Sync your Omnisend contacts with ReferralCandy to enroll them in your referral program as advocates — and write each advocate's unique referral link back to Omnisend, so you can drop referral links straight into your Omnisend campaigns, newsletters, and automations.

With the Omnisend integration you can:

Import your contacts from Omnisend into ReferralCandy — everyone, or a single Omnisend segment — and enroll them as advocates in your referral campaigns.
Write each advocate's referral link back to Omnisend as a campaign-specific custom property you can use in your emails and segments.
Send real-time referral events (such as ReferralCandy - Enrolled and ReferralCandy - Reward earned) to Omnisend, so your own automations can react when someone joins your referral program or earns a reward.
Enroll new subscribers in real time with a ReferralCandy-managed Omnisend automation, so people join your referral program the moment they subscribe to marketing.

Note: Connecting Omnisend does not change how ReferralCandy's own emails behave — and ReferralCandy never sends emails through Omnisend. But contacts you import are enrolled as advocates, so they will start receiving whichever ReferralCandy emails you have turned on (such as the welcome email). Decide before your first sync whether you want both tools emailing your contacts — see Who sends the emails below.

Before you start

To set up the Omnisend integration, you'll need access to your ReferralCandy dashboard and an Omnisend account you can authorize.

You don't need to create or paste an API key — ReferralCandy connects to Omnisend through an authorization request you approve in Omnisend.
During authorization, Omnisend shows the access ReferralCandy is requesting (your contacts, segments, events, and automations) — approving it is what completes the connection.
If you want new subscribers enrolled in real time (see Step 5), make sure your Omnisend account is connected to your store and your Omnisend plan supports webhooks (a paid Omnisend feature) — Omnisend rejects the automation setup otherwise.

Step 1: Connect Omnisend

Go to your Integrations → Omnisend page:
- From the ReferralCandy dashboard (my.referralcandy.com), go to Integrations and select the Omnisend tab.
- From your Shopify admin, go to Integrations → Omnisend.
Under Status you'll see the connection badge — it starts as Not connected.
Click Connect Omnisend. ReferralCandy sends you to Omnisend to authorize the integration.
Review the access request — Omnisend lists what ReferralCandy is asking to access — and click Authorize access.
After authorizing, you're returned to ReferralCandy and the badge changes to Connected.

Having trouble connecting? If the authorization was canceled, the connection link expired, or Omnisend couldn't complete the request, go back to Integrations → Omnisend and try again. If the error says you're already connected, disconnect Omnisend first, then reconnect.

Step 2: Import your contacts

Once connected, an Import contacts section appears below the Status card.
Use the Import from segment dropdown to choose which Omnisend contacts to import — All contacts, or one of the segments from your Omnisend account. (These are your Omnisend segments, not your ReferralCandy segments.)
Click Sync now. You'll see an "Omnisend sync started" confirmation.
The import runs in the background — larger lists can take a while, so check back a little later.

Imported contacts are added as contacts in ReferralCandy and enrolled into your campaigns as advocates. ReferralCandy imports each contact's email address, first and last name, Omnisend contact ID, tags, and statuses when those fields are available. Contacts without an email address are skipped.

The sync runs when you click Sync now — it isn't a recurring schedule. You can sync with Omnisend as often as you like: existing contacts are updated, never duplicated. To add new subscribers automatically without re-syncing, turn on real-time sync in Step 5.

Remember: newly enrolled advocates receive whichever ReferralCandy emails you have turned on — including the welcome email. If you don't want that, turn those emails off before you sync (see the next section).

Who sends the emails — ReferralCandy, Omnisend, or both?

Connecting Omnisend does not turn off ReferralCandy's own emails, and ReferralCandy never sends emails through your Omnisend account. Both tools run independently, so it's up to you how to split the work:

Use both (most common): ReferralCandy keeps sending its referral program emails (welcome, reminder, reward, and payout notifications), while you use Omnisend for your newsletters and campaigns — dropping each advocate's referral link in with the rc_referral_link_<campaign short code> custom property (see Step 3).
Send only from Omnisend: if you'd rather all emails come from Omnisend, turn ReferralCandy's campaign emails off manually. Go to Campaigns, open your campaign, and select Emails — each email type (welcome, reminder, the reward emails, cash payout) has its own toggle, and the one-time win-back email only sends if you schedule it. Repeat for each active campaign. You can then rebuild the notifications you still want as your own Omnisend automations triggered by the events in Step 4.

