Automation Workflows let you send targeted emails and SMS based on customer actions – like abandoned carts, signups, or purchases. Configure triggers, filters, delays, and messages to engage customers at the right time.
This article covers how to set up and manage automation workflow settings, from choosing a trigger to activating your workflow.
Before You Start
Two Steps to Go Live: To make your automation send, you need two separate actions:
Publish Changes – saves your workflow edits
Activate Workflow (or "Start Workflow") – makes it live and starts sending to customers
Publishing without activating keeps the workflow disabled. Activating without publishing runs the old version.
Availability: Automation Workflows are included in all Omnisend plans. For pricing details, visit our Pricing Page.
Channel Integration: You can add email, SMS, and push notifications to each workflow. However, contact subscription statuses are managed separately. Use Workflow Channel Settings or add an Exit Condition to target only subscribed or consented contacts.
Workflow Replacement: Omnisend automations do not automatically replace existing workflows in your store. Once automation is enabled in Omnisend, disable the corresponding workflow in your store settings. Learn more about replacing automatic responses in Shopify.
UTM Tags: Omnisend automatically adds UTM tags (sourced as omnisend) to all messages. You can customize these for each message within the flow.
⚠️ Segment-Based Filter Warning: Avoid using segments as audience filters at the trigger level. Contacts may trigger the workflow before being added to the segment (1–2 min delay), causing them to exit immediately. Instead, use a conditional split with a 1–2 minute delay after the trigger.
About Automation Workflows
To access your Automation Workflows, go to Automation in the top menu. Workflows are organized by trigger type – such as Abandoned Carts, Signups, or Order Placed.
You can start with a pre-built preset (recommended) or create a workflow from scratch. Both options allow customization, but presets come with recommended default values and pre-configured triggers.
💬 For a complete list of available workflows, visit our Automations Library
Setting Up an Automation Workflow
Step 1. Choose the Type of Workflow
Go to Automation → Create Workflow.
Select a workflow from the Automations Library or choose Create from Scratch.
You'll see workflows with varying complexity — some include one email, others feature multi-step sequences with email and SMS. You can add or remove messages as needed.
Step 2. Configure Trigger Settings
The trigger defines when customers enter the workflow. Each workflow includes default trigger settings, which you can adjust.
Trigger & Trigger Filters
Customize the trigger based on your store platform and use case. You can add up to 5 Trigger Filters to each workflow.
Example: For order-based automations, consider the order's initial status. If your order is added to Omnisend with "Paid" status and later changes to "Fulfilled," use the Fulfillment status is "pending" or "partial" trigger filter if it aligns with your store settings.
Workflow Channel Settings
Control which contacts receive messages based on their subscription status. These settings appear inside the Trigger block (the first block in your workflow). If you don't see them, add at least one message block (email, SMS, or push) first.
Audience Filters
Define the customer segment that receives the message. For example, setting the Audience Filter to "Country is Lithuania" targets customers who select Lithuania at checkout or via a signup form.
⚠️ Important: Avoid using segment-based audience filters at the trigger level. Segments update every 1–2 minutes, so contacts may trigger the workflow before appearing in the segment – causing them to exit immediately. Instead, add a conditional split with a 1–2 minute delay after the trigger.
Exit Conditions
Exit conditions cancel the workflow once specific conditions are met. They do not restrict entry – they stop the flow mid-sequence. You can add up to 4 Exit Conditions.
How Exit Conditions differ from Audience Filters:
Exit conditions are checked continuously while contacts are in the workflow. Audience filters are checked only at entry. If you need to filter contacts at multiple points, use conditional splits instead.
Frequency Settings
Control how often the same contact can re-enter this workflow.
"At any time" – The contact enters once, ever. Use this for one-time offers or welcome series.
"30 days" (or custom delay) – The contact can re-enter only if they meet the trigger conditions again after the specified time passes. This prevents discount code reuse or limits promotional sends.
Example: If you set frequency to "30 days" for an abandoned cart workflow, a contact who abandons a cart, receives the email, and then abandons another cart 2 weeks later will not re-enter. They must wait 30 days from the first trigger.
💬 You can also use the "Skip Contacts" option to prevent overlapping automations.
Optional: Add a Split to the Automation
Conditional Splits
Use Conditional Splits to send different messages to different contact groups based on conditions. You can add up to 10 splits, based on:
Trigger events or filters
Custom properties or audience filters
Message behavior or previous interactions
A/B Test Splits
Test different elements – such as subject lines, content, or delays – by randomly splitting contacts into groups based on your chosen probability.
Step 3. Set the Delay
Choose delays ranging from minutes to months. Delays are calculated from the end of the previous block, not just the trigger.
Follow best practices for suggested timings, but adjust based on your business needs.
💡 Note: Automation delays use your store's time zone, not each contact's local time zone. Time Zone Optimization (TZO), which sends based on each contact's timezone, is only available for email campaigns – not automation.
Step 4. Add a Message to the Sequence
Email Messages
Fill in all required fields: Subject line, Preheader, Sender's name, and Sender email address. Automated workflows include unique content blocks based on the trigger type.
