Delays control when messages and workflow steps occur, helping you deliver communications at the most relevant moment. Well-timed automations increase engagement, prevent message fatigue, and ensure contacts receive emails or SMS messages on a predictable schedule.
Note: When using pre-made automation templates, we recommend keeping the delays as originally set, following best practices. You can also test different delays with A/B testing or monitor and adjust your automation settings over time.
What's a Delay?
A delay block pauses an automation before the next step runs. The delay starts the moment a contact reaches that block. Each delay block works independently, so stacking multiple delays results in multiple controlled pauses.
Delays help shape your Automation Workflow by:
Preventing back-to-back messages
Ensuring messages are sent during high-engagement windows
Avoiding weekends or other low-activity days
Giving contacts time to open or click before moving to conditions
Delays do not affect previous steps and do not restart based on when the workflow was triggered – only based on when the contact arrives at that specific delay block.
Delays in Automation Structure
All automations in Omnisend follow a linear structure. A contact always enters the next stage of the workflow only after completing the previous one.
If you don't add any delays, the contact moves forward immediately. Two messages placed back-to-back without a delay will still send in the correct order – just instantly, with no spacing between them.
Delays can be configured using fixed durations, specific times of day, or sending only on selected weekdays. These options let you tailor timing to your audience's behavior, business hours, or communication strategy.
How to Add a Delay to Your Automation
To add a delay block, drag it from the left panel and drop it onto any step in your Automation Workflow. You can insert delays between any two blocks.
A delay cannot be placed at the very end of the workflow – a delay placed there has no effect, since there is no next step for the contact to move to.
Once added, configure the delay using the settings panel on the right side of the editor. You can choose a duration, set a specific time of day, or restrict sending to particular days of the week.
Types of Delays
Duration Delays
A duration delay is a fixed amount of time – minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.
As soon as a contact reaches a duration delay, the countdown begins. When the full duration has elapsed, the contact continues to the next step.
For example, if a contact enters a 3-hour delay at 12:00 PM, they will proceed to the next block at exactly 3:00 PM.
If you stack duration delays, each one begins counting only after the previous delay has finished, resulting in sequential timing.
Duration delays work well when you want to space out messages – for example, separating welcome emails, browse abandonment follow-ups, or multi-step onboarding sequences.
Time-of-Day Delays
A time-of-day delay holds a contact until a specific hour you choose. Unlike duration delays, which wait for a fixed amount of time, time-of-day delays ensure the next step runs at a consistent time regardless of when the contact reaches the block.
When a contact enters a time-of-day delay, Omnisend checks the current time:
If the selected time is still ahead today, the contact waits until that hour.
If the selected time has already passed, the contact waits until that same hour the next day.
For example, if a contact reaches a send at 08:00 AM delay at 10:15 AM, they will remain in the delay until 08:00 AM the next morning.
Note: Time-of-day delays support only one specific time. A flexible send window (for example, "send anytime between 9 AM and 12 PM") is not supported. Choose a single time that works best for your audience and set the delay accordingly.
Note: All automation delays use your store's timezone, not each contact's local timezone. To check or update your timezone, go to Store Settings → Contact Information → Timezone. Time Zone Optimization, which sends based on each recipient's local time, is available only for email campaigns, not for Automation Workflows.
Time-of-day delays are especially useful when engagement timing matters – for example, morning SMS reminders, early-day welcome messages, or sales announcements.
Weekday-Only Sending Rules
Weekday-only sending rules let you define which days of the week a delay is allowed to complete on. This is often used to avoid sending messages on weekends or specific low-engagement days.
When combined with a duration or time-of-day setting, Omnisend resolves both rules together into one final send time, based on the following logic:
The system calculates the intended finish time according to the delay settings (duration or time-of-day).
If that finish time lands on a selected weekday, the next step executes immediately.
If that time falls on an unselected day, Omnisend shifts the send to the next allowed weekday at the same hour.
The duration is not restarted or extended; only the finishing day changes.
Let's review this example:
Contact reaches the delay on Saturday at 3:00 PM
Delay: 5 minutes, weekdays only = Mon–Fri
Intended finish: Saturday 3:05 PM
Saturday is not allowed → shift forward
Final send time: Monday 3:05 PM
The weekday rule never sends to midnight or resets the delay – it simply moves it forward to the next valid day, keeping the same clock time.
⚠️ Important: The fewer days you allow, the longer some contacts may wait. For example, if you restrict sending to Sunday only, contacts entering on any other day will wait up to 6 days. To avoid extreme waits, allow at least 2–3 days per week.
Combined Delay Behavior
Because a delay block can combine multiple settings (duration, time-of-day, weekday rules), Omnisend resolves them in a clear, predictable order:
Start from the moment the contact enters the block.
Apply duration (if chosen) to calculate the initial finish timestamp.
Apply time-of-day (if chosen), which can override the finish hour.
Check weekday restrictions and adjust the finish date only if required.
Run the next step once all conditions are satisfied.
This unified approach ensures delays behave consistently across all workflows, regardless of how many settings you combine.
⚠️ Important: Avoid placing a separate duration delay block immediately before a separate time-of-day delay block. If the first delay finishes after the target time has already passed for that day, Omnisend will hold the contact until that time the next day – shifting the send by one day. To prevent this, combine both settings inside a single delay block instead of using two blocks back to back.
Using Delays with Conditional Splits and Audience Filters
Conditional Splits and Audience Filters evaluate a contact's qualification as soon as they reach the block. For conditions that depend on behavior – such as opening an email or clicking a link – contacts need time to act before being evaluated.
Adding a delay before a conditional block ensures:
Contacts have enough time to open or click the message
Behavior-based splits yield more accurate results
Contacts are less likely to fall into the “No” path simply because they arrived too quickly
For example, send an email and then add a 2-hour delay before checking whether the contact clicked a link. If you place the condition immediately after the message without a delay, contacts will not have had time to act and will be routed to the No path.
Troubleshooting Delay Behavior
1. My message was sent later than I expected →
This usually means the delay finished on an unselected weekday. Omnisend shifted the send to the next allowed day at the same time. Check your weekday rule settings to confirm which days are enabled.
2. Why didn’t my delay restart on Monday? →
Delays never restart. The finish time is moved forward to the next allowed day; the duration is not reapplied.
3. Why is the send time the same hour on the next weekday? →
Weekday rules preserve the intended finish time. They only adjust the day, not the time of day.
4. My condition was evaluated too soon →
Add a duration delay before your split or filter to give contacts time to interact with the previous message.
5. My email was sent a day later than expected, even without weekend restrictions →
This is most often caused by stacking two separate delay blocks – a duration delay followed by a time-of-day delay. If the first delay finishes after the target time has already passed, the second delay is pushed to the next day. Use a single delay block that combines both settings to avoid this.
6. Can I delay a send until a specific calendar date? →
No. Automation delays are always calculated relative to when a contact enters each delay block, not from a fixed date. If you need to send on a specific date – for example, a one-time event reminder on June 15th – create a scheduled email campaign instead.
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