company engaged with which campaign) and then pushes this data automatically into your CRM – both the raw engagement date (impressions, engagements, clicks) and computed “account scores” (=ABM stages based on combinations of LinkedIn ad engagements, lifecycle stages and custom properties = any of the intent signals you have in your CRM that we’ve discussed before) 

![ZenABM abm stages](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Linkedin-metrics-or-lifecycle-stages.png)

…as well as intent (from the qualitative ad [engagements = which campaigns the accounts](/abm-campaign-analytics-dashboards) engaged with):

![Buyer Intent analysis in ZenABM](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-intents-filter-dropdown.png)

[ZenABM ingests your LinkedIn ad](/faq/see-companies-clicked-on-linkedin-ads) interactions at the company level, computes a real-time score for every account, and tags each account with the campaign or content they engaged:

![HubSpot CRM account view with highlighted LinkedIn Ad Engagement Score and Analytics Intent fields for ABM campaign metrics](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-Hubspot-CRM-LinkedIn-campaign-metrics-2.png)

Then all these intent signals flow directly into your CRM – [ZenABM syncs account](/use-cases/account-scoring) them into your CRM as custom fields automatically (and creates these fields as well).

You can then build workflows so that any company hitting a certain intent threshold triggers an alert or outreach task – or you can push the data to Clay for autoprospecting (automatically finding the right personas in these accounts for outreach), and then [automated lead routing](/blog/clay-for-abm-experts-share-it-all) or follow-up sequences.

![Clay workflow receiving ZenABM intent companies via webhook, then finding ICP-fit people for outreach](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Get-companies-with-intent-from-ZenABM-into-Clay.png)

In short, [ZenABM bridges marketing signals and sales](/blog/6sense-vs-zenabm) action with very little rev-ops required.

In [ZenABM’s dashboard we see company-level LinkedIn](/linkedin-ad-campaign-insights) engagement visualized: each target account is listed with the campaigns it clicked and an inferred intent or ABM stage. You can also use its AI chatbot, Zena, to pull a specific list of [accounts that engaged with any campaign](/blog/linkedin-ad-engagement-account-level), in any timeframe:

![Zena AI chat in ZenABM listing top 10 engaged companies by ad spend with their ABM stage](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Top-engaged-companies-zena-ai-zenabm-1.png)

With ZenABM, those [LinkedIn ad](/blog/linkedin-ad-crm-integration-why-and-how-to-build-it) engagements and web visits automatically turn into CRM triggers, so your sales reps only spend time on accounts already primed to buy. As soon as a [company shows buying signals](/blog/demandbase-one-for-abm), you can either automatically prospect into those accounts with Clay and send them into automated outreach sequences e.g. in Smartlead/Heyreach, or notify your sales team in your CRM (Hubspot).

I will explain how to set the automatic prospecting up in more detail in the next few paragraph.

## How to push intent signals from ZenABM into  Clay for auto enrichment?

OK but now you still need to know how to use the intent signals from account level, that you have in ZenABM – to find prospects for outreach in Clay, and add them to the right respective intent-based outreach sequences.

Below, I will show you how to do that + set up filters, connect your Smartlead (email outreach) account, and configure automatic updates to keep your campaigns running smoothly.

**0. [Copy the Clay Template from here [LINK – FREE CLAY TEMPLATE]. ](https://app.clay.com/shared-workbook/share_0t5geg6X8njFpgKZSgD)

![Clay workflow template for intent-led outbound: find companies, find people, then add leads to a campaign](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Clay-template-intent-led-outbound-autoprospecting.png)

1. Go to [ZenABM and under ABM](/pricing) Stages, click on “Edit” next to Interested. Define it as you prefer.

![ZenABM ABM Stages settings listing each stage and its conditions for signal-based outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-abm-stages-configuration.png)

In this example, it’s companies with three or more clicks. Select what you prefer and then, click on “Update Stage”

**2.** Click on “Update Stage”

![Stage conditions filter setting a clicks metric rule to qualify LinkedIn Ads engagement signals for outreach](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-stage-conditions-filter-setup-2.png)

This playbook works only with Clay’s Explorer plan or higher or on the free trial because Webhooks and Email sequence integrations are only available with those plans.

