Email Marketing Agency

How Profitable Is An Email Marketing Agency? (Updated for 2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 5th, 2024

How Profitable Is An Email Marketing Agency? (Updated for 2024)

So you want to start an email marketing agency?

And the first question that came to your mind was, “well, are email marketing agencies actually profitable?”

With a market size of $7.5B - there’s plenty of business to go around.

Especially considering:

You could start a email marketing agency with as low as $500
Based on our data, email marketing agencies generate an average of $40.2M per year
You could see gross margins as high as 40% with email marketing agencies

There’s money to be made. Don’t worry.

But, I don't want to spoil it all. Below we’ll cover everything you need to know when it comes to the profitability of a email marketing agency.

Let’s dive in!

Is an email marketing agency profitable?

Yes, an email marketing agency is generally a profitable business. However, you still need to consider several factors since these things always impact the overall outcome.

For instance, since average revenue is $40.2M per year with an estimated gross margin of 90%, you could expect to recover your investment within 7 months or even less.

But of course, it all comes down to how much you earn compared to the potential revenues of your email marketing agency.

To determine whether your business is profitable, you should earn more than your expenses in the beginning months. However, while you're in your first month, it can be challenging to know what to expect.

Therefore, you should maintain a record of your monthly expenses and income to determine whether you're meeting your goals. By doing this step, you can see how your email marketing agency is doing and if any changes or adjustments need to be made to enhance or maintain your efforts.

Is an email marketing agency worth it?

If you’re wondering if a email marketing agency is worth it, the answer is a big YES. With email marketing agencies, you have the potential to earn $40.2M per year (this is based on data reported by real founders).

Further, you could have your initial investment back within months. Simply put, it’s a business worth a shot, especially if you have the resources and make the necessary efforts to achieve or surpass the target.

With a market size of $7.5B, it will be possible for you to build something that grows and turns into a flourishing business. As such, it’s the type of business you might want to consider starting.

Of course, you must learn and understand every aspect of running a email marketing agency to ensure success. Still, as long as you have the initial investment and can endure a few months before your actual gains, this business could be worth it.

You might want to consider reading more specifics about successful email marketing agencies case studies.

Examples Of Profitable Email Marketing Agencies

Here are a few examples of profitable email marketing agencies, and a few more details about them:

1. Email Paramedic ($3.12M/year)

Troy Ericson, founder of Copywriting.org and EmailDeliverability.com, came up with the idea for his business when one of his clients wanted to fire him. He discovered that their emails were going to spam, which was preventing them from monetizing their leads. Troy offered to solve the problem for free and ended up increasing their email revenue from $13k/month to $51k/month. This led him to realize the potential of managing email lists, and he has since grown his business to generate around $230K/mo and train freelancers in email marketing.

Is it profitable? Yes
What's the gross margin? 40%
How much money it makes: $3.12M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500

How We Make $230K/Month Helping Businesses Revive Their Email Lists

Learn how Troy Ericson grew his email marketing business from scratch to generating around $230K/mo by reviving dead or stagnant email lists, maximizing opens, clicks, and sales, and writing world-class emails guaranteed to deliver to the primary inbox, and how he is expanding his services through coaching, consulting, and one-off email deliverability projects.

Read this case study

Read by 7,986 founders

2. ConvertKit ($25M/year)

In 2013, Nathan set a challenge for himself: build a $5K/mo SaaS in 6 months with just $5,000. He got the idea after reading people's complaints about Mailchimp online, and decided to build a product that addressed those.

Is it profitable? Yes
How much money it makes: $25M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K

Profile: Nathan Barry Built A $25M/Year Newsletter Platform (Started As Solopreneur)

Discover how Nathan Barry bootstrapped ConvertKit from a $5,000 investment to a $25 million/year email marketing powerhouse by addressing the main objections of online creators and scaling through a lucrative affiliate program with an impressive $2.08 million/month average revenue.

Read this case study

Read by 1,749 founders

3. ActiveCampaign ($250M/year)

Jason VandeBoom, founder of ActiveCampaign, initially identified a repetitive problem while doing consulting work: small businesses struggled with effectively communicating with their customers through email. This realization came as he kept building custom email solutions for various clients, which was both time-consuming and inefficient. To streamline his work and create a more sustainable business model while attending art school, he decided to package these one-off solutions into a single, sellable product.

