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Multi-Channel Messaging Guide

Overview

ConnectGain supports 9 messaging channels — WhatsApp Lite, WhatsApp Cloud, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, Shopify Inbox, Bulk Email, and LinkedIn — allowing businesses to communicate with customers through their preferred channels. All channels are unified in a single inbox, providing a seamless customer communication experience.

In addition, SMS is available for outbound broadcasts and sequences only (not in the unified inbox), and Web Push / ShrinkIt Push handle notification delivery.

Contents: Supported Channels · Unified Inbox · Channel-Specific Features · Best Practices · Troubleshooting

Supported Channels

1. WhatsApp Lite (AppGain)

Authentication: - QR code authentication - Phone number messaging - Session-based connection

Features: - Media support (images, videos, documents) - Delivery and read receipts - Template messaging - Link shortening (optional) - Warming campaigns - Phone number messaging

Use Cases: - Customer support - Order confirmations - Appointment reminders - Marketing campaigns

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "WhatsApp Lite" 4. Scan QR code with WhatsApp 5. Channel connected

2. WhatsApp Cloud (Meta)

Authentication: - OAuth authentication via Facebook - Business verification required - Meta Business Account connection

Features: - Approved template messaging (required for outbound) - Rich media support - Interactive buttons - Delivery and read receipts - Business verification - Template approval workflow

Use Cases: - Official business communications - Marketing campaigns - Transactional messages - Customer notifications

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "WhatsApp Cloud" 4. Connect via Facebook OAuth 5. Select Meta Business Account 6. Complete business verification

3. Facebook Messenger

Authentication: - OAuth authentication - Facebook Page connection - Page permissions required

Features: - Quick replies - Buttons and carousels - Media support - Typing indicators - Read receipts - Page messaging

Use Cases: - Customer support - Social media engagement - Marketing campaigns - Lead generation

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "Facebook Messenger" 4. Connect via Facebook OAuth 5. Select Facebook Page 6. Grant permissions

4. Instagram Direct Messages

Authentication: - OAuth authentication - Instagram Business Account required - Facebook Page connection

Features: - Media support (images, videos) - Story mentions - Direct messaging - Message requests handling - Business account features

Use Cases: - Visual product inquiries - Social media customer service - Influencer communication - Brand engagement

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "Instagram" 4. Connect via Facebook OAuth 5. Select Instagram Business Account 6. Grant permissions

5. Telegram

Authentication: - Bot token authentication - Telegram Bot API - Bot creation required

Features: - Sticker support - Poll support - Media support - Group messaging - Channel broadcasting - Bot commands

Use Cases: - Community management - Group communications - Automated notifications - Customer support bots

Two connection modes. Telegram is the only channel with a choice, and the choice is permanent for that connection — pick deliberately.

Bot mode (default) Personal account mode
What connects A bot you create with @BotFather Your own Telegram account
Customers see Your bot You
Past conversations Never — see below Imported, and you choose which chats
Setup Paste a bot token Phone number + login code

Setup — bot mode: 1. Open Telegram and message @BotFather. 2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts to name your bot. 3. BotFather replies with a bot token. Copy it. 4. In ConnectGain go to Settings → Channels → Add Channel → Telegram. 5. Leave the mode set to Bot, paste the token, and save.

ConnectGain validates the token, registers the webhook with Telegram, and the channel is live. Nothing else to configure.

Setup — personal account mode: 1. Go to Settings → Channels → Add Channel → Telegram and switch the mode to Personal account. 2. Enter your phone number in full international format, e.g. +201234567890. 3. Telegram sends a login code — usually inside your existing Telegram app rather than by SMS. Enter it in ConnectGain. 4. If your account has two-step verification, enter that password when prompted. 5. Choose which of your existing chats to import. Chats you leave unselected are not brought in.

Your login code and two-step password are used once to complete sign-in and are never stored. Only connect an account you own or are authorised to manage.

Changing the imported chat selection afterwards means signing in again with a fresh phone code, so take a moment over the picker.

A Telegram bot cannot see past messages

In bot mode, a bot only ever receives messages sent after its webhook was registered. There is no way to import earlier conversations — this is a Telegram platform rule, not a ConnectGain limitation, and no setting changes it. If you need your existing chat history in the inbox, use personal account mode instead.

6. TikTok

Authentication: - OAuth 2.0 authentication - TikTok Business API integration - Automatic token management

Features: - Video messaging - Media support - Business account features

Use Cases: - Social commerce inquiries - Creator and brand engagement - Customer support for TikTok audiences

Before you start: - A TikTok account you can sign in to and authorise. - Additional TikTok accounts beyond your plan's allowance are charged — the price is shown in the dialog before you confirm.