**3.** You will need Clay’s Explorer plan at least to run this playbook

![Clay pricing plans comparison table with arrows pointing to tier prices and feature rows like integrations](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-pricing-plans-comparison-table.png)

After you copy the Clay template, you will see the full workbook with 2 tables and an Overview.

Go to the first step and click on it.

**4.** Click on “Pull in data from a Webhook”

![Clay workflow pulling companies in the Interested stage from ZenABM via webhook to find their people](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-webhook-data-pull-flow.png)

**5.** Double-click here

![ZenABM workflow with a webhook node pulling data into a custom table for signal-based outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-webhook-data-pull-setup.png)

It will take you to step one, where you need to complete the first step. The first step is to copy the webhook URL you see. Copy it, then go to ZenABM. Click on “Webhooks,” and select “Create a new webhook.”

**6.** Click on “Copy”

![Clay webhook setup panel with the URL Copy button clicked, used to send intent signals into Clay](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-webhook-url-copy-button.png)

**7.** Go to ZenABM, Click on “Webhooks”

![ZenABM app sidebar with Webhooks selected under Data to push intent signals into outbound tools](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-webhooks-data-insights-menu.png)

**8.** Click on “Create new Webhook”

![ZenABM webhooks table with the Create new webhook button for sending signals to tools like Clay](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-create-new-webhook-interface.png)

In this webhook, you will select companies and then name the webhook.

**9.** Click on “Companies”

![ZenABM webhook step selecting Companies engagement data as the data type to send to Clay or Apollo](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-webhook-data-type-selection.png)

**10.**Name the Webhook here:

![ZenABM webhook setup form with a Name field and a URL field for receiving intent signal payloads](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-webhook-name-url-configuration.png)

Paste the webhook you just copied from Clay in the “URL”. Click Next.

**11.** Paste the webhook you just copied from Clay here

![Clay webhook form with empty URL field, where the payload URL for sending intent signals is entered](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-webhook-url-input-form.png)

After you paste the webhook, click Next.

**12.**

Click on “Next”

![ZenABM webhook setup screen with the HTTPS URL field and a cursor clicking the green Next button to continue](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-next-button-workflow.png)

These are the filters. If you want companies from specific campaign groups, campaigns, or ABM campaigns, you can select them. I want everything, so I will ignore this. Click on “Add Filter.” Select “ABM stage” and choose “any of interested.” Ignore the other options.

**13.** Click on “Add filter group”

![ZenABM webhook setup with the Add filter group button under Company Property Filters for account data](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-add-filter-group-button.png)

**14.** Click on “LinkedIn Metric”

![ZenABM webhook filters choosing a LinkedIn metric to send only matching company data to outreach tools](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-metric-property-filters-zenabm.png)

**15.**

Click on “ABM Stage”

![ZenABM webhook setup showing Company Property Filters with a LinkedIn Metric dropdown set to Company Intent](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-company-property-filters-setup.png)

**16.** Click on “Has any of”

![ZenABM webhook company property filter set to ABM Stage 'Has any of' with operator dropdown open](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-company-property-filters-dropdown.png)

**17.** Click on “Select ABM stages”

![ZenABM webhook settings filtering company data by ABM Stage with a 'Has any of' condition](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-company-property-filters.png)

**18.** Click on “Interested”

![ZenABM ABM Stage filter with Interested selected to narrow accounts by buying stage](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-linkedin-interested-filter.png)

Then click Next.

**19.** Click on “Next”

![Clay filter step with the Next button highlighted, used to set up intent signal filters before outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-clay-filter-next-button.png)

From here, I want it to recur for every 7 days, since I plan to run this weekly. So I am going to change the Date Range to “Last 7 Days”.