Before fully committing to the idea, Jason observed the market and noticed a lack of comprehensive email marketing tools tailored to small businesses. This insight led him to develop an on-premise email marketing solution that could be easily installed and used by businesses without extensive IT resources. After years of slow but steady growth, he validated the market demand and saw the potential for a more scalable approach.

In the ideation phase, Jason faced the challenge of transitioning from an on-premise model to a SaaS platform, which required convincing his existing customer base to switch to a subscription model. He overcame these hurdles by maintaining close relationships with early adopters and iterating based on their feedback. A key lesson from this journey was the importance of staying close to customer pain points and incrementally validating each step before scaling further. Through this process, Jason learned the value of balancing innovation with practical, user-driven solutions.

Is it profitable? Yes
How much money it makes: $250M/year

How Jason VandeBoom Grew ActiveCampaign to $165M ARR

ActiveCampaign's founder Jason VandeBoom transitioned the company from on-premise software to a SaaS model, achieving over $165M in ARR by solving small businesses' customer engagement challenges with scalable marketing automation tools, all while raising $260M in funding and leveraging innovative growth strategies like LinkedIn campaigns and influencer partnerships.

Read this case study

Read by 59 founders

Learn more about starting an email marketing agency:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start an email marketing agency?
-> Pros and cons of an email marketing agency

Need inspiration?

-> Other email marketing agency success stories
-> Marketing ideas for an email marketing agency

Other resources

-> Email marketing agency tips

How much can you make with an email marketing agency?

With a email marketing agency, you can make an average of $40.2M revenue per year (based on data reported by real businesses).

You can start with an initial investment as low as $500. Then, with proper knowledge and sustained effort, you could have an ROI (return of investment) within 7 months.

How much does a email marketing agency make a week?

Based on our data, average weekly revenue for a email marketing agency ranges around $837K. As such, you could see monthly revenues of $3.35M.

To know if your email marketing agency achieves the weekly profit target, you need to keep track of the total earnings you get per day. Afterward, you'll want to consider subtracting the expenses you have daily.

Learning your weekly profit can also show whether you're hitting your target goal for your email marketing agency.

How much do email marketing agencies owners make?

The income of an email marketing agency owner can vary depending on various factors such as location, size, competition, and the owner's business skills.

But to give you some idea, the weekly revenue of an established email marketing agency is about $837K. But this can be lower or higher depending on so many factors - it's almost impossible to say exactly.

While the potential for earning a good income as an email marketing agency owner exists, success in this field requires a commitment to providing quality products and services and building a strong reputation within the community.

Email Marketing Agency Profit Margins

Generally speaking, an email marketing agency can expect profit margin of around 90%. Profit margins refer to the percentage of revenue that remains after deducting all expenses associated with running a business. In the case of an email marketing agency, profit margins can vary depending on various factors, such as the type and quality of products sold, the size of the store, and the level of competition in the area.

However, these figures can vary depending on the pricing strategy, inventory management, and overall efficiency of the business. To maintain healthy profit margins, email marketing agency owners must focus on managing costs, negotiating favorable supplier terms, and providing high-quality products and services to attract and retain customers. By doing so, email marketing agency owners can ensure long-term sustainability and profitability for their business.

Email marketing agency owner salary

The salary of an email marketing agency owner is an unpredictable figure. It's significantly influenced by numerous factors, including the store's location, its size, and the degree of competition. An owner of a well-established email marketing agency, in a prime position, might see an average weekly salary around the ballpark of $754K.

But it's worth noting, such numbers aren't always consistent. The earnings can vary wildly, potentially swinging by as much as 80% either way.

Achieving consistent success and maintaining a reliable income stream in this industry requires a deep commitment. It's imperative to offer high-quality products, deliver impeccable customer service, and nurture a trusted bond with the community you serve.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, based on many of our examples, a email marketing agency may be a promising business to start - but the success of your email marketing agency mostly depends on your effort and your approach.

If you focus on these, you'll have a much higher chance of a profitable email marketing agency.

Part of

Ing An Email Marketing Agency: Everything You Need To Know

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