Broadcasts

Broadcasts allow you to send time-sensitive content to some of your users, such as alerts about an event or update.

Broadcasts are different to notifications: notifications send a message to a specific chatbot user, for example to remind them of an appointment. Broadcasts send a message to many chatbot users at the same time.

You need an administrator or publisher role on your team to send or schedule broadcasts and to create or edit audience segments. See Broadcast permissions.

One-off, one-time, and recurring

There are three kinds of broadcasts:

• One-off broadcasts don't need your chatbot users to opt-in to a topic beforehand, but must adhere to strict rules regarding the purpose of the broadcast. 
  Chatbot users can be subscribed to these broadcasts via a script or action, but the final audience may be limited according to the broadcast's purpose, such as to chatbot users within the 24-hour messaging window.
• One-time broadcasts use a topic that chatbot users opt-in to before the broadcast is sent, rather than designating a broadcast purpose. 
  Chatbot users only receive the broadcast if they have opted-in to that topic, and their opt-in expires after they've received one broadcast. To receive another broadcast on this topic, chatbot users must opt-in again.
• Recurring broadcasts also use a topic that chatbot users opt-in to ahead of time and allow the chatbot user to receive additional broadcasts on a specific frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly). The opt-in expires after a set period, depending on the cadence.

All broadcasts can be:

• Sent to a filtered set of your users using audience segments.
• Send immediately or scheduled to send at a specific time according to your chatbot's default time zone.

Create a broadcast

To create a broadcast, either:

• Create a one-off broadcast
• Or, create a one-time or recurring broadcast topic
  • Create a broadcast opt-in message and publish your chatbot content. 
  • Create a broadcast for your one-time or recurring topic.

Once you have created your broadcast:

• Add a conversation flow to your broadcasts
• Filter your broadcast with audience segments.
• Preview a broadcast
• Schedule a broadcast
• Send your broadcast

You can also:

• Unschedule a broadcast
• Rename a broadcast 
• Duplicate a broadcast
• Delete a broadcast
• Delete a broadcast topic

Broadcast permissions