I used to do this all the time.

Resending to unopens made sense to me because of my own inbox habits: I’d “save” emails in my own inbox to read later.

Then I’d forget to read them.

So getting a friendly reminder (aka. a “resend”) from that newsletter publisher was often welcome.

Well, I recently decided to fire up this “Resend to unopens” strategy again (Kit has a built-in feature to make this easy).

I even posed the question on Twitter:

So why did I try this hotly-debated strategy again?

Part of it was on a whim, but if I’m being honest…

Since rebooting this newsletter a few months back, open rates have been pretty meh. Plus, I suspected a lot of colder subscribers could use a nudge to sh*t or get off the pot. Engage or be gone.

But mostly… I was curious to see what would happen.

Considerations to make before resending to unopens

1) News-focused newsletters shouldn’t be resending, especially resending days later when the content becomes rapidly outdated.

2) Resending to Unopens probaby isn’t a good strategy for a daily newsletter, and a good way to get flagged for spam if your open rates are weak and/or you’re getting a lot of spam complaints.

The Experiment

I published 5 newsletter campaigns over the past month or so.

For each campaign, I also scheduled a resend to unopens 3-4 days later.

Here are a few things worth noting before we get into the results:

1. My open rates for the prior 3 campaigns (June 12, Sept 24, Sept 30) were: 45.8%, 42.9%, 39.3%
   ‍
2. My unsubscribes for the same campaigns were: 117, 106, 71 (an unsubscribe rate of 2.2%, 1.9%, 1.3.%)
   ‍
3. The only content I changed in my resends was the subject line where added "(In case you missed this...)"
   1. One exception where I changed the subject line completely (and it worked well!)

The Results & My Takeaways

Sharing the results below for 100% transparency. Take a look if you're curious, but here are the biggest takeaways.

Improved Open Rates

Each resend improved my campaign's "overall open rate" by an average of 9%.

The biggest improvement was 10.4%. I'm positive it was because I changed the subject line completely: I scrapped the "(In case you missed this...)" text and swapped it with "The Wildest Newsletter Growth Strategies" — a much sexier and enticing subject line.

Takeaway: If I resent to unopens again, I'd change the subject line more than just adding the "in case ou missed this" text. It's a great opportunity to experiment.

Low Click Impact

Resends only improved the campaigns "overall click rate" on average by 0.59% or 31 additional unique subscribers clicking per resend.

Takeaway: If getting more clicks is your goal, resending to unopens is not going to move the needle.

More Unsubscribes

Resending 5 campaigns resulted in an extra 69 people unsubscribing for an average of 6.3 unsubscribes per resend.

Takeaway: I don't want cold or unengaged subscribers getting my newsletter. I'd rather they unsubscrie. Resending your newsletter will 100% result in more people unsubscribing. And that's a good thing.

So will I keep resending—and should you?

In short: no.

A more nuanced answer would go something like this:

If I were managing your newsletter ops, I’d recommend reassessing the value of resends with these adjustments:

1. Target Only Engaged Unopens: Only resend to recipients who engaged with your emails in the past 30-90 days. This reduces the chance of irritating unengaged subscribers while improving resend performance.
2. Focus Resends on High-Stakes Campaigns: Use resends sparingly for campaigns with high ROI potential (e.g., product launches, critical announcements).
3. Improve Initial Send Performance: Instead of leaning on resends, focus on A/B testing subject lines, send times, and preview text to maximize the performance of initial sends.
4. Monitor Key Metrics: Watch deliverability, complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates closely to ensure resends aren’t harming long-term list health.

Ultimately, the strategy is moderately effective but might not justify the risk if deliverability or subscriber retention begins to decline.

