Email Marketing for Beginners: Omnisend Setup Guide

Most website visitors (97-98%) do not purchase on their first visit, and many forget a website within 24 hours. This low initial conversion rate and subsequent low return rate highlight a significant challenge for online businesses. Email marketing addresses this by providing a mechanism to re-engage with visitors and convert them into customers over time.

Email marketing flows, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, and reminders, can achieve a 10-25% conversion rate for non-buyer visitors. This demonstrates its effectiveness in recovering potentially lost revenue and building customer relationships. For instance, one example showed email marketing contributing $4,700 out of $6,500 in monthly revenue, primarily through coupon codes.

To begin, create a free Omnisend account by providing your business email, creating a password, and specifying if your website is e-commerce or non-e-commerce. After signing up, verify your email address through a link sent to your inbox. Complete your profile by entering your first name, last name, business name, website, and business address.

Once logged in, the first crucial step is to connect your website to Omnisend. This integration allows Omnisend to synchronize with your store and automate marketing efforts. Omnisend supports various platforms, including WordPress, Wix, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

For WordPress users, connecting Omnisend involves installing and activating the Omnisend plugin from your WordPress dashboard. After activation, navigate to the Omnisend plugin settings and paste the API key provided by Omnisend to establish the connection. This process is similar for other CMS platforms, typically involving a custom HTML block or a dedicated plugin.

Upon successful connection, Omnisend prompts you to set your brand style. This feature automatically pulls colors and typography from your website to ensure consistency across your email campaigns and forms. You can also add social media links, which will be integrated into your email templates.

Before creating campaigns or automations, it is highly recommended to create audience segments. Segments categorize your subscribers based on their behavior, allowing for more targeted and effective marketing. Examples include 'active email subscribers' (those who click on emails every 30 days) and 'disengaged email subscribers' (those who haven't opened an email in a specified period, like three months).

Creating segments helps tailor offers and content to specific groups, improving engagement and conversion rates. Omnisend allows you to define custom criteria for these segments, such as engagement frequency or specific actions taken by subscribers.

Omnisend offers various pre-built form templates, including pop-ups, embedded forms, and gamified options like spin-the-wheel discounts. These templates can be customized using a drag-and-drop builder, allowing you to add text, images, and product elements. Key settings include audience management (e.g., opt-in protection, reCAPTCHA, tags), scheduling, and display rules.

Display rules dictate when and where a form appears, such as after a user spends 5 seconds on a page, on exit intent, or after scrolling a certain depth. Targeting options allow you to show specific forms to different audience segments or devices. Once enabled, Omnisend provides a code snippet for embedded forms, which can be placed on blog posts, landing pages, or other website sections.

Automations are pre-designed email sequences triggered by specific user actions, such as subscribing to a newsletter. Omnisend provides templates for common automations like welcome emails. The workflow typically starts with a trigger (e.g., 'when someone is subscribed'), followed by a delay (e.g., 1 minute), and then an email send.

Each email in the workflow can be customized with content, sender name, and pre-header text. The branded kit ensures that automated emails maintain your website's aesthetic. Once customized, activating the workflow ensures that subscribers automatically receive these emails, creating a consistent and timely communication channel.

For one-off communications, Omnisend allows you to create and send email campaigns. You can use AI to generate campaign ideas and content, such as Black Friday deals for specific product categories. Omnisend's branded templates automatically apply your website's styles, simplifying the design process.

When sending a campaign, you can select specific audience segments as recipients, enabling highly targeted offers. For example, you might send a special discount to 'disengaged email subscribers' to re-activate them. Omnisend also offers features like campaign boosters, which automatically resend campaigns to subscribers who didn't open the initial email, maximizing reach and engagement.