We often talk about the advent of new marketing tools: SMS, social media, push notifications, etc. Many think that email is a channel of the past that risks gradually disappearing. However, the numbers prove otherwise. In 2025, for those who understand its workings, it remains the most effective and profitable lever, provided it is used correctly. Moreover, the latest European Email Marketing Benchmark published by Efficy confirms this trend. The results are clear: emails achieve better open and click rates than most other channels. They also generate a return on investment that is hard to match. Let’s take a closer look at this.
Some Figures to Start With
Here’s what the data from the Efficy Benchmark shows:
ROI
For every euro invested in emailing, marketers in the following sectors benefit from a return on investment of:
- €45 for retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods.
- €42 for marketing, public relations, and advertising agencies.
- €36 for software and technology.
- €32 for media, publishing, and entertainment.
The Best Month of 2025
This year, March dominated inboxes with an impressive 301,561,004 emails sent by Efficy clients, followed by January and February, which just slightly surpassed the usual dominance of the fourth quarter.
The Highest Daily Engagement Rates
- Highest open rates on Tuesday and Thursday: 19.0% (brevo.com)
- Highest open rates on Tuesday and Wednesday: 10.8% (optinmonster.com)
- Highest click rates on Wednesday: 2.4% (brevo.com)
The Benefits of Email for Businesses
- 80% of companies state that email marketing helps improve customer retention and loyalty.
- 52% of consumers made a purchase directly via email in 2024.
- 59% of B2B marketers claim that email is their main revenue generation channel.
- Email surpasses social media posts by 13%.
- Email surpasses social media ads by 11%.
Why Email Remains More Effective Than Other Channels
More Cost-Effective
The first advantage of email is clearly its cost. Once the system is in place, each send costs almost nothing, unlike SMS which remains expensive, or online advertising where each click is charged.
Excellent ROI
The Efficy benchmark recalls that email marketing is, by far, the most profitable channel: it outperforms display ads by more than 100% in terms of performance. In other words, one euro invested in an email campaign yields much more than the majority of other digital channels.
Less Intrusive
Email is also less intrusive: it doesn’t abruptly interrupt a user’s browsing, as a banner or notification might do. It follows a logic of permission, as the recipient has agreed to receive it. This explains often higher conversion rates.
Loyalty-Building
It is a tool that builds relationships in the long term. Where an SMS or an ad mainly capture immediate attention, email allows maintaining a connection, building loyalty, and generating repeat sales.
Considerable Limitations
However, be careful, not everything is perfect. Email still faces well-known challenges.
Deliverability
If the sender’s domain is not properly configured or if the contact database is poorly maintained, messages may land in spam.
Measuring Results
With the privacy protections put in place by Apple or Google, open rates no longer always reflect reality. Professionals must therefore focus more on clicks, conversions, and revenue generated.
Cluttered Inboxes
Consumers receive dozens of emails every day. To stand out, it’s no longer enough to send often; you have to send better, with useful content, personalized, and at the right timing.
How to Maximize Email Profitability in 2025
To remain effective, email must be used smartly. The quality of the database is more important than its size: better a small engaged list than a massive inactive file.
Automation allows maintaining the connection without daily effort. Simple scenarios, like a welcome message, cart reminder, or order follow-up, can generate a large part of the revenue.
Personalization is now essential. More than just indicating the recipient’s name in the subject line, content must be adapted according to behavior, past purchases, or interests.
It is also crucial to choose the right moment for sending. Every sector has its particularities, regular testing helps identify the most effective time slots.
Finally, it is crucial to rely on the right indicators. Open rate is no longer sufficient. Click-through rates, conversion rates, and especially revenue generated per email are much better benchmarks for assessing profitability.
The Reign of Email Continues in 2025
In 2025, email proves its strength again: it remains the marketing channel that provides the highest returns because it combines low costs, wide reach, and a unique ability to build loyalty. But this profitability is not automatic. It depends on several essential factors to ensure this tool retains all its power.
Make no mistake; email is not a foolproof solution. It requires diligence and precise knowledge of best practices. But when used well, it will continue without a doubt to offer businesses a particularly high return on investment, more than many other channels.
