A customer reading your newsletter already has your brand in mind. Put their personal referral link in that email, and they have a direct way to share it with a friend.
The ReferralCandy integration with Omnisend brings that link into the email tool you already use. You can enroll Omnisend contacts in your referral program, add each advocate’s link to their Omnisend profile, and build automations that respond when they join, refer someone, or earn a reward.
The integration is rolling out gradually. If you don’t see Omnisend under Integrations in ReferralCandy, contact support to request access.
Start with the customers you want to invite
You can import all your Omnisend contacts or choose one segment. Contacts with an email address are added to ReferralCandy and enrolled as advocates in your referral campaigns.
Start with a segment if you want a smaller first audience. For example, you could invite repeat buyers who already know your products well, then expand the program after reviewing the experience.
The import runs when you click Sync now. It isn’t a recurring sync, and larger lists take time to process. When you run it again, existing contacts are updated without creating duplicates.
Give every advocate a link inside your emails
ReferralCandy writes a personal referral link back to each imported contact in Omnisend. The link lives in a custom property named rc_referral_link_<campaign short code>, with a separate property for each campaign. It also adds referralcandy_advocate, set to true, so you can identify program participants in Omnisend segments.
Use the campaign-specific link property through Omnisend’s personalization tools. You could add a referral button to a newsletter or include the link in a follow-up email to advocates. Check that the contact has a link for the campaign you’re promoting before sending.
A useful first message is simple: explain who the product could help, give the customer their link, and make the next step clear. The reward can support the invitation, while the recommendation gives their friend a reason to care.
Follow up when something happens
ReferralCandy sends referral activity to Omnisend as real-time events. You choose which events should trigger an Omnisend automation and write the messages yourself.
For example, you could:
- Welcome an advocate when they enroll in the program.
- Acknowledge a referred purchase while it goes through review.
- Notify an advocate when they earn a reward.
Keep those last two moments distinct. A detected purchase may still be pending review. Use the reward-earned event when your message says the advocate has earned a reward.
Bring new subscribers into the program automatically
For new subscribers, you can enable Real-time sync in ReferralCandy. This creates a managed Omnisend automation named ReferralCandy real-time sync. When someone subscribes to marketing, the automation enrolls them in your referral program and writes their personal link to Omnisend.
The subscriber needs an email address. Your Omnisend account must also be connected to your store, and your plan must support webhooks. The initial contact import and this subscriber automation serve different purposes: one brings in an existing audience; the other handles new subscriptions.
Choose which tool sends each message
Connecting Omnisend leaves ReferralCandy’s own emails enabled. Imported advocates can receive the ReferralCandy Welcome email and any other campaign emails you have switched on.
If you want Omnisend to handle those messages, first go to Campaigns → your campaign → Emails in ReferralCandy and turn off the corresponding emails. Repeat this for each active campaign before importing contacts. You can also use both tools, with a clear role for each.
ReferralCandy supplies the contact properties and events. Your Omnisend campaigns and automations send the emails you configure there.
Connect Omnisend
- In ReferralCandy, go to Integrations → Omnisend and click Connect Omnisend.
- Approve the access request in Omnisend. You’ll return to ReferralCandy with a Connected status; no API key is needed.
- Review your campaign email settings, choose All contacts or a segment under Import contacts, and click Sync now.
- Add the campaign-specific referral-link property to an Omnisend email and check it with a synced contact before sending.
- If you want to enroll new subscribers automatically, click Enable under Real-time sync.
Ready to give your customers a way to recommend your brand? Install ReferralCandy to start your referral program.