Question · Email & retention
Why is my email marketing revenue declining?
Asked by an ecommerce founder · Answered by Nathan Frater ·
The short answer
Partly because everyone else got better. AI and tools like Klaviyo have lifted the baseline so far that the inbox is full of good email from your competitors, and attribution now gives email less of the credit. Email revenue is down across the board.
Your open rates can look fine and your emails can look great, and revenue from email has still dropped right off compared with a couple of years ago.
Everyone’s doing worse in email because everyone’s doing better. A well-designed, well-written email used to give you cut-through. Now just about every brand can send a polished campaign. Your customer’s inbox is full of high-quality email from people selling the same kind of thing you are, and what used to be your edge is now the minimum.
Then there’s attribution, which has got worse. Email gets credited with less of the sale, even when it did some of the work. So part of the drop is real, and part of it is how it’s being measured.
That doesn’t mean you ignore it. Check your fundamentals, starting with your opt-in rate, because if fewer people are joining your list, there’s less to sell to. But don’t assume your email is broken just because the number went down, and don’t expect email tactics on their own to bring your growth back.