**20.** Click on Date Range

![ZenABM webhook Data Delivery settings with date range set to Last 90 days before sending data to Clay](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/webhook-data-delivery-date-range.png)

**21.** Select “Last 7 Days”

![Clay data delivery settings with the date range dropdown set to Last 7 days for webhook payloads](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-data-delivery-date-range-selection.png)

Each week, once this occurs, the companies are automatically included.

**22.** Click here:

![Clay Data Delivery settings with Individual mode selected, sending one webhook record per request](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-data-delivery-webhook-setup.png)

**23.** Click on “Individual” under Delivery Mode

![Webhook delivery mode settings with Individual selected as best for Clay, sending one record per request](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/webhook-delivery-mode-individual-selection.png)

Individual, because that’s what’s best for Clay. I will select all of the “Data Fields”, then create the webhook.

**24.** Click on “Create Webhook”

![ZenABM webhook setup choosing LinkedIn data fields for the outgoing payload, with JSON preview](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-data-fields-webhook-configuration.png)

Once I do this, I will go back to Clay for Step 2.

All of these company URLs will be pulled in automatically. I will click on Overview, then Find People, and then Edit Inputs.

**25.** In “Overview”, Click on “Find People”

![Clay workflow with a Find people source step feeding a Person table for finding ICP-fit contacts](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-clay-find-people-source.png)

**26.** Click on “Edit inputs”

![ZenABM job title filter showing include and exclude keywords, exact match field and manual run option](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-job-title-filter-settings.png)

Here, select the filters for your ICP. Including Job Titles, Locations etc.

**27.** Edit the filters for your ICP here

![ZenABM Find People search criteria panel with Job title filter and other filters for targeting contacts](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-search-criteria-filters-setup.png)

List all the job titles you want to include, as well as those you want to exclude. Add any other relevant details as needed.

Adjust the filters as needed, then click Continue.

**28.** Click on “Continue ✓”

![LinkedIn Recruiter search filters panel with Limit results set to 50,000 and the Continue button highlighted](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-recruiter-search-filter-continue.png)

Once you do that, click on…

**29.** Click on “Replace existing rows”

![ZenABM dialog asking whether to add new rows or replace existing rows before continuing a search](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-replace-existing-rows-dialog.png)

Click on “Replace Rows”, and you’re done.

**30.** Click on “Replace rows”

![Replace existing rows dialog warning that all rows are deleted before importing new LinkedIn lead data](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-replace-rows-dialog-confirmation.png)

Now It will prospect into your ICP from the Interested Stage companies automatically. Go to Step 2 now.

**31.** Click on “Step 2”

![Clay workflow step two, Finding ICP fit people, lists contacts after the companies step in outbound setup](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-step-two-finding-icp-fit-people.png)

This table, finds the work emails of the [prospects](/blog/abm-content-examples) and pushes them to the relevant Smartlead and HeyReach campaigns automatically. By default the “Work Email” column is turned off so you don’t spend Clay credits unexpectidly. If you want to automatically find the work emails for your ICP in those interested stage companies, you need to enable “Auto Update” for this column.

**32.** Click on “Work Email”

![Clay table showing the Work Email column selected to find ICP contacts before adding leads to a campaign](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-work-email-column-selector.png)

Click on “Edit Column.” Then, you…

**33.** Click on “Edit column”

![Clay table's Work Email column menu with Edit column selected in the ICP people-finding step](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/work-email-column-edit-menu.png)

**34.** Click here

![Clay column settings for Company Social Profile URL showing a 'Please select a valid value' error](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-company-social-profile-url-settings.png)

**35.** Click here

![Clay table run settings with auto-update toggle and 'Only run if' condition for refreshing company data](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-clay-auto-update-settings.png)

Turn on “Auto-update”.

