What is a good email marketing ROI?

The Data & Marketing Association reports an average of $36 to $42 per dollar spent across all industries. E-commerce and retail tend to perform above average. B2B and nonprofit tend to fall below. A 10:1 ROI ($10 returned per $1 spent) is a reasonable baseline for most businesses.

What costs should I include?

Include your email platform subscription, design and copywriting costs (in-house time or agency fees), list cleaning and management tools, and any paid list growth costs (lead magnets, ads to grow subscribers). Do not include costs that would exist regardless of email, like general website hosting.

How do I improve email ROI?

Three high-impact areas: list hygiene (remove inactive subscribers to improve deliverability and open rates), subject line testing (A/B test subjects to increase open rate), and segmentation (send targeted offers to segments rather than blasting the full list). Each of these directly improves funnel conversion. Run the calculation monthly to track trend direction rather than relying on a single data point.

Does this account for email attribution?

This calculator uses a direct attribution model: revenue is counted if it came from an email click. Multi-touch attribution (where email assisted a sale but was not the last click) would show higher revenue. Use this tool for direct-click ROI and supplement with your analytics platform for assisted attribution. Test both approaches with real data from your business before committing to a single strategy.

What is revenue per email sent?

Revenue per email sent divides total revenue by total emails sent. It is useful for comparing performance across campaigns of different sizes. A large campaign with 100,000 sends and $8,000 revenue ($0.08 per email) may be less efficient than a small campaign with 10,000 sends and $2,000 revenue ($0.20 per email).

Why is my email ROI lower than the $36 benchmark?

The $36 benchmark includes all email types, including high-converting automated sequences (abandoned cart, post-purchase, welcome series) that typically outperform one-time campaigns. If you are only measuring manual campaign sends, your ROI will naturally be lower. Include automated email revenue for an accurate comparison.

Email Marketing ROI Calculator

Model send-to-revenue for one campaign, compare to the ~36:1 industry benchmark, and see which metric lifts profit the most.

100% client-side. Campaign inputs stay in your browser (ons-email-roi-inputs).

Campaign ROI

27.3%

Return (revenue per $1 spent)

2.1:1

Industry average is about 36:1 ($36 revenue per $1 spent). Your campaign: 2.1:1.

List

10,000 subscribers

Opens

2,200 opened

Clicks

330 clicked

Conversions

9.9 converted

Revenue

$743 gross

Gross revenue

$743

Net profit

$96

Gross profit $446

Cost per conversion

$35

Revenue per email sent

$0.07

Which lever moves ROI most?

Largest modeled lift: CTOR +5 pp adds about $149 to net profit vs your current inputs.

Lever	Impact on net profit	Recommended action
Open rate +5 pp	+$101	Test subject lines, preview text, and send time.
CTOR +5 pp	+$149	Improve body copy, layout, and CTA placement.
Conversion rate +1 pp	+$149	Optimize the landing page, offer, and checkout flow.
Average order value +$10	+$59	Add upsells, bundles, or a higher-value offer.

Audience and engagement

List sizeOpen rate %Click-to-open rate (CTOR) %Percent of openers who click.Landing page conversion rate %

Revenue and costs

Average order valueGross margin %ESP cost (this send)Copy / design cost

How this tool works

Email marketing ROI tells you how much revenue you earn for every dollar spent on email. The industry benchmark is $36 to $42 per dollar spent, according to the Data & Marketing Association and Litmus. But that number is an average across all industries and company sizes. Your actual ROI depends on your list quality, email frequency, offer relevance, and attribution model. The calculator works through the email funnel step by step, starting with total emails sent, applying your open rate to get opens, applying click rate to get clicks, and applying conversion rate to get purchases or signups.

Worked example

Campaign profile: Emails sent: 50,000. Open rate: 22%. Click-to-open rate: 14%. Conversion rate (from click): 4.5%. Average order value: $85. Total email costs: $2,200 (platform: $800, design: $600, copywriting: $800). Funnel breakdown: Emails opened: 11,000. Clicks: 1,540. Conversions: 69. Revenue: $5,865. ROI: (($5,865 - $2,200) / $2,200) x 100 = 166.6%. Revenue per email sent: $0.117. Cost per conversion: $31.88.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good email marketing ROI?
The Data & Marketing Association reports an average of $36 to $42 per dollar spent across all industries. E-commerce and retail tend to perform above average. B2B and nonprofit tend to fall below. A 10:1 ROI ($10 returned per $1 spent) is a reasonable baseline for most businesses.
What costs should I include?
Include your email platform subscription, design and copywriting costs (in-house time or agency fees), list cleaning and management tools, and any paid list growth costs (lead magnets, ads to grow subscribers). Do not include costs that would exist regardless of email, like general website hosting.
How do I improve email ROI?
Three high-impact areas: list hygiene (remove inactive subscribers to improve deliverability and open rates), subject line testing (A/B test subjects to increase open rate), and segmentation (send targeted offers to segments rather than blasting the full list). Each of these directly improves funnel conversion. Run the calculation monthly to track trend direction rather than relying on a single data point.
Does this account for email attribution?
This calculator uses a direct attribution model: revenue is counted if it came from an email click. Multi-touch attribution (where email assisted a sale but was not the last click) would show higher revenue. Use this tool for direct-click ROI and supplement with your analytics platform for assisted attribution. Test both approaches with real data from your business before committing to a single strategy.
What is revenue per email sent?
Revenue per email sent divides total revenue by total emails sent. It is useful for comparing performance across campaigns of different sizes. A large campaign with 100,000 sends and $8,000 revenue ($0.08 per email) may be less efficient than a small campaign with 10,000 sends and $2,000 revenue ($0.20 per email).
Why is my email ROI lower than the $36 benchmark?
The $36 benchmark includes all email types, including high-converting automated sequences (abandoned cart, post-purchase, welcome series) that typically outperform one-time campaigns. If you are only measuring manual campaign sends, your ROI will naturally be lower. Include automated email revenue for an accurate comparison.