Email deliverability revenue is the portion of revenue you earn from emails that reach your recipients’ main inboxes, rather than being lost in spam and promotion folders.
Additionally, being a major part of the ROI equation, email deliverability revenue also impacts your final earnings.
So, I’ve decided to ask Mailtrap deliverability experts:
- How deliverability affects revenue [click to jump ahead]
- What affects email deliverability [click to jump ahead]
- What some of the best deliverability practices are [click to jump ahead]
If you feel like freshening up or cementing your email deliverability knowledge, check out our dedicated article. ⬅️
Email deliverability revenue: a snapshot
Before we start, let me show you the results of the latest Validity report and how to calculate email deliverability ROI.
- Email deliverability benchmark
Hitting the primary inbox is a global challenge. As you can see from the table below, some countries, like South America and Brazil have an issue with emails going missing, while India has a problem with landing in spam.
Only a handful of countries, such as Germany and France have over 90% deliverability rate with minimal spam and missing emails, which tells quite a story.
| Country | Inbox | Spam | Missing |
| Asia | 78.1% | 6.8% | 15.1% |
| China | 93.8% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| India | 83.4% | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| Europe | 89.1% | 4.9% | 6.0% |
| France | 91.4% | 4.4% | 4.2% |
| Germany | 94.5% | 1.9% | 3.6% |
| United Kingdom | 87.8% | 3.6% | 8.6% |
| North America | 85.0% | 5.7% | 9.4% |
| United States | 85.0% | 5.6% | 9.4% |
| Canada | 86.7% | 5.4% | 7.9% |
| Oceania | 84.9% | 4.5% | 10.6% |
| Australia | 85.0% | 4.5% | 10.4% |
| South America | 77.4% | 5.6% | 17.0% |
| Brazil | 76.1% | 5.8% | 18.1% |
- Email deliverability ROI formula
When it comes to calculating your email deliverability ROI, you need to know your total revenue from email and sending costs, which includes ESP fees, monitoring, staff, etc. the equation is as simple as it gets.
To calculate your email deliverability ROI, you need two numbers:
- Total revenue from email – All income generated by your email campaign(s).
- Total email costs – All expenses related to sending emails, such as ESP fees, monitoring tools, staff, etc.
The formula: ROI = (Total revenue from email – Total email costs) / Total email costs
For example, let’s say your total yearly revenue from email is $200,000 and your email costs are $25,000. Here’s how you would put the formula to work:
Step 1. Subtract your total yearly email costs from your total yearly revenue from email.
- $200,000 − $25,000 = $175,000 net profit from email.
Step 2. Divide the net profit from email by your total yearly email costs.
- $175,000 / $25,000 = $7
An ROI of 7 means that for every $1 you spend on email, you generate $7 in return.
How email deliverability affects revenue
Did you know that 2/3rds of businesses say deliverability is killing their revenue? Additionally, according to Validity’s research, deliverability costs the average email program over $15,000 per every million emails sent.
To paint you a better picture instead of just handing out statistics, here’s a table that shows how deliverability affects revenue in a hypothetical scenario:
| Metric | Standard | Improved |
| Emails sent | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Deliverability rate | 85% | 95% |
| Emails gone to spam | 5% | 3% spam |
| Missing emails | 10% | 2% missing |
| Subscribers reached | 85,000 | 95,000 |
| Click-through rate | 3% (2,550 clicks) | 3.6% (3,420 clicks) |
| Conversion rate | 10% (255) conversions | 10% (342) conversions |
| Average order value | $50 | $50 |
| Revenue | $12,750 | $17,100 |
| Campaign cost | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Improved ROI | $12.75 per $1 invested | $17.10 per $1 invested |
So, just a 10% increase in deliverability rate resulted in extra $4,350 in email deliverability revenue from one campaign.
P.S. Interested in further exploring the impact of deliverability rate on the costs of your email marketing efforts? If yes, be sure to check out the awesome video our YouTube team has prepared on the topic!
What affects email deliverability
Typically, most major and common deliverability-related issues are related to:
- Email authentication
- Sender reputation
- Email list quality
- Email sending
- Email content
Email authentication
Email authentication concerns security protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which essentially verify who you say you are when sending emails. They’re an industry-standard nowadays, and if you’re not authenticated, your emails won’t get accepted by the recipient’s email server.
How to improve: Set up SPF with your sending service, generate DKIM keys and enable signing, and publish DMARC policy starting with ‘none’ for monitoring. You can also use Mailtrap checkers for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to ensure you’re properly authenticated.
Sender reputation
Sender reputation consists of:
- Email IP reputation, which is determined by the reliability of the sender’s IP address.