Results from Each Campaign

Campaign #1 (Nov 04)

• Initial Send:
  • Recipients: 5,529
  • Open Rate: 37.9% → 2,094 opens
  • Click Rate: 2.0% → 110 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 53
    ‍
• Resend to Unopens:
  • Recipients: 3,501
  • Open Rate: 13.3% → 466 opens
  • Click Rate: 0.4% → 14 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 19
    ‍
• Impact of Resend:
  • +466 opens (↑8.4% open rate)
  • +14 clicks (↑0.25% click rate)
  • +19 unsubscribes

Campaign Totals:

• Open Rate: 44.9%
• Click Rate: 2.3%
• Unsubscribers: 72 (1.3%)

Campaign #2 (Nov 11)

• Initial Send:
  • Recipients: 5,443
  • Open Rate: 40.3% → 2,192 opens
  • Click Rate: 1.6%
  • Unsubscribers: 42
    ‍
• Resend to Unopens:
  • Recipients: 3,318
  • Open Rate: 12.6% → 418 opens
  • Click Rate: 0.6% → 20 clicks
  • Unsubscribers: 14
    ‍
• Impact of Resend:
  • +418 opens (↑ 7.7% open rate)
  • +20 clicks (↑ 0.3% click rate)
  • +14 unsubscribes

Campaign Totals:

• Open Rate: 46.7%
• Click Rate: 2.0%
• Unsubscribers: 56 (1.0%)

Campaign #3 (Nov 26)

• Initial Send:
  • Recipients: 5,410
  • Open Rate: 42.6% → 2,302 opens
  • Click Rate: 1.9% → 103 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 40
    ‍
• Resend to Unopens:
  • Recipients: 3,197
  • Open Rate: 14.8% → 473 opens
  • Click Rate: 1.5% → 48 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 14
    ‍
• Impact of Resend:
  • +473 opens (↑ 8.7% open rate)
  • +48 unique clicks (↑ 0.9% click rate)
  • +14 unsubscribers

Campaign Totals:

• Open Rate: 49.8%
• Click Rate: 2.08%
• Unsubscribers: 54 (1.0%)

Campaign #4 (Dec 04)

• Initial Send:
  • Recipients: 5,379
  • Open Rate: 38.6% → 2,077 opens
  • Click Rate: 2.2% → 118 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 58
    ‍
• Resend to Unopens:
  • Recipients: 3,369
  • Open Rate: 18.3% → 617 opens
  • Click Rate: 1.8% → 60 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 12
    ‍
• Impact of Resend:
  • +617 opens (↑ 11.5% open rate)
  • +60 unique clicks (↑ 1.1% click rate)
  • +12 unsubscribers

Campaign Totals:

• Open Rate: 49.0%
• Click Rate: 3.3%
• Unsubscribers: 70 (1.3%)

Campaign #5 (Dec 11)

• Initial Send:
  • Recipients: 5,301
  • Open Rate: 38% → 2,014 opens
  • Click Rate: 2.4% → 127 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 29
    ‍
• Resend to Unopens:
  • Recipients: 3,344
  • Open Rate: 14.1% → 472 opens
  • Click Rate: 0.5% → 17 unique subscribers clicked
  • Unsubscribers: 10
    ‍
• Impact of Resend:
  • +472 opens (↑ 8.7% open rate)
  • +17 unique clicks (↑ 0.5% click rate)
  • +10 unsubscribers

Campaign Totals:

• Open Rate: 45.8%
• Click Rate: 2.7%
• Unsubscribers: 39 (0.7%)

Cumulative Results Across 5 Campaigns

• Total Opens from Resends: 2,446 — an icrease of 489.2 average opens per resend, or an average increase of 9.0% to the overall campaign open rate.
• Total Unique Clicks from Resends: 159 —an increase of 31.8 average clicks per resend, or an increase of 0.59% to the overall campaign open rate.‍
• Total Unsubscribes from Resends: 69

Bonus 👀

I use Kit to send my newsletter, including doing this resend to unopens test with a simple click.

I really like the idea of only trying this resend-to-unopens strategy to my more engaged subscribers. Basically, I’m only going to resend to anyone who’s opened an email in the past 30 days.

To do that, I need to create tags, a simple automation, and then filter my sends to that group.

That might sound a bit complex, but Kit makes this super easy.

Trust me. I’ve tried all the major ESPs.

But Kit offers the most user-friendly and customizable features for creators like us. I’ve been using Kit for over 3 years and recommend it to everyone — and not just because I’m an affiliate. I sincerely love their team, product, and vibe.

Get a FREE Kit plan that includes your first 10,000 subscribers →

More stuff from me.

→ Check out my brand new podcast about newsletters with Chenell from Growth In Reverse👇

‍

→ FREE 5-day email course to help you get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers
→ Connect with me: Twitter || LinkedIn || Threads || Bluesky