Messaging
Email, SMS and WhatsApp messaging in Leadnote
See how Leadnote sends email, SMS and WhatsApp messages to leads, which sender is used, who can use messaging and where to check what was sent.
Leadnote can send email, SMS and WhatsApp messages to your leads, and it can also open your own apps so you send a message yourself. Which of the two happens depends on the button you press and on which accounts you have connected.
Three ways a message goes out
| Way | What happens | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Your own apps | The WhatsApp, SMS and Email buttons on a lead open WhatsApp, your text app or your mail app with the number or address filled in. Leadnote sends nothing and adds a note to the lead's timeline. | The lead's timeline |
| Your own connected account | Leadnote sends through the email, SMS or WhatsApp provider you connected under Campaigns. | Message Outbox |
| The Leadnote sender | When you have no usable account of your own and Leadnote has a shared sender for that channel, messages go through it. These count against your plan allowance. | Message Outbox |
What Leadnote sends from the server
These features create real messages in Leadnote and send them through your account or the Leadnote sender:
- Campaigns: Campaigns, then New campaign, or the Bulk Email, Bulk SMS and Bulk WhatsApp pages.
- The Bulk Email, Bulk SMS and Bulk WhatsApp actions on the Leads list.
- Test messages you send while setting up a channel or writing a campaign.
- Greetings to new leads and birthday or special day wishes. See auto-responders.
Messages Leadnote sends for its own purposes, such as invitations and password resets, always use the Leadnote sender. Your allowance never blocks them.
Check which sender applies
Every channel page shows a banner at the top. It tells you one of three things:
- Sending through your own account. The title reads "Sending through your own" followed by your provider. Messages leave from your account and do not use the plan allowance.
- Sent from the Leadnote platform address (email) or platform sender (SMS and WhatsApp). You have no usable account of your own. Messages go through Leadnote's shared sender and count against the allowance.
- The channel can not be sent yet. The title names the channel. Neither your account nor a shared sender is available. Messages fail until you connect an account.
Read this banner before you promise anyone a send. Whether a shared sender exists for SMS or WhatsApp is not something you can assume.
Connect your channels
Open Campaigns and choose the channel card. Connecting a provider is the same pattern everywhere: pick the provider, fill in its keys, then choose Check & Save. A tile marked Draft is a connection built to the provider's documented API that has not yet been tried against a live account, so send a test message first.
Who can do what
These are the default roles. The Account Owner can change them in the permission matrix.
| Task | Account Owner | Manager | L1 User | L2 User |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connect email, SMS and WhatsApp accounts | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Create, send, schedule and delete campaigns | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Create and edit templates | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| See the campaigns list | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Read templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Message Outbox, suppression list, sender domains | Yes | Yes | No | No |
People who cannot change channel settings see the current state in read-only form with a note that only organisation admins can change how messages are sent.
On the mobile app
The Leadnote mobile app does not run campaigns or bulk sends. On a lead, tapping WhatsApp, SMS or Email first offers a template picker (or None), then opens the app on your phone with the text filled in, and logs the contact on the lead. Account Owners and Managers can create WhatsApp and SMS templates on the phone. Email templates can be read on the phone and are edited in the web app. Templates and their placeholders have their own article.
Limits and consent
Leadnote caps how much you can send each day and, through the shared sender, each month. Marketing emails carry an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribed or bounced addresses are blocked automatically. Details are in sending limits and consent. To follow a message after you send it, open Campaigns, then Message Outbox.
Frequently asked questions
Does Leadnote send WhatsApp messages from my own phone number?
Only through the WhatsApp provider account you connect (Interakt, WhatsApp Cloud API or Wati). The WhatsApp button on a lead opens the WhatsApp app on your own device instead, and Leadnote does not send anything in that case.
Can I send messages without connecting an account?
The buttons on a lead always work because they open your own apps. For campaigns, the banner on each channel page tells you whether Leadnote can send through its own shared sender, or whether the channel cannot be sent yet.
Where do I see what Leadnote sent?
Open Campaigns, then Message Outbox. Owners and Managers see every email, SMS and WhatsApp message with its delivery status.