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Using Slack as a Play Output

How to use Slack as an output inside Knock2 Plays — route different plays to different Slack channels for precise, rule-based notifications.

Written by John DiLoreto

Using Slack as a Play Output

Slack is available as an output inside Plays. This lets you send Slack notifications for specific, highly-targeted visitor activity — and route different plays to different Slack channels. It's the most precise way to get Slack alerts only for the leads that matter most to each team.

Why use Slack as a play output

Every connected Slack channel has its own standard notifications (the New contacts identified and New accounts identified switches on the Notifications tab of the channel's settings page), which are the right choice when you want a broad, ongoing feed of account and contact activity. Play-based Slack notifications are an additional, more advanced option designed for precision routing.

The two are independent: a Play posts to its channel based on the Play's own filters, whether or not that channel's standard notification switches are on.

Common use cases:

  • Route by team — send enterprise leads to #sales-enterprise and SMB leads to #sales-smb

  • Route by region — UK pricing page visitors go to #emea-alerts, US visitors to #us-alerts

  • Route by intent — pricing page visits trigger #hot-leads, blog visits trigger nothing

  • Route by product line — visitors to /product-a go to the Product A team's channel

  • Alert specific stakeholders — named account activity goes to a dedicated channel for that account team

Because each play has its own filters, source, and timing, you get full control over exactly when a Slack notification fires and where it lands.

Connecting multiple Slack channels

Before you can route plays to different Slack channels, each channel needs to be connected to Knock2.

  1. Go to Settings → App Marketplace and open Slack (under Notifications). You can also go to Settings → Slack.

  2. Click Connect Slack for your first channel, or choose Add channel from the ⋯ menu for each additional one.

  3. When Slack prompts you, select the channel you want to connect and click Allow.

  4. Repeat for each additional channel you want to use as a play destination.

Once connected, each channel becomes available to select inside any play. You can always add more channels later — there's no cap on how many Slack destinations you can have in Knock2.

Adding Slack as a play output

  1. Go to the Plays tab in the left navigation.

  2. Click Create Play — or open an existing play and click Edit.

  3. Set your Source (Contacts or Accounts), Filters, and Timing as you normally would.

  4. In the Outputs step, select Send Slack Notification.

  5. Choose the Slack channel you want this play to post to from the dropdown.

  6. If you want the play to do more than just notify Slack — for example, also push the contact to HubSpot — add those additional outputs in the same step.

  7. Review and click Create. The play is now live.

Seeing which Plays post to a channel

Open any channel's settings page (from the Slack card in the App Marketplace, or from Settings → Slack) and click the Plays tab. It lists every Play that sends to that channel, whether it is active or paused, with a link to open it. The tab label shows how many there are.

This is the first place to look when a channel is getting notifications you didn't expect from its standard settings.

What the Slack notification looks like

Slack notifications triggered by a play use the same rich card format as the channel's standard notifications, as set on the channel's Message format tab. Every notification includes:

  • The contact or account details

  • CRM owner and deal stage (when available)

  • A direct link to open the record in Knock2

  • 👍 Qualify and 👎 Disqualify buttons

Qualification decisions made from a play-triggered notification are saved on the record exactly the same way — they appear in the dashboard, affect filters, and are visible to your whole team.

Example setups

Route hot leads and enrichment separately

  • Play 1: Source = Contacts, Filter = Lead Score > 70 AND visited /pricing → Slack channel #hot-leads

  • Play 2: Source = Contacts, Filter = Lead Score 30–70 → Slack channel #warm-leads and push to HubSpot

Geographic routing

  • Play 1: Country = United States → #us-sales

  • Play 2: Country = United Kingdom, Ireland → #uk-sales

  • Play 3: All other countries → #intl-sales

Named account alerts

  • Play: Source = Accounts, Filter = Company Domain is one of (your target account list) → #strategic-accounts

Tips

  • Name plays clearly — include the destination channel in the play name (for example, Hot Leads → #sales-enterprise) so the routing logic is obvious at a glance.

  • Test with a narrow filter first — when building a new play, start with a tight filter so you can confirm the notifications look right before opening the rules up.

  • Combine outputs — Slack is most powerful when paired with CRM push or sequence enrollment in the same play, so the rep gets notified and the record is ready for follow-up.

  • Watch for duplicate alerts — if a channel also has its standard notifications turned on, a single visitor may generate two notifications. Either narrow the channel's filter on its Notifications tab, turn off the standard switches on a channel that is meant to be Play-only, or adjust the Play. The Notifications and Plays tabs on the channel's settings page show both sources.

Need help?

If you'd like help designing your Slack routing setup or connecting additional channels, reach out via the Intercom chat bubble in the dashboard or email support@knock2.ai.

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