In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, eCommerce businesses must stay ahead of the competition by adopting innovative tools like eCommerce marketing automation to streamline their marketing efforts.
A marketing automation platform has become a game-changer, enabling brands to connect with their customers more effectively and boost their revenue.
Among the plethora of marketing tools available, Omnisend has emerged as a preferred choice for eCommerce brands, offering a comprehensive suite of features to manage email marketing and SMS, along with push notification campaigns.
This guide aims to provide a beginner-friendly introduction to Omnisend, highlighting its features, setup process, and best practices.
Whether you’re a new business owner exploring marketing automation or a seasoned marketer looking to enhance your strategy, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to get started with Omnisend and make the most of its capabilities.
1. What is Omnisend?
Omnisend is a powerful marketing automation platform designed specifically for eCommerce businesses. Unlike generic marketing tools, Omnisend focuses on helping online stores create personalized, engaging, and automated marketing campaigns that drive customer retention and boost sales.
The platform enables businesses to combine multiple marketing channels—such as email, SMS, and push notifications—into a single, seamless workflow. This unified approach simplifies campaign management and ensures consistent communication with customers. Moreover, Omnisend integrates effortlessly with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, making it a versatile choice for businesses of all sizes.
Why is Omnisend Unique?
- Tailored specifically for eCommerce businesses.
- Offers pre-built workflows that save time and effort.
- Provides advanced analytics to track and optimize campaign performance.
- Features a responsive support team that assists users with various inquiries and issues.
- Includes live chat support available 24/7 for all users.
2. Benefits of Marketing Automation for eCommerce
Marketing automation has revolutionized how eCommerce businesses interact with their customers. It eliminates repetitive manual tasks, boosts revenue, and ensures that brands can deliver timely and relevant messages. Omnisend offers helpful advice anytime through its 24/7 support services.
Key Benefits
- Efficiency: Automates essential tasks like email follow-ups, cart recovery, and welcome messages with just a few clicks.
- Personalization: Leverages customer data to create tailored messages.
- Increased Revenue: Drives sales through targeted campaigns that reach the right customers at the right time.
- Scalability: Supports businesses as they grow, ensuring consistent marketing efforts.
For eCommerce businesses, automation tools like Omnisend simplify complex processes, enabling them to focus on core business operations while building stronger relationships with their customers.
3. Why Choose Omnisend for eCommerce?
Omnisend is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of eCommerce businesses. Unlike traditional marketing tools, it offers features that align with the buying journey of online shoppers.
Core Advantages
- Omnichannel Capabilities: Combines email, SMS, and push notifications for a unified customer experience.
- Pre-Built Templates: Provides professionally designed templates for emails, workflows, and landing pages.
- Behavioral Targeting: Tracks customer behavior, such as browsing history and purchase activity, to create highly targeted campaigns.
- Ease of Use: Features an intuitive interface that requires no technical expertise.
- ROI Tracking: Offers detailed analytics to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
By choosing Omnisend, eCommerce businesses can unlock the full potential of their marketing automation efforts and drive meaningful results.
4. Omnisend’s Key Features Explained
Omnisend boasts a range of features that make it a comprehensive solution for eCommerce marketing.
4.1 Omnisend Email Marketing Campaigns
Omnisend email marketing SMS is a comprehensive tool designed for eCommerce stores, offering features like SMS integration, personalized email campaigns, and ready-made templates. Sign up forms are essential in building email campaigns and automated workflows, capturing customer information to execute personalized marketing strategies and enhance customer engagement. Omnisend’s email marketing tools allow you to create visually appealing and engaging emails. Its drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates make designing campaigns easy, even for beginners. Additionally, advanced personalization options ensure your messages resonate with individual customers.
4.2 SMS Marketing Solution
With Omnisend, our comprehensive marketing platform includes an SMS marketing solution that seamlessly integrates SMS with email marketing for e-commerce businesses. You can send targeted SMS messages to customers worldwide, enhancing customer engagement and ensuring timely communication. You can send promotional messages, order updates, and personalized offers directly to your customers’ phones, ensuring high engagement rates. Global SMS campaigns grow as part of an extensive marketing strategy that integrates email automation with SMS marketing, enhancing engagement and potential sales growth for ecommerce stores.
