AWS SES Email Automation with HubSpot Logging
Overview
A custom AWS SES-based email automation solution that sends ABM outreach emails and logs full activity — including the complete email body — back into HubSpot's activity feed via webhooks. This approach replaces manual email sending (previously capped at ~100/day via Outlook) and avoids the cost of paid bulk email tools like SendGrid.
First scoped and approved during the [1].
The Problem It Solves
AviaryAI's sales lead (Aaron) was manually sending Tier 1 ABM emails through Outlook, which:
- Capped volume at ~100 emails/day (previously 50)
- Required Aaron to compose and send each email individually
- Was insufficient to reach statistical significance for open rate and message testing
The client needed automation that preserved full visibility in HubSpot — specifically, Blessing (the CEO) reviews all outreach activity in HubSpot and requires the complete email body to be visible, not just send/open/click events.
Architecture
HubSpot Contact Queue
↓
AWS SES (sends email)
↓
Webhook → HubSpot Activity Feed
- Email sent (with full body)
- Email opened
- Email clicked
- Unsubscribe events
- Pull interval: Every 1 minute
- Volume capacity: Designed to scale to Tier 2/3 campaigns (1,000+ emails/week); AWS SES can theoretically handle millions/day
- Cost: No paid tool required — avoids HubSpot Marketing Pro and SendGrid fees
- Logging: Each sent email creates a HubSpot activity note containing the full email body, mirroring the existing Outlook/HubSpot Sales integration
Key Decision: AWS SES over SendGrid
| Factor | AWS SES | SendGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Near-zero per email | Paid tier required at volume |
| HubSpot integration | Custom webhook (full control) | Separate tool UI, bulk-oriented |
| Email body logging | ✅ Configurable via webhook | ❌ Not native to HubSpot feed |
| Personal email feel | ✅ Suitable for 1:1 ABM | ❌ Designed for bulk/marketing |
| Volume ceiling | Very high (millions/day) | Plan-dependent |
Decision rationale (from Aaron): "I don't care how it gets out there, as long as I don't have to look at every single one" — and as long as Blessing can see the full email body in HubSpot.
HubSpot Activity Feed Requirements
The critical requirement driving the custom build: the activity feed entry for each sent email must include the full email body, not just metadata. This mirrors what Aaron's Outlook + HubSpot Sales integration currently produces for manually sent emails.
Each webhook event should create a HubSpot note/activity with:
- Email subject
- Full email body content
- Timestamp
- Recipient contact record association
- Engagement events (open, click, unsubscribe) as follow-on activities
Scope & Tiers
| Tier | Description | Volume Target |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Personalized, research-backed ABM emails | Automated; no per-send review |
| Tier 2 | Semi-personalized (name/company merge) | Up to 1,000/week |
| Tier 3 | High-volume broadcast to categorized segments | 1,000+/week |
All tiers route through the same AWS SES pipeline. Tier 1 emails are pre-approved by Aaron at the template/strategy level — he reviews the playbook once, then the system runs automatically.
Related Work
- Database cleanup prerequisite: The 71k-contact HubSpot database must be cleaned and categorized before high-volume Tier 2/3 sends. See [2].
- Workflow automation: Separate HubSpot workflow triggers (contract reminders, closed-won infographics) are being scoped in parallel. See [3].
- Test budget: A $1k/month learning budget was approved to measure open rates, click rates, and message effectiveness at scale.
Implementation Notes
- Mark Hope (Asymmetric) is the builder
- Aaron to be notified via Slack when the first batch of emails goes out, so he can inform Blessing
- Apollo is available as an alternative/supplementary data source if needed
- The "Orbit" internal ABM tool (Asymmetric-built) was shown as a future option for campaign management, but HubSpot remains the primary interface for AviaryAI
Client Context
- Client: [4]
- Key stakeholder: Blessing (CEO) — reviews all outreach in HubSpot; requires full email body visibility
- Sales lead: Aaron Grossman — wants zero manual involvement in sending; reviews strategy/templates upfront only