Email marketing ROI: Calculate, compare and maximize your return on investment

In this how-to guide, you’ll learn how to calculate your email marketing return on investment (ROI). We’ll compare the ROI of email to other marketing channels (prepare to be surprised) and industries, and walk you through actionable insights to realize higher returns.

You’ll leave knowing how to explain your email ROI numbers, why email is the best investment to grow your business, and which strategies will maximize your email spend.

Your email marketing ROI is the money you spend on email marketing—including email campaigns, advertisement, and collecting subscribers—and how much profit this results in.

To compare the success of your email campaigns, you might ask: “What is the average ROI for email marketing?” … and the answer does not disappoint!

According to a litmus survey among 2000 marketers, marketers net on average $36 for every $1 spent. That's an average 3,500% ROI for email marketing! 🤯 Other studies have shown email ROI numbers up to $44 for each $1—so aim for anywhere between those numbers.

Let’s take the litmus data as an example again. Their study found that the software and technology industry sees an overall average email ROI of 36:1. 

Marketing, PR and advertising agencies had a return as high as 42:1. 

Retail, e-commerce and consumer goods netted an average ROI of 45:1. To this day, we haven’t seen a higher ROI in marketing!

The “lowest” ROI was measured in the media, publishing, events, sports and entertainment sectors with 32:1.

If we’d have to write a love letter to email, we’d need more than a few pages. The biggest reason this marketing channel won our hearts is its unmatched ROI. If we’re talking about making a good investment, email is it. Just take a look at these stats:

• First Page Sage found that in 2024 SEO ROIs ranged from 317% to 1,389% for various industries. Real estate had the best results with SEO, with an average 1,389% ROI, but most other industries are far behind

• Gitnux reported that the average ROI for e-commerce SEO lies between 700% and 900%. In the study from First Page Sage, e-commerce had a mere 317% SEO ROI

• Forbes reported that the average content marketing ROI is $2.77 for every dollar spent

• According to Gitnux, the average ROI of social media ad campaigns is around 250%. A 2024 report from Hootsuite on social trends even said that 68% of marketers are concerned about the ROI of their social activities. Yikes!

• Google calculated that for every dollar you spend on Google Ads, you should see $8 in profit

• WebsiteBuilderExpert shared that an average ROI of 5:1 is considered adequate in digital marketing

While studies show ranging ROI numbers, one thing is certain: No other marketing channel comes close to the average ROI that email marketing delivers.

Email ROI can mean different things. When talking about sales from emails, the calculation is quite straightforward. However, your email marketing goals might be to:

• Expand brand awareness

• Nurture leads

• Increase website traffic

• Grow your email list

With non-monetary goals, you’ll calculate the email ROI by looking at metrics such as the open rate, click rate, bounce rate, and new recipients.

It’ll be harder to pinpoint an exact ROI but it’s still helpful to select your key metrics, define a base number, and compare the results to that number to analyze whether you’re moving closer or further away from your desired outcome.

To calculate your monetary email goals, you’ll get the ROI by summing up everything you earned from email and deducting all the costs you spent on it. Then, divide that number by the total email cost.

To calculate the total monetary gains of your email marketing campaigns, you’ll want to track:

• Email campaign revenue: If your email tool integrates with your e-commerce platform (like Stripe or WooCommerce), tracking sales from emails is easy! Otherwise, you’ll have to set up tracking URLs. With MailerLite, you can connect to Google Analytics and automatically add UTM tags to the links in your campaigns

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Some small businesses also want to take into account the future revenue of customer sales

Your email marketing expenses might vary, but here are the most common costs to factor into your total spending:

• Email software fees

• Email campaign sending (if not included in your ESP fee)

• Labor costs of your (email) marketer, copywriter or graphic designer

• Email design, such as graphics and templates

Marketing tools for A/B testing, landing pages, analytics, etc. (with MailerLite, this is all included)

Did you use the ROI calculator? If the percentage was not quite what you expected, don’t immediately throw in the towel. 🧘 These 7 tried-and-tested strategies have boosted the email ROI for many MailerLite customers, and it’ll work for you too!

Personalized emails can result in higher email open rates, more sales and better engagement. 

