How to Use the ROI Calculator to Cut Email Costs
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
Why Use This Calculator?
Our Email Marketing ROI & Savings Calculator helps you answer three critical questions:
- Is my email marketing profitable? — See your true ROI after accounting for all costs.
- Where am I overspending? — Break down costs by ESP, labor, and tools.
- How much could I save by switching ESPs? — Compare your current provider against alternatives in real time.
Step 1: Set Your Campaign Parameters
Start by entering your email marketing data into the calculator. Here's what each field means:
Monthly Email Volume
How many emails do you send per month? This includes newsletters, promotional emails, transactional emails, and automated flows. If you're unsure, check your ESP's dashboard for total sends last month.
Deliverability Rate
The percentage of emails that actually reach inboxes (not spam folders). The industry average is around 83%, but a healthy setup should achieve 93%+. Check your ESP's delivery reports.
Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that recipients open. Industry average is 22% across all industries. Select your industry from the dropdown to auto-fill relevant benchmarks.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of opened emails that result in at least one click. Industry average is 2.5%.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of clicks that result in a desired action (purchase, signup, etc.). Industry average is 1.5%.
Average Order Value (AOV)
The average amount customers spend per purchase. If you sell services or leads, estimate the average value of a conversion.
Step 2: Enter Your Costs
This is where most ROI calculators fall short. We include all the real costs:
- Current ESP Cost — Your monthly subscription fee. Select your provider or enter a custom amount.
- Labor Hours — How many hours does your team spend on email marketing per month? Include strategy, copywriting, design, testing, and analysis.
- Hourly Wage — The average hourly cost of your email marketing team members.
- Design/Copy Costs — Any outsourced design, copywriting, or freelance costs.
Advanced Mode
Toggle "Advanced Mode" to include additional costs like list cleaning services, email verification tools, and dedicated IP fees. These hidden costs can add up significantly for larger senders.
Step 3: Compare ESPs
Select an alternative ESP from the dropdown. The calculator automatically loads that provider's pricing and shows a side-by-side comparison including:
- Total monthly cost for each provider
- Net profit under each scenario
- ROI percentage comparison
- Monthly savings from switching
If the alternative ESP saves you money, you'll see a prominent call-to-action with savings details and an affiliate link to try the service.
Step 4: Analyze the Results
The results dashboard shows you:
- Monthly Email Revenue — Estimated revenue generated by your email campaigns
- Total Cost — All-in monthly cost including ESP, labor, and tools
- Net Profit / ROI % — Your bottom line
- Cost Breakdown Chart — See exactly where your money goes
- Revenue Comparison Chart — Visual comparison between current and alternative ESP profitability
- Deliverability Uplift — See how much additional revenue a 5% delivery improvement would generate
Real-World Example
Here's a typical scenario we see with our users:
A small e-commerce store sending 50,000 emails/month with Mailchimp ($59/mo), spending 20 hours/month on email marketing ($35/h), and $500 on design. Their email revenue is approximately $192/month. They're losing over $1,000/month on email marketing.
By switching to an ESP like Brevo ($25/mo), they save $34/month on ESP costs. But the real insight is that their email strategy needs to improve — higher open rates and conversion rates would have a much bigger impact than ESP cost savings alone.