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Summary

Resending emails to non-openers is a common tactic, but it's crucial to approach it as a strategic re-engagement effort rather than a simple repeat. The consensus among email marketing experts is that merely hitting 'resend' without changes is counterproductive and can harm deliverability. Instead, best practices revolve around modifying key elements of the email to provide a fresh incentive for interaction. This includes segmenting the non-openers, crafting a new, compelling subject line, and often altering the content, call to action, or even the send time to present a new value proposition. The goal is to pique interest that the initial email failed to capture, while carefully managing overall list engagement to avoid negative sender reputation impacts.

Key findings

  • Strategic Re-engagement: Many experts and platforms, including Mailchimp, emphasize that resending should be a strategic re-engagement, not a direct repeat. Mailchimp's 'Resend to Non-Openers' feature is specifically designed for A/B testing different subject lines.
  • Lower but Worthwhile Returns: Companies successfully resending campaigns often see lower open rates (typically 50-66% of the first send) but find the proportional revenue or engagement worthwhile. This strategy is most effective for campaigns that initially garnered significant interest.
  • Lack of Open Indicates Disinterest: While some ESPs might assume high interest, for the majority of marketing emails, a consistent lack of opens generally signals a lack of interest from the recipient. This reinforces the need for a modified approach.
  • Engagement Metrics for Targeting: Platforms like Mailchimp recommend using 'email marketing engagement' metrics to filter recipients, ensuring resends target those who are still considered active subscribers (e.g., within the last 30-60 days) but simply missed the initial email.

Key considerations

  • Modify the Subject Line: The most critical best practice is to always change the subject line. This can involve a new angle, adding urgency, highlighting a different benefit, or using curiosity to grab attention that the first subject line missed.
  • Segment Your Audience: Before resending, segment your non-openers. This ensures you're only targeting those who did not open the specific email, ideally focusing on recently active subscribers rather than consistently unengaged users.
  • Vary Content or Call to Action: Beyond the subject line, consider altering the email's content, preheader text, sender name, or call to action to provide new value or a different hook, offering a fresh reason for the recipient to engage.
  • Adjust Send Time and Day: Experiment with sending the follow-up email at a different time of day or on a different day of the week. This can catch recipients at a more opportune moment when they are more likely to check their inbox.
  • Balance with Suppression: While resending to non-openers can be effective, it must be balanced with consistent suppression of truly unengaged subscribers over extended periods. Both practices together support long-term deliverability and list health, avoiding excessive sending that leads to complaints.

What email marketers say

15 marketer opinions

To effectively re-engage subscribers who didn't open a prior email, marketers should implement a nuanced approach that goes beyond merely repeating the initial message. The goal is to provide a fresh impetus for interaction, requiring careful consideration of the audience and message. This refined strategy helps to capture missed opportunities while maintaining the integrity of sender reputation and overall list health.

Key opinions

  • Viable for Certain Campaigns: Resending can yield positive results, especially for campaigns that initially showed strong interest. Even with lower subsequent open rates, the resulting engagement or revenue can be proportionally worthwhile.
  • Engagement as Primary Filter: Successful resends prioritize targeting subscribers who are generally active but simply missed or ignored the specific email. Platforms often recommend using engagement metrics, like recent activity within 30-60 days, to ensure these follow-ups are sent to a receptive segment, not dormant contacts.
  • Balancing Re-engagement with List Hygiene: Effective resending strategies operate in conjunction with consistent list suppression. While re-engaging non-openers on a specific email is valuable, the long-term health of an email list depends on routinely removing or segmenting subscribers who exhibit sustained disinterest across multiple campaigns.

Key considerations

  • Strategic Subject Line Variation: The cornerstone of a successful resend is a new, compelling subject line. This involves creativity to convey urgency, highlight an alternative benefit, or spark curiosity, ensuring the second attempt stands out and offers a fresh reason to open.
  • Content and Offer Adjustments: Beyond the subject line, modifying the email's preheader text, call to action, or even the core content itself can significantly improve re-engagement. The aim is to provide new value or present the original offer from a different, more enticing angle.
  • Optimized Send Timing: Experimenting with the timing of the resend is crucial. Sending at a different day or time than the original email can increase the likelihood of catching recipients when they are more attentive to their inbox, thereby improving visibility and potential opens.
  • Leveraging Automation for Efficiency: Email automation platforms can streamline the process of setting up re-engagement sequences for non-openers. This allows for automated segmentation, A/B testing of different elements, and varying send times efficiently, without manual intervention for each campaign.