- Domain reputation, which is measured by ISPs based on the history of the sender’s address.
Getting marked as spam, hitting spam traps, people unsubscribing from your emails; these are only some of the things that impact your sender reputation.
If your sender reputation is not doing great, the chances are that ISPs will send your emails to spam, block them, or blacklist your IP or domain, directly influencing your deliverability rate. To check if you’ve been blacklisted, you can use Mailtrap’s free domain blacklist checker and IP checker.
How to improve: I recommend using Google Postmaster Tools or Microsoft SNDS, which allow you to observe the health of your IP and domain health. For instance, Mailtrap customers can share their Google Postmaster Tools with our deliverability experts so when we see something is off, we suggest the needed fixes and provide you with a peace of mind.
Email list quality
A quality email list makes a world of difference when it comes to deliverability. Creating one organically from scratch through double-opt in or permission-based forms will yield much better inboxing rates than one that’s been bought or scrapped.
How to improve: Never buy email lists since it won’t only result in poor deliverability rates, but it might also cost you. Additionally, once you have a solid email list, make sure to keep it clean by implementing email validation logic, adding reCAPTCHA to your forms, and verifying emails.
Email sending
Taking care of your email sending configuration is half the battle won when it comes to deliverability.
Take shared and dedicated IPs, for example. If you’re a high-volume sender and you’re using a shared IP, your deliverability will suffer since you’re using an address shared by multiple senders designed for low volume. However, with a dedicated IP, you’ll have more control used solely by you, giving you way better results.
Additionally, you need to warm up your IP and avoid sudden increases in volume since they’re a big red flag for ISPs. On top of that, if your recipients notice you’re sending more than usual, they’ll be more likely to mark you as spam or move you to the junk folder.
How to improve: If you want to work on your sending configuration or simply fine-tune it, I suggest hiring a deliverability consultant. On the other hand, if you’re on a budget or simply like doing things on your own, feel free to follow our in-depth guide on improving email deliverability. 👀
Email content
How many times have you opened your inbox, seen an email with a subject line that seems to be written by a five-year old (e.g., ACT FAST, LIMITED TIME OFFER or Re: your refund request) and reported it as spam? Starting from subject lines, how you write and design your emails plays a big role in whether your emails will go to junk.
This is especially true when it comes to HTML emails, which should perform well across different devices, have interactive features like forms and CTAs, include images, etc. A well-structured HTML email should engage your users, not improve your chances of getting marked as spam and negatively impact your deliverability.
How to improve: Test your emails to make sure your HTML code is flawless and that your emails will pass spam filters. Additionally, I suggest using one of the many subject line testers out there to try out different subject lines and see what works best for each campaign.
Email deliverability best practices
If you want to improve your email deliverability or keep it at a high rate, I recommend you to:
Perform regular audits
Email deliverability audit is the evaluation of the various factors that impact your deliverability. It measures whether your emails are reaching your recipients inboxes, where exactly they are landing, if they’re getting blocked, etc.
Typically, you should audit your email deliverability once a quarter or after each big campaign. Of course, this goes without saying, but you should also perform an audit whenever you notice a significant drop in metrics or change your infrastructure/ESP.
And here’s a summary of what you should audit:
Segment your email list
When you go to a supermarket, there are various isles that divide the market goods in categories like dairy products, water, meat, etc. The goods aren’t just stacked on top of each other, right?
What I’m getting to is that if you have an email list of, let’s say, 10,000 subscribers, you can’t just send the same email to them all. Not everyone on the list has the same needs or interests, is based in the same timezone, etc. Similarly to the supermarket goods, you need to segment your email list.
By grouping your contacts, you can target them more easily, which is going to improve not only your engagement, but your deliverability rates since you’ll be less likely to be flagged as spam.
Use an ESP with focus on email deliverability
Mailtrap is an Email Delivery Platform designed for product companies that plan to send a high volume of emails with high deliverability rates, in-depth analytics, and growth-focused features.
When it comes to email deliverability, Mailtrap can help you in the following ways:
- Deliverability features – Separate sending streams, dedicated IP addresses, email warm-up, throttling, and other advanced features for users to achieve high deliverability rates, regardless of the plan.
- In-depth analytics – Helicopter view dashboards and drill-down reports for you to track opens, clicks, bounces, and more.
- Spam complaints – Our Deliverability Team systematically monitors the number of spam complaints and proactively assists customers with their issues to ensure compliance.
- There’s also the free deliverability consultation with one of our experts.
- Detailed Outlook stats – We provide you with performance breakdowns for each provider, including Outlook. These are open rates, spam rates, bounces, etc.
- Email authentication – We require each sender to have proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) before they start to send so each domain is properly checked and prepared.