4.3 Automation Workflows
Omnisend offers pre-built automation workflows for common eCommerce scenarios, such as cart abandonment, welcome series, and post-purchase follow-ups. These workflows are customizable, allowing you to tailor them to your specific business needs.
4.4 Segmentation
The platform’s advanced segmentation tools enable you to group customers based on criteria like purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement levels. This allows for highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns.
4.5 Analytics and Reporting
Omnisend provides detailed reports on campaign performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and revenue generated. These insights help you optimize your strategy for better results.
5. Understanding Omnisend’s Omnichannel Marketing Approach
Omnisend’s omnichannel capabilities set it apart from traditional marketing tools. By combining multiple channels, the platform ensures that customers receive consistent messaging, regardless of how they interact with your brand.
Key Channels
- Email: The cornerstone of any eCommerce marketing strategy.
- SMS: Ideal for time-sensitive promotions and updates.
- Ability to create and send global SMS campaigns to enhance customer engagement.
- Push Notifications: Engages customers even when they’re not browsing your website.
This approach not only improves customer engagement but also maximizes the effectiveness of your campaigns.
6. Setting Up Omnisend: A Step-by-Step Guide
Setting up Omnisend for your eCommerce store is straightforward and requires no technical expertise. This eCommerce platform is designed to be user-friendly and efficient.
Step 1: Sign Up
Create an account on Omnisend’s website and choose a plan that suits your needs.
Step 2: Connect Your Store
Integrate your eCommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento) with Omnisend.
Step 3: Basic Configuration
Once integrated, you’ll need to complete several essential setup steps:
- Configure your DKIM, SPF and DMARC records and complete domain authentication process
- Set up tracking for website visitors and customer behavior
- Setup the subscription center to allow people to change their marketing preferences
It is essential to setup ensure that you setup your DKIM, SPF and DMARC records to ensure high deliverability of your emails.
In 2024, Google and Yahoo updated their policy guidelines and the above setup is essential to ensure compliance with their new policies for consistent delivery.
We also recommend that you use an IP Warming tool to warm up your IP’s before sending out mass emails to ensure your emails don’t land up in spam folder.
Subscription center setup is critical to ensure your marketing program is compliant with CAN SPAM, CASL, GDPR and other global compliance regulations.
Step 4: Configure Campaign Settings
Once the initial setup is done it is time to head over and customize Omnisend for your marketing requirements and brand.
- Configure your sender information
- Configure your branding settings like logos and brand colors
- Customize your universal color palette to align with your brand colors
- Build and setup your sign up forms with your brand identity
- Import your existing customer data and purchase history (only if it is applicable)
Step 5: Create your Marketing Campaigns
Omnisend’s drag-and-drop email editor makes it easy to create professional-looking campaigns without coding knowledge. Key features include:
- Pre-built templates optimized for ecommerce
- Product picker to easily showcase items from your store
- Dynamic content blocks for personalization
- Mobile-responsive design tools
- A/B testing capabilities
Step 6: SMS Marketing Integration
Complement your email efforts with SMS marketing:
- Set up SMS sender information and compliance settings
- Create targeted SMS campaigns
- Implement automated SMS notifications
- Combine email and SMS in your automation workflows
7. Basic Automation Programs
Welcome Series Automation
Leverage your Omnisend email marketing platform to create a powerful welcome series that transforms new users into engaged customers. With a user-friendly interface, easily create automated campaigns that send targeted messaging to new subscribers. By integrating SMS campaigns and web push notifications , you can craft a comprehensive onboarding experience that helps e-commerce businesses build strong initial connections and drive online sales .
Start building customer relationships with an effective welcome series:
- Trigger automated welcome emails upon signup
- Include promotional offers for first-time purchases
- Showcase your brand story and value proposition
- Set up progressive messaging to nurture new subscribers
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Mastering email marketing has become crucial for recovering abandoned carts effectively. With modern email marketing SMS solutions, businesses can easily create powerful recovery campaigns that drive more sales consistently. The integration of exit intent popups helps capture customers before they leave, while email marketing automation sends timely reminders.
