Omnisend Launches Instagram-to-email Automation and Gamified Popups to Help Merchants Prepare for the Holiday Season

Social Capture, a new Instagram-to-email automation, along with gamified popups and smarter send-time modes, gives ecommerce brands more ways to grow and engage their audiences ahead of the holidays.

CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Omnisend, an email and SMS marketing platform designed for ecommerce businesses, introduced a new set of features to help brands gain and retain subscribers ahead of Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) and the holiday season.

Social Capture is a new feature designed to help merchants turn engagement on Instagram into email subscribers. Forms+ adds gamified popups that better engage first-time visitors, while Send Time Optimization uses each contact's past behavior to deliver emails when they're most likely to open, click or buy.

"BFCM brings hype and attention, but that doesn't last," said Žilvinas Lešinskas, VP of Product and Engineering. "Our research finds that Americans expect to spend 30% less this BFCM than last, making it even more important to retain new shoppers for longer than a short-term event. These features enable merchants to convert short-term hype into long-lasting connections more efficiently."

Turning Instagram comments into subscribers

The new Social Capture feature instantly asks anyone who comments or DMs a keyword the merchant has chosen for their email address. Those who reply with it are added to the merchant's Omnisend audience email list.

"Social media is an effective way for brands to get noticed, but in reality, merchants often don't own their audience on different platforms like Instagram," said Lešinskas. "Social Capture bridges that gap by turning a quick comment or DM into a lasting connection."

Converting first-time visitors into regular contacts

The new Forms+ functionality adds gamified popups, including Scratch Card, Mystery Box and Quiz options. They work alongside Omnisend's multi-step forms, which let merchants collect information such as email, birthday and product interests across up to four steps. All are designed to capture the attention of first-time visitors and turn them into long-term contacts.

"Gamification is one of the most effective ways to capture an audience's attention," says Lešinskas. "We've already seen the Wheel of Fortune popup showing impressive results, including converting visitors nearly twice as often as basic popups, and expect Scratch Card and Mystery Box to engage shoppers even more – just in time for BFCM and the entire holiday shopping season. These tools allow merchants to think beyond holiday revenue and turn first-time visitors into long-term contacts."

Reaching each subscriber at the right time

New Send Time Optimization allows merchants to choose from four delivery modes including time zone optimization and three AI-powered send time options based on past behavior data including click rate, open rate or placed order.

This gives merchants the assurance that emails will be sent either at the scheduled time in each contact's local time zone or when that contact is most likely to open, click or place an order.

Availability

Social Capture is available now to all Omnisend users with a paid plan. Forms+ is available on the Pro plan. AI-powered send time modes are available on the Pro plan or as an add-on.

For more information, visit: https://www.omnisend.com/features/instagram/ 

About Omnisend

Omnisend is an email & SMS marketing platform with a suite of features made specifically to help ecommerce stores grow their online businesses faster. One-click integration with major ecommerce platforms, pre-made automation & email templates, and award-winning 24/7/365 live customer support make it easy for brands of any size to sell more — all without the exaggerated cost.

Email & SMS marketing shouldn't require a PhD. That's why 150,000 customers trust Omnisend's powerful, easy-to-use platform.

For further information, please contact:

Greta Miliauskaitė, Senior PR Specialist, [email protected]

SOURCE Omnisend