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MarketingCommunityVIP8 min read· Updated Aug 6, 2026

Choose the Right Message Type

The Add Message dialog turns up all over Dynamo — in a superpower’s private reply, a marketing message, a broadcast, a journey step. Wherever it appears it works the same way, and the first thing it asks is which Message Type you want.

The type decides the shape of what lands in Messenger: a plain notification, a swipeable set of cards, a coupon, or something the recipient can tap to answer. This tutorial covers the parts every type shares, then each type in turn.

Before you start

  • Somewhere to compose a message — a superpower reply, a marketing message, or a broadcast.
  • Any images you want to attach, or the Assets creator to generate them.
  1. 1

    Open Add Message and pick a type

    Wherever you are composing, Add Message opens the same dialog. Message Type sits at the top and changes everything below it — the fields, the limits, and which buttons are available.

    The list covers Single notification, Interactive notification (Facebook only), Reply-Enabling Message (Facebook only), Carousel, Offers, Coupon, and Gifts. The question-mark icon in the dialog header opens a diagram of how a message is put together.

    Tip: Set the type first, before writing anything. Switching type afterwards changes the fields you have available, so text can end up somewhere it no longer fits.

    The Add Message dialog, set to Single notification.
  2. 2

    Add a greeting — it becomes the notification text

    Almost every type starts with the same optional field: Greeting message, described as "sent before the reply as a personal touch". It is a separate message that arrives first, up to 640 characters, and it can use the @ token to drop in the person’s name.

    The field is marked optional, but it does something no other field does: it is what the recipient reads in their push notification. Because the greeting arrives first, its text is what previews on the lock screen — so they see your actual words before deciding whether to open anything.

    Skip it on a message that has an image, and the notification instead tells them the page sent them an attachment. That is a far weaker reason to tap, and it is the same message either way — only the preview changed.

    Tip: Think of the greeting as a soft landing for the main message: it says who you are and why you are writing, so the card that follows arrives in context rather than cold. On anything with an image, treat it as required.

  3. 3

    Know the limits: with an image and without

    The help icon opens the anatomy of a DM, and it is worth reading once because the limits change depending on whether you attach an image.

    With an image, the main message becomes a card: Title up to 80 characters, Subtitle up to 80 characters, and up to 3 buttons. Without an image it uses a text layout instead, and the body can run to 640 characters.

    Tip: That is the trade-off to remember — an image costs you room to write. The dialog says as much under any attached image: "Adding an image will limit the amount of text you'll be able to add to your reply."

    Greeting, main message, and the limits for each part.
    With an image attached, title and subtitle cap at 80 characters.
  4. 4

    Respect the image safe zone

    When you attach an image, Dynamo draws a blue mark over it and explains: "The blue mark shows the safe zone — keep all key content inside it."

    Messenger crops images differently across devices, so anything outside that mark may not survive. The frame icon under the image toggles the guide, the pencil edits the image, and the trash removes it.

    Tip: Put prices, logos and calls to action well inside the safe zone. A cropped headline is the most common way a good-looking DM fails on a phone.

    The safe-zone guide and its two warnings.
  5. 5

    Single notification

    The default and the simplest: one message, sent once. Add media with Upload Media or generate it in Assets creator, write a Title and body, and attach up to three buttons.

    The toolbar under the text field inserts a mention, an emoji, a saved snippet from the library, or a bookmark. Use this type whenever you just need to say one thing.

    Media, title, body, and the insert toolbar.
  6. 6

    Coupon

    Coupon is a single card built around one redemption. It takes an image, a Coupon Title and a Subtitle — both capped at 80 characters — and then a Coupon Button.

    The structure is deliberately fixed: one offer, one action. Reach for it when you are handing someone a discount rather than describing a range of things.

    The coupon composer: image, title and subtitle.
    The same card with its coupon button attached.
  7. 7

    Coupon: the button, the code and the expiry

    The Coupon Button holds four things. Button Title is the label on your own button — the one that sends people somewhere — and it is capped at 20 characters. Coupon Code is the code itself. Coupon URL is where that button goes. Expire Time is optional.

    Be clear about what Button Title controls: it names the redirect button only. In the example here it says "Redeem coupon", and tapping it opens the Coupon URL.

    Tip: Set the expiry when the offer genuinely ends. It is the one field here that stops a coupon outliving the promotion it belongs to.

    Button title, code, URL, and an optional expiry.
  8. 8

    Coupon: what the recipient actually sees

    Two buttons arrive, not one. You configured a single button, and Meta adds a second — Reveal code — above it automatically. You do not write that label and you cannot change it.

    Meta also adds the line "Terms may apply." under your subtitle. Neither of these comes from anything you typed.

    Reveal code does what it says: tapping it posts the code into the conversation as a message, so the recipient has it in their chat history rather than having to copy it from a card. Your own button sits below it and opens the Coupon URL.

    Tip: Because Reveal code is added for you, do not spend your 20 characters writing another one. Use the Button Title for the step after the code — "Shop now", "Redeem coupon" — since revealing is already handled.

    As received: Reveal code is Meta’s, Redeem coupon is yours.
    Tapping Reveal code posts the code into the chat.
  9. 9

    Offers

    Offers does not ask you to write the message at all — it asks you to choose one. Select Offer opens a searchable grid of the offers already saved in your workspace, each shown as it will appear: image, text and button.

    Pick one and it becomes the message content. Because offers are saved centrally, the same promotion stays consistent everywhere you send it.

    Tip: Offers already use tokens like @[user_name], so a saved offer still addresses each person individually.

    Choosing from the offers saved in your workspace.
  10. 11

    Interactive notification (Facebook only)

    This is the type that asks a question. Alongside the usual image, title and subtitle, you define Interactive buttons — quick replies the recipient taps instead of typing.

    Edit interactive buttons opens the editor: each button gets a label and the text shown as the quick reply, and — the important part — its own Following Message, which is what Dynamo sends when someone picks that option. You can have up to three, and Enable multiple selections lets someone choose more than one.

    Tip: Every button is a branch, so write its Following Message at the same time. An interactive message whose options all lead nowhere is worse than a plain one.

    Building an interactive notification end to end.
    Three interactive buttons and the multiple-selection toggle.
    The button editor: a quick reply and the message it triggers.
  11. 12

    Reply-Enabling Message (Facebook only)

    This type exists to reopen a conversation. It is built from two messages: a 1st Message with its own media and text, then a Button Title — "Users tap this to open the conversation" — and a 2nd Message that follows once they do.

    The tap is the point. It counts as the recipient engaging, which is what gets you back inside Messenger’s messaging window and able to reply normally.

    Tip: Use this when a thread has gone quiet and the 7-day window has closed. Make the button worth tapping — the follow-up only reaches people who press it.

    A first message, the button that opens the conversation, and the follow-up.
  12. 13

    Buttons, unsubscribe, and Test Message

    Most types share the same button controls. Add Button creates one with its own text and destination, Load Button reuses a saved one, and Add unsubscribe button appends an opt-out.

    Test Message sends the message to yourself, and it stays greyed out until the message is valid — so it doubles as a check that nothing required is missing. Done saves the message; Cancel discards it.

    Tip: Add the unsubscribe button on anything promotional. Giving people a clean way out protects your ability to keep messaging everyone else.

    The button row, with Test Message, Cancel and Done below it.

You know which type to reach for!

When in doubt: single notification for something straightforward, carousel when there are several things to show, interactive when you want an answer back, and reply-enabling when you need the conversation open. Whichever you pick, send yourself a Test Message before it goes out.

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