Once you fill in the inbox details, you can edit the email content in the editor.
SMS Messages
Ensure all required fields are filled. SMS messages can be edited directly within the editor.
Multi-Channel Sequences
If multiple channels are included, a default checkbox ensures that contacts not opted in for a specific channel are passed to the next message in the workflow.
Optional: Add a Tag to the Automation
Tags help categorize contacts at different workflow stages, allowing you to segment and target communications more effectively.
Alerts in Automations Builder
In the Automations builder, you'll see a button labeled "Alerts" at the top right. This section helps you identify what needs attention before you can activate your workflow.
Alerts are divided into two types:
Errors – Issues that must be fixed before enabling the automation (e.g., missing trigger).
Recommendations – Optional improvements to make your automation more effective (e.g., adding inactivity time).
Each alert includes a short explanation and a way to fix the issue:
Some alerts include a quick action button (like "Set to 1 hour") that applies the recommended fix with one click.
Others require you to open the setup and manually adjust the configuration.
If you intentionally want to keep your setup as is – even if it triggers an alert – you can dismiss the alert by clicking the close button. Once dismissed, the alert count will disappear from active Alerts and be listed under Dismissed Alerts.
Managing Enabled Workflows
When you make changes to an enabled workflow and click Publish Changes, a pop-up will prompt you to decide how to handle contacts already in the sequence:
Complete the sequence – Contacts already in the workflow finish under the old version. New contacts get the updated version.
Discontinue the sequence – Existing contacts exit immediately. New contacts get the updated version.
Note: Changes to email content will be applied to all contacts, but those who have completed the initial flow will not receive new emails unless re-triggered.
Automation Reports
To review the performance of your Automation Workflow, click Show Stats or View Full Report for detailed insights.
The report shows how many contacts interacted with each block and how many were skipped. Contacts skip a block if they're not eligible to receive the message — for example, a contact not subscribed to SMS skips the SMS block but passes to the next stage.
Note: Stats may reset to zero for new blocks. If you intend to make any changes to individual blocks, wait 30 days without making further changes to ensure all stats (for every block) are properly aligned.
Once you add a new block, the stats will be set to 0 because no contacts have used them yet.
Troubleshooting
Publish button greyed out
Ensure all required workflow elements are complete: trigger configuration, at least one message block, and all required fields filled in. Check that Workflow Channel Settings are configured in the trigger block.
Trigger Preview shows "No Matching Contacts"
This means no one has triggered the event recently (last 10 instances). It doesn't mean your workflow is broken. Test by manually triggering the event (e.g., submit a form, place a test order).
Contacts exiting immediately
If using a segment-based audience filter at the trigger level, contacts may exit before the segment updates (1–2 min delay). Use a conditional split with a 1–2 minute delay after the trigger instead.
FAQ
What's the difference between "Publish Changes" and "Activate Workflow"?
"Publish Changes" saves your edits to the workflow. "Activate Workflow" (or "Start Workflow") makes it live and begins sending to customers.
You need both actions: publish your changes, then activate the workflow. If you activate without publishing, the old version will run.
Why aren't contacts entering my workflow even though it's enabled?
Check these common issues:
If you're using a segment as an audience filter at the trigger level, contacts may exit before the segment updates (1–2 min delay). Use a conditional split instead.
Verify Workflow Channel Settings in the trigger block match the contact subscription status.
Use the Trigger Preview Tool to see which filters are failing.
What does the frequency setting "At any time" vs "30 days" mean?
The frequency setting controls how often the same contact can re-enter the workflow.
"At any time" – Once per contact, ever.
"30 days" – They can only re-enter if they meet the trigger conditions again after 30 days.
If they don't re-qualify (e.g., they don't make another purchase), they won't receive it again.
Can I send automation emails at different times based on each contact's time zone?
No. Automation delays use your store's time zone only. Time Zone Optimization (TZO), which sends based on each contact's local time, is only available for email campaigns – not automations.
Where are Workflow Channel Settings? I can't find them.
Workflow Channel Settings are inside the Trigger block (the first block at the start of your workflow), not in individual message blocks.
Click the trigger block, scroll down, and look for "Workflow Channel Settings." Click "Customize" to adjust.
If you don't see this section, add at least one message block (email, SMS, or push) to your workflow first.
What happens to contacts already in the workflow when I make changes?
When you publish changes, you'll choose:
"Complete the sequence" – Contacts already in the workflow finish under the old version. New contacts get the updated version.
"Discontinue the sequence" – Existing contacts exit immediately. New contacts get the updated version.
Content edits (like email text) apply to all contacts, but completed contacts won't re-receive emails unless re-triggered.
Why is the "Publish Changes" button greyed out?
The Publish Changes button is disabled when:
Required workflow elements are incomplete (missing trigger configuration, no message blocks, or empty required fields).
Workflow Channel Settings aren't configured in the trigger block.
Your user role doesn't have edit permissions (Analyst role cannot edit workflows).
If you have any questions, please contact our Support Team via in-app chat or email us at [email protected].