Turning ReferralCandy emails off? Do it before running your first sync — otherwise newly enrolled advocates will receive the ReferralCandy welcome email. It's also manual in both directions: if you later disconnect Omnisend, ReferralCandy's emails don't switch back on by themselves, re-enable them yourself.

Step 3: Write referral links back to Omnisend

ReferralCandy writes custom properties to each imported contact in Omnisend:

rc_referral_link_<campaign short code> — the contact's unique referral link for that campaign. The property name ends with the campaign's short code in lowercase — for example, a campaign with short code FREN writes rc_referral_link_fren. If you run more than one campaign, each referral or affiliate campaign writes its own referral-link property — loyalty campaigns don't have referral links, so they don't add one.
referralcandy_advocate — set to yes, so you can build an Omnisend segment of everyone in your referral program.

Your campaign short code is shown under Campaigns → your campaign → Campaign details — it's set when the campaign is created, it's locked once the campaign has been activated, and it's not the same as your campaign name. See [Shopify] Creating a campaign or [Other Platforms] Creating a campaign for more on the short code.

To drop the referral link into an Omnisend email, click the Personalization tag icon in the text toolbar (or type @ directly in a text block), then pick the rc_referral_link_... property under Custom properties — Omnisend inserts the tag for you. The tag looks like this:

[[contact.custom_properties.rc_referral_link_fren]] (with your own campaign's short code in place of "fren")

For example, add it to your newsletter footer — "Share the love and earn rewards: [[contact.custom_properties.rc_referral_link_fren]]" — or use it as the destination of a button. The referral link is how referred friends claim your friend offer and shop at your store — see friend offer landing page for what friends see when they open it. For more on personalization tags, see Omnisend's personalization guide.

Step 4: ReferralCandy events in Omnisend

ReferralCandy also sends real-time events to Omnisend whenever a connected contact has referral activity. Events are sent automatically for as long as Omnisend is connected — you don't need real-time sync (Step 5) turned on for them. Events arrive in Omnisend with names starting with ReferralCandy - , and you can use them to trigger your own Omnisend automations based on referral progress — a follow-up when an advocate joins, a celebration when they earn a reward.

ReferralCandy sends an event when someone joins your referral program, earns a reward, or makes a successful referral. Events you'll see include:

ReferralCandy - Enrolled — the contact joined one of your campaigns (loyalty campaigns included). Includes the campaign name and whether it's their first-time enrollment.
ReferralCandy - Subscribed to campaign emails — the contact was subscribed to that campaign's ReferralCandy emails. This is about ReferralCandy's own campaign emails, and it's separate from the contact's marketing subscription status in Omnisend.
ReferralCandy - Purchase referred by profile detected — ReferralCandy detected a referred purchase from this contact. Includes the campaign name, purchase amount, and currency. It fires at detection, which can be before the purchase is approved.
ReferralCandy - Reward earned — the contact earned a referral reward. Includes the campaign name, date earned, and the reward type, amount, and currency — plus the coupon code and expiry date for coupon rewards, or the advocate's portal sign-in link for cash rewards.

Each event carries the campaign name, so your automations can tell campaigns apart — if a contact is enrolled in more than one campaign, each campaign sends its own events. You can check the events a contact has received on their contact page in Omnisend, in their activity timeline.

You can also use these events to send your own emails from Omnisend — for example, your own version of the reward notification. In Omnisend, create an automation workflow from scratch and pick the ReferralCandy event as its trigger — these events appear under the API section of Omnisend's trigger list. Event details like the campaign name are also available as trigger filters, so an automation can react to just one of your campaigns. If you rebuild a ReferralCandy email this way, turn the matching ReferralCandy email off (see Who sends the emails above) so advocates don't receive both.

Note: ReferralCandy sends these as Omnisend events — it still never sends emails through Omnisend. You decide which of your Omnisend automations or campaigns use them.

Building an automation on ReferralCandy - Enrolled? Your first sync enrolls everyone you import, so the ReferralCandy - Enrolled event fires for each imported contact. If you don't want an enrollment automation to run for your whole imported list, set it live after your initial import.

What events does ReferralCandy send, and what data does each one carry?

These are the events ReferralCandy sends to Omnisend. Every one of them carries the name of the campaign it came from, so an automation can react to a single campaign. If the campaign is running an A/B experiment, the event also carries the test name, the group, and the reward variant.