If you want to change certain settings, you can do so in “Full Configration”. If not, let it be. Click on “Save”.

**36.** Click on “Save”

![Clay run settings with an Only run if filter to limit enrichment to qualifying accounts for signal outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-run-settings-configuration-panel.png)

Now to select the right Smartlead Campaign to add the prospect to, follow these steps.

**37.** Click on the column “Add Lead to Campaigns”

![Clay table with Add Lead to Campaign column selected beside LinkedIn Profile and Work Email columns](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/add-lead-to-campaign-column-selection.png)

Here you need to select which Smartlead campaign do you want to add the prospect automatically to.

**38.** Click on “Edit column”

![Clay table column menu showing Edit column, Insert column and Run column options next to a LinkedIn Ads lead campaign step](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/edit-column-menu-options.png)

If your Smartlead account is already connected, select your account. Then, choose the campaign you want.

**39.** Click on “Select [Smartlead.ai](https://smartlead.ai/) account”

![Smartlead UI for selecting an account and mapping columns when adding leads to an outbound campaign](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartlead-account-selection-mapping.png)

**40.** Click on “Campaign ID” to select the right campaign

![Clay column mapping that links Find people fields like work email and names to a campaign setup](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-column-mapping-campaign-setup.png)

If your smartlead account isn’t connected, click “Add Account” and name your connection.

**41.** Click on “+ Add account”

![Smartlead.ai account dropdown in a Clay workflow for choosing where warm outbound sequences are sent](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartlead-account-selection-dropdown.png)

To get your Smartlead API key, go to Smartlead and click on Settings.

**42.** Click here

![SmartProspect lead discovery screen with AI Search, a red arrow pointing to the top-right account icon](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartprospect-lead-discovery-interface.png)

**43.** Click on “Settings”

![SmartProspect settings menu showing credit usage and Settings option for managing outbound lead credits](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartprospect-settings-menu-dropdown.png)

Click on API key management, then copy the API key.

**44.** Click on “API Key Management”

![Smartlead settings sidebar with API Key Management highlighted, where outbound tools get connection keys](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/api-key-management-settings-panel.png)

Copy the API key from this location. Click on “Copy.”

**45.** Click here

![Smartlead Admin API Key page with masked key and reset option, used to connect outbound tools like Clay](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/admin-api-key-interface.png)

Go back to Clay and name your connection however you like.

In this example let’s name it “Smartlead connection”. Paste the key here. Click save, test, and save.

**46.** Click here

![Smartlead.ai API key setup dialog showing the connection name and masked API key field before saving](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartlead-api-key-connection-setup.png)

**47.** Paste the API key you copied from Smartlead here

![Smartlead.ai API key dialog to connect Smartlead for sending enriched leads into outbound sequences](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartlead-api-key-connection-dialog.png)

**48.** Click on “Test account & save”

![Smartlead connection dialog with API key field and Save menu open, highlighting the Test account & save option](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/smartlead-api-key-test-account-save.png)

Now your Smartlead account is connected to Clay.

Simply choose the campaign you want to run and the other fields will populate automatically.

**49.** Select the campaign you want to push the contacts to

![Campaign ID dropdown in an automation setup panel, with the ZenABM campaign selected from a list of options](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-campaign-id-dropdown-selection.png)

If you want to add custom fields, you can do so.

**50.** Click on “Custom Fields”

![Clay Find people step with location and company domain fields mapped for warm outbound lead enrichment](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/custom-fields-zenabm-clay-campaign.png)

If not, you can leave it as is. To set this to run automatically, click on auto-update. Then select save and run.

**51.** Click here

![ZenABM campaign run settings with Auto-update toggle and an Only run if filter on Work Email for intent-based lead updates](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-campaign-run-settings-panel.png)

**52.** Click here

![ZenABM campaign run settings with auto-update enabled and the Save button highlighted for lead filtering](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-campaign-run-settings-save.png)

**53.** Click on “Save and run rows in this view”

![Clay table settings with auto-update on and a 'Save and run 0 rows in this view' option for enrichment](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/linkedin-campaign-save-run-rows-view.png)

After this, you do the same for HeyReach. If it is connected, you can simply choose any campaign you want. If not, you [connect it via API](/blog/best-linkedin-ads-crm-connectors).

