Summary
Alta automatically detects 17 different signals across people and companies — funding rounds, hiring booms, role changes, LinkedIn engagement, conferences attended, and more. Signals show up as colored chips on every prospect, and clicking one opens a popover with the detail behind it. This article explains each signal type and how to use them.
Who this is for
SDRs, AEs, and growth folks who want to time outreach to a real trigger — not a calendar. Anyone looking at a prospect drawer and wondering "what's the chip telling me?"
Where signals appear
Signals show up wherever Alta renders a prospect: the prospect slide-over, the campaign list view, and the demo prospect preview. They're rendered as small chips with an icon — hover or click for the full popover.
Person signals
These attach to the individual contact.
Job Change ("Recently Hired")
The person recently joined a new company. The popover reads: "<First Last> recently joined <Company> as a <Title>." Great trigger for a "congrats on the new role" opener.
Role Change ("Recently Promoted")
Internal move at the same company. The popover reads: "<First Last> was recently promoted from <Previous Role> to <Title>." Use it to re-engage a champion in a bigger seat.
LinkedIn Engagement
The person liked, commented on, or otherwise engaged with a relevant LinkedIn post. The popover shows the post and any matched keywords — so you can reference what they cared about.
LinkedIn Post
The person authored a LinkedIn post that matched relevant keywords. Same popover style as LinkedIn Engagement — quote it back to them.
Social Signal
A broader social-media activity flag (mentions, reactions, shares outside LinkedIn). Use it for warm openers when LinkedIn isn't the channel.
New Certification
The person earned a new certification (e.g. a Salesforce or HubSpot cert). Useful for skill-specific hooks ("congrats on the cert — we work with a lot of folks coming out of that program…").
New Honor
An award or recognition the person received. Strong personalization fuel without being sycophantic.
Company signals
These attach to the account, not the individual.
Funding Announcement
The company raised a round. The popover surfaces the amount and stage. Classic high-intent trigger — new budget, new hires coming.
Product Launch
The company shipped a brand-new product. Hook into their go-to-market motion or offer enablement help.
Feature Launch
A meaningful new feature (not a whole new product). Different from Product Launch — narrower, but often a good "what would help you sell this?" opener.
Company Growth
Notable growth signals — headcount, revenue, market share. Indicates capacity and budget.
Conference Attendance
The company is sponsoring or attending a conference. Use it to time outreach to the event window, or to suggest grabbing coffee on-site.
Hiring
The company has open roles, especially in your buyer persona's department. Hiring in your function = your problem is growing for them.
Geo Expansion
The company is opening a new office or expanding to a new region. Strong signal for region-specific products and services.
Pricing Changed
The company updated its public pricing. Useful competitive intel and a real reason to reach out (especially if you sell against them).
Leadership Change
A C-level or VP-level role changed hands. New leaders = new priorities; ideal for "introducing yourself" emails.
Acquisition
The company acquired another company (or was acquired). Trigger for integration help, replatforming, or competitive displacement.
Competitors Funding
A direct competitor raised money. Useful "the pressure just went up" opener — pairs well with Hiring or Product Launch signals.
How signals interact with prompts
You can reference signals inside campaign prompts. The personalization data Katie has access to includes the signal type and detail, so you can write prompts like:
If the prospect has a Funding Announcement signal, open with congratulations and reference the round size. If the prospect has a Job Change signal, open with "congrats on the new role at {company}."
For AI Enrichment variables that depend on a signal (e.g. fetching the CTO after a Leadership Change), see How to Use AI Enrichment Variables in Alta.
Tips and common pitfalls
Person signals beat company signals for personalization. A Job Change feels personal; a Funding Announcement feels generic — combine both when you can.
Don't over-reference. Mentioning a signal in every line of an email feels stalker-y. Pick one and weave it in naturally.
Signals expire. A funding round from 18 months ago isn't a trigger. Alta surfaces recent signals — if a signal feels stale, skip it.
Stack signals in a Social Signals Campaign. Build a campaign whose audience is anyone with a fresh signal in the last 30 days — see How to Create a Social Signals Campaign.
Click the chip to see the source. Every popover shows the underlying event so you can verify before you reach out.
Person- and company-level chips are color-coded the same. Look at the icon and label to tell them apart at a glance.
Related
How to Create a Social Signals Campaign
How to Create a Personalized Message in Alta (Katie)
How to Use AI Enrichment Variables in Alta