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that Mailchimp likely assumes users are highly interested and will open, thus maintaining reputation. However, for the majority of marketing emails, a lack of open generally indicates a lack of interest.

29 May 2022 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares Mailchimp's data regarding resend campaigns, linking to their resource on 'the value of a resend campaign by the numbers'.

18 Sep 2021 - Email Geeks

What the experts say

1 expert opinions

For email marketers looking to re-engage subscribers who did not open a previous message, simply duplicating and resending the exact same email is not advised. Instead, the most effective approach involves a strategic modification of the message's elements. By changing the subject line, refining the content, or introducing a new offer, senders can present a fresh, compelling reason for interaction. This method aims to provide distinct value and avoid over-saturating inboxes, which could otherwise lead to increased complaints and a decline in overall list health.

Key opinions

  • Exact Resend Ineffective: According to experts like Spam Resource, sending an identical email to non-openers is generally a poor strategy, as it rarely yields different results.
  • Necessity of Message Variation: Best practices dictate that for successful re-engagement, marketers must alter the subject line, content, or offer to create a new incentive for opening.
  • Provide New Value: The core principle behind resending is to add clear, distinct value or a novel reason for recipients to engage with the follow-up message.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Excessive Frequency: Marketers must exercise caution to prevent sending too many emails to non-openers, as over-saturation can significantly increase complaint rates and harm sender reputation.
  • Prioritize List Quality: The long-term health and quality of the email list should always be prioritized over attempts to artificially boost open rates, ensuring sustainable engagement and deliverability.

Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that resending the exact same email to non-openers is generally not a good idea. Instead, best practices include modifying the subject line, content, or offer to provide a new incentive to open. The aim is to add distinct value or a different reason for engagement, while exercising caution to avoid excessive sending that could lead to complaints and to prioritize overall list quality over forced opens.

15 Dec 2024 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says

4 technical articles

To successfully re-engage subscribers who didn't open a prior email, marketing experts and platforms consistently recommend a strategic approach that involves substantial modifications, rather than simply resending the same message. This includes altering the subject line and email content, considering new incentives, and optimizing send times to capture recipient attention more effectively. Such targeted efforts are crucial for improving overall engagement and maintaining deliverability.

Key findings

  • Mandatory Message Modification: Every reviewed source emphasizes the critical need to alter the subject line and frequently the email content when resending to non-openers, rejecting identical repeats.
  • Strategic vs. Simple Resend: The approach should be a strategic re-engagement campaign, involving segmentation and targeted messages, rather than just a re-transmission of the initial email.
  • Opportunity for A/B Testing: Features like Mailchimp's 'Resend to Non-Openers' are specifically designed to facilitate A/B testing of subject lines, helping marketers discover what captures attention.
  • New Value Proposition: A key tactic for re-engagement is to present a new incentive, hook, or value proposition to entice recipients who overlooked the original message.

Key considerations

  • Always Alter Subject Line: It is a universal best practice to create a completely new and distinct subject line for the resend, designed to capture attention that the first one missed.
  • Consider Content Revisions: Beyond the subject line, make changes to the email's body, preheader text, or call to action to offer a fresh perspective or a different appeal.
  • Optimize Send Timing: Experiment with sending the re-engagement email at a different time of day or on a different day of the week from the original, to catch recipients when they are more likely to engage.
  • Segment Your Audience Precisely: Ensure the resend targets only those subscribers who truly did not open the specific prior email, often focusing on recently active but non-opening segments.
  • Introduce Fresh Incentives: To provide a stronger reason for engagement, consider adding a new hook, offer, or value proposition that was not prominently featured in the initial message.

Technical article

Documentation from Mailchimp Knowledge Base answers that while Mailchimp offers a 'Resend to Non-Openers' option, it's designed to be used with a different subject line to test what might grab attention. This feature allows for A/B testing of subject lines rather than simply repeating the exact same message.

8 Jan 2024 - Mailchimp Knowledge Base

Technical article

Documentation from Constant Contact Help explains that for re-engaging non-openers, it's a best practice to change the subject line and potentially the email content. They advise trying a different time of day or day of the week, and perhaps offering a new incentive to encourage opens.

27 Apr 2024 - Constant Contact Help

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