Definition
Revenue per email measures the average revenue generated by each email sent in a campaign or over a period. It is one of the most important business metrics for email marketing because it ties campaign performance directly to revenue.
Unlike open rate and click rate, which measure engagement, revenue per email measures actual business impact. It is the metric that connects email marketing activity to the bottom line.
Formula
Revenue per email is calculated by dividing total attributed revenue by total emails sent.
Revenue Per Email = Total Attributed Revenue / Total Emails Sent
For more granular analysis, you can calculate:
Revenue Per Delivered Email = Total Attributed Revenue / Total Delivered Emails
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| Total Attributed Revenue | Revenue generated from email campaign conversions |
| Total Emails Sent | Number of emails sent in the campaign |
| Total Delivered Emails | Emails sent minus bounces |
Average Benchmark
Revenue per email benchmarks vary widely by industry and email type.
| Email Type | Average Revenue Per Email |
|---|---|
| Broadcast promotional | $0.05 - $0.15 |
| Abandoned cart | $0.50 - $1.50 |
| Product recommendation | $0.20 - $0.60 |
| Welcome series | $0.30 - $0.80 |
| Re-engagement campaign | $0.10 - $0.30 |
| Transactional | $0.02 - $0.10 |
These numbers vary significantly based on average order value, margin, and attribution window.
How to Improve Revenue Per Email
- Target high-intent segments: Subscribers who have recently purchased or browsed specific products are more likely to convert. Focus promotional emails on engaged segments.
- Personalise product recommendations: Use purchase history and browsing data to recommend relevant products. Personalised recommendations consistently outperform generic promotions.
- Optimise send timing: Test different send times to find when your audience is most likely to purchase. Revenue per email varies significantly by day and time.
- Improve email-to-purchase attribution: Ensure your tracking captures all conversions from email, including delayed purchases. Use an attribution window of at least 7 days.
- Segment by customer value: Send higher-value offers to your best customers and lower-cost offers to newer or less engaged subscribers.
- Test offer types: Experiment with percentage discounts, fixed amount discounts, free shipping, and exclusive access to see which produces the highest revenue per email.
Example Calculation
If you send a campaign to 50,000 subscribers and the campaign generates $4,250 in attributed revenue:
Revenue Per Email = $4,250 / 50,000 = $0.085
This means each email sent generated approximately $0.085 (8.5 cents). To increase this, you could target the offer to a more relevant segment or improve the conversion rate of the landing page.
Related Glossary Terms
A/B Testing
A/B testing in email marketing is the practice of sending two variations of an email to a small sample of your list to determine which version performs better before sending the winner to the remaining subscribers.
Abandoned Cart Email
An abandoned cart email is an automated message sent to customers who added items to their online shopping cart but left without completing the purchase. It is one of the highest-converting email types in ecommerce.
Abuse Complaint
An abuse complaint is a report from a recipient who marks an email as spam, which negatively affects sender reputation and deliverability.
AIDA Model for Email
The AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is a classic copywriting framework used to structure email campaigns that guide subscribers from awareness to conversion.
AMP for Email
AMP for Email is a Google-developed framework that allows email messages to include interactive elements like forms, carousels, accordions, and live content. It turns static emails into dynamic, interactive experiences directly inside the inbox.
Anchoring Effect in Email Marketing
The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias where the first piece of information presented (the anchor) influences subsequent decisions, used in email to frame pricing and value perception.
Frequently Asked Questions
A good revenue per email depends on your industry, average order value, and email type. For ecommerce, $0.08-$0.15 per email is typical for promotional campaigns. Abandoned cart emails often generate $0.50 or more per email. Focus on improving your own benchmark rather than comparing to averages across different business models.
Revenue per email is a raw revenue metric — how much money each email generates. ROI (return on investment) accounts for the cost of sending emails, including platform fees, content creation, and staff time. Revenue per email feeds into ROI calculation but does not account for costs.
Use UTM parameters on all email links and track conversions in your analytics platform. Connect your email platform to your ecommerce system to capture attributed revenue. Set up conversion tracking with an appropriate attribution window (7-30 days depending on your sales cycle).
Focus on targeting and personalisation. Send the right offer to the right segment rather than the same offer to everyone. Use product recommendations based on past purchases. Optimise your email design for mobile checkout. Improve your landing page conversion rate so more clicks turn into revenue. A well-targeted email to 20% of your list can outperform a mass email to 100%.
Yes, significantly. Revenue per email typically increases 30-100% during holiday seasons like Black Friday, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. Back-to-school season boosts RPE for relevant retailers. Plan your email calendar around seasonal peaks and allocate more sending volume to high-revenue periods. Track RPE separately for seasonal and non-seasonal campaigns to set realistic benchmarks.