If you have set up Welcome automation to greet your new clients, but notice that no one is entering the workflow or that some new contacts aren’t receiving the welcome message, there are several details you should check.
In this article, you’ll find the most common mistakes when setting up a Welcome automation workflow and learn how to resolve them.
Before You Troubleshoot
Verify these basics first:
Your Welcome Automation is enabled (check Status under your Automation table).
After making any changes, you clicked "Publish changes" to apply updates.
Check for automation alerts at the top of your workflow (yellow/red banners). These highlight issues like unpublished changes, invalid settings, or trigger errors. Learn more about automation alerts.
Step 1: Check Automation Reports First
Open your Welcome Automation and click Show Stats or View Full Report. This shows:
Contacts entered: If zero, the trigger isn't firing (check signup form sync and trigger filters below).
Contacts currently in workflow: If high, contacts may be waiting in a delay step.
Contacts exited: If many exited immediately, check audience filters or exit conditions.
Messages delivered: If contacts entered but emails didn't send, verify subscription status and channel settings.
What the stats mean:
0 contacts entered: Problem is with signup form sync or trigger settings (see Steps 2–3).
Contacts entered but 0 delivered: Check email deliverability (spam folder, inbox filters) or channel subscription status (see Step 4).
💡 If contacts appear in Audience → Contacts but didn't receive the email: This means your signup form is working, but your automation trigger settings are blocking the workflow. Continue to Step 2.
Step 2: Use the Trigger Preview Tool
The Trigger Preview Tool is the fastest way to diagnose why contacts aren't entering your automation. It shows the last 10 contacts who attempted to trigger your workflow and which filters passed or failed.
To access it, open your Welcome Automation → Click the Trigger block at the top of your workflow → Test trigger.
What you'll see:
Green checkmark
✓: Contact met all conditions and entered the workflow.Red X
✗: Contact didn't meet one or more filters and was excluded.
Click on any contact to see which specific filter blocked them (e.g., "First subscription is true," "Subscription method is Signup form"). Learn more about the Trigger Preview Tool.
Step 3: Fix Common Trigger Issues
Issue 1: Signup Forms Not Syncing Contacts
When to check this? Contacts submit your signup form, but they don't appear under Audience → Contacts.
For Omnisend forms:
Test signup via Incognito mode with an unused email address.
Check if the contact appears in Audience → Contacts.
Verify signup details in Reports → Forms → Contact activity.
Note: When testing your form, use an email address that hasn’t been subscribed before and is not set as your sender email address.
For third-party forms (e.g., Shopify checkout, WooCommerce, custom forms):
Check if signups sync to your ecommerce platform first. If they don't appear in your store's customer list, they won't sync to Omnisend.
Confirm your third-party integrations are active (Store Settings → Apps).
Issue 2: "First Subscription Is True" Blocks Already Subscribed Contacts
When to check this? Contacts are added to Audience → Contacts, but they don't enter the automation, or you used your testing email and didn't enter the automation.
The "First subscription is true" filter prevents the automation from triggering for any email address that has ever been subscribed before, even if it's now unsubscribed.
Solution: To test your automation:
Use a completely new email address (e.g.,
[email protected],[email protected]) in Incognito mode.Or temporarily remove the "First subscription is true" filter while testing (remember to add it back before going live).
⚠️ Important: If you remove "First subscription is true," the automation will trigger for all new subscriptions, no matter if they were already subscribed.
Issue 3: "Subscription Method" Filter Excludes Other Sources
When to check this? Contacts who subscribe at checkout, via third-party forms, or through imports don't receive the welcome email.
If your trigger includes "Subscription method is Signup form," the automation will only trigger for contacts who subscribe through signup forms.
If you have selected a specific form under the “Form is” filter, only contacts who subscribe through that form will trigger the automation.
For example, if the filter is set to Form X and a subscriber submits Form Y, they won’t enter the automation because they don’t match the selected filter.
If you want the workflow to be triggered for all subscription methods, delete the "Subscription method is" from your trigger filters.
If you want to trigger this flow for several selected forms or other sources (checkout, API, etc.):
Add a new filter group.
Select desired forms or sources using the OR operator.
Issue 4: Segment-Based Audience Filters Cause Timing Issues
When to check this? Contacts meet the trigger but exit immediately without receiving any emails.
When a contact signs up, they trigger the automation instantly, but it may take 1–2 minutes for them to appear in a segment. The automation checks the segment filter immediately, sees the contact isn't in the segment yet, and exits them before sending.
For example, if you want new signups to enter a “Never Placed an Order” segment and add this segment as an audience filter, the contact may not qualify instantly. Because segment updates are not immediate, the contact may exit the automation before being included in the segment.
Solution: Use the segment as a split rule.
Remove the segment from Audience Filters.
Add a Split block before your first message.
Set the split rule to Contact properties → Segment and select your segment.
Add a 1–2 minute delay before the split to allow time for segment assignment.
💬 Find more about the Segment-based Audience Filter and Split-conditions.
Step 4: Fix Multi-Channel Settings
If your workflow includes email, SMS, and/or Push Notifications, contacts may skip or get stuck at a message if they aren't subscribed to that channel.
To avoid this, enable "Pass non-opted-in contacts to the next step" for every message block.
Click on each message block (email, SMS, or Push).
Scroll to Settings.
Check "Pass non-opted-in contacts to the next workflow step."
This ensures that if a contact isn't subscribed to a specific channel, they'll skip that message and continue to the next step.
Step 5: Review Email Delivery Issues
If your automation report shows “Message sent,” but the subscriber didn’t receive the email, it means the message was successfully sent from Omnisend. However, it may not have landed in the recipient’s primary inbox.
To troubleshoot the issue:
Check all inbox folders: Spam, Junk, Promotions, and Social tabs.
Test with a different email provider (such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo) to rule out provider-specific filters.
Verify your sender domain authentication: Go to Store settings → Domains. Unauthenticated domains are more likely to be flagged as spam.
💡 Using the Omnisend shared domain? While this won’t prevent your automation from sending emails, it increases the chances of your message landing in spam. We recommend setting up a custom sender email that matches your authenticated domain to improve deliverability.
FAQ
Why didn't I receive the welcome email when I tested my signup form?
If you're testing with an email address that has ever been subscribed before (even if it's now unsubscribed), the automation won't trigger if "First subscription is true" is enabled in your trigger filters. Test with a completely new email address (e.g., [email protected]) in Incognito mode.
I made changes to my automation, but it's still not working. What did I forget?
After making any changes to your automation, you must click "Publish changes" for them to take effect. Also, check that the automation status is set to Enabled (not draft). A draft or disabled automation won't send emails even if contacts meet all trigger conditions.
What if the Trigger Preview Tool shows "No Matching Contacts"?
This means no one has triggered the event yet. It doesn't mean your workflow is broken. Test by manually triggering the event (e.g., sign up via your form with an unused email address).
Why do contacts show as "Currently in" but not "Completed"?
Contacts are likely waiting in a delay step. Check your workflow for delay blocks (e.g., "Wait 1 day").
Facing any challenge? You can always reach our 24/7 Support Team via in-app chat or at [email protected].