By Aijaz Alam
What is the average ROI of email marketing?
35% of marketing leaders say email marketing returns $10 to $36 for every $1 spent, the most common answer in Litmus's State of Email 2025 survey of nearly 500 marketers; 30% say $36 to $50 and 5% more than $50. Litmus gives bands, not an average, and 21% of leaders do not measure email ROI at all.
- 35%Marketing leaders reporting $10 to $36 back per $1Litmus, 2025, the most common answer
- 30%Marketing leaders reporting $36 to $50 back per $1Litmus, 2025
- 21%Marketing leaders who do not measure email ROILitmus, 2025, down from 36% in 2023
- 33%Marketers naming ROI measurement their top challengeHubSpot, 2026, all channels
The numbers
The full breakdown
Return on email marketing reported by marketing leaders, 2025
| Return for every $1 spent on email | Share of marketing leaders |
|---|---|
| $10 to $36 | 35% |
| $36 to $50 | 30% |
| More than $50 | 5% |
| Do not measure email ROI | 21% |
| Other answers | Not published |
Litmus State of Email 2025, nearly 500 marketing professionals worldwide (vendor survey). The four published answers add to 91%; Litmus does not publish the rest. Self-reported ranges, not measured returns.
How companies measure email marketing's contribution, 2025
| Method | Share of companies |
|---|---|
| Customer engagement metrics (opens, click-through, bounces) | 59% |
| Marketing qualified leads or conversion rates from email | 44% |
| Direct revenue attribution to email campaigns | 41% |
| Effect on customer retention or loyalty | 39% |
| Multi-channel attribution models | 36% |
| Brand awareness metrics | 30% |
More than one answer allowed. Only 41% tie email to revenue directly, which is what an ROI figure needs.
How many marketers can measure ROI
| Measure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing leaders who do not measure email ROI | 36% | 2023 | Litmus |
| Marketing leaders who do not measure email ROI | 21% | 2025 | Litmus |
| Respondents struggling to measure or prove email ROI | 22% | 2025 | Litmus |
| Marketers naming ROI measurement (all channels) their top challenge | 33% | 2026 | HubSpot State of Marketing |
HubSpot surveyed over 1,500 B2B and B2C marketers about marketing as a whole, not email alone.
Email ROI by industry, 2020 survey
| Industry | Return per $1 spent |
|---|---|
| Retail, ecommerce and consumer goods | $45 |
| Marketing, PR and advertising agencies | $42 |
| Software and technology | $36 |
| Media, publishing, events, sports and entertainment | $32 |
From Litmus's 2020 State of Email survey of more than 2,000 marketing professionals, shown as ratios (45:1 and so on). Litmus does not say whether these are averages or medians, and they are six years older than the bands above.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 to $36 per $1 (35% of leaders) | 2025 | Litmus State of Email | Answer bands from nearly 500 marketers; no average is published |
| $32 to $45 per $1, by industry | 2020 | Litmus State of Email | Older survey of over 2,000 marketers; four industries only |
| 21% | 2025 | Litmus State of Email | Share of marketing leaders who do not measure email ROI at all |
| 33% | 2026 | HubSpot State of Marketing | Share of marketers whose top challenge is measuring ROI, for all marketing |
Most email ROI figures you will see are single numbers, such as $36 or $42 for every $1, but the newest primary data does not give one. Litmus asks marketing leaders to pick a range, so its 2025 result is a spread: 35% chose $10 to $36, 30% chose $36 to $50 and 5% chose more than $50. The popular $36 is the edge between two of those ranges, not an average. The often-repeated claim of $42 for every $1 is usually traced to a 2019 UK survey by the Data & Marketing Association that reported in pounds, so it is neither current nor a US dollar figure. Litmus's industry ratios, from $32 to $45, come from an older 2020 survey. All of these are what marketers believe their email earns, not measured results: 21% do not measure ROI at all, and only 41% of companies tie email directly to revenue. Quote a range with its year and source, and say it is self-reported.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Email still looks like one of the best returns in marketing: 70% of marketing leaders in Litmus's 2025 survey put it at $10 or more for every $1 spent, and 35% at $36 or more. Those are estimates by the people who run the programs, not audited results, so treat them as a sense of scale rather than a target.
For a small business, the more useful number is the 21% who do not measure ROI at all, and the 59% who measure mainly with opens and clicks. Opens and clicks are not sales. If you can, tag email links and count the orders or leads they bring, then divide by what the tool and your time cost.
Measurement is the weak point across marketing, not only in email. In HubSpot's 2026 survey, measuring ROI was the challenge marketers named most often, by 33%.
Journalists should not write "email returns $36 for every $1". Write that 35% of marketing leaders estimate $10 to $36, and name Litmus and the year.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Litmus (Validity): State of Email 2025, published on the Litmus page The ROI of Email Marketing
- Sample
- Nearly 500 marketing professionals worldwide (vendor survey, not a random sample). The by-industry ratios are from the 2020 survey of more than 2,000.
- Definition
- Each respondent picks a band for the return on every $1 spent on email marketing. Self-reported; Litmus publishes no average.
- Released
- 2025 (the Litmus page showed a date of 16 July 2025 when checked)
- Checked at source
- 31 October 2026, on litmus.com
- Next release
- Litmus publishes State of Email research every year; no date announced
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Litmus State of Email / The ROI of Email Marketing, Litmus (Validity) Vendor data
- HubSpot State of Marketing 2026, HubSpot Vendor data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Is email ROI really $36 for every $1?
Not as an average. In Litmus's 2025 survey $36 is the line between two answer bands: 35% of marketing leaders chose $10 to $36 and 30% chose $36 to $50. Litmus publishes no single ROI figure.
Where does the $42 for every $1 claim come from?
It is usually traced to the UK Data & Marketing Association's Marketer Email Tracker 2019, a survey of UK marketers that reported the return in pounds, not US dollars. It is seven years old. The only 42:1 in Litmus's data is one industry, agencies, in its 2020 survey.
Which industries report the highest email ROI?
In Litmus's 2020 survey, retail, ecommerce and consumer goods reported 45:1, ahead of agencies (42:1), software (36:1) and media and entertainment (32:1). No newer industry split has been published.
How do companies measure email marketing ROI?
Most use engagement metrics such as opens and clicks (59% in Litmus's 2025 survey). Fewer tie email to revenue directly (41%) or use multi-channel attribution (36%).
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Litmus (Validity), HubSpot). Free to cite with a link to this page.