How do we enable Intercom proactive messaging (Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, Series) and what does Proactive Support Plus ($99/mo) include?

Quick Answer: Intercom’s proactive messaging tools—Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series—are enabled by your plan and add-ons, then configured from the Outbound section of your workspace. Proactive Support Plus ($99/mo) is an add-on that unlocks a larger, more sophisticated proactive toolkit so you can run more targeted, automated customer journeys without stitching together separate tools.

The Quick Overview

What It Is: A connected set of Intercom proactive messaging tools (Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, Series) that let you reach customers based on who they are and what they do, plus an add-on (Proactive Support Plus) that expands those capabilities.
Who It Is For: Support, success, and product teams that want to reduce inbound volume, improve activation and adoption, and guide users in‑product with automated, targeted experiences.
Core Problem Solved: Scaling teams can’t manually educate, onboard, and re‑engage every user—Intercom’s proactive system lets you automate that work in your product, website, and inbox so customers get the right help before they ask.

How It Works

Intercom treats proactive messaging as part of one connected system. You configure Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series from the same workspace that powers your Helpdesk, Fin AI Agent, Messenger, and Help Center. That means your outbound messages, in‑product guidance, and AI support all operate from the same customer data and event stream.

At a high level, you:

Confirm plan and add-ons:
Make sure your Intercom plan includes the proactive tools you want, and optionally add Proactive Support Plus if you need more advanced targeting, volume, or orchestration.
Install and configure Messenger & data:
Install the Intercom Messenger on your website or app (via JavaScript, mobile SDK, or no‑code tools), send user and event data to Intercom, and decide where proactive messages should appear.
Create and automate journeys:
Build Posts, Checklists, and Product Tours, then orchestrate them in Series using audience rules and triggers. With Proactive Support Plus, you scale this system further—more journeys, more targeting options, and tighter integration with support workflows.

1. Confirm your Intercom plan and Proactive Support Plus

Intercom’s capabilities are plan‑dependent, and some proactive tools and limits vary by plan and add‑on:

Go to Settings > Billing > Plans to see your current plan and add‑ons.
Look for references to Messages, Outbound, or Proactive Support Plus in your plan description.
If you don’t see the proactive tools you expect, contact your Intercom account team or use the Messenger on intercom.com to discuss upgrading.

Note: Proactive Support Plus is a Pro add-on (listed alongside other add-ons like Premier Services). It’s priced at $99/month and is layered onto your base plan.

2. Install Intercom Messenger and connect data

Proactive messaging is only effective when:

Messenger is installed where your customers are.
Intercom receives the right user attributes (e.g. plan, role, lifecycle stage) and events (e.g. “completed onboarding,” “invited teammate”) to trigger journeys.

For a web app:

Install the Messenger snippet from Settings > Channels > Messenger > Install.
Make sure you pass a stable user ID and key traits (e.g. plan, created_at, role).

Optionally, boot Messenger after cookie consent using:

window.intercomSettings = { app_id: 'your_app_id', disabled: true };
// After consent:
Intercom('boot', { app_id: 'your_app_id', disabled: false });

Enable identity verification with JWTs if you’re in a secure product environment.

For mobile apps, use the iOS/Android SDKs and follow the same pattern: identify users, send traits/events, and confirm Messenger is visible on the screens where proactive content should show.

3. Turn on and configure proactive messaging channels

Once Messenger and data are in place:

Go to Outbound (or Messages) in your Intercom workspace.
Confirm you can see the content types:
- Posts
- Checklists
- Product Tours
- Series

If a type is missing or greyed out, that’s usually a plan permission issue—your workspace may not include that capability, or your teammate role may not have the right permissions.

Features & Benefits Breakdown

Core Feature	What It Does	Primary Benefit
Posts	In‑product and site messages that appear in the Intercom Messenger or as banners/modals for targeted user segments.	Announce features, drive key actions, and nudge at‑risk users—so you reduce inbound “what changed?” questions.
Checklists	Persistent, in‑product task lists that guide users through a step‑by‑step flow (e.g. onboarding).	Turn complex onboarding into a clear, trackable path—so more users reach “setup complete” without contacting support.
Product Tours	Guided, multi‑step walkthroughs inside your product, usually anchored to UI elements.	Help users learn new flows in context—so adoption goes up and tutorial tickets go down.
Series	Visual, multi‑step campaigns that orchestrate Posts, emails, Product Tours, and rules over time.	Run lifecycle journeys and experiments from one canvas—so you can coordinate messaging across channels and stages.
Proactive Support Plus	Add-on that expands proactive limits and capabilities (more complex journeys, richer targeting/reporting, higher volumes).	Scale from “a few messages” to a full proactive support strategy—without duct‑taping multiple tools together.

