A performance-based email agency charges a percentage of the revenue Klaviyo attributes to email, in place of some or all of a fixed fee. It looks like paying only for results. In practice the fee is tied to attributed revenue, which includes sales that would have happened anyway, so the cost rises with your revenue while the agency's workload stays about the same. A flat or per-email fee keeps cost tied to work delivered. Huge Win Media prices campaigns at $100 to $200 per email and takes no share of revenue. If you want your risk capped, ask for a short minimum term, or none, and a money-back window.
On this page10 sections
- What is a performance-based email marketing agency?
- Why do brands ask for it?
- What does a revenue share pay for?
- What does a revenue share cost next to a fixed fee?
- How each pricing model can go wrong
- When can a revenue share make sense?
- How to get "pay for results" protection without a revenue share
- If you sign a revenue share, put these in the contract
- Common questions
- See what a fixed price would be for your account
What is a performance-based email marketing agency?
A performance-based email marketing agency is paid according to results instead of hours or deliverables. For Klaviyo work, the result is almost always email-attributed revenue: the sales Klaviyo credits to a flow or campaign. The agency takes an agreed percentage of that figure each month.
Four versions exist.
| Model | How the fee is set | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Pure revenue share | A percentage of all email-attributed revenue | Total attributed revenue, however it was produced |
| Base plus share | A reduced fixed fee plus a smaller percentage | Same as above, with less risk for the agency |
| Share of uplift | A percentage of revenue above an agreed baseline | Growth beyond what you already had |
| Flat or per-email fee with a bonus | A fixed price, plus a bonus for hitting a target | Delivery first, results second |
The first two are the ones usually sold as "pay for performance". The third is the fairest of the percentage models and the hardest to agree on, because the baseline has to be negotiated.
Why do brands ask for it?
The reasoning is sound. A brand that has paid a retainer and seen little change wants the agency to carry some of the risk. Paying a percentage of results feels like the cleanest way to do that: no results, no fee.
The weak point is the word "results". The fee follows the revenue Klaviyo attributes to email, which is a different number from the revenue the agency caused.
What does a revenue share pay for?
Klaviyo credits an order to an email when the customer opened or clicked that email within a set period before buying. The details are in Klaviyo's attribution documentation, and the length of that period is a setting that can be changed in the account.
That method counts three kinds of sales as email revenue:
- Sales the email caused. The customer would not have bought, or not yet, without it.
- Sales the email accompanied. A returning customer was already on the way to buy, opened the email first, and the order was credited to it.
- Sales the season caused. During a major sale, almost every buyer has a recent email in the inbox. Attributed revenue jumps whether the emails were good or ordinary.
A share of attributed revenue pays the agency for all three. Only the first one is performance.
There is a second effect inside flows. A welcome or abandoned cart flow is built once and then earns every month with little further work. Under a revenue share you keep paying a percentage on that flow for as long as the contract runs, including on automations that existed before the agency arrived, unless the contract excludes them.
What does a revenue share cost next to a fixed fee?
The table below is an illustration with round figures, not market data. Replace the percentages with the ones in your quote. The per-email column uses Huge Win Media's published range for ten campaign emails a month.
| Email-attributed revenue per month | Fee at a 10% share | Fee at a 15% share | Ten campaign emails at $100 to $200 each |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| $150,000 | $15,000 | $22,500 | $1,000 to $2,000 |
Read across each row. At the lowest revenue level the models cost about the same. As revenue grows, the share grows with it, and the work behind it does not: the agency still plans, writes, designs and sends a similar calendar. This is why revenue share is often described as cheap to start and expensive at scale.
Read down the last column. A per-email fee stays flat because it is tied to the number of emails produced. Huge Win Media charges $100[1] to $200[1] per campaign email depending on format, with monthly work starting from $1,000[1]. If email revenue triples, the fee changes only if you ask for more emails.