**54.** Click on “Add Lead to Campaign”

![Clay table with an Add Lead to Campaign button highlighted in a work email enrichment workflow](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/add-lead-to-campaign-button.png)

**55.** Click on “Edit column”

![Clay column dropdown menu with Edit column highlighted for adding LinkedIn Ads leads to campaigns](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/edit-column-dropdown-menu-options.png)

**56.** Click here

![Clay column mapping screen linking Find people name fields and Campaign ID for warm outbound workflows](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-clay-linkedin-column-mapping.png)

If Heyreach isn’t connected, click Add Account.

**57.** Click on “+ Add account”

![Clay workflow screen with HeyReach API selected as account and the Add account option in the dropdown](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/clay-add-heyreach-account-dropdown.png)

**58.** Click here

![Add HeyReach API Key dialog in Clay for linking HeyReach outreach to a signal-based prospect table](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-api-key-setup-dialog.png)

First, name your connection. Then, obtain the API key for HeyReach.

**59.** Click here

![HeyReach API key connection dialog with an empty required API key field for linking outbound tools](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-api-key-connection-dialog.png)

Go to HeyReach and click on Integrations. Select HeyReach API, then click Get API. Copy the API key. Go back to Clay, paste the key, then click Test Account and Save.

**60.** Go to HeyReach. Then “Integrations”

![HeyReach Integrations menu showing the Clay option for sending enriched leads into outbound campaigns](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-integrations-menu-api.png)

**61.** Click on “Get API key”

![HeyReach integrations settings with Connect buttons for Clay, Zapier and HeyReach API for outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/hayreach-integrations-settings-panel.png)

**62.** Click here

![Integration settings page showing the HeyReach API key field and the Get API Key button highlighted](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-api-key-integration-settings.png)

**63.** Go back to Clay. And paste the API Key here

![HeyReach API key connection dialog in a Clay table, used to link HeyReach to outbound lead workflows](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-api-key-connection-setup.png)

**64.** Click on “Test account & save”

![HeyReach integration Save menu with the Test account & save option for connecting LinkedIn outreach](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/heyreach-test-account-save.png)

It will save, and that’s it. You can now choose your Heyreach Sequence you want to add the prospects into and add custom fields if needed. It will work automatically.

If you enable auto-update, click Run.

**65.** Toggle on “Auto-update”

![Clay Run settings with Auto-update toggle highlighted and an Only run if condition on LinkedIn Profile](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-clay-auto-update-run-settings.png)

**66.** Click on “Save and run rows in this view”

![Clay dialog highlighting the 'Save and run 0 rows in this view' option for running enrichment on table rows](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/save-run-rows-workflow-dialog.png)

Okay. Everything is now set.

Go to ZenABM and click “Trigger Webhook.” That’s all you need to do.

**67.** Click on “Trigger webhook”

![Webhook list with Test and Trigger webhook buttons, cursor clicking Trigger to send a webhook](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/webhook-trigger-action-buttons.png)

Now, return to your [Clay account](/blog/clay-for-target-account-list-building-abm). You will start to [see companies appearing](/faq/see-companies-that-saw-your-linkedin-ads) gradually.

Okay, this is how it will look. It will fetch each individual webhook and automatically find people. It will find your ICP in those Interested accounts, find their emails, and add them to the appropriate campaigns.

That is all you need to do.