Ideal Use Cases

Best for onboarding and activation:
Because Posts, Checklists, and Product Tours can be triggered directly from user actions (e.g. first login, feature click), you can orchestrate a “day 1 to value” journey in a Series and measure its impact on support volume.
Best for product adoption and feature education:
Because you can target users by plan, role, or behavior, you can run focused campaigns—like promoting a new feature only to customers who will benefit—and reduce “how do I use this?” questions in your Helpdesk.

How to enable and use each proactive messaging type

Enabling and using Posts

Go to Outbound > New > Post.
Choose the format (e.g. in‑app banner, Messenger message).
Design your content:
- Keep copy short and action‑oriented.
- Link to your Help Center or trigger a Product Tour where relevant.
Set your audience rules:
- Based on who they are: attributes like plan, role, is_trial, company_size.
- Based on what they do: events like “created project,” “invited teammate,” “did not log in for 14 days.”
Define when it sends:
- Immediately on rule match, on first app open after a date, or after a specific event.
Set frequency and capping so users don’t get spammed.

Tip: Use Posts first to “catch low‑hanging fruit”—common questions that can be answered with a short message plus a Help Center article link.

Enabling and using Checklists

Go to Outbound > New > Checklist.
Add tasks that represent meaningful onboarding or setup steps.
For each task, link to:
- A specific screen in your app (via URL/deep link),
- A Help Center article, or
- A Product Tour.
Set audience rules:
- Example: signed_up_at < 14 days ago AND completed_setup = false.
Configure completion rules per task:
- Based on events (e.g. “completed billing setup” event).
- Based on page views or attribute changes.
Preview in your staging or test environment before launching.

Tip: Treat Checklists like a contract with the user—only include steps that truly matter to long‑term success, otherwise completion rates and trust drop.

Enabling and using Product Tours

Go to Outbound > New > Product Tour.
Target a specific URL or screen in your app.
Add steps:
- Tooltip or modal anchored to UI elements.
- Click or form‑fill requirements.
Set completion criteria and fallback behavior (e.g. if an element isn’t present).
Define audience:
- Example: has_used_new_feature = false AND plan = 'Pro'.
Decide how to trigger:
- Directly via Series.
- When a user visits a particular page or completes an event.

Important: Always test tours on realistic accounts (with identity verification enabled if you use it) to ensure elements resolve correctly and no step blocks progression.

Enabling and using Series

Go to Outbound > New > Series.
Choose a trigger:
- Event (e.g. “Signed up”).
- Time‑based (e.g. 7 days after signup).
- Segment‑based (joining a saved segment).
Drag‑and‑drop your flow:
- Add Posts, emails, Product Tours, Checklists.
- Insert rules (e.g. “If opened email,” “If completed event X”).
- Define waits (e.g. “Wait 2 days”).
Set exit rules:
- Example: exit once a user achieves “activation_complete = true”.
Turn on the Series and monitor:
- Completion rates.
- Drop‑off points.
- Impact on support volume (look for fewer tickets on the topics your Series covers).

Tip: Start with one Series per lifecycle stage (onboarding, expansion, re‑engagement) and iterate weekly using performance data from AI Insights and reporting.

What Proactive Support Plus ($99/mo) includes (and why it matters)

Proactive Support Plus is a Pro add-on that extends your proactive messaging beyond the base plan. While exact entitlements vary by plan and time, in practice it’s designed for teams that want to run proactive support as a core motion, not an experiment.

Typical advantages of Proactive Support Plus include:

Higher messaging and Series capacity
Run more concurrent Series, send more proactive messages, and cover more segments without hitting base‑plan limits—so you can run always‑on journeys instead of short campaigns.
More advanced targeting and orchestration
Use richer combinations of user attributes and events in Series and outbound messages—so you can build “if this, then that” flows that reflect your real customer lifecycle instead of blunt, one‑size‑fits‑all blasts.
Stronger integration with support operations
Tie proactive flows to Helpdesk and Fin AI Agent behavior more tightly—for example:
- Trigger a proactive Post or email when a customer hits a certain ticket status or topic.
- Use proactive journeys to pre‑empt surges (like feature launches) and reduce inbound volume in your Inbox.
Better reporting for proactive impact
Get a clearer view of how proactive messaging affects support metrics:
- Reduction in new conversations on specific topics.
- Changes in first‑response and resolution times for cohorts that received proactive guidance.
- Engagement and completion data across Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series.

