If you send an email and it doesn’t perform as well as you hoped, should you resend emails to people who didn’t open it?
On the plus side, some people who missed it or were too busy the first time might take a look and you’ll get a few more opens, clicks and (hopefully) conversions.
But on the downside, some people will get annoyed by the additional email and might unsubscribe. After all, they may have deliberately left the original email unopened. Or they may have actually opened it without displaying the images so the email is reported as not being opened.
As you can see – it’s a bit more complicated than just resending the email and hoping for the best.
But if you are going to resend an email to non-openers, let’s explore some tips for getting the most out of it.
What are the benefits of resending email campaigns?
Resending email campaigns can be a strategic approach to enhance the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. If you do choose to resend your email campaign, here are some of the good things you can expect:
- Win Back Lost Opportunities: Resending to non-openers gives you another chance to capture their attention and encourage engagement. This can significantly increase your campaign’s reach and impact.
- Increase Engagement: By refining your subject lines, content, or timing, you can potentially pique the interest of recipients who might have missed or ignored the initial email.
- Maximise Campaign ROI: Resending to a targeted portion of your subscribers, allows you to make the most of your campaign content and resources.
Should you resend all your email campaigns?
Suppose that every time a subscriber left one of your emails unopened, you resent it. Imagine in time how annoyed that person would get. It probably wouldn’t be too long until they unsubscribed from all of your email marketing messages.
As well as being annoying, resending every one of your emails is a bad idea because it actually trains subscribers to ignore them. They’ll start to think it’s okay to not read your email because you’re going to resend it to them anyway.
So pick your most important email campaigns and limit your resending to just those ones.
It might help to ask yourself why you’re resending a campaign… At the end of the day you want to get solid engagement that leads to a bit more than just the good ol’ open rate. If you have a campaign you know will turn heads, like products you know they love or reminders about flash sales… just send it (and resend it). Worse case scenario, you build some brand recognition and give your customers just another reason to love your business!
How long should I wait before resending emails?
The answer to this question depends on a couple of things. First of all, if you’re privy to the inner workings of your customers’ preferences, like how swiftly they open an email, you should put off a resend campaign until that time frame has passed. Secondly, if you don’t have any of that information at your fingertips, it’s best to give your email a breather… Don’t even think about unleashing your email encore in less than a three-day span.
So, how do you resend an email the right way?
If you’re starting to feel like resending email campaigns is an impossible and delicate art to get right, you needn’t fear.
Here are some of the things to consider before hitting resend:
DON’T: resend to all contacts
Before you hit that resend button, make a beeline for two groups – the non-openers and the temporary bounces.
Here’s the sweet part: by not bombarding everyone in your email list (ie. those who interacted with your email marketing message the first time round), you could quite possibly double your open-rate, all without breaking a sweat.
Here’s a couple of use-case scenarios:
- Resending an email to contacts who bounced
- Resendig to contacts who did not click on anything in a particular email
- Resending an email to contacts who did not open a particular email
Consider adding more visuals or interactive content
The great thing about a resend campaign is that you get the chance to really work some magic with your email. With some choice visuals, we’re talking GIFs, emojis and buttons that beg to be clicked on, you can drive engagement the second time round. Don’t be afraid to get creative with it, just remember to not overcrowd your message with too much action…
Tweak the email subject line
They say that insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. I think the same thing applies when you resend an email without changing the subject line.
The subject line plays an important part in capturing your reader’s attention and enticing them to open the email. If it didn’t work the first time, what makes you think it’ll work the second time?
One way to tweak the subject line is to add words like “reminder” or “last chance” in order to create a sense of urgency. Alternatively, you could write a new subject line that takes a completely different approach to your original one.
Tweaking the subject line also has the added bonus of letting readers know this email was not resent by mistake. It lets them know that you think the email is important enough to be resent and that you don’t want them to miss out by not reading it. Of course this is a pretty big statement so make sure you follow the tactic above and only resend the most important email campaigns.
Pro-tip: You can use our a/b split tool to test which subject line is likely to perform better and drive more engagement.
Adjust the timing of your resend
When it comes to timing your resend, make sure you give people enough time to respond to your original email.
Look at your previous email campaigns and identify how much time it takes for most people to open them. Do NOT resend your email within this timeframe.
If you don’t have access to this information, a good waiting period before resending your email is 3 days. This is when 91.66% of people who open emails have done so according to the Email Marketing Metrics Report.
It’s also helpful to resend your email at a different time of day than your original email. Someone might not have had time to read your email when you sent it at 9am. But they might have time at midday, so resending it at this time might get a different result.
Measure the impact
The entire goal of resending your email is to encourage a few more opens and clicks in hope of driving additional conversions. But as I mentioned above, this can come at a cost. Some people may respond negatively to the additional email in their inbox and unsubscribe.
So be sure to measure the unsubscribe rate of your email resend and weigh this up against the additional conversions that it creates. If too many people are dropping off your list because of the resend, it’s probably not worth it.
Have you ever resent an email to people who didn’t open it the first time? Did it drive additional conversions or just result in more unsubscribes?
Use the advanced selection feature while segmenting your lists for resending messages. Follow the step by step instruction on how to send an email to contacts that didn’t open a message and leverage the power of follow ups to see better results.
Test your emails first
Maintaining a seamless brand image is the name of the game in email marketing. Worry not! We’ve got your back. At Vision6 our testing features ensure your emails are more than just eye-catching; they’re built to thrive on every screen, no matter how big, small, or somewhere in between.
As for your resend campaign… Here’s the scoop: consistency is your secret sauce. Think of your first email as the trailblazer, and your resend as its sidekick, keeping pace with the same swagger. Either way, give them both the trusty ol’ test drive treatment. Every email, every device, every screen. That way you can be confident that no matter where they appear they’re pulling their weight.
Pro-tip: Remember to test for any of your customers using screen readers!
What to do if my email resend didn’t work
So you’ve sent out your resend emails and you’re not getting much traction. Worry not, this simply means it might be time for an email list spring clean… Either way, keep a close watch on inactive contacts. You might consider sending out a re-engagement survey to gauge the interest of your less interactive clients. If there’s no response over time, it might be to to remove them from your list to maintain a healthy subscriber base.
By implementing these strategies and best practices, you can make the most of email resending, boosting engagement and achieving better results from your email marketing campaigns.
