Email marketing by sending generic emails to a long list of people does not get results in terms of CTR and conversion.  The email will most likely end in the spam folder for most people.  I believe the key to avoiding this and getting people to actually open the email and just maybe eventually buy something as a result of reading the email is through personalization.  People will most likely be inclined to buy something if a personal touch is added to the email such as a birthday greeting during their birthday.  This will make the consumer feel more special and help make your email stand out compared to the hundreds of other emails people get regularly.  Acknowledging the person by his or her name in the subject heading should also help in this regard.