Creating email content that feels human and personal en masse is easy, if you use an email marketing platform like MailerLite. Here are some strategies to implement:

• Don’t lean too heavily on AI. It’s an awesome tool to help you boost your creativity and efficiency, but make sure people get to know your human side too

• Add a reply-to address where respondents can actually reach you

• Use custom fields that replace placeholders with people’s data, like their name

• Sign off emails with the name and picture of the (marketing) person who sent it

• Create interest groups, based on your recipient’s interests or behaviors, to send more targeted emails

• Try dynamic content blocks to show or hide email newsletter sections to certain subscribers

Enticing copy and email design that looks the part can make a huge difference in how much time people spend scrolling your newsletter. To increase engagement, try these tips:

• A/B test subject lines to see what gets people curious to open your email

• Set one content goal for each email, and add a clear, effective call-to-action (CTA)

• Analyze your audience, step into their shoes and meet their needs in each newsletter

• Write in a way that feels human and authentic to your brand

• Focus on the reader by using pronouns like "you" and "yours"

• When talking about products, focus on benefits over features

• Make the content scannable by breaking up the email design using headers and lists

• Read MailerLite’s email marketing design guide for more easy-to-implement strategies

Has your Instagram selfie ever received more likes on one day versus another? It’s not you, it’s all about your timing! 💁‍♀️

Like your social posts, there are also ideal moments to send your email campaigns. While most email marketers use A/B testing to discover when most of their audience is online, MailerLite customers take advantage of the smart email sending feature. 

This AI-powered feature analyzes historical data and decides on the perfect time to deliver your campaign. Each interaction with your email users improves accuracy. It’s the Christmas elf you never knew you needed—quietly working and over-delivering!

More or less text? Emoji or plain text? A button before or after the header? Many of life’s dilemmas remain unanswered, but in email marketing, the answer is always a test away.

With an ESP like MailerLite, you can A/B test practically every aspect of your email—from the subject line and preheader to email GIFs and images. There’s even A/B split testing for email marketing automation. 

Challenge yourself to A/B test something different in each email campaign this month, and let the results surprise you. You might find that your audience loves an emoji-packed subject or is more prone to click the “Shop Now” button when your email is shorter.

Uh oh! There might come a time when you’ll notice a drop in open rates and realize that your emails accidentally ended up in people’s junk folders. This happens to the best of us, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. We’ve compiled all practices to avoid spam filters in the guide below, but here are some methods that’ll positively affect your email marketing ROI to get you started:

• Send emails from the domain that matches your website domain name

• Authenticate your domain with DKIM and SPF records

• Regularly clean your email list to keep bounces at a low

• Pick an email program (*cough* MailerLite) with a good, trustworthy sending reputation

• Avoid pushy sales copy, even spam filters know “0% risk” is too good to be true

• Link to reputable domains, especially when using affiliate links in your emails

The more subscribers interact with your emails, the closer you get to your desired email ROI. If the email subject line catches their eye, people open the email, scroll and if your copy is enticing, they click to learn more. And that’s what we’re trying to achieve!

To improve your email engagement, try this:

• Remove inactive subscribers and continue to engage with your day ones

• Segment email subscribers by demographics or interests to send more relevant content

• Optimize your CTAs by testing placement, colors and copy

• Make emails more interactive by embedding surveys and quizzes

• Or run an email treasure hunt! We’ll show you how in the article below…

This routine is often overlooked, but oh so important. When you regularly “clean your email list” (aka filter out inactive subscribers), you’ll enjoy better email deliverability and ultimately, a higher email marketing ROI. It’s all about quality over quantity. 

Some email marketing strategies to up engagement include:

• Use an email validation tool, like MailerCheck, to identify invalid email addresses

• Collect new subscribers using double opt-in, to lower the risk of spammers

• Send an automated welcome email series to build relationships from the get-go

• Strategically use re-engagement email campaigns to win back subscribers

Now that you know how to calculate your email marketing ROI and how it compares, your next challenge is to implement some (or all) of the ROI-boosting strategies.

And remember, while some methods instantly increase your email ROI (like cleaning your list), other practices will set you up for success in the long run. Yoda said it best: “Patience you must have, my young Padawan.”

Start somewhere, anywhere, and share in the comments which ROI-boosting email strategy you conquered first and how! 👇