Who should consider Proactive Support Plus?

You’re planning to build a systematic proactive support program (not just a few messages).
You expect to run multiple always‑on Series across lifecycle stages and product lines.
You want to tie proactive messaging to operational targets, like cutting certain ticket types by 20–30% or speeding up time‑to-value.

Limitations & Considerations

Plan dependencies:
Some proactive messaging features may not be available on all plans. If you don’t see Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, or Series, check Settings > Billing > Plans or talk to Intercom about plan eligibility.
Data quality constraints:
Proactive flows are only as smart as your data. If key events or attributes aren’t sent to Intercom, your targeting and Series logic will be limited. Work closely with engineering to define and send the events that actually map to your lifecycle.

Pricing & Plans

Proactive capabilities live on top of your core Intercom plan:

Your base plan (as shown in Settings > Billing > Plans) determines access to the Helpdesk, Fin AI Agent, Messenger, Help Center, and baseline outbound messaging.
Proactive Support Plus is a $99/month Pro add-on that expands your proactive messaging capabilities and limits.

Within your plan, you can choose how aggressively to deploy proactive support:

Run a lean, focused set of onboarding and feature‑launch campaigns.
Or, with Proactive Support Plus, scale to a full proactive strategy across products, segments, and lifecycle stages.

Example framing:

Core plan only: Best for teams starting with proactive messaging or running a few targeted journeys.
Core plan + Proactive Support Plus: Best for teams treating proactive support as a primary channel for reducing ticket volume and driving product adoption.

Note: For the most accurate breakdown of what’s included with your plan and Proactive Support Plus at any point in time, refer to the Intercom plans explained article in the Help Center or talk to your Intercom account representative.

Standard/Existing Plan: Best for teams needing a connected Helpdesk + Fin AI Agent with baseline proactive capabilities.
Standard/Existing Plan + Proactive Support Plus: Best for teams needing expanded proactive messaging limits and more sophisticated, always‑on Series.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need Proactive Support Plus to use Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, or Series?

Short Answer: No. You can use these proactive tools on supported base plans, but Proactive Support Plus expands what you can do with them.

Details:
On many Intercom plans, you can already create Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series. Proactive Support Plus isn’t a prerequisite for using them—it’s an add-on that increases scale and sophistication. If you’re only running a few campaigns (e.g. a single onboarding Series and occasional feature announcements), your base plan may be enough. If you hit limits on message volume, number of journeys, or need more complex orchestration, Proactive Support Plus gives you room to grow.

How does proactive messaging connect to Fin AI Agent and the Helpdesk?

Short Answer: Proactive messaging runs on the same system and data as your Helpdesk and Fin AI Agent, so you can use proactive content to reduce volume and feed insights back into support.

Details:
Because Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series live inside the same Intercom workspace as your Helpdesk and Fin:

You can target messages based on support data (e.g. customers with repeated tickets on a topic).
You can link directly to Help Center articles that Fin is already trained on, reinforcing the same answers in self‑serve and AI support.
When customers do start a conversation from a proactive message, your agents see the full context—message, segment, journey step—in the Inbox, and Copilot can assist with replies.
You can use AI Insights to see which topics still generate tickets despite proactive efforts and then iterate your Posts, Checklists, and Tours to close those gaps.

Over time, this creates a self‑improving loop: proactive messaging reduces common questions, Fin picks up more of what remains, and human agents focus on the truly complex cases.

Summary

Intercom’s proactive messaging suite—Posts, Checklists, Product Tours, and Series—lets you turn your product and website into always‑on support and onboarding channels, powered by the same data and system as your Helpdesk and Fin AI Agent. You enable it by choosing a plan that includes outbound capabilities, installing Messenger, sending the right data, and then configuring targeted journeys from the Outbound section.

Proactive Support Plus, at $99/month as a Pro add-on, is how you scale from “a few campaigns” to a full proactive support program. It gives you more room, more control, and better reporting so you can systematically reduce support volume and improve activation, not just send announcements.

Next Step

Get Started