Merchants starting with a free plan can leverage basic email marketing features, though upgrading unlocks additional sms credits for enhanced reach. Advanced email marketing SMS workflows combine with automation capabilities to create sophisticated recovery sequences.
Implement automated cart recovery workflows:
- Multiple reminder messages at optimal intervals
- Dynamic product recommendations
- Personalized discount offers
- Cross-channel messaging including email and SMS
Post-Purchase Follow up Automation
Enhance customer engagement with Omnisend account’s post-purchase follow-up strategies that integrate email templates and SMS tool capabilities. These automated campaigns help sales start strong by maintaining customer relationships through timely, relevant communications. By segment customers based on their shopping behavior, you can create personalized experiences that encourage repeat customers and build long-term brand loyalty.
Keep customers engaged after their purchase:
- Order confirmation and shipping notifications
- Product review requests
- Cross-sell and upsell recommendations
- Replenishment reminders for consumable products
Customer Winback Automation
Utilize the CRM solution’s advanced reporting to implement sophisticated re-engagement sequences. With pre-made templates and contact base growth strategies, free users can craft compelling winback campaigns that showcase your brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction. By integrating landing pages and spin to win mechanisms, you can create engaging pathways to re-attract lapsed customers.
Sophisticated re-engagement sequences:
- Lapsed customer identification
- Progressive discount offers
- Product recommendation automation
- Competitive win-back strategies
- Survey and feedback integration
Activation Sequence (Subscribed but not purchased yet)
Converting subscribers into first-time buyers requires strategic use of email templates that guide potential customers through their journey. The marketing automation platform helps businesses showcase more stuff while maintaining engagement through personalized communications. By integrating multiple apps into your activation sequence, you can create touchpoints that naturally lead subscribers to your pricing page.
The sophisticated marketing automation platform enables merchants to design compelling email templates that highlight more stuff their subscribers might be interested in. Through seamless integration with multiple apps, businesses can create a cohesive experience that gently guides potential customers toward their pricing page. The final piece involves using conversion-optimized email templates on your marketing automation platform to showcase even more stuff that appeals to your subscriber base.
Implement a cross channel activation campaign (email + SMS + Push) to push people to make the first purchase on your platform
- Social proof showcase with customer testimonials
- Educational content about bestselling products
- Exclusive first-purchase discount offer
- Product category education with buying guides
- Limited-time offer with urgency elements aka FOMO
Cross Sell Campaigns
Businesses can effectively send email marketing campaigns that maximize cross-selling opportunities using a versatile email builder for creating compelling offers. The strategic implementation of popups incl exit intent helps capture customer attention at crucial moments, while paid plans unlock advanced targeting capabilities.
Using the intuitive email builder, merchants can design personalized product recommendations, while sophisticated popups incl exit intent create additional touchpoints throughout the customer journey. Companies that send email marketing messages with cross-sell offers can significantly boost their revenue, especially when leveraging the advanced features available in paid plans.
Implement a cross channel activation campaign (email + SMS + Push) to push cross sells and increase your customer lifetime values
- Social proof showcase with customer testimonials
- Educational content about bestselling products
- Exclusive first-purchase discount offer
- Product category education with buying guides
8. Advanced Automation Workflows
Predictive Segmentation Automation
Leverage advanced AI algorithms to automatically segment customers based on their likelihood to purchase, churn risk, and lifetime value potential. This intelligent segmentation enables businesses to proactively target high-value customers with personalized offers and interventions. By analyzing patterns in customer behavior, purchase history, and engagement metrics, predictive segmentation helps optimize marketing resources and maximize ROI.
Leverage Omnisend’s AI-powered predictive analytics:
- High-probability purchaser targeting
- Churn risk identification and prevention
- Customer lifetime value prediction
- Product affinity automation
- Browse abandonment recovery
Multi-Channel Orchestration
Create seamless customer experiences across email, SMS, push notifications, and other channels through synchronized messaging and timing. Coordinate communications based on customer preferences and behavior patterns while maintaining consistent branding and messaging across all touchpoints. Enable real-time response to customer actions by automatically triggering relevant messages on their preferred channels.
