Email marketing is about more than ROI and CTR and the many other acronyms with which it is commonly associated.  It’s also about branding and understanding your user base.  If you are unclear on who your company is or who your customer is you’ve got far more important things to worry about than implementing an email marketing program.

Defining your brand is essential in part because customers like to understand brands.  They like to know who they’re dealing with.  Are you modern and minimalistic?  Down-to-earth and friendly?  A trusted expert in the industry?  And who are your customers?  Are they stay-at-home moms?  Weekend sports fanatics?

Once you have a clear brand (style, voice, etc.) in place, and an understanding of your customer base, it’s probably a good idea to incorporate these concepts into your email outreach.

A good example of a company that does this (and does it quite well) is the beauty and skin care giant, Sephora.  Years ago, I recall encountering a brief survey upon logging into the Sephora.com website.  I quickly responded to the survey and forgot all about it.

But Sephora didn’t forget.

Instead, they used the data they collected to build a Laura-centric profile of sorts.  For example, they know that I color my hair and have green eyes.  They know my age demographic and that I have fair-skin.  But what’s exciting is that they use this information to make helpful (but not intrusive) suggestions about what sort of products might work best (and look best) with my features and skin care needs.

What’s more is that they also know the products I’ve used in the past, and they encourage me to rate them (good or bad) on the Sephora.com website.  And they never forget to offer me a free (and pretty decent) birthday gift.

It’s gotten to the point where I actually look forward to receiving their emails.  I open each and every one of them–which is more than I can say for most marketing emails I receive.  They get it.  They understand their brand and their customers.

I could go on and on about Sephora as they are one of my all-time favorite brands and they do so many things right when it comes to online marketing, but I’ll stick with email marketing for now.

Good email marketing is a powerful thing.  It creates loyalty, increased conversions, and customers that get genuinely excited about a brand… and free birthday gifts.