--- title: Salesforce ABM Automation Workflow type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2026-02-19-papertube-asymmetric-marketing-call-123695176.md tags: - salesforce - abm - automation - email-campaign - crm - deliverability layer: 2 client_source: null industry_context: null transferable: true --- # Salesforce ABM Automation Workflow ## Overview The ABM (Account-Based Marketing) automation workflow in Salesforce enables personalized, scheduled outbound email campaigns at scale without requiring manual sends each day. Emails are queued per account, dispatched by a daily cron job, and tracked in Salesforce activity logs so the sender can review engagement and respond to inbound interest in context. This workflow was built and validated during the [[clients/papertube/index|PaperTube]] engagement. See [[clients/papertube/meetings/2026-02-19-abm-launch-ad-strategy|ABM Launch & Ad Strategy Call]] for the full decision context. --- ## How It Works ### 1. Account Identification & Tiering Accounts are researched and scored using external tools, then imported into Salesforce with a custom **ABM Tier** field (Tier 1, 2, 3). Tier 1 represents the highest-priority targets and receives the most personalized outreach first. - Tier 1: ~50 accounts — fully personalized, one-to-one emails - Tier 2 / Tier 3: remaining targets — held until Tier 1 results are evaluated Each account should have **Type = Prospect** set. Accounts with **Type = Customer** must be excluded from all ABM sends (see [[#Exclusion Logic]] below). ### 2. Email Queue & Scheduling Personalized emails are generated from per-account strategy documents using a parser that extracts email content and creates individual email records in Salesforce. Each record is assigned a **scheduled send date**. - Emails with past-due scheduled dates are sent in bulk on launch day - Going forward, only emails scheduled for the current day are sent ### 3. Daily Cron Job A server-side cron job runs every day at **8:00 AM** and executes the following logic: ``` For each ABM email record where: - Scheduled Date = today - Account Type ≠ Customer Send email via Account Engagement (papertube.pro domain) ``` This runs fully automatically — no manual intervention required. The sender does not need to log in each morning unless they want to review or manually approve sends. ### 4. Manual Send Option If the account owner prefers visibility before sending, they can opt for a manual workflow: 1. Open Salesforce each morning 2. Navigate to **ABM Emails → Today's Actions** list view 3. Open each queued email, review content, and click **Send** This takes approximately 10 minutes per day for a typical Tier 1 batch. --- ## Salesforce Navigation | Task | Path | |---|---| | View all ABM emails | App Launcher (9 dots) → search "ABM" → **ABM Emails** | | View today's sends | ABM Emails → **Today's Actions** list view | | View this week's sends | ABM Emails → **This Week** list view | | View accounts by tier | Accounts → **ABM Tier** list view | | Review sent email activity | Open Account record → Activity section | --- ## Sender Identity & Domain Emails are sent from the client's name (first name only, no title) using a **dedicated sending domain** (e.g., `papertube.pro`) rather than the client's primary domain. **Why a separate domain?** - Protects the primary inbox from deliverability damage caused by bounces, unsubscribes, and spam flags - The sending domain redirects to the main site, so any recipient who types it into a browser lands correctly **Why no title in the signature?** - Including "CEO" or "Founder" signals a small company and reduces perceived authenticity - The goal is for the email to feel like a genuine personal outreach, not a corporate blast - When the recipient responds and connects with the actual sender, the identity is consistent --- ## Exclusion Logic Before any send, the workflow must filter out accounts that should not receive ABM emails: - **Type = Customer** → exclude from all tiers and sends - Update the ABM send logic in Salesforce to enforce this automatically - Manually audit the Tier 1 list before launch to catch any existing clients that may have been imported without a Type value set > **Example:** During the PaperTube launch, "URSA Major" was identified as a current client on the Tier 1 list. It was removed manually and the exclusion rule was added to prevent recurrence. Accounts imported from a pre-existing CRM may have blank Type fields. These should be reviewed and set to **Prospect** if they are legitimate targets. --- ## Deliverability Hygiene Before activating the cron job for any new list, run all email addresses through a **deliverability hygiene API** to: - Detect and remove spam traps - Flag addresses for contacts who have left their company - Block invalid or malformed addresses Only clean addresses should be queued for send. --- ## Engagement Tracking Once an email is sent, Salesforce logs it in the account's **Activity** section. The sender can see: - Which email template was sent - Whether the recipient opened it - Whether the recipient clicked any links This creates a full picture of prospect engagement. When an inbound call or reply comes in, the sender can immediately see the email history for that contact and respond in context. --- ## Calendly / Scheduling Link Variable ABM email templates include a variable that injects the sender's Calendly (or equivalent) scheduling link as the primary CTA. Before launch: - Verify the variable name matches the field populated in Salesforce - Confirm the field contains the correct URL for the sender - Test at least one email end-to-end to ensure the link renders correctly A broken or empty variable will result in recipients seeing a blank CTA, which significantly reduces conversion. --- ## Related - [[clients/papertube/index|PaperTube Client Index]] - [[clients/papertube/meetings/2026-02-19-abm-launch-ad-strategy|ABM Launch & Ad Strategy Call]] - [[knowledge/salesforce/account-tiering|ABM Account Tiering]] - [[knowledge/email/inbox-protection-sending-domains|Inbox Protection via Dedicated Sending Domains]] - [[knowledge/ads/linkedin-lookalike-audiences|LinkedIn Lookalike Audiences from ABM Lists]]