Create sophisticated cross-channel experiences:
- Email, SMS, and push notification integration
- Channel preference-based routing
- Cross-channel frequency capping
- Unified customer messaging history
- Channel performance optimization
Dynamic Content Automation
Automatically personalize dynamic content, offers, and product recommendations based on real-time customer data and behavior. Adapt email content, website displays, and promotional offers based on factors like location, weather, inventory levels, and previous interactions. Create highly relevant experiences that evolve with each customer’s journey and preferences.
Implement advanced personalization workflows:
- Real-time inventory-based content updates
- Weather-based product recommendations
- Geographic-specific promotion targeting
- Time zone-optimized sending
- Dynamic pricing and promotion automation
Conditional Split Workflows
Design sophisticated automation flows that include conditional split workflows, branching based on customer actions, preferences, and engagement levels. Create personalized paths that adapt to how customers interact with your campaigns and website. Implement complex decision trees that ensure each customer receives the most relevant content and offers based on their specific behaviors and characteristics.
Create complex decision trees based on:
- Previous campaign engagement
- Purchase history and value
- Website behavior patterns
- Custom event triggers
- A/B test results
Advanced Customer Retention Automation
Develop comprehensive loyalty-building programs that identify and reward your most valuable customers through automated milestone celebrations and personalized perks to enhance customer retention. Implement sophisticated win-back campaigns for at-risk customers using predictive churn analysis and targeted incentives. Create automated replenishment and reorder programs that keep customers engaged and maximize lifetime value.
Sophisticated loyalty-building workflows:
- VIP customer identification and rewards
- Anniversary and milestone celebrations
- Replenishment cycle optimization
- Subscription management automation
- Custom loyalty program integration
Advanced Cart Recovery Sequences
Deploy multi-stage recovery campaigns that combine cart recovery sequences, browse abandonment tracking, wishlist reminders, and cart expiration notifications. Automatically adjust messaging and offers based on cart value, customer history, and previous response patterns. Incorporate social proof, urgency elements, and personalized recommendations to maximize recovery rates.
Multi-touch recovery workflows:
- Browse abandonment automation
- Wishlist reminder sequences
- Price drop notifications
- Back-in-stock alerts
- Cart expiration urgency
Behavioral Trigger Automation
Create sophisticated automated responses to specific customer actions like product views, category browsing, and search queries using behavioral trigger automation. Trigger relevant follow-up messages and recommendations based on detailed website interaction patterns. Deploy personalized messaging sequences that adapt to each customer’s unique shopping behavior and interests.
Complex behavior-based workflows:
- Product page view sequences
- Category browsing patterns
- Search behavior targeting
- Add-to-cart triggers
- Wishlist interactions
Integration-Based Automation
Seamlessly connect your e-commerce platform with review systems, loyalty programs, help desk software, and inventory management tools. Automate customer communications based on actions and events across integrated platforms. Create cohesive experiences by synchronizing data and triggers across your entire technology stack. CopyRetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.
Leverage third-party integrations:
- Review platform automation
- Loyalty program synchronization
- Help desk ticket triggers
- Payment system integration
- Inventory management automation
9. Best Practices and Tips
Optimization Strategies
Continuously improve your Omnisend automation workflows through effective optimization strategies, including regular A/B testing of email content, subject lines, and send times. Monitor key performance metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion data through Omnisend’s analytics dashboard to refine your automation sequences. Maintain list hygiene by automatically removing unengaged subscribers and implementing re-engagement campaigns, while ensuring deliverability through Omnisend’s built-in compliance tools and best practices.
Continuously improve your automation:
- Regular A/B testing of messages and workflows
- Performance monitoring and optimization
- List hygiene and maintenance
- Compliance and deliverability management
Campaign Planning
Develop a comprehensive eCommerce marketing calendar that combines campaign planning with Omnisend’s automated workflows, seasonal promotions, and special events. Balance promotional content with relationship-building messages by utilizing Omnisend’s template library and customization options for different campaign types. Coordinate multi-channel campaigns across email, SMS, and push notifications using Omnisend’s unified dashboard, ensuring consistent messaging and timing across all customer touchpoints.
