The Standard ROI Formula (And Why It Is Wrong)
The standard email marketing ROI formula is: (Revenue from email - Cost of email) divided by Cost of email. Most businesses plug in their monthly platform fee and call it done. They are missing the true cost: monthly fee, per-email overages, cost of contacts stored but never emailed, and the opportunity cost of features locked behind premium tiers.
⚠️The hidden cost nobody calculates: Mailchimp charges by contacts stored. A business with 50,000 contacts pays $385/month whether they send anything or not. That is $4,620/year before sending a single email.
Real ROI Comparison: Mailchimp vs LoomiMail
| Metric | Mailchimp (50K list) | LoomiMail (50K list) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly platform cost | $385/mo | $22/mo (4 campaigns) | Save $363/mo |
| Contact storage fee | Built into plan | Free | No charge |
| Cost per 1K emails | $1.30 | $0.11 | 12x cheaper |
| Annual platform cost | $4,620 | $264 | $4,356 saved |
| Revenue at 2% conversion | $10,000 | $10,000 | Same revenue |
| True ROI | 2.2:1 | 38:1 | 17x better |
The True ROI Formula
True Email ROI = (Revenue attributed to email - True platform cost) / True platform cost. True cost = monthly fee + (emails sent x per-email rate) + contact storage markup + time cost of platform management. Most businesses undercount true costs by 3-5x.
Industry ROI Benchmarks
| ROI Range | What It Means | Primary Cause |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5:1 | Poor - review platform and list quality | High platform cost |
| 5:1 to 15:1 | Average - room for improvement | Standard platform markup |
| 15:1 to 30:1 | Good - optimized sending | Pay-per-send model |
| 30:1 to 50:1 | Excellent - top performer | Low cost + high engagement |
| 50:1+ | Elite - rarely achieved without optimization | Automated sequences + perfect deliverability |
- Step 1: Log your monthly email revenue with UTM tracking
- Step 2: Total your REAL platform cost: monthly fee + overages + hidden fees
- Step 3: Add time cost: hours managing email x your hourly rate
- Step 4: Divide (Revenue - Total Cost) by Total Cost
- Step 5: Compare your result against the LoomiMail cost for your send volume
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