Migrating Email and SMS Contacts to Omnisend: Statuses, Consent Dates and Clean Addresses

SimpleVerifier Team·3 November 2026·3 min read

Key takeaways

Omnisend has three statuses per channel (subscribed, non-subscribed, unsubscribed). Campaigns go to subscribed contacts only; transactional automations like abandoned cart also reach non-subscribed contacts.
At import, if either channel's subscribe checkbox is left unchecked, contacts come in as non-subscribed; an opt-out date later than the opt-in date imports the contact as unsubscribed.
Each row needs an email address or a phone number; phones go in international format (+11234567890), dates in ISO 8601, and future-dated timestamps aren't saved.
Omnisend's migration guide asks for consent timestamps, says not to import bounced or inactive contacts, and suggests growing daily volume about 25 to 35% from your engaged 30 to 90 day segment.
Omnisend's import report counts good and bad emails and phones, but its import article doesn't describe a mailbox check.

Map the status columns carefully, bring the consent dates, and verify the email column before the file goes in. Omnisend decides each contact's email and SMS status at import, from either a checkbox you tick or the opt-in and opt-out dates in your file. Get that step wrong and a whole list lands as non-subscribed (no campaigns) or unsubscribed. Its migration guide also asks you to leave bounced and inactive contacts out, which is easier when you've checked the addresses first.

Sources, read 2 November 2026: Omnisend's help articles import contacts from a file, migrate to Omnisend for SMS and email marketing and contact statuses by channel.

How Omnisend sets status at import

What's in the file	Result
No opt-in field, channel checkbox ticked	Imported as subscribed on that channel
No opt-in field, checkbox unticked	Imported as non-subscribed
Opt-out date later than opt-in date	Imported as unsubscribed
Future-dated opt-in or opt-out	Timestamp not saved
Matches an existing contact	Updated (status and properties, by default), not duplicated
Neither email nor phone	Row fails

And who each status reaches, per Omnisend: campaigns and promotional automations go to subscribed contacts only; transactional automations (abandoned cart, order follow-up, back in stock) also go to non-subscribed contacts; order, shipping and cancellation emails go to all three. US SMS, transactional included, goes only to subscribed contacts.

Step by step

Export from the old platform with the consent data. Omnisend's guide lists email, phone in international format, subscription status, and the date added or consent timestamp for each channel.
Pull out bounced, complained and unsubscribed contacts. The guide says not to import bounced or inactive contacts. Unsubscribes can come in with their opt-out date so their status is right. The suppression list merger builds one do-not-send file from several exports.
Verify the email column on the verify page. Remove invalid addresses, including from customers who are only non-subscribed, since transactional flows still mail them.
Format the phones. The phone number formatter converts a column to E.164 (+14155552671); in Excel, keep the plus with a text-formatted cell. Numbers for SMS can also be checked on the phone validator.
Format the dates as ISO 8601 (2026-02-14T14:23Z) and remove any in the future.
Map carefully at the status step. Use the opt-in and opt-out date columns where you have them; only tick a channel's subscribe box for contacts who actually opted in on that channel.
Ramp. Start with contacts engaged in the last 30 to 90 days and grow daily volume by roughly 25 to 35%; Omnisend says deliverability usually settles in two to four weeks. For SMS it suggests starting around 500 to 1,000 messages a day.

What verification can't settle

A valid address is not consent. Omnisend's migration guide says it only supports permission-based marketing and warns against assuming consent from orders or site visits; for SMS it asks for opt-in proof and timestamps, which is why the dates matter more than any check. On the technical side, catch-all domains accept every address and Microsoft consumer mailboxes often don't answer single-mailbox checks reliably, so some results come back risky or unknown; send those after the ramp settles. For the SMS side, SMS list prep for 10DLC covers the number checks.

Where SimpleVerifier fits

Verify the email column on the verify page; the first 100 checks are free with a Google sign-in. Pro is $39 a month with the first 100,000 checks a month at full speed, then slower, never cut off. Live carrier lookups for phone numbers come with Pro + Phone ($49.99 a month, 5,000 lookups a month, not unlimited); see pricing.

Common questions

Why did my Omnisend import come in as non-subscribed?

Omnisend's import article says that if the file has no opt-in status field and either channel's subscribe checkbox is left unchecked at the status step, contacts are imported as non-subscribed. Re-import with the right checkbox, or map an opt-in date column.

Why are imported contacts showing as unsubscribed?

If you map an opt-out date that is later than the opt-in date, Omnisend imports the contact as unsubscribed. Check the opt-out column before mapping it.

Do I need to verify contacts who aren't subscribed?

It helps. Omnisend sends transactional automations such as abandoned cart and order follow-ups to non-subscribed contacts, and order confirmations to every status, so invalid addresses in those groups still bounce.

Can I import a contact with only a phone number?

Yes. Each row needs either an email address or a phone number. Use international format, and in Excel keep the plus sign by formatting the cell as text or starting it with an apostrophe.

Check your list before you send

Real mailbox checks over SMTP, and nothing is sent to the address. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. Plans for bigger lists are on the pricing page.