Develop effective campaign strategies:
- Create a content calendar
- Plan seasonal promotions
- Coordinate multi-channel campaigns
- Balance promotional and relationship-building content
10. Who is Omnisend Best For?
Omnisend is an ideal email and SMS marketing platform for small to medium-sized eCommerce businesses looking for a user-friendly, feature-rich solution at an affordable price point.
It is particularly well-suited for businesses that want to drive sales and engagement through dynamic marketing strategies and need a platform that can help them create and send targeted email and SMS campaigns to their audience.
With its ability to integrate with major eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Wix, Omnisend is a great choice for online retailers who want to streamline their marketing efforts and improve customer engagement. Additionally, its unlimited web push notifications, SMS marketing solution, and free plan make it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.
Omnisend’s customer-centric approach and helpful advice anytime through various channels, including a knowledge base, email support, and direct message on the platform, make it an excellent choice for businesses that value customer support.
Its support team is available 24/7 to help users with their queries, making it an ideal platform for businesses that need assistance with their email marketing campaigns.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Omnisend
Common mistakes with Omnisend can derail your marketing efforts before they begin.
The foundation often crumbles when marketers rush into complex automations without mastering the basics. Think of it like building a house on sand – it just won’t stand.
- Segmentation is where many stumble first. Instead of crafting targeted messages for specific customer groups, they blast generic content to everyone. It’s like using a megaphone when you need a personal conversation.
- Poor tracking and integration setup is another major pitfall. When your ecommerce platform isn’t properly connected, you’re essentially flying blind – missing vital data and personalization opportunities.
- Message fatigue is real. Overeager marketers often create automation workflows that overwhelm customers with constant messages. Less is more when it comes to engagement.
- List hygiene gets neglected too often. Dirty lists full of invalid emails and chronic non-engagers are like poison for your deliverability rates.
- Testing shouldn’t be an afterthought. Launching campaigns without A/B testing key elements is like throwing darts in the dark – you might hit something, but you won’t know why or how to repeat it.
- Cart abandonment sequences need balance. Some make them too brief with just one reminder, while others pester customers with endless follow-ups. The sweet spot? Usually 3-4 well-timed messages.
- SMS compliance isn’t optional. Misconfigured settings here aren’t just bad practice – they can land you in legal trouble.
- Finally, many users barely scratch the surface of Omnisend’s reporting capabilities. It’s like having a treasure map but never following it to find the gold in your campaign data.
11. Future Trends in eCommerce Marketing Automation
The future trends of ecommerce marketing automation are rapidly evolving beyond simple email sequences.
- AI-driven hyper-personalization is leading the charge, with systems that can predict customer behavior and automatically adjust messaging in real-time.
- Picture this: your marketing platform doesn’t just know what your customer bought – it anticipates their next purchase before they do.
- Zero-party data collection is becoming the new gold standard, with brands creating innovative ways to gather customer preferences directly.
- Omnichannel automation is getting smarter too, seamlessly blending SMS, email, push notifications, and social media into one coherent customer journey.
- Voice commerce integration is gaining momentum, with automation platforms beginning to handle voice-activated shopping experiences.
- Augmented reality (AR) try-ons are being integrated into automated marketing flows, letting customers virtually experience products before purchase.
- The rise of micro-moments in customer behavior is pushing automation to become more contextual and immediate – think location-based triggers and weather-sensitive promotions.
- Sustainability tracking is emerging as a key automation feature, with systems automatically calculating and communicating the environmental impact of purchases.
Most excitingly, predictive analytics is evolving to understand not just when a customer might buy, but also why they might churn, allowing for proactive retention campaigns that feel personal rather than promotional.
Omnisend is an indispensable tool for eCommerce businesses looking to scale their marketing efforts. Its user-friendly interface, robust features, and omnichannel capabilities make it ideal for businesses of all sizes.
By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you can harness the power of Omnisend to drive customer engagement, boost sales, and grow your brand.
Ready to unlock the full potential of Omnisend for your eCommerce store? Hire your Omnisend expert on Zavops
1. Describe your project: Schedule a quick call to share your marketing automation needs and business goals.
2. Meet your expert: Within 48 hours, Zavops will connect you with a top-notch Omnisend specialist from its elite network.
3. Launch your strategy: Start boosting engagement, automating workflows, and driving sales with an Omnisend expert in just three days.