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels → Add Channel → TikTok. 2. Click connect. A TikTok sign-in window opens. 3. Sign in and authorise ConnectGain for the account you want to connect. 4. The window closes by itself and the channel appears in your channel list.

Tokens are refreshed automatically, so a working connection should not need periodic re-authorisation. If the channel goes inactive, reconnect it from the same screen — that refreshes the authorisation rather than creating a duplicate.

If the sign-in window closes without connecting, it is almost always because the account you signed in with is not the one you meant to authorise. Sign out of TikTok in that browser and retry.

7. Shopify Inbox

Authentication: - A custom app that you create in your own Shopify admin - Admin API access token, entered in ConnectGain - Webhook registered by you in Shopify, pointing at ConnectGain

Features: - Store chat handled in the unified inbox - Inbound messages via the Shopify Inbox webhook - Outbound replies from ConnectGain

Use Cases: - E-commerce customer support - Pre-sale product questions - Order and shipping inquiries

Shopify Inbox is not self-serve

Unlike the other channels, Shopify Inbox has no tile on the Add Channel screen. Setting it up requires creating a custom app in your Shopify admin and registering a webhook by hand, so it is arranged with the ConnectGain team rather than clicked through. Contact support to have it enabled for your workspace — the steps below are what you will be walked through.

What you need from Shopify:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps and create an app.
  2. Give it Admin API access and install it on your store.
  3. Copy the Admin API access token. Shopify shows it once.
  4. Note your shop subdomain — the my-store part of my-store.myshopify.com, without the .myshopify.com suffix.

What you enter in ConnectGain:

Field Value
Shop domain Your subdomain only, e.g. my-store
Access token The Admin API access token from step 3
Webhook secret Optional. Set it to verify that incoming webhooks really came from Shopify

Finishing in Shopify: ConnectGain then shows you a webhook URL. Go back to Shopify admin → Settings → Notifications → Webhooks and register that URL. Until you do, the channel is connected but no messages will arrive.

If you set a webhook secret in ConnectGain, use the same value in Shopify or every incoming message will be rejected as unverified.

8. Email

Two different email features

ConnectGain has two separate email capabilities and they are set up in different places. This section covers bulk email sending — campaigns and sequences. If you want to receive email into the unified inbox, that is the separate Email Boxes feature, which connects a mailbox over IMAP.

Authentication: either Amazon SES credentials, or an SMTP server.

Features: - HTML email support - Attachment support - Email threading - Email templates - Rich formatting

Use Cases: - Formal communications - Detailed information sharing - Document delivery - Newsletter campaigns

Setup: go to Settings → Channels and use the Manage SES action on the Bulk Email (AWS SES) card at the bottom of the tab — or pick Bulk Email (AWS SES) in Add channel, which opens the same dialog. From Broadcast, the "Bulk Email Channel Required" screen's button opens it directly.

Option A — SMTP (any provider: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Mailgun, your own server):

Field Notes
Host Your provider's SMTP hostname
Port 587 for STARTTLS, 465 for SSL/TLS
Security STARTTLS or SSL/TLS to match the port
Username / password For Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 with two-factor authentication, generate an app password — your normal account password will be rejected
From address / name What recipients see

Option B — Amazon SES:

Field Notes
Region e.g. us-east-1. Must match the region your SES identity is verified in
Access key ID / secret access key An IAM user with SES send permission
From address / name Must be a verified SES identity

Before your first campaign: verify your sending address with the provider, and if your SES account is still in the sandbox, request production access — sandbox accounts can only send to addresses you have verified, which makes a campaign appear to send successfully while reaching almost nobody.

Set up SPF and DKIM for your sending domain as well. Without them, a large share of your mail goes to spam regardless of how the channel is configured.

9. LinkedIn

Authentication: - OAuth authentication - Business/organization account connection

Features: - Direct messaging (inbound and outbound) - Post publishing via the LinkedIn v202401 API

Use Cases: - B2B lead conversations - Professional networking follow-ups - Recruiting and sales outreach

Messaging is in beta and requires LinkedIn's approval

Post publishing works for everyone. LinkedIn messaging is gated by LinkedIn themselves — the messaging APIs are only available to approved partners. If your workspace has not been approved, the messaging option is unavailable and LinkedIn works as a publishing-only channel. Ask support before promising customers LinkedIn inbox coverage.

