Building a $12k+ Signal-Based Outbound Machine for a Creative Studio
The Goal:
A Canadian creative studio, Splash Creative, needed to generate high-intent sales conversations and build a predictable pipeline. They didn't want to rely on volume spam or ruin their brand reputation with generic outreach. They needed an engineered, end-to-end Go-To-Market (GTM) system.
The Problem:
In their previous efforts, they were testing standard cold email tactics, buying large lists and sending static templates to over 16000 prospects. The result? A decent open rate, but zero positive replies. Volume outbound was dead. I engineered a signal-based system for them.
The Solution:
Signal-Based Engine
We scrapped the volume approach and built a high-relevance outbound machine focusing on three core channels:
1. The Cold Email Engine (Clay + Instantly)
We moved away from static templates and built a "Deep Enrichment" workflow inside Clay.
The Data: Instead of just finding emails, we scraped the prospect's website for their specific visual aesthetic, found their teammates to name-drop, and checked their live hiring status.
The Copy: We used AI inside Clay to write a custom 3-step sequence for every single lead based only on those exact signals. Instantly was used purely for sending.
The Result: We ran a tiny, highly targeted list of 539 Canadian tech leads. We hit a 5.9% reply rate and a 6.3% positive reply rate, immediately generating 2 real opportunities.
The Post-Reply Automation:
Getting the reply is only half the battle; speed-to-lead is the other. We built a custom webhook integration using [n8n / Make.com] to handle the handoff.
Instant Slack Alerts:
The second a lead replied positively, the system triggered a notification in a dedicated Slack channel containing the prospect's details, company context, and their exact message.
CRM Sync:
The workflow automatically created a new Deal record in the CRM and populated the notes with the deep-enrichment data we pulled in Clay.
The Handoff:
This meant the founder never had to log into Instantly to check for replies. The system simply tapped them on the shoulder via Slack when a qualified buyer was ready to talk, fully prepped with context for the sales call.
If you are running a lean GTM team at a B2B SaaS or AI company, you don't need to send more spam, you need better signals. I build the infrastructure, write the AI logic, and route the replies directly to your Slack so you only spend time talking to qualified buyers.
Send me an inquiry here on Contra to chat about your current pipeline. I can look under the hood of your outbound setup and map out exactly what a signal-based engine looks like for your specific offer.
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Posted Feb 16, 2026
Built a signal-based outbound system for Splash Creative, generating high-intent sales conversations.