Customer success teams · Intercom · Onboarding

How do I send a welcome message in Intercom when a user signs up?

By BREME · Updated 30 October 2026

Who this is for: Customer success, onboarding and lifecycle teams at software and tech companies who use Intercom and want every new user to get a warm, useful hello on day one, without anyone sending it by hand.

Two welcomes, not one

Intercom's own help article on welcoming new users recommends two messages. An email right after sign up, because that is when people expect to hear from you. And an in-app Chat or Post on their first login, because that is your chance to point them at the feature most likely to turn them into a long term customer.

The email lands in their inbox while they are still deciding whether to come back. The in-app message meets them inside the product, at the moment they are looking around. Both should be short and both should end with a single next step.

Step by step: the welcome email

1. Go to Outbound from the main menu and click + New message in the top right. Select Email.
2. On the left, choose who the email is sent from. Pick a real teammate rather than a no reply address, and choose which teammate or team replies are assigned to, so answers reach a person.
3. Write the email. Use the first name variable in the greeting and add a Subject. Intercom won't let you send a test or set the email live without one.
4. Click Preview to send yourself a test, and Mobile preview to check the layout on a phone.
5. Click + Add audience rule and choose Dynamic. Add the filter Signed up less than 1 day ago. Dynamic means the email goes to people who match now and anyone who matches later, so every new user receives it.
6. Optionally add a goal under Goal and UTM tracking, such as a session count or the key event that shows they got started.
7. Click Set live.

Why it doesn't always arrive instantly

Intercom's help docs say audience rules on Dynamic email messages are checked every hour. In the Intercom community, owners using Signed up less than 1 day ago reported welcome emails arriving roughly 5 to 20 minutes after sign up. One owner who added a trigger of Signed up, if it's on the date, alongside the audience rule reported faster delivery, though not instant.

Keep the audience rule even if you add a trigger. The same owner found that a trigger on its own also sent the welcome to people who signed up long ago, because nothing limited it to new users.

Triggers only work with a Dynamic audience. If you see the trigger option missing, check that first.

If you use a Series instead

Many teams send the welcome as the first step of an onboarding Series, under Outbound > Series. Intercom checks Series entry rules once an hour, or as soon as a customer pings the Messenger by visiting your site or logging in.

If you start the Series from an event, such as a signed up event sent from your app, Intercom checks the entry rules once, at the moment the event arrives, using the person's data as it is at that exact moment. In the community, one team found their first welcome email only went out some of the time. Intercom support traced it to new users' email addresses not yet being saved when the event arrived. Adding a wait of one hour between the entry rule and the email fixed it. Intercom's advice is to update a person's attributes first and send the event after.

Series is available on Intercom plans that include Proactive Support.

Step by step: the first login message

1. Go to Outbound, click + New message and choose Chat or Post.
2. Set the audience to Signed up less than 1 day ago, matching the email.
3. If there is one page where new users should start, such as creating their first project, use Where to send under Rules and enter that page's URL, so the message appears in the right place.
4. Write a short note with one button or link to the first action, then set it live.

What to put in the message

Intercom's guidance is simple: greet people by first name, introduce yourself with a real photo of a real person on your team, and set the tone, because that affects whether your later onboarding messages get read. Then end with a clear next step, such as joining a webinar or completing their profile.

We'd add one thing. Ask a single question they can answer by hitting reply, such as what they are hoping to get done first. The answers tell your team who needs a hand, and they give you the customer's own words for the goal you'll check in on later.

Subject: Welcome to [product], [first name]

Hi [first name],

I'm [your name], and I look after new customers here at [your company]. Welcome in.

The quickest way to see what [product] can do is to [first key action]. It takes about [time] and this guide walks you through it: [link].

One question while you're here: what are you hoping to get done first? Just hit reply. A real person reads every answer, and it helps us point you to the right things.

[Name]
[Role], [your company]

Hi [first name], welcome to [product]. Most people start by [first key action], and it's the step that makes everything else click. [Start here]

If you get stuck, reply here and one of us will help.