**68.** How it will look on Step 1

![Clay table of companies in the Interested stage imported from ZenABM, ready for people search and outbound](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-linkedin-stage-companies-list.png)

**69.** How it will look on Step 2

![Clay table step two, finding ICP-fit people at ZenABM interested-stage companies before outbound outreach](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-step-two-finding-icp-list.png)

**Ready to leverage intent-led outbound?** [Try ZenABM free for 37 days](https://app.zenabm.com/) or [book a demo](/book-a-demo) to see how ad engagement signals can power your outbound strategy.

## **🚨 Want this intent-led outbound workflow set up FOR YOU — for free?**

For a limited time, ZenABM will:

✅ [Set up this entire workflow inside ZenABM](/blog/linkedin-ads-crm-automation)
✅ Build your Clay table + auto-prospecting flow
✅ Implement Smartlead + Heyreach API pushes
✅ Configure anti-duplication logic
✅ Plus: Salescaptain will write your entire **email outreach sequence** for free
🎁 **Deadline: 14 December**

This offer is genuinely insane value — and it’s the fastest way to [launch](/blog/productive-case-study) a warm-outbound motion that actually generates pipeline.

👉 **Want this implemented for you?**
Click below and book your slot while the offer is still available:

[**📅 Book a demo**](/book-a-demo)

### Step 4: Orchestrate signal-based emails and DMs

Once your people list is ready, Clay pushes those contacts straight into your outreach tools (e.g. Smartlead for email, Heyreach for LinkedIn DMs).

The key is that your **copy references the exact signal** that landed them in the list. For example:

- “Saw you’ve been checking out our [LinkedIn Ads analytics](/blog/linkedin-ad-analytics-for-account-scoring) content – here’s how teams like yours use ZenABM to attribute revenue to campaigns.”
- “Noticed a spike in visits from your team to our pricing and security pages – happy to walk you through how we handle data residency and PHI.”

You can even use generative AI to create **personalized snippets** based on the signal fields in your Clay table (campaign name, last page viewed, intent theme, etc.).

![Clay table of companies received from ZenABM via webhook, each marked People Search Updated](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Companies-sent-from-ZenABM-into-Clay-via-Webhook-for-autoprospecting.png)

### Step 5: Write outcomes back to your CRM and keep the loop tight

Finally, make sure your outreach tools or Clay **write outcomes back to the CRM** (replied, meeting booked, disqualified, timing issues).

[ZenABM then pulls that data](/blog/linkedin-ad-data-enrichment-in-crm) back in, so you can:

- see which [signals actually correlate with pipeline and revenue](/blog/common-room-vs-terminus),
- tighten or relax your stage definitions,
- and stop paying attention to weak signals that never convert.

![HubSpot CRM account view with highlighted LinkedIn Ad Engagement Score and Analytics Intent fields for ABM campaign metrics](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-Hubspot-CRM-LinkedIn-campaign-metrics-2.png)

Over time, this turns your signal-based outbound into a **self-optimising engine**, not just a one-off campaign.

## Four signal-based outbound plays you can steal

To make this concrete, here are four signal-led plays you can run with ZenABM, your CRM and Clay.

### 1. “Hot accounts” pricing play

- **Signals:** 2+ pricing page visits in 7 days, 3+ LinkedIn ad clicks, MQL lifecycle stage.
- **Who:** ICP accounts in “Interested” or “Selecting” stages.
- **Message:** “Looks like you’re evaluating tools in this space – want a rough ROI model based on your current ad spend / MAUs?”
- **Channels:** Smartlead email + Heyreach connection request.

### 2. “Wake the dead” closed-lost reactivation

- **Signals:** Deal closed-lost 3–12 months ago + new spike in visits to features/pricing + recent ad engagement.
- **Who:** Past opportunities that may be back in market.
- **Message:** “We spoke last year when timing wasn’t right. I’ve seen your team back on our site & ads – should we revisit now that [trigger event] has changed?”
- **Channels:** Short email thread + InMail, focused on what’s changed since last time.

