Is email marketing still worth it in 2026? Yes, here's why

Is email marketing still effective?

Yes. I'm biased, sure. But here's my take: when a founder says "email doesn't work anymore," I'd bet they mean "our blasts to everyone don't work anymore." That's a different problem.

Here's one result. A tallow skincare brand made $48,193 in email revenue in all of 2025. From January to July 2026 it made $203,777. Over that stretch, flows went from 60% of email revenue to 83%, and the store went from 6 figures to nearly 7 figures.

That's not a channel in decline. That's a channel set up properly.

Litmus says that "on average, email drives an ROI of $36 for every dollar spent, higher than any other channel." Litmus doesn't say on that page where the number comes from or what year, so I'd treat it as a rough signal, not a promise. Your own return depends on your margins, your list and your setup. I show how to calculate it for your brand in email marketing ROI.

What changed in email in the last few years?

A lot changed. None of it killed email. Most of it punished lazy email.

Gmail and Yahoo got strict about bulk senders

Google defines a bulk sender as one that "sends close to 5,000 messages or more to personal Gmail accounts within a 24-hour period." Most Shopify brands with a real list hit that on a single campaign.

Per Google's sender guidelines FAQ, bulk senders need to:

• Set up SPF and DKIM, with the From address aligned to one of them.
• Have a DMARC record.
• Include one-click unsubscribe in marketing emails.
• Keep the spam rate below 0.1%, and never above 0.3%.

The rules took effect in February 2024. Google says that "starting November 2025, Gmail is ramping up its enforcement on non-compliant traffic," which can mean emails get rejected. Yahoo and Outlook have their own rules, and I put all of it in one list in Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook sender requirements.

My read: this is good for brands that do email properly. It makes it harder for spammers to crowd your inbox placement.

Apple broke the open rate

Apple's Mail Privacy Protection page says the feature "downloads remote content in the background by default," even if the email is never opened. That means opens from Apple Mail users aren't a clean signal anymore.

You can see it in the data. Across 4 consumable brands and 2,897 campaigns, open rate correlated with revenue at 0.32. Click rate correlated at 0.65. Apple auto-opens pushed some segments past 85% open rates, and for one brand open rate actually moved the wrong way against revenue. More on that in open rate vs click rate.

So if your open rate looks amazing and revenue is flat, don't celebrate yet. Look at clicks.

AI now reads the inbox for people

This one is newer. Apple's Mail guide for Mac says that with Apple Intelligence, "a short summary automatically appears under each unread email in your inbox," and a Priority Messages view puts time-sensitive emails at the top. Google started rolling out AI Overviews in Gmail in the U.S. in January 2026, which can summarize a whole conversation into key points.

What that means for you: your preview text may get replaced by a summary, and fluffy emails summarize into nothing. Clear emails with one point and one offer hold up better. I cover the Apple side in Apple Intelligence email summaries.

And Gmail Promotions still isn't the enemy

Founders love to blame the Promotions tab. I don't. Promotions isn't evil. It's a reflection of how you've performed with your list. Chasing Primary with tricks is the wrong fight. The fix is sending emails people click and buy from. See the Gmail Promotions tab.

Why does email matter more when ad costs rise?

Because ads are rented and your list is owned.

Meta's Q3 2026 results say "average price per ad increased by 14% year-over-year." That's Meta's average across all advertisers, not your account, but the direction is clear: on average, it costs more to show an ad on Meta than it did a year ago.

Here's what that looks like in a bad month. A subscription wellness brand in April saw store revenue drop 37% month over month. New customers fell from 1,657 to 223. And email's share of revenue went from 41% to 53%. The ads slowed down. The list kept buying.

That's the whole case in three numbers. I go deeper on that month, and what to build before ad costs spike, in email marketing when ad costs rise.

One caution: a higher email share isn't always a win on its own. If it rises because everything else fell, that's a warning sign too. I break down what a healthy share looks like in what percentage of revenue should come from email.

Where does email make the most money in 2026?

Flows. Automated emails that fire on what a customer did, like signing up, abandoning a checkout or running low on product.

Replenishment flows are the clearest example. Across 4 brands, replenishment flows earned $2.23 per person. If you sell something people use up, like coffee, supplements, skincare or snacks, this is the email that asks at the right time. Here's how to build one: Klaviyo replenishment flow.

If you're just starting, the core flows to build first are in Klaviyo flows for CPG brands.

Does AI make email marketing easier or obsolete?

Easier, if you use it well. Not obsolete.

Klaviyo now has AI tools like Composer. Some of it is useful. But my view on Klaviyo is the same with or without AI: focus on making more money from Klaviyo, not saving money on it. A tool that writes your emails faster doesn't help if the strategy behind them is wrong. I sort out what's worth using in Klaviyo AI.

How long does it take to see results?

Not overnight. Here's what I'd expect.

The first 30 days: frameworks get installed, flows and campaigns get set up, and you understand the thinking behind them. Don't expect drastic results in month one unless there's a specific reason. Keep a long-term view of whoever you hired, if you trust them.

Around month 6: this is where I hope for a major increase, building on the first three months, because you can now see real reorder periods. Campaign lists get tighter: fewer people, more revenue, better-qualified buyers.

Brands already sending email tend to move faster, because there's more data to work from. The full timeline is in how long does email marketing take to work.

Who shouldn't invest in email marketing yet?

Email multiplies what's already working. It doesn't create demand from nothing. I'd hold off on a big email investment if:

• You don't have product-market fit yet. If people buy once and never come back, a reorder flow won't fix the product. Talk to customers first.
• You have almost no traffic. A list grows from visitors. If nobody comes to your site, a pop-up has nobody to catch. Fix acquisition first, then capture it. My guide on how to grow your email list covers the capture side once you're there.
• You're thinking of buying a list. Don't. Google's guidelines tell senders to avoid "unwanted or unsolicited email," and a cold bought list is the fastest way to push your spam rate past the limits above.
• You can't keep up with sending. An abandoned account that wakes up once a quarter with a blast does more harm than good.

In those cases I'd still set up a basic welcome flow and an abandoned checkout flow. They're cheap to run and catch the few buyers you do get. Just don't expect email to carry the business yet. If you're small and unsure, email marketing for small Shopify stores is a better place to start.

So, is it worth it?

Yes. The channel didn't get worse. The bar got higher. Authenticate your domain, judge on clicks and revenue, build the flows that sell on autopilot, and send to people who want to hear from you.

For what it's worth, the brands I've worked with have done $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them. That's not because email is magic. It's because a list you own, used well, keeps paying long after the ad that found the customer is gone.

FAQ

WRITTEN BY Jack White

Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.

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