The Formula Behind the Numbers
Our calculator uses industry-standard ROI formulas based on real Email marketing campaign data. For a deep dive into improving these metrics, read our complete Email Marketing Guide.
- Total Cost = Emails Sent × Cost Per Email × Number of Campaigns
- Expected Opens = Emails Sent × (Open Rate / 100)
- Expected Clicks = Emails Sent × (Click-Through Rate / 100)
- Expected Conversions = Expected Clicks × (Conversion Rate / 100)
- Total Revenue = Expected Conversions × Average Order Value
- Profit = Total Revenue - Total Cost
- ROI % = (Profit / Total Cost) × 100
Realistic Benchmark Ranges for UK Businesses
The benchmarks below are drawn from UK email marketing data. Your actual numbers will vary by industry, list quality and content — but these are the ranges to aim for. For a full comparison with text messaging, see our Email vs SMS comparison.
- Open Rate: 20–30% – This is the percentage of recipients who open your email. Welcome emails typically exceed 50%. Re-engagement campaigns often drop below 15%. If your open rate is consistently under 15%, your subject lines or sender reputation need work.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): 2–5% – The percentage of recipients who click a link. Highly targeted, segmented campaigns can reach 8–10%. If your CTR is below 1%, your content or CTA isn't compelling enough.
- Conversion Rate: 5–15% of clicks – This depends heavily on what you're asking people to do. A "book a free consultation" CTA converts higher than "buy a £500 product". Match the ask to where the subscriber is in the buying cycle.
- Cost Per Email: £0.01–£0.05 – Team-Connect credits start at £0.01 per email on the Empire Pack (50,000 credits). Even at the Starter Pack rate, the cost per email is a fraction of a penny per recipient.
- Average Order Value: £40–£150 – Retail averages £40–£60. Professional services £80–£150. Trades (plumbers, electricians) £200–£500 per job. The higher your AOV, the fewer conversions you need to generate a strong ROI.
- Overall ROI: £36–£42 per £1 spent – The DMA (Data & Marketing Association) regularly cites email as the highest-ROI digital marketing channel. This figure comes from their annual Email Benchmarking Report and reflects UK-specific data.
Worked Examples: UK Email Campaigns
These examples show how the calculator formula works with realistic UK numbers. Plug your own figures into the calculator above to see your projected returns.
- Retail (Weekly Newsletter): 10,000 emails at £0.02 each = £200 cost. 25% open rate → 2,500 opens. 5% CTR → 500 clicks. 10% conversion → 50 orders. £50 average order → £2,500 revenue. Profit: £2,300. ROI: 1,150%. This is a typical result for a well-segmented retail list sending weekly offers to engaged subscribers.
- E-commerce (Abandoned Cart): 1,000 emails at £0.03 = £30 cost. 45% open rate → 450 opens. 10% CTR → 100 clicks. 20% conversion → 20 recovered orders. £60 average order → £1,200 revenue. Profit: £1,170. ROI: 3,900%. Abandoned cart emails are the highest-ROI campaign type because the buyer intent is already there — they just need a nudge.
- B2B Service (Lead Generation): 5,000 emails at £0.04 = £200 cost. 20% open rate → 1,000 opens. 3% CTR → 150 clicks. 5% conversion → 7–8 qualified enquiries. £500 average lifetime value → £3,750 revenue. Profit: £3,550. ROI: 1,775%. B2B campaigns have lower open and click rates but the high value per conversion makes them extremely profitable.
- Trades (Seasonal Promotion): 2,000 emails at £0.02 = £40 cost. 28% open rate → 560 opens. 6% CTR → 120 clicks. 8% conversion → 10 booked jobs. £300 average job value → £3,000 revenue. Profit: £2,960. ROI: 7,400%. Tradespeople with a clean local list often see the highest ROI per campaign because the average job value is high and the cost per email is minimal.
How to Increase Your Email ROI
The calculator shows projected returns — here's how to push the actual numbers higher. For the full playbook, read our Email Marketing Guide.
- Segment Your Audience: Sending relevant messages to the right people is the single biggest ROI lever. A dental practice emailing NHS patients about NHS offers and private patients about cosmetic treatments will outperform a generic broadcast every time. Segmented campaigns deliver 14% higher open rates and 100% higher click-through rates.
- Write Better Subject Lines: Your subject line determines whether the email gets opened. Test curiosity ("The one thing most landlords forget about EPC renewals"), urgency ("Your MOT is due in 7 days") and plain clarity ("March newsletter: 3 new listings"). Browse real examples in our Template Library.
- Use a Clear, Single Call-to-Action: Every email should drive toward one action: "Book now", "Get a quote", "View the listing". Multiple buttons split attention and reduce clicks. One button, above the fold, in a contrasting colour.
- Optimise for Mobile: Over 60% of UK email opens happen on phones. Single-column layout, 14px+ font, 44×44px tap targets. If your email looks broken on mobile, you've lost most of your audience before they read a word.
- Clean Your List Quarterly: Remove hard bounces, suppress 6-month inactive subscribers, run re-engagement campaigns first. A smaller engaged list will outperform a large stale one on every metric — open rate, click rate, conversion rate and deliverability.
- Track Conversions with UTM Parameters: Add UTM tags to every link in your emails so you can track which campaigns generate revenue in Google Analytics. Without tracking, you're guessing. With tracking, you can double down on what works and cut what doesn't.