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels → Add Channel → LinkedIn. 2. If you have been approved for messaging, tick the messaging option before continuing. Leave it off otherwise — requesting messaging permissions your app is not approved for makes the whole sign-in fail rather than falling back to publishing. 3. Click connect and sign in to LinkedIn. 4. Authorise ConnectGain and choose the profile or company page to connect. 5. The window closes by itself and the channel appears in your channel list.

If sign-in fails immediately, the usual cause is step 2: messaging was requested without approval.

10. SMS (outbound broadcast / sequences only — not shown in the unified inbox)

Authentication: - SMS gateway via Appgain Notify (VictoryLink provider) - Provider API credentials

Features: - Character limit management (160 standard, 1600 concatenated) - Delivery tracking - Cost tracking - Link shortening (optional) - Bulk messaging

Use Cases: - SMS notifications - Two-factor authentication - Appointment reminders - Marketing campaigns

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "SMS" 4. Choose SMS provider 5. Enter API credentials 6. Test sending

11. Web Push Notifications

Authentication: - VAPID key authentication - Service worker integration - Browser permission request

Features: - Background notifications (works when app is closed) - Android support (Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet) - iOS support (Safari PWA, iOS 16.4+) - Automatic subscription management - Notification click handling - Rich notifications

Use Cases: - Real-time notifications - Offline notifications - Mobile app-like experience - Urgent alerts

Setup: 1. Configure VAPID keys in Settings 2. Enable browser notifications 3. Users grant permission on first visit 4. Automatic subscription on login 5. Notifications work in background

12. ShrinkIt Push Notifications

Authentication: - ShrinkIt integration - API credentials - Mobile app integration

Features: - Push notification support - Mobile app integration - Notification delivery - Cross-platform support

Use Cases: - Mobile app notifications - Push notifications - App engagement

Setup: 1. Go to Settings → Channels 2. Click "Add Channel" 3. Select "ShrinkIt Push" 4. Enter ShrinkIt credentials 5. Configure mobile app integration

Unified Inbox

Features

Multi-Channel View: - All channels in one conversation list - Channel badges for identification - Unified conversation threading - Cross-channel customer view

Real-Time Sync: - Instant message delivery - Live status updates - Real-time conversation sync - Multi-device support

Channel Management: - Multiple channels of same type - Channel naming - Channel status (Active/Inactive) - Channel configuration - Channel health monitoring

Channel Statistics: - Messages sent/received per channel - Conversation count per channel - Response time per channel - Channel performance metrics

Channel-Specific Features

WhatsApp Features

  • Template messaging (WhatsApp Cloud)
  • Media attachments
  • Location sharing
  • Contact cards (vCard)
  • Delivery and read receipts
  • Link previews

Messenger Features

  • Quick replies
  • Persistent menu
  • Buttons and carousels
  • Typing indicators
  • Read receipts
  • Messenger extensions

Instagram Features

  • Stories mentions
  • Media sharing
  • Direct messaging
  • Message requests
  • Business account features

Telegram Features

  • Stickers and emojis
  • Polls and quizzes
  • Group chats
  • Channel broadcasting
  • Bot commands
  • File sharing

Email Features

  • HTML formatting
  • Rich text editor
  • Attachment support
  • Email threading
  • CC/BCC support
  • Reply-to configuration

SMS Features

  • Character limit handling
  • Concatenated messages
  • Delivery reports
  • Cost tracking
  • Link shortening
  • Unicode support

Best Practices

Channel Selection

  1. Use WhatsApp for international reach and rich media
  2. Use Messenger for Facebook users and social engagement
  3. Use Instagram for visual content and younger demographics
  4. Use Email for formal communications and detailed information
  5. Use SMS for urgent notifications and universal reach
  6. Use Web Push for real-time browser notifications

Message Formatting

  • Keep messages concise and clear
  • Use appropriate channel for message type
  • Include media when relevant
  • Use templates for consistency
  • Personalize with variables

Channel Health

  • Monitor channel status regularly
  • Check delivery rates
  • Monitor error rates
  • Keep channels active
  • Use warming campaigns for WhatsApp

Troubleshooting

Channel Connection Issues

WhatsApp Lite: - Ensure QR code is scanned correctly - Check phone number format - Verify session is active - Reconnect if disconnected

WhatsApp Cloud: - Verify business verification status - Check template approval status - Verify OAuth permissions - Check Meta Business Account

Messenger/Instagram: - Verify OAuth permissions - Check page/account connection - Verify business account status - Re-authenticate if needed

Message Delivery Issues

Failed Messages: - Check channel connection status - Verify recipient information - Check message format - Review error messages - Retry sending

Delivery Delays: - Check channel status - Verify rate limits - Check network connectivity - Review channel logs

Last Updated: February 2025

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