### 3. Intent-theme play (AI / analytics / adoption)

### 

- **Signals:** Accounts labeled with a specific **intent theme** in ZenABM (e.g. “AI features” or “Analytics”) based on which campaigns they engaged with.
- **Who:** Accounts in “Interested” stage with a clearly tagged theme.
- **Message:** “You’ve been checking out our content on [intent theme]. Here’s a 2-minute loom on how teams like <similar logo> use us for exactly that.”
- **Channels:** Email + LinkedIn; optionally add a tailored case study in the PS.

### 4. Open-opportunity acceleration

- **Signals:** Active opportunity in [pipeline](/blog/linkedin-abm-pipeline-reporting-tools) + new spike in ads/web engagement + key decision makers not yet engaged.
- **Who:** Buying committees for deals at Evaluating / Proposal / Negotiation stages.
- **Message:** “We’re already talking with <champion>, but I’d love to give you the 5-minute version of how this impacts revenue / churn / support load.”
- **Channels:** Multi-threaded LinkedIn outreach plus a short, value-heavy email.

All of these can run on autopilot once you’ve defined the signal logic in ZenABM and wired up the webhooks to Clay and your outreach tools.

## Common pitfalls with signal-based outbound (and how to avoid them)

Signal-based outbound *works* – but it’s easy to mess up if you overcomplicate things. A few pitfalls I see a lot:

- **Messy CRM data:** If lifecycle stages and deal statuses are unreliable, your signals will be too. Start by cleaning the basics.
- **Too many weak signals:** “Visited 1 blog post once” is not a reason to reach out. Focus on **high-intent actions** and combinations of signals.
- **Spamming every micro-signal:** Just because you *can* trigger outreach on everything doesn’t mean you should. Set thresholds and cool-down periods.
- **No feedback loop:** If outcomes never flow back into the CRM, you can’t learn which signals really predict revenue.
- **Trying to build everything in one place:** Jamming complex logic into HubSpot alone quickly becomes unmaintainable.

ZenABM helps you avoid this by:

- Centralising signals from **LinkedIn Ads + CRM** into one company-level view (the [“ABM](/blog/what-is-zenabm) stages” are built based on both linkedin ad signals, custom properties form your CRM, deal and lifecycle stages).

- Letting you **define clean ABM stages and signal buckets** with a simple UI (no need to build 20 different workflows).

- **Auto-updating** those stages as new data comes in – and pushing them back into the CRM.

- Sending clean, deduped lists of accounts to Clay or other tools on whatever cadence you choose.

## Ready to build your signal-based outbound engine?

Signal-based outbound is not a hack – it’s the natural next step for B2B teams that are tired of wasting money on cold outbound while their warmest accounts slip through the cracks.

With ZenABM’s **signal-led outbound** features, you can:

- turn your CRM into a live [signal map of your target accounts](/blog/rollworks-for-abm),
- combine **any CRM property, lifecycle stage, deal stage and LinkedIn ad engagement** into meaningful stages,
- and pipe those accounts straight into Clay, Smartlead, Heyreach or wherever your outbound happens – with **zero manual CSV work**.

![ZenABM companies by campaign](https://cdn.zenabm.com/assets/companies-by-campaign-.gif)

You’ll find the configuration for this in the **“ABM Stages”** tab inside ZenABM. Set it up once, and your CRM stops being a black box and becomes an always-on **signal engine**.

If you want help setting up your first signal-based outbound motion, [book a demo](/book-a-demo) and we’ll walk through your signals together. Or, if you prefer to tinker, just [grab the 37-day free trial](https://app.zenabm.com/signup) (plans start from $59/month) and start turning your intent signals into pipeline today.

## Images

- https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Prioritization-matrix-for-intent-based-outreach-.png
- https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Company-LinkedIn-ad-engagements-in-ZenABM-1-1-scaled.png
- https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/ZenABM-conditions-for-intent-led-outbound.png
- https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/Companies-in-interested-stage-from-ZenABM-in-Clay-1-1.png