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Step 1: Broadcast Details and Filters

Step 1 of the broadcast wizard is where you name the broadcast, pick a channel, and build filters to select your audience.

Written by Tarek Khalil

Open the broadcast wizard

  1. From the main navigation, open the Broadcasts page.

  2. Click New Broadcast in the top right. On an empty workspace, the same action is available as Create Broadcast from the empty state.

  3. You’ll land on the New Broadcast screen. A progress bar across the top shows the four steps: Broadcast, Matches, Message, Finish — you’re on step 1.

Name your broadcast

Under Broadcast Details:

  1. In the Broadcast Name field, type a name you’ll recognize later — for example, “Holiday Sale Campaign”. The placeholder text offers the same example.

  2. Keep the name descriptive. It’s the label you’ll see on the broadcasts list and on the detail page, so treat it as a recognizable title rather than a description.

Choose the Intercom workspace and channel

  1. Open the Intercom Workspace dropdown and pick the workspace you want to broadcast from. The list contains every Intercom workspace you’ve connected to Octopods.

  2. Once a workspace is selected, the Broadcast Channel dropdown appears with the prompt “Select a channel…” Pick either the SMS or WhatsApp channel you want to use.

Note: If the workspace has no broadcast-capable channel, you’ll see an amber warning: “This workspace has no SMS or WhatsApp channels connected. Please connect a broadcast-capable channel first.” Add a channel to that workspace and come back.

Build your filters

The Broadcast Filters section is where you describe who receives the broadcast. The page tells you: “Build your filters to match specific Intercom contacts. You can use Tags or Segments too.”

A filter is one rule with three parts:

  1. An attribute (what property of the contact you’re checking)

  2. An operator (how to compare)

  3. A value (what you’re comparing against)

Available filter attributes

Type into the attribute field to see suggestions. The available attributes are:

  • phone

  • email

  • name

  • role

  • tag_id

  • segment_id

  • created_at

  • signed_up_at

  • last_seen_at

  • last_contacted_at

  • last_replied_at

  • location.country

  • location.city

tag_id and segment_id let you target Intercom tags and segments directly — the most common way to pick a specific audience.

Available filter operators

The operator dropdown changes based on the attribute type:

Attribute type

Available operators

Text (phone, email, name, location.country, location.city)

equals, doesn’t equal, starts with, ends with, contains, does not contain

Date (created_at, signed_up_at, last_seen_at, last_contacted_at, last_replied_at)

equals, after, before

Category (role, tag_id, segment_id)

equals, doesn’t equal

Number

equals, doesn’t equal, greater than, less than

Add more rules to the same group

A filter group combines multiple rules with an AND or OR operator. To keep narrowing or broadening within a single group:

  1. Click the blue plus button next to an existing filter row to add another rule.

  2. Between any two rows in the group, pick and or or to choose how they combine.

Add a second filter group

For more complex audiences you can add a second group. Any contact that matches either group (if the between-groups operator is “or”) or both groups (if it’s “and”) will be included.

  1. Click Add Filter Group below your existing rules.

  2. A new Filter Group 2 panel appears with its own empty filter row — build rules the same way.

  3. Use the Filter Groups Operator dropdown that appears above the groups to set “and” or “or” between the two groups.

A worked example

Say you want to reach loyalty program members in the United States who haven’t been contacted in the last 30 days.

  1. Filter row 1: tag_id — equals — select “Loyalty” from the tag dropdown.

  2. Filter row 2 (same group, and): location.country — equals — US.

  3. Filter row 3 (same group, and): last_contacted_at — before — select a date 30 days ago.

All three rules must match for a contact to be included.

Continue to the next step

Once your name, workspace, channel, and at least one filter are set:

  1. Click the Next button at the bottom right of the page.

  2. You’ll move to step 2, Matching Contacts, where Octopods previews the contacts your filter found.

If you want to abandon the broadcast, click Cancel on the left to return to the broadcasts list without saving.

What’s next

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