HOW TO

SMS is not just a channel for OTPs and delivery updates anymore.

Businesses using SMS alongside email see up to 60% higher engagement rates — and that gap is only growing. If you’re already using Intercom for customer messaging, adding SMS to the mix is a natural next step.

This guide walks you through exactly how to set up SMS in Intercom — from connecting your number to building workflows — so you can start reaching customers on the channel they actually check.

No fluff. No detours. Let’s get into it.

How to Integrate the SMS Feature in Intercom

What You Need Before You Start

Before touching any settings inside Intercom, make sure you have these in place:

• An Intercom plan that includes SMS (available on certain tiers — check your workspace settings)
• A phone number — either through Intercom’s native integration or via Twilio
• A clear opt-in strategy — this is non-negotiable for legal compliance (more on this below)

Quick stat: Over 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of delivery. Compare that to the average email open rate of 21.5% (Mailchimp, 2024). The case for SMS basically makes itself.

Connect Your SMS Provider

Intercom supports SMS natively in some regions, and integrates with Twilio for broader coverage.

Here’s how to connect Twilio to Intercom:

Step 1 — Set up your Twilio account

• Go to twilio.com and create an account
• Purchase a phone number (local or toll-free)
• Grab your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio console

Step 2 — Connect Twilio inside Intercom

• Open your Intercom workspace
• Navigate to Settings → Channels → SMS
• Select Twilio as your provider
• Paste your Account SID and Auth Token
• Enter the Twilio phone number you purchased

Step 3 — Verify the connection

• Send a test message from within Intercom
• Confirm it shows up in your Twilio logs

That’s it — your channel is live.

Set Up Compliance and Opt-In

This is the step most people skip — and it can cost you.

TCPA compliance in the US requires explicit written consent before you can send marketing SMS messages. Violations can result in fines of up to $1,500 per message. That adds up fast.

Here’s what good opt-in looks like inside Intercom:

• Add a checkbox on your web forms with clear language like: “I agree to receive SMS messages from [Company]. Reply STOP to opt out at any time.”
• Use Intercom’s custom attributes to tag contacts who have opted in
• Set up a filter in your outbound messages to only send to opted-in contacts
• Always honor opt-out requests instantly — Intercom can handle STOP/HELP/UNSUBSCRIBE keywords automatically when configured correctly

Key insight: 75% of consumers say they’re okay receiving texts from brands after opting in — but only if the messages are relevant (EZTexting, 2023). Consent is just the beginning. Relevance is what keeps people subscribed.

Build Your First SMS Workflow

Now for the part that actually drives results.

Intercom’s Series feature (their visual workflow builder) lets you mix SMS with email, in-app messages, and push notifications into one automated sequence.

Here’s a simple onboarding workflow you can build in under 15 minutes:

This kind of multi-touch sequence isn’t just good UX — companies using multi-channel onboarding see 3x higher 30-day retention compared to email-only flows (Intercom Benchmark Report, 2023).

Test Before You Send at Scale

Before you roll out to your full list, do a sanity check:

• Send test messages to yourself and a teammate
• Verify personalization tokens (like first name) are pulling correctly
• Check opt-out flows by replying STOP — make sure it actually unsubscribes
• Review message character count — standard SMS is 160 characters; going over splits into multiple messages, which costs more

Pro tip: Keep your messages under 160 characters whenever possible. Short, direct texts get better responses. The average response rate for SMS is 45% — nearly 8x higher than email (Gartner, 2023).

Manage Conversations in the Inbox

Once SMS is live, incoming replies land directly in your Intercom inbox — just like any other conversation channel.

You can:

• Assign SMS conversations to specific teammates or teams
• Use saved replies to respond quickly to common questions
• Trigger follow-up automations based on reply keywords
• Route SMS conversations by region, plan type, or any custom attribute

This keeps everything in one place instead of bouncing between platforms.

Monitor Performance

After your first few campaigns, check these metrics inside Intercom’s reporting tab:

Brands that A/B test SMS copy see 20–30% improvements in click-through rates within the first 90 days (SMSBump, 2023). Use this data to refine your messaging continuously.

Conclusion

Integrating SMS in Intercom is one of those things that sounds technical but is actually pretty straightforward once you break it down.

Connect your provider → set up compliant opt-ins → build a workflow → test → go live.

The brands winning right now aren’t the ones with the most channels. They’re the ones using each channel with intent — and SMS is one of the highest-intent channels available.

Get it set up. Start small. Iterate fast.

And if you want to layer outbound prospecting on top of your inbound messaging strategy, that’s where Salesso comes in — full-stack lead generation across cold email, LinkedIn, and cold calling, built to fill your pipeline consistently.