How each pricing model can go wrong
Every pricing model has an incentive problem. The table shows where each one sits.
| Model | What the agency is paid for | How it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue share | Attributed revenue | More sends and deeper discounts raise attributed revenue even when they hurt margin and list health |
| Flat retainer | Time and availability | The fee arrives whether or not much ships; scope can shrink without anyone noticing |
| Per-email fee | Finished emails | Volume is rewarded, so the calendar has to be agreed with the brand, not set by the agency alone |
| Hourly | Hours | Slow work is paid the same as fast work |
A revenue share on campaign work has a specific risk. The fastest ways to raise attributed revenue this month are to send more often and to discount harder. Both can damage deliverability and train customers to wait for a sale. The agency is paid on the upside of that trade, and the brand carries the downside.
A fixed fee has the opposite weakness: the agency is paid even in a flat month. The protection there is a clear list of deliverables, a short commitment and reporting you can check yourself.
When can a revenue share make sense?
It is a reasonable deal in a few situations:
- You cannot fund a fixed fee yet, and the agency is willing to take the early risk in exchange for a share later. Treat it as financing, and give it an end date.
- The share applies to uplift over a baseline, measured the same way before and after, with existing flows excluded.
- The contract has a cap. A ceiling on the monthly fee keeps a strong season from turning into a windfall for work already done.
- The term is short. A share that ends or steps down after the build phase matches how flow work is delivered.
How to get "pay for results" protection without a revenue share
Most brands asking for performance pricing want two things: a limit on what they can lose, and proof the work is happening. Both are available under a fixed price.
- A money-back window on the first deliverable. Huge Win Media offers 7 days[1] on the first flow design.
- A short minimum term, or none. Huge Win Media's monthly work has no minimum term, so if the work is not landing you can stop.
- A price per unit of work. When each email has a price, cost follows output and a quiet month costs less.
- Reporting that separates attributed from incremental revenue. Ask for a holdout group on major flows, so you can see what the emails add beyond what customers would have bought anyway.
- Ownership. The Klaviyo account, templates, segments and data stay yours, whatever the pricing model.
Huge Win Media's position is public on its pricing section: campaigns are priced per email by format, and the agency takes no percentage of revenue. A flow build is a separate one-off project from $3,500[1], quoted after a free audit.
If you sign a revenue share, put these in the contract
- The revenue base. Attributed or incremental, flows or campaigns or both, and whether flows that existed before the agency are excluded.
- The attribution settings. Fix the attribution period in writing so nobody can lengthen it later and raise the fee.
- A monthly cap and a baseline for any uplift calculation.
- Discount rules. Who approves promotions, and whether revenue from sitewide sales counts at the full rate.
- An end date for the share on each flow. A percentage that runs forever on a flow built in the first month usually costs more than any other clause.
- Exit terms. Notice period, what happens to the share after termination, and confirmation that everything built stays in your account.
Common questions
Is a revenue share cheaper than a retainer?
It is usually cheaper while email revenue is small and more expensive once it grows, because the percentage scales with revenue and the workload does not. Run your own numbers through the table above with the percentage you were quoted and your current attributed revenue.
What percentage do performance-based email agencies charge?
There is no reliable public benchmark, and the headline percentage matters less than the revenue base it applies to. A lower share of all attributed revenue can cost more than a higher share of uplift above a baseline. Compare quotes by the monthly fee they produce at your current revenue.
Does Huge Win Media work on a performance basis?
No. Huge Win Media charges per campaign email and a one-off price for flow builds, with no minimum term on monthly work and a 7-day[1] money-back window on the first flow design.
For how the pricing models compare more broadly, see what a Klaviyo agency costs. For how to read an agency's reported results, see how to evaluate Klaviyo agency case studies.
See what a fixed price would be for your account
A percentage is easy to agree to because it needs no scoping. A fixed price needs someone to read your account first. Book a free Klaviyo audit and we will tell you what the work would cost per email and per flow build, so you can set that figure next to any revenue-share quote you have.