ReferralCandy - Enrolled — the contact met a campaign's criteria and joined your referral or affiliate programme. Carries the campaign name and whether it's their first enrollment.
ReferralCandy - Unenrolled — a contact who was enrolled no longer meets the campaign's criteria. Carries the campaign name.
ReferralCandy - Signup form submitted — a contact who was never enrolled signed up through one of your forms. Carries the campaign name and the form type — post-purchase popup, referral widget, embedded signup, join page, or Shopify join block.
ReferralCandy - Waitlisted — a contact signed up but doesn't meet the campaign's criteria. Carries the campaign name and the form type.
ReferralCandy - Purchase referred by profile detected — ReferralCandy detected a referred purchase through this contact's referral link. Carries the campaign name, purchase amount, and currency. It fires at detection, which can be before the purchase is approved.
ReferralCandy - Purchase referred by profile made ineligible — a referred purchase was flagged as ineligible. Carries the campaign name and the reason.
ReferralCandy - Reward earned — the advocate earned a reward. Carries the campaign name, the date earned, and the reward type, amount, and currency. Coupon rewards add the coupon code and its expiry date; cash and store-credit rewards add the advocate's portal sign-in link, and store credit adds the credit's expiry date. If your campaign gives a second reward, its type, amount, currency, coupon code, and description come along too. Loyalty store-credit accruals carry whether it's the first accrual, and send no date earned.
ReferralCandy - Reward pending — a qualifying referral entered the review period and a reward is lined up. Carries the campaign name, the reward type, amount, and currency, the coupon code, the pending date, and the review deadline. The coupon code reads “None” for cash, store-credit, and custom rewards, and for a coupon whose code hasn't been generated yet; the currency reads “None” for percentage and custom rewards.
ReferralCandy - Reward coupon used — the advocate redeemed a reward coupon. Carries the campaign name, the coupon code, and the date it was used. It only fires for coupons ReferralCandy generated — a reward you fulfilled with your own coupon doesn't trigger it.
ReferralCandy - Time-limited reward started — a time-limited reward window opened on a campaign. Carries the campaign name, the reward name, and the window's start and end.
ReferralCandy - Time-limited reward ended — the window closed. Carries the same details.
ReferralCandy - Subscribed to campaign emails — the contact was subscribed to that campaign's ReferralCandy emails. Carries the campaign name.
ReferralCandy - Unsubscribed from campaign emails — the contact unsubscribed from that campaign's ReferralCandy emails. Carries the campaign name.
ReferralCandy - Banned from ReferralCandy — you banned the contact. Carries the campaign name.
ReferralCandy - Removed from ReferralCandy — you deleted the contact from ReferralCandy. Carries the campaign name.

Building an automation on Reward earned? A milestone tier set up with no incentive still fires it, carrying only the campaign name. If your automation reads reward fields, check that a reward type is present first — otherwise it will run on rewards that don't exist.

ReferralCandy adds events from time to time, so you may see one that isn't on this list. They all use the same ReferralCandy - naming.

Step 5: Enroll new subscribers in real time

Instead of re-running the sync to pick up new subscribers, you can let ReferralCandy create and manage an Omnisend automation that enrolls new subscribers the moment they subscribe to marketing:

After connecting, find the Real-time sync card on the Omnisend tab. Its badge starts as Disabled.
Click Enable.
ReferralCandy creates and enables an Omnisend automation named ReferralCandy real-time sync. When setup succeeds, the badge changes to Enabled.

From then on, new subscribers are enrolled in your referral program the moment they subscribe to marketing. The new subscriber needs an email address to be enrolled.

ReferralCandy manages the automation for you — if you turn real-time sync off, ReferralCandy removes the automation from Omnisend.

Real-time sync failed? Omnisend may reject the automation if your account isn't connected to your store or your plan doesn't include webhooks — webhooks are a paid Omnisend feature, so real-time sync isn't available on Omnisend's free plan. If the error says your authorization can't create automations, disconnect and reconnect Omnisend to grant the required access, then try again.

Disconnecting Omnisend

Go to your Integrations → Omnisend page and click Disconnect Omnisend in the Status section.
Confirm by clicking Disconnect in the dialog. You'll see "Disconnected from Omnisend".

After disconnecting the Omnisend integration:

ReferralCandy stops importing contacts from Omnisend, stops updating referral-link properties on Omnisend contacts, and stops sending referral events.
Any real-time sync automation ReferralCandy created is removed from Omnisend.
Custom properties already written (the rc_referral_link_... properties and referralcandy_advocate) stay on your Omnisend contacts until you remove them there.
Advocates who were already enrolled stay in your referral program — disconnecting doesn't remove them from ReferralCandy.
If you turned ReferralCandy's campaign emails off while using Omnisend, remember to turn them back on (Campaigns → your campaign → Emails) — disconnecting doesn't re-enable them for you.