- Dedicated Bulk Stream – Our Bulk Email Service is designed for high-volume senders and can handle large amounts of emails without a stutter, all the while keeping your deliverability high.
- To each email you send through the Bulk stream, we automatically add a one-click unsubscribe button.
Comply with email marketing laws
Email marketing laws are designed to protect user privacy and data, prevent spam, but also that businesses send their emails to people who have consented to them.
Complying with these laws not only ensures you don’t get penalized by ESPs and ISPs, it will also ensure you don’t need to pay any fines. For example, if you don’t comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, you’ll have to pay a fine of up to $44,000.
Here’s a quick summary of all the relevant email marketing laws (click on the link for more details):
| Law / Regulation | Region | Key requirements | Violation penalties |
| CAN-SPAM Act | United States (broad commercial email law) | Truthful header & subject lines, identify as ads, include physical address, easy opt-out, honor unsubscribes within 10 days, responsibility for third-party senders | Up to $44,000 per violation |
| GDPR | European Union (applies globally if handling EU citizens’ data) | Explicit, informed consent, transparency on data use, right to access/erase data, data minimization, security measures | Up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover |
| CCPA | California, USA | Right to know, delete, and opt-out of data sale; non-discrimination; clear privacy policy; applies to certain business sizes/data volumes | $2,500 per violation $7,500 per international violation |
| CASL | Canada | Express or implied consent before sending, truthful sender info, easy unsubscribe, maintain records of consent | $100 to $50,000 per violation, depending on severity |
| LGPD | Brazil | Lawful basis for processing, transparency, rights to access/correct/delete data, data protection measures | Up to CA$1 million (individuals) Up to CA$10 million (businesses) |
| PECR | United Kingdom | Consent for marketing emails, clear sender info, opt-out mechanism; works alongside UK GDPR | 2% of revenue in Brazil or up to 50 million reais per violation |
| Spam Act 2003 | Australia | Consent required (express or inferred), identify sender, provide unsubscribe | Up to £500,000 |
| HIPAA | United States (healthcare) | Protect PHI (Protected Health Information), privacy/security rules, explicit consent for marketing using medical data | Up to AU$2.22 million per day for corporations |
Meet the inbox provider requirements
Besides the email marketing laws, there are also requirements and regulations set by inbox providers like Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple Mail.
Although these might not seem important on paper, the fact is that in 2024, inbox placement rates for Gmail averaged 89.8%, whereas they declined to 84.2% later during the year after Google implemented requirements. The story is similar for other inbox providers, too.
For your convenience, I’ve summed them up in a table, but nonetheless, make sure to go through the official documentation if you plan to comply:
| Inbox provider | Requirements |
| Gmail, Yahoo | Maintain low complaint rates (<0.1%), send only to engaged subscribers, and clean inactive/invalid addresses regularly. |
| Outlook (Microsoft) | Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly set; remove inactive addresses; avoid tactics that trigger false opens. |
| Apple Mail | Focus on click-based metrics, use segmentation based on link activity, and run A/B tests without relying solely on opens. |
Monitor your metrics
The most important email marketing KPIs related to email deliverability are performance metrics, which tell you how your campaigns are performing. Following them closely, you can see fluctuations (if any), implement the necessary changes, and improve your deliverability.
Here’s what Mailtrap deliverability experts recommend:
| Metric | Ideal range | Solution |
| Delivered rate | As close to 100% as possible | Use a reputable ESP, authenticate, avoid blacklists |
| Bounce rate | Under 5% | Validate list, remove hard bounces |
| Spam complaints | Not above 0.1% | Improve your email design, avoid spam words |
Use email deliverability tools
With the vast abundance of email deliverability tools out there nowadays, there really isn’t a reason not to use them to make sure your emails land in recipients’ inboxes.
For instance, you can use the free MxToolbox to assess your DNS records or analyze headers. Or, you can use full-fledged deliverability platforms like Everest by Validity or GlockApps to optimize your infrastructure.
For a comprehensive list of 15 deliverability we tested and used over the years, check out our dedicated guide. ⬅️
Conclusion
With that, we’ve reached the end of our email deliverability revenue guide!
To recap: if you don’t want your ROI to take because your deliverability rate drops, authenticate your emails, make sure your sender reputation is spotless, grow your lists organically, configure your sending configuration, and test your emails.
Most importantly, partner with an ESP that will help you reach high deliverability rates, instead of holding you back. And yes, I’m hinting at Mailtrap. 🙂
Happy sending!
Further reading:
- Email Deliverability Comparison Results [2025]
- Performing an Email Sending Reputation Audit
- Using Email IP Pools for Higher Email Deliverability