Omnisend integration FAQ & troubleshooting

Common questions about the Omnisend integration:

Will my contacts get emails when I sync?

Nothing is sent through Omnisend when you sync — ReferralCandy never emails your contacts from your Omnisend account. However, imported contacts are enrolled as advocates in your ReferralCandy campaigns, so they will receive whichever ReferralCandy emails are turned on — typically the welcome email. If you don't want that, turn those emails off before syncing (see "Who sends the emails" above).

Can I use both ReferralCandy emails and Omnisend at the same time?

Yes — many merchants use both ReferralCandy emails and Omnisend together. ReferralCandy handles the referral program emails while Omnisend handles newsletters and campaigns (with each advocate's referral link available as an rc_referral_link_... custom property — see Step 3 above). If you'd rather send everything from Omnisend, turn ReferralCandy's campaign emails off manually under Campaigns → your campaign → Emails — connecting the integration doesn't turn them off for you.

Do I need an Omnisend API key?

No — you don't need to create or paste an API key to connect Omnisend. ReferralCandy connects through an authorization request: click Connect Omnisend and approve the access request in Omnisend.

I clicked Connect Omnisend and got an error

Try connecting again from Integrations → Omnisend. Common causes of an Omnisend connection error: the authorization was canceled partway, the connection link expired, or Omnisend was temporarily unavailable. If the error says you're already connected, disconnect Omnisend first, then reconnect. If it still fails after that, our support team can take a look at your account — just let us know.

I clicked Sync now but don't see my contacts yet

The Omnisend import runs in the background and processes your list in batches, so a large list can take a while — a growing contact count means it's still working. Keep in mind that only contacts with an email address are imported. If your contact count stays put and the contacts you expect never appear, our support team can check the sync on your account — just let us know.

Will new subscribers be added automatically?

The Omnisend sync runs only when you click Sync now. To enroll new subscribers automatically, turn on real-time sync (see "Enroll new subscribers in real time" above) — otherwise, re-run the sync whenever you want to pick up new contacts.

Can I sync more than once? Will that create duplicates?

You can sync with Omnisend as often as you like — existing contacts are updated, never duplicated.

What exactly does ReferralCandy write to my Omnisend contacts?

ReferralCandy writes two kinds of data to your Omnisend contacts. First, custom properties: an rc_referral_link_<campaign short code> referral-link property for each referral or affiliate campaign, and referralcandy_advocate set to yes. Second, real-time events triggered by referral activity — their names all start with ReferralCandy - (for example, ReferralCandy - Enrolled and ReferralCandy - Reward earned). It never changes your other Omnisend custom properties, and never sends emails through Omnisend.

Does syncing add my ReferralCandy advocates to Omnisend?

No — the Omnisend sync never creates new contacts in your Omnisend account. Syncing works from Omnisend into ReferralCandy: your Omnisend contacts are imported and enrolled as advocates, and referral-link properties are written back to contacts that already exist in Omnisend. An advocate who isn't in Omnisend yet won't be added by ReferralCandy — add them in Omnisend yourself (for example through your store connection or a list import), and your next sync writes their referral-link properties to their profile.

Where do I find my campaign short code?

Your campaign short code — the code at the end of the rc_referral_link_... property name — is shown under Campaigns → your campaign → Campaign details. It's set when the campaign is created and can only be edited while the campaign is still in setup; once the campaign has been activated, the short code is locked. It's also not the same as your campaign name — renaming a campaign doesn't change its short code. See [Shopify] Creating a campaign or [Other Platforms] Creating a campaign for details.

My real-time sync isn't enrolling new subscribers

If real-time sync isn't enrolling new Omnisend subscribers, work through these checks:

The Omnisend integration is still connected in ReferralCandy.
The Real-time sync badge shows Enabled.
The "ReferralCandy real-time sync" automation still exists (and is enabled) in your Omnisend account.
The new subscriber has an email address — contacts without one aren't enrolled.
If enabling real-time sync failed in the first place, check that your Omnisend account is connected to your store and that your plan supports webhooks.

If it still isn't working after these checks, our support team can dig in — just let us know.

A new subscriber was enrolled but has no referral link yet

Real-time sync enrolls new subscribers as soon as they subscribe to marketing. If the rc_referral_link_<campaign short code> property hasn’t appeared on their Omnisend contact yet, go to your Integrations → Omnisend page and click Sync now — that writes the referral-link properties back to your Omnisend contacts.

Integration: Using ReferralCandy with Omnisend